The National House of Chiefs has served notice that it would not countenance activities of the LGBTQ community as custodians of the traditions and customs of the people.
“LGBTQ is evil and abominable to our cultural values and we, the chiefs as the custodians of the customs and tradition of our people wish to state categorically that our traditions recognise that God created man and woman to occupy the earth and procreate.
There is, therefore, only male and female gender. The Bible and the Quran affirms this fact, hence it is an abomination against all our cultural values to allow others to import into our country anything contrary to our customs, Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, President of the House, stated this at a meeting in Kumasi.
He said “We the chiefs and our subjects declare that we will not allow any group to propagate any cause, conduct or behaviour called LGBTQ+ or similar in Ghana.”
Ogyeahoho Gyebi said the practice was not only immoral, but also an affront and infringement on cherish Ghanaian cultural values and called on the relevant national institutions to take the necessary steps to nib it in the bud.
“We call on all Ghanaians to support the chiefs in upholding the decency and sacredness of our culture, values and traditions,” he said.
The President also spoke on other national issues including illegal mining, chieftaincy disputes, Green Ghana Initiative and urged chiefs to complement efforts of the government in addressing them.
Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, said LGBTQ was alien to Ghanaians and that he was personally opposed to it.
“We will do everything to protect our tradition and make sure we do not buy into any tradition that is alien to us,” he assured.
He applauded the chiefs for the important role they continue to play in national development and assured them of government’s commitment to work closely with them for the collective good of the people.
“You are not only providing traditional leadership but also a partner in promoting peace, democracy and good governance,” he said.
From Yussif Ibrahim, Kumasi
GNA
