The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has urged the government to consider the immediate review of the country’s laws to criminalise homosexuality.
This was contained in a statement signed by Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, spokesperson for the National Chief Imam.
The statement said, going strictly by the Qur’anic teachings and the traditions of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W), regarding the non-negotiable prohibition of same-sex, the Muslim community in Ghana remains resolutely opposed to any attempt to legalise homosexuality as a way of life and asked the government to criminalise the practice.
It said homosexual acts have negative attribution associated with them, which forms the “basis for prohibitions of indecency, unprecedented abomination, unnatural lust for same-sex and a route to wasteful and distractive life.”
The statement said the Islamic religion stands vehemently opposed to homosexual inclinations because it constitutes a dangerous threat to the existence and sanctity of human family values.
It said LGBTQI do not uphold divine guidance as a means to happiness and a fulfilled life and that it emanates from a “Godless, secular humanistic worldview in which God has no place in the equation.”
Anti-Ghana
LGBTQI, it said, is contradictory to the country’s national belief and worldview, adding, “Ghana’s firm belief in God is firmly captured in national symbols such as the national anthem, the national pledge and the Oath of office”, and that the said LGBTQI community was a great threat to Ghana’s national value system.
It said Ghana’s socio-cultural, religious, and moral space have come under force confrontation with the proponents of the “abhorrent” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) movement in Ghana.
The statement called on all citizens to “engage in serious prayers for God’s interventions to free the proponents of LGBTQI from their sinful and deviant worldview.”
Though sodomy is a misdemeanour in Ghana, the crime is rarely prosecuted, while the law is silent on homosexuality.
Criminal code
Under the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), as amended to 2003 [R1.3] Section 104, “Whoever has unnatural carnal knowledge of any person of the age of sixteen years or over without his consent shall be guilty of a first-degree felony and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years and not more than twenty-five years…”
Unnatural carnal knowledge is defined “as sexual intercourse with a person in an unnatural manner or with an animal”.
Credit: GNA
