Ghana’s Catholic bishops have urged President John Dramani Mahama to honor his pledge to sign the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill if Parliament passes it, pushing back against suggestions that debates over LGBTQ+ issues are inconsequential.
In a statement dated April 10 and signed by Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the group responded to recent remarks attributed to Mahama and Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
President Mahama had earlier told the World Affairs Council that LGBTQ+ matters were “not the most important issue we face as a nation,” while Ofosu later described the debate as “not a major priority for Ghanaians” and a “waste of time.”
“Even if intended to prioritise urgent socio-economic concerns, such descriptions risk conveying that certain moral questions may be set aside as inconsequential,” the bishops said. “Yet no question that touches the structure of human identity, family life, and social continuity can be trivial. Nations do not live by bread alone.”
The Conference rejected what it called a “false dichotomy” between economic priorities and moral considerations, arguing that strong family systems are linked to education, reduced crime and economic mobility. “To weaken the moral ecology of the family is to erode the very conditions that make sustainable development possible,” the statement read.
The bishops reaffirmed two principles: the dignity of every individual regardless of sexual orientation, and the responsibility of society to uphold the family founded on the union of a man and a woman. “No individual, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, may be subjected to violence, hatred, or unjust discrimination. Such acts are moral failures and social wounds. We condemn them without reservation,” they said.
On the Bill, the bishops recalled Mahama’s earlier assurance that he would assent if it passed constitutional processes. “Democratic integrity rests, in part, on the fidelity of leaders to their publicly stated commitments. Should Parliament complete its deliberations and pass the Bill, we urge the President to honour this assurance,” they said.
The Conference acknowledged that some provisions of the Bill have raised concerns and should be scrutinized and refined in Parliament. It called for respectful national dialogue among government, religious bodies, traditional authorities and civil society. “The Church remains committed to participating in this dialogue, not as one who imposes, but as one who proposes, confident that truth, when patiently articulated, has a quiet persuasive power,” the statement added.
