![\"Attorney](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/d086martin20amidu2025020x20235.jpg\" "\\"Attorney")
Ghana\u2019s chief lawyer has declared categorically that homosexuality, if practiced privately between two consenting adults, is not illegal.<\/p>\nGhana\u2019s chief lawyer has declared categorically that homosexuality, if practiced privately between two consenting adults, is not illegal.<\/p>\n
It is only criminal if the act involved an underage participant, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Martin A.B.K Amidu has stated.<\/p>\n
The Attorney-General, who was speaking at a press conference, said his comments were meant to clarify the meaning of the law following a recently attended AIDS summit where Ghana\u2019s position on homosexuality was very topical.<\/p>\n
And, while the ministry had no policy on the matter, the law governing such a practice was inherited from the Gold Coast era and had not been amended since, therefore, homosexuality practiced between two consenting adults, did not offend the law.<\/p>\n
Mr Amidu opined that although same-sex relationships were generally considered wrong culturally, an individual was allowed his sexual discretion as long as it was within the confines of his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law does not follow you to see what you do, your house is your castle; your room is your castle, what you do there is no body\u2019s business. It is only when you rape an adult by way of unnatural carnal knowledge that you become a subject of prosecution\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the newsworthy subject of homosexuality was a delicate one which had caused very heated debate across the country.<\/p>\n
Mr. Amidu said in other parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, laws against homosexuality had been repealed because a new wave of cultural change had dictated so. However, in Ghana, the criminal law against same-sex relationships will not be revoked since the majority of Ghanaians did not approve of it.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the minister\u2019s comments on Citi Eyewitness News of August 30, 2011, Moses Foh-Amoaning, an anti-gay advocate and lecturer at the Ghana Law School, said the Attorney-General\u2019s submission was useful because he had highlighted the fact that the act was criminal.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly he has emphasized that it is a criminal offence. He tried to play a fast one on whether it was in the bedroom or in public.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it makes no difference; what is important is that he has indicated that as far as the government is concerned, it is a criminal offence and it is going to remain so until the next generation comes along\u201d.<\/p>\n
As to whether the law against homosexuality may change in the future, Mr. Foh-Amoaning, confident, said \u201cOne thing, I can assure my good friend Martin is that as long as some of us live; as long as there is a generation of Ghanaians that see this act as abominable, the law will continue to proscribe homosexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n<\/p>\n