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Ghana: Audacity of homosexuals
Homosexual conduct is criminalised by Ghana’s criminal laws.
Section 104 (1) (b) of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) abhors consensual same-sex intercourse and prohibits it.
So, it is very clear that consensual same-sex relations is a criminal offence within the meaning of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act.
The Sexual Offences Act also makes illegal, other sexual acts performed by heterosexuals, thus, suggesting that it is a criminal offence, punishable by the laws of Ghana, for a male to penetrate the anus (sodomy) or mouth of a female or a male with his penis.
Indeed, the only mode of sexual intercourse which does not offend Ghanaian law, is sexual intercourse through the vagina by penile penetration.
What then is homosexuality? It is a romantic attraction or sexual behaviour between members of same-sex or gender.
What is lesbianism too? It is also called sapphism or female homosexuality. It is the tendency of a human female to be emotionally and usually, sexually attracted to other females.
What is gay? Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. It also refers to the community, practices and cultures associated with homosexuality.
Is it natural as to be same-sex attracted? According to the Australian Psychological Society, being same-sex attracted is a natural as being opposite-sex attracted, and that it is not possible to force someone to change their sexuality through any psychological or medical means.
Who is a bisexual? It is romantic or sexual attraction towards both males and females or to more than one sex or gender.
And who is a heterosexual? A person sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex
Across cultures, most people are heterosexuals, with a minority of people having homosexual or bisexual orientation.
According to proponents of gayism, however, some people have difficulty accepting others who are different, whether it is because of their race, sex, sexuality or religion.
They claim that if you are being harassed, judged or made to feel bad about yourself by someone else because of your sexuality, remember that there is nothing wrong with you; and that the problem is the other person’s ignorance and intolerance.
The Humanist Association of Ghana says,” tonnes of research data and anthropological work inform that semi-sex behaviour existed in pre-colonial and pre-Islamic sub-Saharan Africa.
Painfully, we are now witnessing the intrusion of rotten and stinking European and American culture of homosexuality across the African continent.
The Humanist Association of Ghana contends that, “the wave of homophobia currently sweeping our country and large parts of the African continent is the result of works of bigoted homophobic Judeao-Christian missionaries.”
Others, however, vehemently disagree, insisting that “homosexuality today has become a cult; a club and a foundation.”
And some people are promoting and pumping billions of dollars into homosexuality, so that such unusual and abnormal behaviour, should be accepted by force by the world.
This is the strength of the danger and for which matter we must stand up against it as a nation.
It is instructive to recall that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights Ghana, (LGBTQI) as they call themselves, opened their office in Accra on January 31, 2021, with the express intent to spread its tentacles in the country.
The European Union in Ghana has openly thrown its full weight behind the LGBTQI+ promoters in the country, claiming that equality, tolerance and respect for one another are core values of the European Union.
Strong opposition against the emerging LGBTQI+ community in the country is gaining tap-roots. They include the clergy, traditional rulers and teacher unions. They strongly argue that homosexuality is not a rights issue.
They are, therefore, urging the state to disallow the LGBTQI+ community from operating in the country.
The National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, must be commended for its relentless battle against the planting of LGBTQI+ seeds on the fertile soil of Ghana.
The coalition advocates against the activities of LGBTQI+ movement in Ghana. It has called for the office to be closed.
Mr Moses Foh-Amoaning, Executive Secretary of the coalition says; “the existence of a LGBTQI+ office in Accra is illegal and an affront to the laws , traditions and customs of Ghana.”
Foh-Amoaning says, “Ghana has not signed any international law permitting the promotion of LGBTQI+ activities in the country,” stressing that “any attempt by anyone to promote the activities of the group amounts to illegality.”
Foh-Amoaning has chastised the international community in Ghana, “for promoting an act which is alien to the customs and traditions of Ghanaians and which infringes on the sovereignty of our state.”
“The actions of the LGBTQI+ movement is completely at variance with the laws of God as contained in the Holy Bible, concerning God’s plan of creation and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and as ordained by God,” Rev. Professor Paul Frimpong Manso, President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, has said in a press statement he signed and issued in Accra on February 22, 2021.
As a nation, if we succumb to European and American homosexual pressures; if we compromise our consciences; if we mortgage our traditions; then history and posterity will deal bitterly with the current crop of our leaders.
