Tag: news

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Burkina Faso’s military junta to ban homosexual acts

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

IDNOWA members in Burkina Fasco are experiencing discrimination and hostility not only from service providers but also from family members and religious and traditional leaders.

by Richard Kagoe Original Article on BBC News

Capt Ibrahim Traoré’s regime is spearheading an overhaul of marriage laws

Burkina Faso’s military junta has announced a ban on homosexual acts, making it the latest African state to crack down on same-sex relations despite strong opposition from Western powers.

Homosexuality was frowned upon in the socially conservative West African state, but it was never outlawed.

Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said the junta’s cabinet had now approved legislation to make it a punishable offence, but he did not give further details.

The military seized power in Burkina Faso in 2022, and has pivoted towards Russia after drastically reducing ties with former colonial power, France.

Homosexual acts were decriminalised in Russia in 1993, but President Vladimir Putin’s government has been cracking down on the LGBTQ community, including banning what it calls “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations”.

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Burkina Faso’s decision to outlaw homosexual relations is part of an overhaul of its marriage laws.

The new legislation, which still needs to be passed by the military-controlled parliament and signed off by junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, only recognises religious and customary marriages.

“Henceforth homosexuality and associated practices will be punished by the law,” the justice minister was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Capt Traoré took power in September 2022 after overthrowing another military ruler, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, accusing him of failing to quell an Islamist insurgency that has gripped Burkina Faso since 2015.

Burkina Faso was among 22 out of 54 African states where same-sex relations were not criminalised.

Unlike in many former British colonies, it did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws after independence from France in 1960.

Muslims make up around 64% of Burkina Faso’s population and Christians 26%. The remaining 10% of people follow traditional religions or have no faith.

Many African states have been taking a tougher stand against the LGBTQ community in recent years.

Uganda is among those that have adopted legislation recently to further crack down on the community, despite strong condemnation from local rights groups and Western powers.

In May, its Constitutional Court upheld a tough new anti-gay law that allows for the death penalty to be imposed for “aggravated homosexuality”, which includes having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where someone is infected with a life-long illness such as HIV.

Activists said they would appeal against the ruling.

The World Bank has halted new loans to President Yoweri Museveni’s government while the US has stopped giving Ugandan goods preferential access to its markets, following the adoption of the legislation last year.

Mr Museveni defended the legislation as preserving traditional family values, and said Uganda would not allow the West to dictate to it.

The daughter of Cameroon’s president drew mixed reaction after she came out as a lesbian last week.

Brenda Biya, who lives abroad, said she hoped that her coming out would help change the law banning same-sex relations in the country.

Cameroon has been ruled with an iron-hand by her 91-year-old father, Paul Biya, since 1982.

In Ghana, parliament passed a tough new bill in February that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+.

However, President Nana Akufo-Addo has not signed it into law, saying he will wait for the courts to rule on its constitutionality.

The finance ministry has warned him that if the bill became law, Ghana could lose $3.8bn (£3bn) in World Bank funding over the next five to six years.

Ghana is suffering a major economic crisis and received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year.

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I’d rather die than protect LGBTQ+ rights – Speaker Bagbin

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

 by Osumanu Al-Hassan first published on MyPublisher24

Speaker of the Ghana Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has reaffirmed his commitment to opposing the legalization of LGBTQ+ activities in Ghana.

He disclosed this at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church in Oyarifa, Accra, during its Patronal Feast Day.

Rt Hon Bagbin declared that he would rather die than support LGBTQ+ rights, which he believes are driven by negative forces and should not be accepted in Ghana.

He criticized European countries for promoting homosexuality in the African continent and urged the Catholic community to disregard media claims that the Pope has endorsed LGBTQ+ activities.

Speaker Bagbin stated that LGBTQ+ rights do not exist anywhere in the world and will not be legalized in Ghana during his tenure.

“Let me say that, as a Catholic, I will not do anything that will end the world and as I always say, I prefer to die fighting against these homosexual activities than to protect their so-called rights,” the Speaker of Parliament said.

The anti-gay bill, which promotes traditional family values, has been passed by Parliament and is awaiting the President’s assent to become law.

Rt Hon Bagbin praised the Catholic Church for its support and contributions to national development, particularly in education, health, and social services.

He highlighted the Church’s role in advocating for social justice and human rights, including efforts to abolish the death penalty and criminalize witchcraft accusations.

“Let me commend the church for taking the principled stand of speaking out against injustice and championing the cause of the marginalized. This important role by the church ensures that the nation moves towards greater equity and inclusion, creating a just society where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”

“Indeed, it is an open secret that many of the schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations that provide essential services, especially in underserved communities in Ghana have been led by the Church. These institutions do not only address the immediate needs of the people but also empower individuals through education and healthcare, thus contributing to a more informed and healthier populace,” Speaker Bagbin added.

He urged the Church to continue pressing the Executive to pass important legislation, such as the Armed Forces Amendment Act and laws against witchcraft accusations. Bagbin also donated GHS20,000 towards the Church’s new chapel project, emphasizing the importance of promoting ethical and moral values.

In his sermon, Most Rev. John Kobina Louis encouraged church members to seek the intercession of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, for wisdom and endurance.

The Church’s Pastoral Council Chairman, Henry Adjei expressed gratitude to Rt Hon Bagbin and the Auxiliary Bishop for their support.

