Sam George, Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, has urged Ghana’s Parliament not to follow the concerns expressed by Virginia Palmer, US Ambassador to Ghana, about the passing of the anti-LGBTQ Bill.
Sam George stressed the necessity of adhering to Ghanaian values and belief systems rather than yielding to external pressures or recommendations.
According to Sam George, Ghanaians must acknowledge the importance of retaining their cultural identity and ideals.
“It is past time for Ghanaians to realize that the way we sell ourselves is how we will be bought, that this is a sovereign nation, and that for anyone who goes into business or partnership, the first interest of any potential business partner is the first interest of any potential business partner is a sense of integrity and a value system, and if you tell the Ghanaian people that our culture frowns on this (LGBTQ), but you push it aside because of a few thousand or million dollars worth of investment that has yet to be proven will come, Ghana will be seen as the country that lacks integrity, and any true businessman will not come here to work with us.
“So let us not buy into the rhetoric and stop repeating that rhetoric that something bad will happen to us if we pass the bill.”
Ambassador Palmer cautioned journalists in Accra that the approval of the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill will make Ghana unappealing to foreign investors and exporters.
However, the Ningo-Prampram legislator encouraged Ghana to discover its biggest selling point, which he said pulls investors into the nation, when negotiating in order to avoid being bullied as has always been the case.
“Every country has its own strength and selling point, and it is not every country’s selling point that its economy is large.” Ghana is safe and the safest democracy in sub-Saharan Africa, and because of this, UN agencies and American corporations have their headquarters in Ghana. As a result, we should not minimize our security because if we do, we will be used as a bargaining chip.