Religious leaders in Kumasi participate in social dialogue on human rights

The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana an independent, not-for-profit research and advocacy think tank, working to advance democracy, good governance, and inclusive economic growth, has been engaging religious and faith-based leaders on human rights and rights-based approach to protecting and respecting the rights of sexual minorities in Ghana.

Dubbed social dialogue, participants freely discuss emerging issues bothering on LBGTQ+, human rights as contained in Ghana’s constitution and other international conventions, clause by clause analysis of the Ghanaian Family Values Bill and its implications, amongst several other topics.

Speaking to the media after one of such social dialogue sessions held in Kumasi, Rev Peter Osei Aboagye of the Steps of Victory Church in Kumasi called for closer collaboration and teamwork among the clergy to change people’s mindset and approach to issues relating to the rights of minorities.

He said if the clergy fail to speak with one voice against any attempt to gag minority groups in society, they will have themselves to blame if laws are passed in that direction.

Broad consultations required
“Before any bill is passed, lawmakers must come down and explain to us, seek our views before passing it but in this instance, the bill has been passed before being explained to us,” he further stated.

Rev. Osei Aboagye believed there are existing laws in the 1992 Constitution that deal with same sex marriage, lesbianism and other related offences and so there was no need to reinvent the wheel.

Bishop Christian Antwi-Boasiako of His Image Ministries located at Abrepo, a suburb of Kumasi, also added his voice to the call on parliament to broaden the discussions around the anti-gay bill to accommodate diverse inputs in the interest of peace and harmony among the citizens.

Human rights
A Senior Programmes Officer of CDD Ghana, Dr. Michael Augustus Akagbor, stated that human rights are not contingent on anything or whatever one does.

“We should think of Ghana, it is neither a Biblical State nor an Islamic State. It is a Christian society not a State. There is a difference between a society and a state. The state has legal principles that underpin its operations. Society is free. I can choose to be a Christian today, and I can choose to be a Muslim tomorrow. You can’t force me. But if I go against the rules of the state, the state has coercive powers over me,” he added.

He emphasised that people’s personal or private things should remain as such, adding that: “You can disagree with someone on what the person does in private, but it does not in any way deprive the person of his right to education, health, etc.”

Lawyer William Nyarko, the Executive Director of the Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), a non-profit and non-partisan think tank, took the participants through the controversial Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, which was passed by Parliament earlier this year.

He explained that all the general provisions in the Bill that have implications for the public applies to the clergy, religious instructors and a host of other categories of people.

Lawyer William Nyarko stated that the Bill appears to contravene some existing provisions in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

He mentioned some of these provisions as Article 21 (General Fundamental Freedoms), Article 14 (Protection to Personal Liberty), Article 15 (Respect for human dignity), Article 17 (Equality and freedom from discrimination), Article 18 (protection of privacy of home and other property), Article 13 (right to life in re-mob injustice), Article 25 (education rights) and Article 24 (economic rights).

Prof. James Dzisah, a Senior Lecturer at the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana took the participants through “religion, secularism and democratic rights.”