Your analysis is big on form but poor on substance – Adom-Otchere ‘shreds’ memo by pro-LGBTQ+ group

• The coalition against the anti-LGBTQ+ bill says it is unlawful to regulate people's behavior based on religion

• Paul Adom-Otchere believes says the group got it wrong

• He says the preamble of the Constitution recognizes the role of God in the lives of Ghanaians

A key argument advanced by the eighteen eminent Ghanaians who are opposed to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, is the view that the bill is fueled by religious beliefs and with Ghana being a secular state, it will not only be wrong but also unlawful to seek to regulate people’s behavior based on religion.

In their press conference held last week, the coalition pressed home this view as a main flaw in the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.

Their argument has however been rejected by the host of Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme, who describes it as being ‘big on substance but short on form.’

In a touch screen analysis of the statement by the group, Paul Adom-Otchere said whiles the crafting of the statement makes for good reading with flowery language and legalese, it will not stand the test of time when subjected to strict proof.

Whereas Adom-Otchere agrees that Ghana is indeed a secular state, he submitted that the preamble of the 1992 Constitution which mentions ‘God’ is an indication that the country recognizes God or religion in its activities.

He motions that "God" as cited in the preamble of the Constitution means Ghana has tenets or dictates that must be followed which invariably makes the country a religious one.

“This is a clear case of substance and form. The form of what they present here is true but the substance is not true…. The preamble of the Constitution says ‘in the name of the Almighty God …’ Whiles it is not a theocracy, it has placed the religious and internal God at the centre of conversations that follow the Constitution. I don’t think their claim is entirely correct.

“It is true that Ghana is not a monarchy and not a traditional authority but the preamble of the constitution talks about Almighty God, so which Almighty God are they talking about? That Almighty God, has He got tenets? Should the tenets of that Almighty God reflect in the lives of the people?

“This analysis presented by the 18 is big on form but short on substance. It’s big on form because of the legal and scholarly activities you can see in there. It’s only form but short on substance,” he said.

Adom-Otchere also noted that the coalition shied away from addressing the point about same-sex relations being a threat to human existence.

He observed that the Akoto Ampaw-led group only made mention of the point but failed to interrogate it as they did for others. The coalition comprises some of the country’s foremost academicians and lawyers and is opposed to the passage of the "The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill of 2021".

They hold the view that, if passed into law, it will become the biggest abuse of the fundamental human rights of some Ghanaians.