Accra, Ghana - Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills declared Wednesday that his government would not legalise homosexuality. 'I, as President of this nation, will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana,' he said in Accra during an interaction with journalists covering the presidency.

Mills was reacting to UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement this week that UK would cut aid to African countries with anti-gay legislation.

'No one can deny Prime Minister Cameron his right to make policies, take initiatives or make statements that reflect his societal norms and ideals but he does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do, especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those which exist in the Prime Minister's society,' he stated.

Ghana, the President said, would continue to operate within its constitution, regardless of any threats from any country, stressing that the country would not accept aid with conditions, which had the tendency to destroy the social fabric of the society.

'Let me also say that while we acknowledge all the financial assistance and all the aid which have been given to us by our development partners, we will not accept any aid with strings attached if that aid will not inure to our interest or the implementation or the utilisation of that aid with strings attached would rather worsen our plight as a nation or destroy the very society that we want to use the money to improve,' President Mills said.

Pana 03/11/2011