Taking A Stand For The People Of Ghana

“You cannot criminalise a person’s identity and that’s what the bill is doing and it’s absolutely wrong.”

Takyiwaa Manuh

Just a few years ago - suddenly it feels like ages ago - I took a stand side by side of the Ghanaian people against the exploitation by Europeans and Americans, starting back in the Colonial Era; well aware of the suffering and the misery we brought over the whole African continent and in some areas, we haven’t changed a bit.

I absolutely believe it is time to bring the white supremacy to the grave and start a new era as strategic and economic partners on equal terms.

Yes, we did some horrible things. Yes, we treated them as bad as we only could, enslaved and kidnapped them. Neither side should forget the horror of the past; we should remember it and figure out some ways to ensure that this will never happen again. No matter what, I will not change my mind about this.

We Europeans actually can learn a lot from the African spirit and the African soul.

Before the pandemic brought the world to a standstill, we started to negotiate a plan that would bring me over to Ghana to help some local musicians starting an international music career. I kept close relationships with Ghanaians over all the years. Some of them might not have been as straight as their surroundings would think; however, we hardly ever discussed sexual matters in any other way than it was necessary for their lyrics.

Of course they know about Yasin; I never made a secret out of my relationship and it was okay with them.

Over the years, we discussed many topics like nature, history, politics, religion, human rights and also sexuality. During all the conversations and discussions, I never heard a homophobic word or view. And that’s the way we all should do it. We should be open-minded, respectful and wise enough to understand that we might not agree on everything.

We united in the struggles the everyday brings us. We realized, even though we lived in different countries, even on different continents in different climate zones, our struggle were the same.

When we unite in our diversity, the universal circle of life can thrive at its best.

But, this year changes everything, or at least it looks like that. I know growth needs time and when we give it time, even important changes might not happen as soon as it might be needed. I am aware of that. Nevertheless, this newly passed bill by the Ghanaian parliament is something I can neither ignore nor tolerate, and I will take a stand against that.

I hope the outcome won’t be as negative as it had been in Uganda for me, but in the end I don’t care about it. I stand for my values and I will never stand against the human rights. Even though I never have been to Uganda, the government sentenced me to death, if I should ever enter that country. I am guilty of not being straight and speaking out on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community. How much of that actually is true, I cannot say with certainty. The only way to find out about it would be entering the country officially, and that is something everyone is advising me not to do.

The `Bill to provide for human sexual rights and family values and related matters´ also is a threat to me and a major violation of the human rights. Not only queer persons can be punished with imprisonment for simply being who they are, this new bill also allows them to arrest their allies and those who speak out for them. If you want to know more about this bill, and what it will mean for the Ghanaian people or the tourists who might visit the former kingdom of Asanti, read the news or google it. There are many reports and articles about it.

At least this time, I will not talk about the content of this bill. Something else is disturbing my mind. The Ghanaian government is selling out the African spirit, denying their African soul with it, and that is even worse.

During the last decade, they began to realize how the colonial era has demolished that country; they stated how the Western world still exploits their home. And we all know they are right with it. The more surprising it is that this new bill set new, even harder rules to a Colonial Law that Brittain has forced on them.

There are many stories and reports about the precolonial era in Ghana and Africa. The English Gentlemen haven’t been as devastating as the Roman Empire with the history of their invaded countries. While the Roman destroyed and burned the evidence of the former culture, the Brittain kept them and explored them. So we have a lot of references to how the African spirit and the African soul most likely have been.

It hurts me to watch how the same leaders who are against the Colonial Rulers suddenly uses those laws to keep their power. They use the same methods of oppression that they actually reject. I only can explain it with the fact that they simply doesn’t know it any better.

I know the Colonial Era is something different from the occupation of Nazi-Germany; however, we can find some similarities in it. I was born and I grew up in the British Sector of West Germany. Even though it did not take long until West Germany was seen as an own nation again, we actually had a law that stated that every rule has to be accepted by the occupying forces. We had not been souveraign in many ways. Of course we learned about the third reich at school, but we only learned a few keyfacts and never the whole picture of what actually happened and how it could happen. After the reunification, after we got our souveraignity returned to us, that started to change. The new generation of pupils learn more about it that we the elder generation did. Some speculate that the aillied forces wanted us to feel guilty and whatever could excuse the events that led to World War 2 was suppressed and erased from the public memory. Perhaps, they simply did not know better.

We have to take into account that it might be the very same with the African people. They simply don’t know, how the pre-colonisation era had been anymore. And it is not only the British occupation, we also have to add the Catholic church on top of that, who did everything to suppress the old gods and their legacy in faith. Before we judge them for selling their soul to the Colonial Era, we need to consider their lack of knowledge.

At the time of the Ashanti kingdom, there had been several laws about sexuality; none of them forbid or punished homosexuality. They clearly forbid incest. Nobody was allowed to have sex with a person related by blood or being a member of the same clan. Violations against that law could be punished with death. Neither was it allowed to have “fun” with another man’s wife. Another law stated that it wasn’t allowed to have any sexual intercourse in the public. When the man raped a woman he was sentenced to death. As you can see, having sex with the same gender was not mentioned.

Before you try to tell me, that there simply was not case of homesexuality at their time, keep in mind that the Asanti kingdom might have had a border to Egypt and even the pharaos knew well about having same sex fun. As well as the Greeks did.

In 1973, researchers who studied the Nzema observed same-sex relationships among members of this ethnic group.

Some weeks ago, I read an article that reported about a 40-years-old man with the name Eno of Mpataba, a member of the Adahonle clan, who married a man named Moke, half his age, of the Nzulezo clan. As far as they found out, Moke cooked the meals for Eno and spent at least one night with him in his house at Mpataba.

The Nzema community approved same-sex relationships, historians have zero doubts about it for two reasons:

First, there was a public ceremony that celebrated the union between two males. Eno presented gifts, drinks and money to the family of Moke.

Second, the community admired men who married men because it was not contrary to their customs and customary laws. In the same way, just as the community admired a man who was married to a beautiful woman, they admired a man who married another handsome man.

Even the Ghanaian history taught us that love is love. And homosexuality was no threat to their future or their existence. (We cannot say that about European invaders, obviously.)

This new bill that passed the parliament on February 28th, 2024 is a clear violation against the true African spirit and the hatred that cause this bill was imported by the British and their colonization.

President Nana Akufo-Addo still has the power to stop this bill. He still can start to bring back the original African spirit to his people and start an educational program to teach them their history and the true values of the Ashanti soul.

For me, personally, I will put all plans to travel to Ghana on hold. I cannot risk the safety of the man I love. So Ghana already will be the second African nation that I have to boycott for safety reasons. However, even though I will not travel there, I will take a stand against the violation of the Human Rights, I will stand side by side with all those whose lives are in danger by now. We have a voice and our voices won’t shut down easily.

Love will always win in the end. Always!