Anti-Gay Bill: For this battle, you’ll receive a new anointing – Agyinasare prays for Sam George

For championing a bill against the advocacy and legalization of same-sex relationships in Ghana, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, was the receiver of tonnes of prayers on Sunday, October 10.

The leader and founder of Perez Chapel, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, anointed the MP, an elder of the church, for the ‘task’ ahead before the close of service.

“For this battle, You [God] will bring a new anointing upon him and great grace. We say no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper…protect him, protect his family,” Bishop Agyinasare prayed.

Acknowledging the support of his spiritual leader, the MP in a Facebook post said:

“Thanks so much, Papa, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, for always standing with me through thick and thin. I believe the GOD who called you would never let us down. We shall succeed. We shall prevail”.

Background

The anti-gay bill which was first read in parliament on August 2, 2021, is spearheaded by eight legislators: MP for Ningo-Prampram Sam George, Ho West MP Emmanuel Bedzrah, MP for Kpando Della Adjoa Sowah, and John Ntim Fordjour, the MP for Assin South.

Discussions about LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana touch on sensitive chords: culture and religion. Crusaders behind the bill base their arguments on the belief that LGBTQI+ activities are alien to the country’s cultural norms and values and are also frowned upon by all major religious groups in Ghana.

The Christian Council of Ghana – an umbrella body of Christian churches in Ghana – has declared its support to the bill. “The council wishes to state unequivocally that it supports the bill and prays that it will see the light today… Let us protect the good family system that we have inherited from our forebears,” it said in an official statement.

The Office of the National Chief Imam also supports the bill stating, “homosexuality is a deviant behaviour totally unacceptable in Islam. Although our religion allows us the latitude to ponder and reconsider some issues, homosexuality is certainly not one of them”.

The bill seeks to criminalize LGBTQI+ advocacy and its practice for at least five years.

However, an 18-member group campaigning against the bill’s passage argues that “the bill violates all the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution”, adding that when passed into law, it would send Ghana to the dark ages of lawlessness.

“The bill violates virtually all the key fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the constitution, namely the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to assemble, freedom of association and the right to organize, the right to freedom from discrimination and the right to human dignity,” leader of the group, Lawyer Akoto Ampaw said at a press conference on Monday (October 4).

Other members of the 18 member group are Professor Emerita Takyiwaaa Manuh, Communication Specialist, Professor Kwame Karikari, Professor Kofi Gyimah-Boadi, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo of the Department of Communication Studies, and Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, Dr Yao Graham, Professor Dzodzi Tsikata and Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh of Centre of Democratic Development (CDD).