Former deputy Trade Minister has berated President Nana Akufo-Addo for not being “definite” on his stance on homosexuality, accusing the president of surrounding himself with gays at the presidency.
Murtala Mohammed suggested that for not toeing the lines of leaders, such as the late Prof. Atta Mills, Kenyan’s Uhuru Kenyatta who were outright in their rejection of homosexuality, President Akufo-Addo has failed to protect the African value against the act.
President Akufo-Addo told international news agency, Aljazeera, that homosexuality is bound to be legalised in Ghana looking at the mounting trend of activism.
“I think it is something that is bound to happen like elsewhere in the world,” the Ghanaian leader conceded in that interview which has attracted varied reactions, some being critical of the president.
Though Ghana’s law does not specifically mention homosexuality, many interpreted sexual offences under Chapter 6 of the country’s Criminal Code, 1960 (ACT 29) Section 104 to include homosexuality.
Section 104 Subsection 2 states, “Unnatural carnal knowledge is sexual intercourse with a person in an unnatural manner or with an animal.”
When the president’s interview came under scrutiny on TV3’s New Day, Saturday, the National Nasara Coordinator of the New Patriotic Party, Kamal-Deen Abdulai, was emphatic that the president, like many Ghanaians, is against homosexuality.
But Murtala Mohammed sought to dispute this position as he thundered along the discussion: “There are gays at the Flagstaff House…they are uncomfortable with this topic…there are three (gays) at the Flagstaff House. There are three of them at the Flagstaff House”.
Murtala Mohammed who is a former Member of Parliament for Nantong however felt short of mentioning names of the three gays at the presidency.
However, his revelation may not come as a surprise to some who have in the past accused some functionaries of the New Patriotic Party as being gay but have not also mustered courage to point fingers.
By Isaac Essel |3news.com | Ghana