According to him, the Church started 28 years ago and has a congregation of over 1,500 members, noting that, the new chapel project is estimated to host over 2000 congregations when completed and assured that the Speaker and the Bishop would be invited for commissioning.

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Two jailed in Senegal for criticising PM on gay rights

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

By Basillioh Rukanga
Article first appeared on BBC News website

The subject of gay rights came up at a student forum attended by French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon (L) and Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko (R) (c)AFP

A Senegalese court has jailed two men for “spreading false news” after they accused Ousmane Sonko, the country’s new prime minister, of tolerating homosexuality.

Activist Bah Diakhate and Imam Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndao were jailed for three months and fined 100,000 CFA francs ($165, £130) each.

They had been angered that Mr Sonko had allowed a visiting French politician to express his support for same-sex marriages.

Homosexual acts are banned in the mainly Muslim West African country and are punishable by up to five years in prison.

The political activist and the preacher were arrested two weeks ago after posting a video attacking Mr Sonko for giving a platform to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a far-left French politician.

Mr Mélenchon gave his opinion about same-sex marriages at a student forum in the capital, Dakar, in mid-May.

His comments reportedly sparked boos from the audience at Cheikh Anta Diop University.

In response Mr Sonko said that Western countries should show restraint on social matters such as LGBTQ rights as it could “lead to anti-Western sentiment”.

Senegal would continue to manage issues around homosexuality in accordance with its socio-cultural norms, the prime minister said.

He was quoted as saying that homosexuality was “not accepted, but tolerated” in Senegal.

Mr Sonko, a former firebrand opposition leader, was appointed prime minister in April after his ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected president.

They were freed from prison not long before the vote in an amnesty aimed at calming months of political turmoil after the outgoing president had tried to postpone the election.

The pair campaigned on a promise of radical change – with an Afrocentric and nationalist agenda, promising to reset Senegal’s relationship with France, the country’s former colonial power.

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Open Letter to the Ghana Catholic Bishops

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

Open Letter from the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa to the Most Rev.
Philip Naameh, Chair of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference

05 March 2024

Dear Most Rev. Philip Naameh,

We urge you and the Catholic bishops in Ghana to reconsider your stance toward the now-passed “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, 2024.” Ask the President not to assent to it. Pledge to support LGBT+ Ghanaians with human rights advocacy and pastoral care. Take back the religious independence which this Act wrongfully arrogates to the civil authority.

We urge you and your fellow bishops to read the Act carefully. This Act criminalizes people who “hold out as” LGBT+ (section 4.1). It criminalizes spiritual caregivers, family, and friends, who do not immediately report LGBT+ people to the police (sections 4 and 17). And it protects anti-LGBT+ media which styles itself as a “response to any form of advocacy or activism,” no matter how “graphic” or hateful that media may be

  • Criminalizing people on the basis of their inward dispositions is wrong. As Pope Francis stated on 5 February, 2023: “Criminalising people with homosexual
    tendencies is an injustice.” We urge you to follow the Pope’s leadership.
  • LGBT+ people often share their thoughts and their struggles with spiritual
    caregivers, family, and friends. Forcing these caregivers to report LGBT+ people
    to the police is a shocking overreach of government power. How can spiritual
    leaders like yourselves tolerate such a provision in the law?
  • Giving sanction to graphic anti-LGBT+ propaganda in education, instruction, and
    public media encourages hatred and violence. To support this kind of legalized
    vitriol is to cry “Peace! Peace!” where there is no peace (Jer 6:14).

Your support for this Act has created panic among many of the LGBT+ people of Ghana, and among many of the people who love them. Those who look to you for action are desperate. Many turn to the Church as a last place of refuge and support. Do not chase souls away. Do not lead our society into greater conflict and vitriol. Do not abandon the persecuted, and lead their persecutors astray.

IDNOWA affirms the teaching of the Catholic Church that LGBT+ people “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity;” that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided” (CCC 2358).

We believe that our sexual orientations and gender identities belong to God’s creation and are part of his plan for the salvation of humankind, while the Magisterium of the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and that “under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC 2357). On this we disagree.
But we affirm with you the Magisterium’s teaching on the dignity of LGBT+ people: “It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society.” No matter what a person may “hold out” to be, “the intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law” (Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 10). On this, all people of good will should agree.

Now that the Act has been passed by Parliament, the Ghanaian government has begun to weigh its costs and its dangers. The bishops, too, should weigh its effects very carefully.

We urge you to ask the President not to assent to it.

We urge you to pledge your support for the human rights of LGBT+ Ghanaians; and for their right to access pastoral care and personal counselling in freedom.

If this law gains Presidential assent, we urge you to support LGBT+ Ghanaians and the people who love them with legal assistance. Give them lawyers and legal support when they are arrested and jailed under this unjust and un-Christian law.

In the past several years, IDNOWA has made efforts to engage with you and the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, but we have never received an invitation to further dialogue. In the spirit of synodality, ask us to talk with you. Walk together with us, so that you can hear the voices of LGBT+ Ghanaians – both Catholic and non-Catholic. Let us together build a more peaceful, more just society.


Sincerely, Davis Mac Iyalla
Executive Director of Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa interfaithdiversitynowa@gmail.com