Family banishes man, 32, from home over homosexuality

The whereabouts of Kamal Anas Bello, who is born into a conservative Muslim family in Ashaiman, a suburb of Accra, is still unknown, a family member, who pleaded anonymity, told the Ghanaian Times, in an interview in Accra on Friday.

The source said their son had been gay since the age of 16 years, but the family got to know about it not long ago.

According to the family member, Bello has been “warned not to step foot into the family house” as his conduct was forbidden in Islam.

The Ghanaian Times gathered that the father (name withheld) of Bello was a spiritual leader and respected for his conservative beliefs.

This development had come at a time when Ghana’s Parliament is on the verge of passing a law to criminalize all activities related to homosexuality.

When contacted for comments, the brother of Bello, Habib, told the Ghanaian Times that the family had cut ties with Kamal.

He said that his brother had brought shame to the family and that “we would administer justice in accordance to Islam.”

Habib said “I want the world to know that we disapprove of Kamal’s conduct. In our community, we detest homosexuality and the punishment spelt out for Muslims who engage in it is death.”

When asked about what the Qur’an teaches about tolerance and forgiveness, Habib retorted: “This has got nothing to do with tolerance and forgiveness; in fact, it had got everything to do with morality and Islam.”