General News of Tuesday, 26 December 2017

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

I support Akufo-Addo's stance on homosexuality - Archbishop Palmer-Buckle

Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra insisted that President Akufo-Addo’s recent controversial response on legalising homosexuality in Ghana was the best possible under the circumstance

President Akufo-Addo disclosed his position on legalizing homosexuality in the country during an Aljazeera interview.

The Archbishop said the President gave the right response and only emphasised Ghana’s cultural reality as it relates to homosexuality.

Buttressing his defence of the president, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra said the 1992 Constitution still considers it illegal so there is no argument about that.

“The President is not God, he cannot say that Ghana will never accept it. He said culturally, it is not an issue that Ghanaians will accept," Palmer-Buckle told Joy News.

He cited position by the late President Atta Mills and clarified that both Presidents were emphatic about the Ghanaian culture in relations to the phenomenon.

Many people especially the Minority bashed the president for not being emphatic and direct with his response for stating that homosexuality is still illegal in Ghana because there has not been enough advocacy for it to be legalised and that it is something that is bound to happen.

He also noted that presently the practice of homosexuals is at variance with the country’s norms, culture and values.

The response of Akufo-Addo triggered another round of debate on the issue which gained prominence during the administrations of the late Professor John Evans Mills and ex-president John Mahama.

The Metropolitan Archbishop disclosed the Catholic Church believes that homosexuals are also children of God “just like the murderer and heterosexual” and therefore their rights have to be defended.

"I don't think people listened very carefully to the President before they jumped to a conclusion," he said.