Declare your stance on LGBT+ - CenPOA tells presidential candidates for 2024 elections

The Center for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA) has noted with great interest the unanimous passage of the human sexual rights and family values (anti-LGBT+ bill) by the parliament of Ghana and the succeeding debate around its significance and potential infringement on basic human rights.

As much as debate on this issue is still welcome, it is important to note that the Ghanaian people have fully expressed their collective will to criminalize LGBT+ activities in their motherland, and this fact must be respected with the sovereignty that it carries. It is equally important to note that education is very key in the building of an inclusive society, and as societies evolve over the life cycle of civilization, they refine many culturally influenced practices over time. Many LGBT-friendly communities today have banned same-sex activity in the past. In fact, up until 2003, homosexuality was illegal in 14 states of the United States of America!

Legalization of LGBT+ people may happen in Ghana sooner or later, but for now, the country’s sociocultural dynamics do not support it. In a country with many people wallowing in ignorance, leading to extreme biases, and mob activity or instant justice and religious fanaticism still recurrent, a great deal of work still needs to be done to transform the people to embrace inclusion and diversity.

With an educated and enlightened population, it would be easier to sell the idea of an inclusive society and the benefits of LGBT+, if there are any. Anything short of this will be tantamount to advancing Ghanaians to a destination we are yet to reach psychologically and anthropologically. The government must therefore aggressively focus on educating its people if it intends to bring them up to speed with global trends and with an education that prioritizes critical thinking and talent development over memorizing archaic subject matter.

On this LBGT issue, it is obvious that the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has shown little faith in the will of the people of Ghana, whose interests he has been elected to represent, considering his posture and utterances on the recently passed anti-LGBT bill. The ongoing unexemplary legal tussle between the two arms of government on this issue, though a topical subject of commentary, is not the primary focus of this press statement.

We at CenPOA wish to reiterate that any attempt by actors within or without to subvert the will of the people of Ghana is an attack on democracy and the sovereignty of the people of Ghana and, therefore, must be resisted with full force to protect our national integrity.

In this light, CenPOA, in its quest to keep the voter population of Ghana educated and informed to make responsible electoral decisions and to promote a culture of issue-based politics in Ghana, calls on all presidential candidates for the upcoming 2024 elections, especially Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Mr. John Dramani Mahama, to publicly declare their stance on LGBT. This will give Ghanaian electorates the opportunity to decide in the 2024 elections based on their expectations and to hold the next government accountable on this issue based on their assurances.

It is instructive to note that CenPOA, as a neutral civil organization, does not hold any opinions on LGBT+ issues but simply seeks to amplify the voices of the public in ensuring citizen representation in public administration in accordance with its founding mandate.