Unpacking John Dramani Mahama's Stance in Ghana's Election Year

Ahead of the 2024 election in December, John Dramani Mahama, a prominent opposition presidential contender and former president of Ghana, stated his anti-LGBTQ views. 

In an encounter with clergymen in the eastern region of Ghana on Wednesday, the former president declared that he was against gay marriage and transgender identity.

"The faith I have will not allow me to accept a woman marrying a man, and a man marrying a woman," Mahama declared in response to a church leader's criticism of LGBTQ+ individuals.

"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 said.

But if Mahama wins in December, he has not indicated whether he would sign the bill that criminalizes same-sex relationships, being transgender, and supporting LGBTQ rights.

Since August 2021, lawmakers in the West African country have been discussing the Ghanaian Family Values Bill and Human Sexual Rights.

Opponents and campaigners argue that passing the law would further curtail liberties in a nation where homosexual activity is already illegal and may result in up to three years in prison.