Remember a few days ago when we reported that the Western Region Minister of Ghana Paul Evans Aidoo decided it was time to round up and arrest all of the homos? Well it seems that there are those in Ghana willing to stand up to Aidoo’s reprehensible demands.
Ghanaian journalist Nathan Gadugah of Joy News reports that:
A lawyer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has challenged the legitimacy of the minister’s action.
Ernest Kofi Abotsie told Joy News’ Dzifah Bampoh that no person can be arrested for breach of morality, explaining that the law on “unnatural carnal knowledge” in the criminal code is still ambiguous and cannot necessarily be said to be the same as homosexuality.
He faulted the minister for directing the police to embark on the arrest of homosexuals, arguing that the police, by their professional training, must be seen to be carrying out their duty if there is the breach of law—without being prompted.
But he pointed out there is need to test the law pertaining to having unnatural canal knowledge of another person and pursuit should be as far as to the Supreme Court.
Behind The Mask, “the voice of Africa’s LGBTI community,” spoke with leaders of a Ghanaian gay-rights group, who—while remaining anonymous—denounced Aidoo and other anti-LGBT forces: “The activists felt that when the head of state condemns homosexuality and promises to combat it, it becomes clear that anti-gay activists and media pundits who have been spewing homophobic rhetoric have influenced him… The LGBT activists say the development is extremely worrying because it introduces new potential threats that might be sponsored by the state.”
And while Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo has called for the arrests and states that “all efforts are being made to get rid of these people in society,” it has not been reported that the witchhunt has officially begun. We’ll be following this story closely.
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David Ehrenstein
“Prison story?” Hell — they’re going to be executed. This is nothign short ofgenocide on a massive scale.
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2011/07/21/fait-diver-%e2%80%9cthis-isn%e2%80%99t-happening-this-can%e2%80%99t-be-happening%e2%80%9d/
Kev C
Where will they put them all? Do they have enough jails to hold the millions of homosexuals in Ghana?
Dallas David
Germany all over again, but this time it’s thanks to American Christian Fundamentalists.
Ross
Women are also treated as subhuman.
Life for many of them involves constant rape and violence.
I swear, heterosexual men will cause the ultimate destruction of this world.
Crysta Lynn
Gotta wonder what all the “normal” men will do once all the women have been killed… And homosexuality is a crime punishable by death…
Um, dying nation anyone? Maybe they will invade their neighbors and steal their wimenz…
paulcanning
Of course there are people in Ghana standing up for ‘the homos’. There is a debate going on in Ghana *because there is a strong civil society and people standing up. This Minister’s arrest threat is a reaction to that debate.
Read more about the background to what is going on here http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/07/audio-in-ghana-is-it-getting-worse-for.html
steve
thanks to european colonialism Africa is in the shape that it is in today! homophobia is completely western spread by the church and colonialists. we see that glbt is not unAfrican by looking at surviving african religions (Condomble in Brazil and another in Suriname) and by looking at the glbt people struggling to reclaim their freedom in Africa today. Fuerza Africa!