The five Nzema paramount chiefs have protested vehemently against the statement reportedly made by the Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, a lecturer at the University of Ghana that Nzema people believe in the same sex marriage. They have asked the University don to render an unqualified apology to the people of Nzemaland.
Prof. Gadzekpo in her stout defense for LGBTQ rights reportedly stated in an interview on an Accra based radio station that Nzema and Ga Adangbe people are some of the ethnic groups in the country that believe in the practice of homosexuality.
But addressing a press conference in Sekondi on Friday, the angry Nzema chiefs made it clear that “For emphasis, we reiterate that Nzema marriage has always been and still remains a union of male and female, and never a union between same sex”.
Awulaes Attibrukusu III, Omanhene for lower Axim flanked by other chiefs maintained that at no point in “our history have we ever condoned or practiced homosexuality as a part of our culture.”
He indicated that just as many other ethnic groups identified in Ghana, the Nzema people have a strong sense of identity, laced with a set of values that have been passed down through generations.
Homosexuality and same sex marriage, he further indicated, have never been part of shared values and norms of the Nzemas.
“Not yesterday, not today and not tomorrow – we hereby demand an unqualified apology from Professor Audrey Gadzekpo and urge her and all others in their advocacy to refrain from making baseless and uninformed claims and pronouncements that may create tension and breach of peace in our polity”.
Below is the full statement from the Nzema chiefs;
We address you (Media) as the Chiefs and Custodians of Nzema Customs and Traditions. As leaders born and bred in Nzema and who are deeply engaged in the traditions, customs and history of our ethnic group, we are here to vehemently debunk false and damaging allegations.
This press conference is occasioned by a statement made by Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, a pro-LGBT+ advocate that malign and grossly embarrasses as well as ridicules Nema heritage, social institutions and relationships.
The Nzemas cut across Ghana’s borders into Cote d’Ivoire. As the Chairperson of the esteemed Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), one expects an academic of Professor Gadzekpo’s standing to do assiduous research based on truth, fairness and objectivity into cultural institutions before publicly stating her opinions. This is to prevent the people from being misunderstood and public ridicule.
A modicum of fair mindedness and objectivity as well as an absence of a rash motivation of an insatiable desire to join other forces to impose a Western norm on Ghana, would have made her a bit wary of making a passing reference to an obtuse research work, which serves as a shallow and superficial study of Nzema culture and traditions.
With particular reference to Nzema marriage customs and practices, the work is too trivial to be used to rationalise Prof. Gadzekpo’s continued advocacy for Ghanaians to accept LGBT + through the unfortunate and ill-informed suggestion that homosexuality and same sex marriage is a norm and part of Nzema culture.
Categorically and without any equivocation, we hereby state that the Nzema of both Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire have not and do not practice homosexuality. This practice is perceived as a social aberration and has never been condoned among the Nzema.
Lastly, there is and never has been a place for homosexuality and/or same sex marriage in Nzema culture. The insinuation or allegation that there is homosexuality and same sex marriage within the fabric of Nema culture is not only false, but a grave insult to the essence of the Nzema.
We have walked the hallowed grounds of our land and witnessed the rituals and ceremonies that bind us together and we can attest with utmost certainty that the claims made by Professor Gadzekpo are baseless fabrications. Her outlandish claim is troubling and damaging to our people and our Ancestors.
Throughout our history, our cultural practices have been and are steeped in traditions that uphold values of morality, dignity and integrity.
For emphasis, we reiterate that for the Nzema, marriage has always been and still remains a union of male and female, and never a union between same sex. At no point in our history have we ever condoned or practiced homosexuality as a part of our culture.
Just as many other ethnic identities in Ghana, the Nzema have a strong sense of identity, laced with a set of values that have been passed down through generations.