Wherever we find ourselves as leaders in our society we must search our consciences clearly over the raging issue of homosexuality.
For, if we condone the emerging fire of homosexuality and betray the sacred trust reposed in us by our people, we will have done more harm to Ghana than the European imperialists, colonialists and missionaries did to the Gold Coast.
If we debase our nation’s integrity and traditions and barter them away; we will have become worse than the worst of the misguided chauvinistic imperialists.
Refreshingly, however, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, repeatedly says, “the activities of the LGBTQI+ in the country will never be legalised” under his presidency.
By G Frank Asmah
Walk into any supermarket in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale today, and you will see the modern Ghanaian diet packaged as ‘progress.’ You will see breakfast cereals with cartoon mascots, fruit drinks that are mostly sugar and colour, and snacks promising energy and happiness in bright fonts.
Even products loaded with salt and unhealthy fats often wear a health halo labeled as fortified or natural, while the real nutritional risk is hidden in tiny print on the back. This is not just a consumer inconvenience; it is a public health blind spot. Ghana is living through a silent surge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension, diabetes, and stroke.
These conditions quietly drain household income and steal productive years. According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, NCDs are now responsible for nearly 45 per cent of all deaths in Ghana.
We cannot build a healthy nation on a food environment designed to confuse people at the point of purchase. Ghana must mandate simple front-of-pack warning labels (FOPWL) on high-sugar, high-salt, and high-fat packaged foods because consumers deserve truth at a glance, and industry must be pushed to reformulate.
Why Back-of-Pack Labels Are Not Enough
In theory, consumers can read nutrition panels. In reality, most Ghanaians shop under pressure, limited time, rising prices, and children tugging at their sleeves. The back label is a relic that requires a high cognitive load to interpret—essentially, the seller knows what is inside, but the buyer cannot easily tell.
This ‘information asymmetry’ is not fair. It is not consumer choice when the information needed to choose well is deliberately difficult to find.
Simple warning labels like the black octagons used in the Chilean Model act as a ‘stop-and-think’ nudge. They do not ban products but they simply tell the truth so people can decide.
Reshaping Our Food Environment
A generation ago, Ghana’s meals were mostly home-prepared, like kenkey and banku with soups and stews. Today, ultra-processed foods have become the norm, especially in urban areas. Children are growing up with sugary drinks and salty snacks as everyday items, not occasional treats.
If Ghana is serious about prevention, we must act where decisions are made—thus, the shelf. Warning labels protect parents from sugar traps and pressure the market to improve. When warning labels are mandatory, manufacturers start to compete to make healthier recipes to avoid the stigma of the label.
Addressing the Pushback
Industry will argue that labels create fear or that education alone is enough. However, health education is slow; labels work immediately. While the informal street food sector is a challenge, regulating pre-packaged goods is the practical starting point because the supply chain is traceable. We cannot wait until the whole system is perfect; we must start where action is feasible.
A 2026 Implementation Roadmap for Ghana
To move from talk to action, Ghana needs this 5-step plan:
- Issue mandatory regulation: The Ministry of Health, Food and Drug Authority (FDA), and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) must define the label format and nutrient thresholds for all pre-packaged foods.
- Simple, bold symbols: Use plain language and clear symbols, such as “HIGH IN SUGAR,” designed for busy families, not experts.
- Transparent thresholds: Adopt technically defensible standards adapted to the Ghanaian diet.
- Transition and enforce: Provide a 12–18 month period for manufacturers to reformulate, followed by firm enforcement at ports and retail centers.
- National literacy campaign: The Ghana Health Service must pair labels with public messages explaining why high salt or sugar increases disease risk.
Conclusion: Truth Is Not a Luxury
Prevention is cheaper than treatment. A warning label costs little compared to the price of dialysis, stroke rehabilitation, or lifelong diabetes complications. A black octagon on a box of biscuits is more than a label; it is a shield for the health of all Ghanaians. It is time to put the truth where we can see it, right on the front.
By Abigail Amoah Sarfo
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Natives of the Kenkey Kingdom were mad with joy. They were still recovering from the hangover of the kingdom’s loss of the African Cup when their spirits were rekindled. Their great warrior, Zoom Zoom, stormed Melbourne and made sure that every Australian refused food. And that was after he had drawn contour lines on the face of their idol, Jeff Fenech.
