The UK-based Daily Mail reports that early this year, the British government made it clear to President John Atta Mills that Britain would cut its aid to Ghana unless the country stopped persecuting gays.
Ghana gets some £36 million a year from the UK and it may be the reason why after the threat, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Martin Amidu, told journalists that the laws of Ghana only frowned on homosexuality when it involved a minor or when one partner was forced into a sexual act. Mr. Amidu was clarifying Ghana’s official position on the contentious issue of homosexuality and he explained that when two male adults agreed to have sex with each other in the privacy of their rooms, such a situation could not be described as illegal and the participants were at an absolute liberty.
Already, the UK International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, has announced that his country has recently cut funding to Malawi by £19 million because of anti-gay laws.
UK, after the aid cut to Malawi, is now warning Ghana and Uganda to stop persecuting gays or face the same sanction.
Though Ghana is believed to have a vibrant gay community, no gay couple has ever been seen having sex in public because in reality, sex partners, whether homosexuals or heterosexuals, will hardly agree to have sex in public.
Moreover, heterosexual sex in a public place is a criminal offence in Ghana, therefore the Justice Minister’s position on same sex left his audience more perplexed.
According to Mr. Amidu, “The law does not follow you to see what you do. Your house is your castle; your room is your castle. What you do there is no body’s business. It is only when you rape an adult by way of unnatural carnal knowledge that you become a subject of prosecution.”
The subject of an upsurge of homosexuality in Ghana has had a huge media attention in recent times but the reports have largely centered on speculations as there has not been any statistics of evidential value to prove a surge in homosexual activities and how recent that surge has been or even what the new figures are.
Meanwhile, government has maintained an apparent state of indecision on what position to take on the subject.
The Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, in July, ordered the immediate arrest of all homosexuals in his region. He tasked the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and all security agencies to smoke out persons suspected to be engaging in homosexuality.
He also enlisted the services of landlords and tenants to provide reliable information which would lead to the arrest of homosexuals.
In the same month of July, the Christian Council of Ghana held a press conference to condemn the practice of homosexuality and asked government not to pass it into law.
The Council described homosexuality as “detestable and abominable act” and opined that if passed into law, in Ghana the country shall incur the wrath of God “and the consequences will be unbearable”.
Though Ghanaian customs and traditions are said to frown on homosexuality, the country is believed to have a vibrant gay and lesbian community which operates looking over its shoulders.
It is however not certain if there has actually been a call for the legalization of same sex marriages in Ghana.
Source: news one - Ghana
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