Prez Akufo Addo And Gay Marriage Saga: Presidency Releases Statement
President Nana Akufo-Addo has not given approval for same-sex marriage in Ghana, the Presidency has said.
This was contained in a statement released on Saturday 28 April 2018 by Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, which further emphasised that: “For the avoidance of doubt, President Akufo-Addo has never stated anywhere that, under his presidency, ‘men will marry men, and women will marry women' . Indeed, the President remains focused on delivering on his mandate, and improving on the quality of lives of the Ghanaian people. It will not be under his Presidency that same-sex marriage will be legalised in Ghana”.
The statement from the Presidency was in reaction to comments purported to be attributed to General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, to the effect that President Nana Akufo-Addo has endorsed same-sex marriage.
However, the Presidency states that : “This is nothing but a baseless and vile fabrication, by no less a person than the General Secretary of the leading opposition party in Ghana”.
Below is the statement from the Presidency:
RE: PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO HAS APPROVED GAY MARRIAGE
The attention of the Office of the President has been drawn to comments made by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress,Johnson Asiedu Nketia,as reported by the online news outlet,The Pulse,to the effect that same-sex marriage has been approved by President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking at the NDC's health/unity walk, on Saturday, 28th April, 2018, in Kumasi, the NDC General Secretary is reported to have stated that "Nana Addo says men will marry men, and women will marry women.
"This is nothing but a baseless and vile fabrication, by no less a person than the General Secretary of the leading opposition party in Ghana. For the avoidance of doubt, President Akufo-Addo has NEVER stated anywhere that, under his presidency, “men will marry men, and women will marry women".
Indeed, the President remains focused on delivering on his mandate, and improving on the quality of lives of the Ghanaian people. It will NOT be under his Presidency that same-sex marriage will be legalised in Ghana.
We will neither ask for an apology or retraction from the NDC General Secretary, who, obviously, is still stuck in the age of the politics of lies, deceit and propaganda, which was rejected decisively by discerning Ghanaians in the 2016 general elections.
We will rather appeal to Ghanaians to, once again, ignore the falsehoods of the NDC, and urge Mr. Asiedu Nketiah to concentrate his energies on uniting his divided and discredited party.
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