In wishing them a Happy New Year, President Akufo-Addo used the two-hour long meeting to explain, amongst other things, Ghana’s recent decision to back the United Nations’ resolution, which called on the United States to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

President Akufo-Addo also reiterated his commitment towards strengthening the collaboration between Government and faith-based organisations throughout the course of his tenure of office, which has found expression in the 2018 budget.

Present at the meeting were Archbishop Philip Naameh, Rev.Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Most Rev. Titus Awotwi-Pratt, Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Rt. Rev. Asante Antwi, Most Rev. Justice Offei Akrofi, , Rev. Dr Samuel A. Nyampong, Rev. Dr Victor Okoe Abbey, Rt Rev. Dr Daniel Torto, Rt. Rev. Dr Seth S. Agidi, Bishop Addae-Mensah, Rev. Steve Mensah, and Rev Clement Anchebah.

The rest included Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, Dr. Mensa Otabil, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah, Rev. Emmanuel Owusu Bempah Rev. Joyce Aryee, Rev. Kusi Boateng, and Ps. Gideon Danso.

Also present were Rt Rev. Dr Hilliard Dogbe, Rt Rev. Anyani Boadu, , Rev.P. Dorcas Aidoo, , Rev. Paul Frimpong Manso, Bishop Samuel N. Mensah, Rev. E.T Barrigah, Rev. Felix Moses, Rev. Lawson K. Adjei, Rev. Robert Ampiah-Kwofi, Prophet Dr Eric Ampe, Rev. Michael Martey, Rev. Mrs. Grace Agbotse, Rev. C. C. Coleman, Rev. Isaac Anaman, Prophetess Sarah Mbeah, Rev. Father Lazarus Anondee, Rev. Christopher M. Ahenkorah, Rev. Joseph Aboagye, Rev. Dr Michael Boadi Nyamekye, Rev. Canon Abraham Elijah Quarshie, Elder Renner Awatey Noah, Apostle Samuel Teye Doku, Apostle Anthony Anane, Rev. Dr Ahmed Kenneth Quarshie, Rev. Dr P. Addison, Rev. L. Addison, Rev. Prince Addae, Apostle J. Cofie, Rev. David Zun Gbey, Mr. Gabriel Moses, Pastor Emmanuel Okai, Rev. Samuel Tetteh, Rev. Father Kwame Larbi, Rev. Prophetess Janet Edusei, Apostle Eric Darko and Rev. C. Y. Annor.

The leaders of the Christian Community expressed satisfaction with the meeting, and called for more regular interactions with Government

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By: Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Council, homosexuality is a threat to Africa’s social protection hence their opposition to any such move.

[contextly_sidebar id=”sUZ6f383K3lbx98ub1HXQL6N3UXjpN0E”]The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Dr. Kwabena Opuni told Citi News that the country’s leaders must demonstrate that they are resolute in ensuring that homosexuality is not legalized in the country.

“Homosexuality is not only a human right issue. It is also a human existence and survival issue. It threatens Africa’s social protection which is embedded in family and children. Elsewhere in Europe, marriage is between two young people who think they love each other. They can get married before they even introduce themselves to their parents. Our part of the world you need two families to come together for marriage to become possible,” he said.

While commending former President John Evans Atta Mills for his strong stance against the practice, Dr. Opuni said, “that is our cultural identity and uniqueness, and we want Akufo-Addo to state that he cannot and will not accept homosexuality no matter the pressure. We would want our leaders to come strong and clean that no matter the pressure, we would want to protect our cultural identity and uniqueness so that we don’t give any impression that if we are under pressure we will change.”

The debate over the decriminalization and the legalization of same in Ghana, has been rekindled by President Akufo-Addo’s recent interview on Aljazeera.

Akufo-Addo, when asked about Ghana’s stance on homosexuality in the face of its acclaimed open democracy said that, legalizing the practice or decriminalizing it, was not on the country’s agenda.

He, however, indicated that, agitations from gay rights groups are “bound to happen” and could provoke a national discussion on the matter in the future.

Asked by the interviewer about why Ghana’s laws still criminalise homosexuality, Nana Akufo-Addo said: “This is a socio-cultural issue, if you like,” adding: “I don’t believe that in Ghana, so far, a sufficiently strong coalition has emerged which is having that impact on public opinion that will say: ‘Change it [the law], let’s then have a new paradigm in Ghana”.

The President however, said: “I think that it is something that is bound to happen”.

