I rejected monetary offer from US groups to drop anti-LGBTQ+ bill – Sam George

The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram constituency, Sam George says his involvement in the push for an anti-LGBTQ legislation in Ghana is not influenced by money but by his conviction that LGBTQ activities are against the country’s acceptable cultural values.

Speaking on Citi TV‘s Upside Down show, he said 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.

Sam George said his involvement in the process to get an anti-LGBTQ legislation in Ghana has come with several ramifications 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 own pocket,” he added.

Sam George is part of eight members of parliament that have jointly submitted a private bill to push for the criminalization of LGBTQI+ activities in the country.

The bill, which they term as 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.