Oye Lithur Condemns 'Sharia' MP's Comments

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection has condemned comments made by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Daboya/Makanrigu, Nelson Abudu Banni, which suggested that adulterous women should be stoned or hanged. �This is not government�s position, we condemn the statement. This is not the position of the government and the people of Ghana,� Nana Oye Lithur, emphasised in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM. �Our Ministry has the mandate to also protect women�we do not condone violence. We actually work to protect women against violence and we will continue to do that,� she added. Nelson Abudu Baani suggested that stoning or hanging adulterous women should be considered during deliberations on the Interstate Succession bill in Parliamen tlast Thursday. His comments triggered widespread condemnation from the public, with many questioning how he got elected to Parliament in the first place. He initially defended his comments on Accra-based Starr Friday, noting that stoning or hanging unfaithful women to death would serve as a deterrent to other adulterous women. �When I was going through the [Interstate Succession] bill I realised that there is no punishment for women, so I said if it is so, then they should put in some punishments so that any woman who wants to inherit her husband when he dies would be faithful�. When asked if it is a right form of punishment for women to be stoned to death because they have cheated, he responded, �Yes that is my view�. Abudu Bani however backtracked on Monday, stressing that his comments were misconstrued and offered an apology. He said he did not call for Ghanaian women to be stoned or hanged, but was only drawing attention to the fact that that was the practice is some countries. �Anyway, well, if what I have said people don�t understand it, I apologise. I am sorry, I am not cruel. I only set an example that some countries this is what they do. But there should be some reforms other than that after this bill is passed, we�ll see a lot of confusion,� he told Joy FM in an interview.