The Founder of the Worldwide Miracle Outreach, Rev. Dr Lawrence Tetteh, has described homosexuality as abominable. He said the practice whereby men sleep with men and women have sexual intercourse with their fellow women, is an eyesore. “I feel very disappointed when Ghanaians complain about the anti-gay bill. We have values in this country. We have moral and cultural values in this country. Men marry women. Peter didn’t marry Joseph, Paul didn’t marry Timothy, Abiba didn’t marry Ayeshetu, and men married women. So, whether you are a Muslim, traditional ruler or Christian, homosexuality is an abomination. Sin is sin,” the renowned evangelist said this in an interview with Keminni Amanor on TV3’s Hot Issue on December 31.
He commended the sponsors of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and the Ghanaian Family Values Bill. “I really applaud the people really stood for this bill. And for once, the entire nation- the Muslims and Christians, traditional rulers, the chiefs are all together on this issue. Politicians should watch the way they dilly-dally with this issue. We have moral values in this country that say that a man should not marry a man. Sometimes, we say that they have human rights. If so, we also have the human right to say that what we don’t want should not be imposed on us,” he stated.
According to him, the UK prohibits polygamy and residents comply, thus it should be possible for people who live in Ghana to respect our values. “I live in the UK and you are not allowed to marry two wives. So, people who live there, who under normal circumstances would have preferred to marry two wives, marry one. So, if you are in our country, then we also have the right to insist that what is not right is not right. And we have a moral responsibility, we have a religious responsibility to ensure that,“ he stressed.
Dr Tetteh described as shameful, any attempt to blackmail the government to stop the passage of the anti-gay bill. “I have had some people come to me to say that if we do that, we will not be getting IMF help. That is very shameful, that is very inhuman. If we are quantifying (sic) LGBT to aid to our country, then I think I agree with ex-President Atta Mills that then they should keep what they have,” Rev Tetteh asserted.
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill is currently before Parliament. Varied reasons have been assigned for the delay in its passage. But the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has assured that it will be passed. The latest person to ensure its passage is the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng.
“So, my brother [Sam George] don’t worry when it is in Parliament, you know your people in Parliament but I know it will come up, but when it comes up we are there, we will take it up and do our part. So there is no fear at all,” he assured a congregation at Perez Chapel which included the sponsor of the bill, Samuel Nartey George.
Touching on the state of the economy, he called for better living conditions for all Ghanaians.
He said although the government has done its best to manage the economy, there is more room for improvement.
“We want better living conditions for every community. We want the national purse to go down to the downtrodden, we want to keep our children from the streets, we also want our roads to be built. As a matter of fact, I believe we have not prioritized enough. That I have never minced my words. As a nation, we should prioritize. There are certain places where we have laid more emphasis as against places we should look at to build,” Rev Tetteh said.
He cited a West African country in which road construction has been prioritized for which reason they are deriving enormous benefits.
“I was in Equatorial Guinea and I noticed that even villages have streets. And I realized that in this area we have fallen short. If we prioritize, we can give a lot support to the roads Minister to continue, because if we have good roads and good access, it gives us a chance to enlarge our economy, ” the televangelist emphasized.
In a related development, Rev. Dr Lawrence Tetteh has stated that many young people have been forced into homosexuality due to poverty. He said not every young person who is currently engaging in homosexuality is doing so at will. He said this to refute the notion that like prostitution, some people are into homosexuality due to financial gains.
He alleged that some well-resourced homosexuals prey on youth in poverty-stricken communities in the country to lure them into such immoral acts. “If you go to a place like Akoto Lantey, go to some part of Obo Kwawu and go to some parts of Kumasi, you would be surprised how vulnerable people have been abused because they lack. Poverty has allowed them to take advantage of young people in certain communities.
“I was born at Jamestown and when I go to Jamestown today, I see boys and girls who have entered into homosexuality and some of them are sick… it is because of money,” he stressed.