Asked by the interviewer: “What’s going to provoke it, what’s going to make it happen?” President Akufo-Addo said: “Oh, like elsewhere in the world, the activities of individuals [and] groups”.

He gave examples of how countries such as England, which in the past abhorred homosexuality, have over the years succumbed to pressure from LGBT lobbyists to amend their laws to accommodate same-sex relationship.

“I grew up in England; I went to school as a young boy in England and I grew up at a time in England when homosexuality was banned there, it was illegal and I lived in the period when British politicians thought it was anathema to think about changing the law and suddenly the activities of individuals, of groups, a certain awareness, a certain development grew and grew and grew stronger and it forced a change in law. I believe those are the same processes that will bring about changes in our situation.”

The president, however, pointed out that: “At the moment, I don’t feel and I don’t see that in Ghana, there is that strong current of opinion that will say: ‘This is something that we need even deal with’. It’s not, so far, a matter which is on the agenda.”

His position has angered many Ghanaians who are quite emotional about the subject, as they’ve taken him on for not bodly rejecting the idea about homosexuality being accepted in Ghana in future.

Homosexuality as a crime

Under Ghanaian criminal law, same-sex sexual activity is illegal, owing to the criminal code’s stance on unnatural carnal knowledge.
Persons found to have fallen foul of this law are liable to a prison term ranging from five years to 25 years, per Section 104 of the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003.

Ghana is one of 75 countries around the world where it is still illegal to be a homosexual.

There have been pockets of instances where perceived homosexuals have been attacked by those against the practice either on the basis of religion or culture.

As a result, some human rights groups in Ghana, have often advocated for the respect of the rights of such individuals to practice their sexual preference without any attacks.

The criminalization of homosexuality, found in most sub-Saharan African countries, has seen some pressure from the international community prompting accusations of bullying.

Late Atta Mills was firmly against homosexuality

In 2011, then-President John Atta Mills rubbished the UK’s threat to cut aid if he refused to consider legalizing homosexuality in Ghana.

UK Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, had said aid would be cut to countries which failed to respect gay rights.

But the late-President was adamant that the UK could not impose its values on Ghana.

Scottish MPs hit hard at Mahama over gay rights

In 2016, some Members of the Scottish Parliament called on their government to confront then President John Mahama on Ghana’s alleged abuses of homosexuals.

The President then had been invited to address (MPs) in the Scottish Parliament, but some opposition MPs said the invitation undermined the safety of the Scottish Parliament for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

We’re fed up with demands for gay rights – Speaker

In July 2017, the Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, warned that Ghana would not countenance the aggressive push by external forces to accept acts such as homosexuality and bestiality.

His caution followed a courtesy call by Amnesty International, where they made demands including a scrapping of the death penalty from the statute books.

But the Speaker said African leaders are getting tired of some of these demands on the basis of human rights.

“Following what Tony Blair said which I personally wrote him a letter that if we do not go the homosexual way, it was going to affect their aid to us. Honestly in view of these developments, we Africans are also concerned about certain things that may appear really intellectual …It is becoming a human right in some countries. The right to do homosexuality. The right for a human being to sleep with an animal. We are tired of some of these things and we must be frank about it. ..I think all these matters need to be seriously interrogated …,” Prof. Ocquaye said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Council said the implementation of the SHS Policy must be a collective responsibility of all key stakeholders instead of leaving it on the shoulders of the Government alone.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wcfNdni1aDNmfwG55iR3VNHfmnuFWSqu”]“Considering the history of educational development in the country, we are convinced that the success of the Free SHS Policy must be a collective responsibility,” Reverend Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, the General Secretary of the CCG, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Sunday.

While commending the Government for its efforts at fulfilling the campaign promise, Rev Opuni-Frimpong said it needed to engage stakeholders to do more deliberations to ensure the smooth take off of the Policy in September.

The Parents-Teacher Associations (PTAs) the SHS level, Old Students Associations, and religious and traditional leaders are some of the stakeholders who could contribute substantially towards the provision of school infrastructure and their maintenance within the framework of the Policy, he said.

“Government has been very consistent and has sustained its pledge by implementing the free SHS Policy, which is very commendable.

“However, what is not certain at the moment is what the role of the key stakeholders would be under the Free SHS Policy,” Rev Opuni-Frimpong said.

He said because of the useful role stakeholders had played over the years in the education system, they were able to demand accountability from the managers of schools in ensuring quality education for Ghanaian students.

