No grounds for homosexuality, lesbianism in Ghana

Seth Nketiah, Regent University College of Science and Technology, Accra sethnketiah03599888@yahoo.com

As a developing nation challenged with many obstacles, the least thing expected is to be drawn into the debate of people’s sexual orientation (preference) vis-à-vis the culture, dignity, moral and development of its social fiber. Much as there is a high level of appreciation of the universal rights of people to life and that no one has the right to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of sex, creed, belief, religion, association, etc, etc, we must be equally concerned about the actions and inactions and the consequences of certain rights that are un-developmental especially in our part of the world where common malaria eradication has eluded us for years and no one is certain when that is possible.

One wonders if any dignified, normal and sane person with the right and freedom to maximize his/her talents for his/her personal benefit and the society at large has any other sexual preference apart from what the opposite sex can offer. The issue of lesbianism, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) should not be tolerated under any circumstances as it contradicts the spirit and letter of our Constitution and the laws of the land carefully tailored to develop our cultures and beliefs for the maximum and sustainable growth of the individual, the society and for the enhancement of our economic well-being and which are founded on spirit of the UN.

All human rights issues are developmental. This means that giving rights to people also connotes responsibility from them to safeguard the collective interest of all. This is the only way development can be achieved and sustained. Hence, it makes sense to curtail any rights that are inimical to human development.

The UN Human Rights and Freedoms: According to the UN Declaration of Human Rights G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948) adopted and proclaimed on December 10, 1948 by the General Assembly “…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” It went further in Article 16 that: • (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. • (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. • (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. In Article 29: • (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. • (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana:

In Chapter 5 Article 12(2) of the 1992 Costitution: “Every person in Ghana, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, religion, creed or gender shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual contained in this chapter but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest.”

In 15 (1), it talks about the dignity of all person as “inviolable”. The question is: Is LGBT a dignified practice as far as our social, economic, cultural, moral, and developmental issues are concerned? Certainly not and much as our laws do not give credence to this lunatic practice we have every rights as a society to put a stop to it. In furtherance to this, Article 26(2) makes it clear that “All customary practices which dehumanize or are injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person are prohibited.” Can we say that the destruction caused to the scrotal tissue leading to energetic and strong people wearing diapers with all the health problems not a physical injury? What about the dehumanizing tendency terminating the process of procreation? Have we forgotten the economic and social development suffered which are the cornerstones of our aspiration of which the laws of the land duly protect? And is the practice of interest to the public and its intended aspirations?

The import of the UN and Ghanaian declarations:

Both the UN and our own Constitution strongly give credence to the family, morality and dignity as the critical organ support system for humanity’s existence and aspiration to better its environment. There cannot be a family of people is situation of same sex union and if the UN is calling for protection of the family as the” natural and fundamental” unit of the society then it means preventing certain beliefs and activities that do not inure to the very existence of it and its development. And there cannot be any undignified belief and practice that can terminate family existence better than that practice by the collective actions and inactions of lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and their affiliates.

I do not believe there is any difference between taking life and preventing life to exist (terminating procreation) as LGBT leads to with all the scientifically proven health hazards associated with it. In as much as the Constitution gives credence to the protection of right to life as per Article 13(1) and (2) any unnatural practices to deliberately prevent the procreation of humanity must be considered as inhuman and hence not dignify to be allowed to nurture in our society.

The mistaken identity:

I find my soul battered to hear people erroneously construe sex as a gender to mean sexual activity which connotes penile-vaginal natural and morally ethical correlation and related activities thereof with the potential (possibility) of leading to procreation. I do not believe that in filling a form and asked of sex one will indicate his sexual preference as hetero- or homo-sexual.

Conclusion:

If we thought the Ghanaian society in its entire life until now or in the future is ready to accommodate LGBT in the name of ‘unrecognised’ human rights against the embodiment of our laws, cultures and even religion (as all the religious beliefs of our society frown on it), then we must be ready to appreciate the massive resurrection of mating between men and animal and other social vices like suicide (for the rights and freedom to end insurmountable challenges in life, e.g. poverty, filth, hunger, corruption, leadership betrayal,…), etc. At that point we must not blame anyone but ourselves and more especially our intellectual leadership for not providing the needed tools to crack the whip on people who found solace in human rights comfort to ‘sodomise’ our society.

It just cannot be keke. Human insanity, family destruction, health damaging, deepening the cycle of poverty and above all putting the dignity of our society on hold just to satisfy some people will be what we will forever live for. Again if we thought depriving one from the rights and freedom of enjoying one’s faeces is expensive then we should try to promulgate the enjoyment of same. Food for thought!