Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has asserted that the recent passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill by Parliament will not succeed in eradicating homosexuality.
The comprehensive bill effectively criminalizes LGBTQ activities, along with the promotion, advocacy, and funding of such activities. Those found guilty could face severe legal consequences, including a jail term ranging from 6 months to 3 years for individuals involved in LGBTQ activities, while promoters and sponsors of the act could face even stiffer penalties with a 3 to 5 year jail term.
Expressing his reservations on the matter, Reverend Gyamfi highlighted that imprisoning individuals solely based on their sexual orientation is unlikely to achieve the desired results. Instead, he cautioned that such measures might further exacerbate the prevalence of these activities within the society.
Although Rev Gyamfi reiterated the church’s support for the passage of the bill, he told Umaru Sanda Amadu in an interview on Citi FM on Thursday, February 29, that there was a need for a review of the sanctions.
He emphasised the need for more reformative and corrective sanctions.
“We think that in the case of this particular law and the way it is being implemented, being placed in prison as the punishment that they have chosen, it is not going to solve the problem. Because you see if you round up same-sex people and you know our prisons, they are going to end up in the same room and what is going to prevent them from going through these activities in the prison?
“And you are not going to put them there forever because they are going to be there for three months to six months. And then they practice this and come out as more experts at it than when you sent them there. Then you release them back into society. So, what is going to happen?
“That is why we were concerned about a punishment that will correct them, that will reform them. So if the government is going this way or if the parliament is going this way that is why we are suggesting that in the prison there, they should add more of the corrective and reformative measures,” he stated.
