• The Church of Pentecost has presented 15,000 signatures to support the bill
• Apostle Eric Nyamekye believes God should have the final say on how humans should live
The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, has presented a document to Parliament, containing the signatures of 15,000 of its members in support of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill currently before the House.
According to him, this is only a fraction of its members who support the move by the legislative body to make it an illegal practice for persons who support the gay community to continue to push their agendas to be regularized.
Speaking to GhanaWeb at Parliament House in Accra after they presented to the parliamentarians, Apostle Eric said they can even present as much as 2 million signatures should they be allowed time.
"The Church of Pentecost is over 3.1 million, and about 10.38% of the Ghanaian population and we have brought in 15,000 signatures. I believe that this is significant enough, if they give us time, we can even bring 2 million just to make a statement that this bill, we support it 100%," he said.
The COP is supported by the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Apostolic Church of Ghana, the Gaco Ministry, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Ghana Clergy Council, the Christian Council of Ghana, the Assemblies of God, and the Islamic Council of Ghana.
Apostle Eric Nyamekye said that in addition, they are supporting the Members of Parliament fronting this bill with prayers, hopeful that they will provide the right arguments to support the bill's passage into law.
He also explained that they hope that by this, they can root out this behaviour that is alien to God and his original intent for creation.
"So, we are praying for the parliamentarians to make good arguments. They should know that there is a creation; this is a sovereign state - that the whole world is a sovereign state with a ruler and the one who created us reserves the right to tell us how to behave. If we leave the right to behaviour in the hands of the creation then soon, every lifestyle will be shielded by law till we have some anarchy state: lawlessness in this nation.
"Now, if you want to have sex with a beast, they say it's okay. If you want to have sex with a pig, they say it's okay. If I want to marry my daughter, it's okay. If I want to have sex with a tree, it's okay. I mean so where are we going? The issue is not about rights; the issue is about morality - what is right and what is wrong," he said.
A number of lawmakers in Ghana's Parliament are pushing for the criminalization of LGBTQ+ acts.
A section of Ghanaian liberals on social media have however been debating whether a bill proposal to criminalize LGBTQ+ acts is apt.
Though homosexual acts in Ghana are punishable by imprisonment and considered to be against the socio-cultural and religious norms and teachings, the latest move would be one that will definitely not be welcomed by some liberals.
Leading the pack in terms of social media activism for the anti-LGBTQ+ bill is Ningo-Prapram MP, Samuel Nartey George, who has not shied away from his stance to ensure the bill is passed by parliament.
The other MPs on the list are Bedzrah Emma Kwasi, Helen Adjoa Ntoso, John Ntim Fordjour, Alhassan Suhuyini, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, Dafeamekpor Etse Rockson Nelson and Della Sowah.
