Citi Newsroom misleads the Ghanaian Public about the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference memo about LGBT bill.

Rightify Ghana accuses Ms. Leticia Osei from Citi Newsroom of deceiving the public with her article entitled "Catholic Bishops back anti-gay bill but want rights of homosexuals respected.”

She stated that a paper was submitted by the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (GCBC) after Cardinal Peter Turkson encouraged Ghanaians to understand homosexuality rather than criminalize homosexuals.

She writes that "The GCBC in the paper affirmed its support for the bill’s objective to protect the institution of family and promote proper sexual human rights in Ghana. The Conference believes that the bill aligns with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church and the values held by a significant portion of the Ghanaian population."

Where she gets into trouble is when she writes.

"The paper presented by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference comes on the back of the pronouncement by Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson in a BBC interview where he stated that homosexuality should not be a criminal offence and people should be helped to understand the issue better."

If you say that one thing happens on the back of another thing," writes Collins Dictionary "you mean that it happens after that other thing and in addition to it."

Below her article she copied and pasted the memo while conveniently omitting the date on which it was written. The memo was dated 28th of September 2021. A scanned copy of it can be found here.

Ms. Leticia Osei's article leads the public to believe that the GCBC is presently reaffirming an anti-LGBT stance. In reality, members are having a change of heart and are increasingly open to learning as stated three days ago.

By publishing this article, Citi Newsroom even goes beyond demonstrating disinterest in informing the public on this pressing issue in light of these recent developments. It is hiding crucial information and distorting the facts, thereby misleading the public as Rightify accuses.

It is surprising that Citi Newsroom would risk its reputation as a credible news source to run this story. It is then advisable to retract that article and republish it with the date of the original memo.

All other memos can be located here: