I was offered money to drop anti-LGBTQ bill but I want to safeguard Ghanaian values – Sam George
Legislator for the Ningo Prampram constituency, Sam George has reiterated that his continuous push for an anti –LGBTQ in Ghana is not for monetary gains but of his conviction that LGBTQ activities are against the country’s cultural values.
Elaborating on his stance on Citi TV, he revealed that he has been offered money that “I could have been sorted for life” by different groups in the US to back down on his anti-LGBTQ campaign but he has remained resolute.
“On this LGBTQ thing, if it was about making quick money, I could have been sorted out for life. Offers were made. I can show you messages from groups in San Francisco inviting me and saying let’s have a conversation that I should drop the bill. If that was what it was about for me, I could have gotten it sorted out, but you must have principles,” he said.
According to Sam George, his involvement in the process to get anti-LGBTQ legislation in Ghana has come with several issues including being blacklisted from making currency exchanges outside Ghana which stems from allegations of money laundering levelled against him by persons who are unhappy about his campaign.
“The price I have paid is enormous. I know I may have been put on some international watch lists. You travel, and you get to an international airport and all kinds of funny questions are asked of you. They say I do money laundering and I cannot even change $10 anywhere in the world because of accusations that I’m being funded by some ghost group in the US. I am not being funded. I fund my things from my pocket,” he added.
Sam George is part of eight legislators that have jointly submitted a private bill to push for the criminalization of LGBTQI+ activities in the country.
The bill, which they term a ‘Bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values’, was presented to Speaker, Alban Bagbin on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
The other members of parliament that joined in presenting the bill include, Emmanuel Bedzrah (MP, Ho West) Della Adjoa Sowah (MP, Kpando), John Ntim Fordjour (MP, Assin South), Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini (MP, Tamale North), Helen Adjoa Ntoso (MP, Krachi West), Rita Naa Odoley Sowah (MP, La Dadekotopon) and Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor (MP, South Dayi).
The bill is currently at the committee level in Parliament, where public hearings are being held by legislators.
