Founder and President of the Worldwide Miracle Outreach, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, has criticized his fellow clergymen and women for their silence on the anti-LGBTQ+ bill passed in February this year.
Despite the bill’s subsequent landing in the Supreme Court due to two private individuals filing separate suits seeking to declare its passage by Parliament as illegal, and with the president citing this as his reason for not entertaining or assenting to it, Dr. Tetteh believes President Akufo-Addo should have signed the bill into law without hesitation.
He has vowed to march to the seat of government should the president fail to sign the bill if the Supreme Court endorses its passage.
“I’ll march to the Jubilee House. I think it’s about time we make politicians know we voted them into power. The cowardice that Christian leaders and religious leaders have been reduced to is a shame and I’m embarrassed by some of our clergymen.
“As much as we are interested in our titles, in the big titles, and who we are and how long we’ve served, I’m yet to hear certain people speak against these manners. And for me, that is a shame. And so it starts from my home too.
“It starts from the clergymen. It starts from the religious clerics. It starts from the home of the Chief Iman. It starts from the Chairman of Christian Council. It starts from the Apostolic leaders. It starts from Apostolic fathers. It also starts from the Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans. But also beyond that, it starts from the charismatic leaders.
“We’ve been too quiet. And as much as we are grumbling, everybody wants to impress certain people and that nonsense, for me, must stop,” he stressed.
Parliament of Ghana on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
The bill proscribes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalises their promotion, advocacy, and funding.
Dr. Lawrence Tetteh is among numerous religious leaders and groups urging President Akufo-Addo to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law. However, the presidency, in a letter to the Clerk to Parliament on March 18, 2024, stated that the President would withhold his assent due to pending court cases against the bill.
If passed, individuals engaged in LGBTQ+ acts could face up to a three-year jail term, while promoters and sponsors could face three to five years. President Akufo-Addo has indicated that he will make a decision on the bill only after the Supreme Court resolves the suits against it.