Not only did the terrible warrior transform Old Boy Jeff’s face into a contour map useful for geography lessons, but he also accomplished the feat of retaining the much-envied super-kenkeyweight title against all odds. The warrior had not been eating hot kenkey for nothing.
The Fight Against Fenech
When Jeff Fenech bit the dust in the eighth round, I was tempted to consider if Adanko Deka could not have faced him in any twelve-rounder, title or non-title bout. Adanko has improved tremendously, and soon he would be facing Pernell Whitaker.
Sincerely, I was pessimistic about Azumah’s man, who the last time took him through twelve grueling rounds of rough boxing. I expressed my fears to my colleague Christian Abbew, alias Gbonyo, who surprisingly had total confidence that the Australian brawler would fall, predictably in Round Five.
Gbonyo gave reasons for his contention, all of which I counteracted using the age factor. Fact is, I didn’t know that contrary to the laws of nature, Azumah was all the time growing younger.
When Fenech fell briefly in round one, I asked my brother whether it was the same Fenech that fought Azumah in Las Vegas. Sure, it was the same Fenech, all out to beat Azumah before his countrymen.
But the African Professor had no intention of making the Australian a hero. As he spun round the desperate Aussie, dancing and stinging out his jabs, it was not too long before I realized that the end was near.
The Eighth Round Showdown
Two minutes into the eighth round, the African ring-master proved to the whole world that he was a true son of Bukom. He himself was cornered, but like the tough nut he is, he managed to break free before overwhelming the panting Australian with several blows that made him crash headlong.
Moments after, the referee, expressing fatherly sympathy, stopped the fight to prevent an obituary. After the ordeal, Fenech’s fairly handsome face was full of newly constructed hills, valleys, ox-bow lakes—whatever. I noticed that his nose was very tired and had a miniature volcano sitting restlessly on it. Obviously, Jeff’s wife will have to nurse that nose back to its normal shape—but I’d advise her not to use iodine, otherwise her dear husband will wail like a banshee.
Reflections on Boxing
Because Mohammed Ali was the kind of boxer kids liked, many school-going kids often entertained the wish of becoming like him. I remember one day when I told my father I wanted to become a boxer, and he advised me to first complete my education to the highest level. Then, if I decided to become a boxer and was knocked out a couple of times, I’d fall back on my degrees and make a living.
Boxing used to be interesting when bouts were fought more with the mouth and tongue than with gloves. You had to brag well, psychologically belittling your opponent before beating him up physically. Mohammed Ali became a very successful pugilist because he also managed to become a poet. He often blew his horn across America, calling himself the “pretty boxer” and opponents like Joe Frazier “the gorilla.”
Ali made a living fighting hard fists like Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and Trevor Berbick. Twice he came back from retirement to fight just for money. It was Larry Holmes who finally pensioned him, and since then the great Ali has never been himself.
The Path Ahead for Azumah
When Azumah nailed Jeff Fenech on the cross and barked almost immediately that he was after the head of Pernell Whitaker, I was happy but concerned. I would have been happier if he had announced his resignation there and then—he would have been more of a hero. Beating Fenech in Australia is more newsworthy than facing Whitaker in the States.
With Whitaker, it might be a little difficult. The “Sweet Pea” is agile, has a crooked body like a snake with diarrhea, and stands awkwardly as a southpaw. He is known for having the fastest pair of fists and the rare ability to dodge punches no matter how close they may be.
Much as I do not doubt that Azumah can take his title, I also don’t want him to retire beaten. I want him to retire as a hero and live a fuller, healthy life.
As Azumah himself said after dishing Fenech, he is now a professor and has something to show for it. Like a true professor, I think it is time he resigned and took up training young talents who could draw inspiration from him and become like him in the future.
Closing Thoughts
I must say that although ageing boxers like Larry Holmes and George Foreman are making a name for themselves, boxing is not like the Civil Service, where you can even change your age and retire at 74. Zoom Zoom has delighted the hearts of the natives, and Sikaman will forever hold him in high esteem—but only when he retires as a hero.
This article was first published on Saturday, March 7, 1992.
