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Ghana Considers Law To Punish Gay Sex

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Ghana Considers Law To Punish Gay Sex

A new law that would make it illegal to be gay or to advocate for gay rights is being worked on in Ghana.

The family values bill is currently before the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, which said it had received more than 150 memoranda from individuals, groups and faith-based organisations on the bill.

Ghana’s parliament on Thursday held the first public hearing on the bill.

The committee is expected to hear 10 petitions each week in a series of public sessions before the bill is put to a vote, deputy majority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said.

READ ALSO: Doyin Okupe’s Son Ends Relationship With Boyfriend

Gay sex is already punishable by prison time in Ghana, but no one has been prosecuted in years.

The new bill would go much further, criminalising the promotion and funding of LGBT+ activities as well as public displays of affection, cross-dressing and more.

Ghana’s speaker of parliament, Alban Bagbin, pledged in his opening address last month that parliament would pass the bill into law “at the earliest possible time”.

U.N. human rights experts have urged lawmakers to reject it, saying it would establish a system of state-sponsored discrimination and violence against sexual minorities.

LGBT+ rights groups in Ghana said they have seen a spike in homophobic attacks since the draft law was introduced in August.

Arbitrary arrests, blackmail and evictions have more than doubled since then, with people targeted if they are suspected of being gay, said Danny Bediako, director of the human rights organisation Rightify Ghana.

“Our greatest worry is the health and safety of our community members,” he told Reuters, adding that “I have never seen so many people who want to leave the country.”

The bill has been promoted by conservative Christian groups in Ghana, which has become a hot spot for the debate on LGBT+ rights in Africa.

The U.S.-based World Congress of Families (WCF), a group that works to advance anti-gay laws and policies around the world, held a major regional conference in Ghana’s capital Accra in 2019.

(Reuters/NAN)

 

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Stop Panic Buying, Fuel Subsidy Removal Not Immediate – Tinubu

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Why I Stopped Using Social Media - Tinubu
President Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday assured Nigerians that the removal of subsidy would not be immediate and that they should stop panic buying of petroleum.

The president’s position was stated by the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Media Centre.

In a statement, the centre urged the public to relax panic-buying that has ensued as a result of his speech.

The statement explained the development is neither new nor an action of his new administration.

The Tweet reads: “The public is advised to note that President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that “subsidy is gone” is neither a new development nor an action of his new administration.

“He was merely communicating the status quo, considering that the previous administration’s budget for fuel subsidy was planned and approved to last for only the first half of the year.

“Effectively, this means that by the end of June, the Federal Government will be without funds to continue the subsidy regime, translating to its termination.

“The panic-buying that has ensued as a result of the communication is needless; it will not take immediate effect.

“Furthermore, President Tinubu was clear about his plans to re-channel the funds previously devoted to the payment of subsidies into better investments that will cushion the effects of the removal on the general public, especially the poor of the poor. This includes but is not limited to investments in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions of Nigerians and increase their earning potential.”

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BREAKING: Court Okays Death Sentence For Hilton Hotel Owner Adedoyin For Murder Of OAU Student Adegoke

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Dr. Adedoyin

Dr Rahman Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel Ile-Ife, where Timothy Adegoke, an Obafemi Awolowo University postgraduate student was allegedly killed, will die by hanging.

This was the ruling of the Osun State Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Ojo.

Earlier, the court found Adedoyin culpable of murder.

The Chief Judge in her judgement said the owner of the hotel and two of his workers, based on the circumstances of the case established by the prosecuting counsel, Femi Falana, SAN, are found culpable of conspiracy to commit murder, and unlawful killing of the deceased.

Adegoke had lodged in Hilton Hotels and Resorts at Ile-Ife upon his arrival from Abuja on November 5, 2021, to enable him to arrive early for his examination at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro, Osun State, on November 6 and November 7, 2021.

He later went missing and was found dead buried in a grave following a police investigation of the hotel owner, Dr Rahman Adedoyin and its workers.

After Adegoke was declared missing, the police were invited and seven suspects were arrested after which an investigation commenced.

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Tinubu Names Dele Alake As Spokesman

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Dele Alake

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced Mr Dele Alake as his Presidential Spokesman. He also appointed his SA on Digital Media and the State Chief of Protocol.

Ambassador Victor Kunle Adeleke is the State Chief of Protocol (SCOP) to the President while Olusegun Dada is SA Digital Media.

This were the first set of appointments by President Tinubu as the 16th Commander-In-Chief of the Army Forces in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Dele Alake is a journalist and editor. He was a commissioner for information while Tinubu was a governor in Lagos State.

 

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