Ghana’s former president and leading opposition politician, John Dramani Mahama has condemned the LGBTQ practices, saying they contradict his Christian faith.
“The faith I have will not allow me to accept a man marrying a man, and a woman marrying a woman,” Mr Mahama was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
“I don’t believe that anybody can get up and say I feel like a man although I was born a woman and so I will change and become a man,” he added, speaking to a group of Ghanaian religious leaders on Wednesday.
LGBTQ rights are a heated issue in Ghana.
The parliament of the West African country is currently considering a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill, which will impose tough penalties on members of the LGBTQ community if passed.
The bill forbids Ghanaians from identifying as LGBTQ and increases the sentence for same-sex activities from a maximum of three years to a maximum of five years.
The bill also bans the support of LGBTQ rights. Gay sex is already against the law and carries a three-year prison sentence.
Mr Mahama served as Ghana’s president between 2012 and 2017 but lost in his bid for a second term to current President Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2016 elections.
The 65-year-old is again seeking re-election in the December presidential elections, under the main opposition party National Democratic Congress.
