The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has cornered President John Dramani Mahama after refusing to sign the anti-gay bill.
On Tuesday, January 14, President Mahama in a meeting with the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference hinted at his reluctance to legislate the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
He revealed that the bill should be government-sponsored, which would be more effective than the current Private Member’s bill.
John Mahama stated, “For the bill to have broader legitimacy and a higher chance of success, it should ideally come with government backing”.
“We won’t need a bill to enforce our family values, and that’s why I think more than even the Family Values Bill, it’s us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they’re growing up so that we don’t need to legislate it”, he added.
However, the Catholic Bishops have boldly told John Mahama that the fact that the Family Values Bill should be taught in schools does not rule out the fact that it should be made into law.
According to the Catholic Bishops, Ghanaians are overwhelmingly in favour of the bill, so they don’t want to use any technical words to demean what Ghanaians want.
President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference Most Reverend Matthew Gyamfi stated, “What we want is that it is made into a law. That does not mean that it cannot be taught in schools if it is made into a law. Many of our laws are taught in schools through civic education and other things.
“So, the fact that it should be taught does not rule out the fact that it should be made into a law. Ghanaians are overwhelmingly in favour of it, so we don’t want the use of any technical words to demean what Ghanaians want”, he added.