He said the PTAs, for instance, were billing parents, which they used as funds to help in providing some infrastructure and extra classes for the students, all geared towards enhancing teaching and learning.

“Now the Government is saying all infrastructure, feeding, and textbooks will be free, so the stakeholders must be properly engaged to see what role they will continue to play.

“We should not assume any role for any stakeholder, there must be proper engagements with clear-cut roles,” Rev Opuni-Frimpong said.

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Source: GNA

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The General Secretary of the Council, Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong in a statement copied to citifmonline.com, said 2017 presents new opportunities as well as challenges, and as such, the country must do well to handle these well to ensure it makes progress.

“One area Ghanaians must pay attention to in the coming year is our National Confidence. In our efforts to seek hope outside ourselves, we must pay attention to the potentials within us that must be identified and developed.”

He added that, “our hope and confidence within must inspire us to take advantage of the opportunities and surmount the challenges.”

“We must build confidence in ourselves and work hard towards making our state institutions, private sector and other sectors of the economy work much more efficiently.”

He stressed the incoming government will face difficulty executing all of its projects if the citizenry have no confidence in them.

Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong also expressed appreciation to God for the gift of peace and tranquility in the country for 2016.

He also urged the government to initiate pragmatic steps to help Ghanaians especially the youth build confidence that the country can support their development, and charged State institutions such as the Security agencies, Judiciary, health, education among others, to work at winning the trust and confidence of the population.

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong further implored citizens to offer the needed support to the new government, assuring that the Christian Council of Ghana will continue its public education, sensitization and prayers for peace and harmony in Ghana.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said, Ghanaians must avoid all activities that may spark violence within the electioneering period.

“As we approach election 2016, I want to appeal to every citizen of Ghana to approach this election as peaceful as we can. We are only seeking to elect leaders for our country. Election is not war but it is a time to find leaders for our people. We should go to the polls and make it as peaceful as we can,” he said.

Speaking an exclusive video published ahead of Wednesday’s polls, Rev Adu-Gyamfi, who is also the Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, insisted that the electoral process is “not war”but only a process to democratically elect a President to lead the country hence must be undertaken in a peaceful manner.

‘Christian Council warns candidates over tribal politics’

Ahead of the elections the Christian council cautioned the two leading political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against engaging in tribal politics.

The Council said campaign on tribal lines posed a great threat to the future of the country and was also unhealthy for the country’s growing democracy.

‘Christian council concerned over election prophesies’

The Council had earlier expressed concern over the growing phenomenon of Christian leaders predicting election results.

According to the council, such incident erodes the confidence Ghanaians have in Christian leaders.

The General Secretary of the Council, Reverend Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, said such prophesies may not be coming from God.

In an interview on the subject in November, he called for religious tolerance and the need to respect one’s religion to avoid tendencies that would mar the beauty of the country’s democracy.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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He advised them to keep their prophecies to themselves since it had a greater percentage of creating unreasonable tension in the country ahead of the impending elections.

Rev Opuni-Frimpong made the call in Accra at the 8th annual interfaith symposium on the theme: “Religions for Peace: Promoting Healthy Participation in the Political Life of Ghana” oragnised by the Presbyterian Interfaith Research and Resource Centre.

He appealed to religious leaders to be neutral and objective in the discharge of their duties, adding that they are supposed to serve as mediators and not affiliate themselves to political parties.

The Rev Minister urged religious leaders to use their positions to educate the masses on the need to ensure peace before, during and after the December 7 polls since they have the power of influence over their people.

He called for religious tolerance and the need to respect one another’s religion and avoid any tendencies that would mar the beauty of the country’s democracy.

He appealed to state institutions to be fair and transparent in the discharge of their duties to gain public confidence and trust ahead of the elections.

Alhaji Ahmad Suleman Anderson, General Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Ghana said politics was about seeking the welfare of the people and the not the parochial interest of politicians.

He commended authorities for banning vigilante groups in the country since he believed their activities brought about uneasiness and was a recipe for violence.

Alhaji Anderson urged all to guard against tribalism since it posed danger to national development.

Mr Prosper Bani, the Minister of Interior, said there was the need for all to collaborate with the relevant state institutions to promote healthy participation in the political life of the country.

He appealed to Ghanaians to support each others’ efforts and those of governmental institutions in conflict prevention, the promotion of peace in society and peaceful co-existence.

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Source: GNA

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