‘When the debate is lost, insult becomes the tool of the loser’ – Prof Manuh replies Sam George

Emerita Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh has responded to an allegation by the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, that she and other Ghanaians speaking against the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (anti-gay bill) have been paid to advocate against the bill.

Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb, on Thursday, February 29, 2024, Prof Manuh, a former Director of the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, said that the MP has resorted to insults because he knows the bill he is fighting to pass into law is not fit for purpose.

She explained that there are already existing laws that prohibit unnatural canal activities and abuse of children and there is no need for the anti-gay bill which she said sets up LGBT+ persons for discrimination and unwarranted attacks.

“You have heard about the philosopher, Socrates. Socrates said that ‘when the debate is lost insult becomes the loser’s tool.’

"So, when you start calling people lesbians; when you start saying they are taking money, you are not making a debate. It means that you have lost the debate.

“You may have passed your law but you know very deep down that it is not fit to start with so you start demonising, calling people names. I repeat; ‘When the debate is lost insult becomes the tool of the loser,” she told GhanaWeb's journalist.

The professor challenged Sam George to prove that she has been taking money from LGBTQ+ groups to advocate against the anti-gay bill.

She indicated that she would take legal action against the MP to maintain her reputation.

“First, I have the protection of the law, if someone defames me that I have been taking money, they have to prove it, I don’t have to prove anything. The person who is alleging must prove and I have a remedy in the law. So, whether people are going to say I am going around collecting money, I’m not going to go down to their level and come back with other so-called allegations. I would not stoop to their level but I would make sure that my reputation is protected.”

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What Sam George said:

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM, on Thursday, February 29, 2024, Sam George, alleged that Prof Takyiwaa Manuh and Prof Audrey Gadzekpo have been paid by LGBT+ groups to advocate against the anti-gay bill.

“Do you realise the lack of intelligence and lack of logic in that argument? If all of the portions of the bill are in already existing laws, which is actually a fact, why are the same people running around now saying that the bill must be killed because it infringes on human rights?

“Why have they not gone to court to challenge all the other existing laws? Let me tell you something, Prof Audrey Gadzekpo, Takyiwaa Manuh, CDD, all of them, they are doing this because of money."

He reiterated, “They are taking money to do this. I’m putting it on record that they are all being funded by pro-LGBTQ groups. They are taking money to do the advocacy that they are doing.”

About the passage of the anti-gay bill:

The Parliament of Ghana on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, widely known as the anti-LGBT+ bill.

The bill, currently awaiting presidential assent, proscribes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalizes their promotion, advocacy, and funding.

Persons caught in these acts will be subjected to a six-month to three-year jail term, with promoters and sponsors facing a three to five-year jail term.

The bill will now require presidential assent to come into force within 7 days.

However, if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refuses to assent to the bill, parliament by a 2/3 majority vote can approve it into law.

Listen to Prof Takyiwaa Manuh's remarks in the audio slide below:



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