The Indigenous injustice in Sudan

For over 20 years, the Government of Sudan (GOS) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Militia (SPLM/A) have been locked in a bloodbath of a war. For reasons ranging from disagreements on how to handle the ever growing famine epidemic to more notably, control of the oil in the Southern Sudan.

Peace agreement dancers in Kapoeta

In 2005 the war finally came to a close with both parties signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) – which promised not only peace, but also economic prosperity for the Dinka, Nuer, Kapoeta and other indigenous groups in Sudan who have suffered unimaginably over the last 20 plus years or so. With the end of the summary killings, forced relocations, the theft of their land and property, as well as genocide, one would believe that things could only get better from here? However when is this ever the case in the world that we have grown accustomed to?
As proposed in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, indigenous groups (mainly located in the Southern regions of Sudan) were promised that 50% of the oil revenues extracted would be invested back into the neighboring regions for those occupying could reap the benefits.

In 2007 the revenues from the oil extraction was estimated to exceed $4 billion(in US currency) however this never seemed to trickle down to the indigenous groups that were promised 50% of revenues as proposed in the CPA. The indigenous groups today continue to languish in abject poverty in the Southern regions of Sudan. Despite the end of the constant bloodshed, indigenous groups are still being subjugated, brutalized, and eradicated from their land. Interestingly enough, even the oil companies have joined in on the eradication of South Sudan’s indigenous groups as to further benefit from the land that these groups occupy.

As the overall situation continues to worsen for indigenous groups, the more likely that violence, such as another blood filled war/rebellion will arise once again in South Sudan.

-Written By: Darren Jeters

3 things to know about Sudan and the environment

1. Inadequate supplies of potable water

Installation of a fresh water pump by The Water Project group in Sudan

• In Sudan the Nile River is the main source of surface water with water systems and wells etc. being a scarcity. Access to the Nile is restricted mainly for those who reside nearby due to the unforgiving terrain. The Nile itself experiences shortages depending on the weather.
• During Sudan’s ever present hot seasons, there can be substantial amounts of evaporation that reduce the Nile’s capacity to supply water. Also with rainfall in Sudan taking place very erratically and during just a short season of the year, there isn’t much water carried over from these rains and the Nile suffers because of it.
• The Sudanese government has also played a factor in aiding to water crisis, as ironically as it may sound. The conflict between non-Arab farmers and Arab herders over use of the land, coupled with the agricultural procedures forced upon the citizens by the Sudanese government has created major tensions. Irrigation systems controlled by the government have destroyed small farmers by taking away their water supplies resulted in the conflict in the first place.
• Now, as the situation has grown more violent and human casualties have increased, many Sudanese people have been forced out of their homes and into refugee camps, or even across the borders into other countries, in order to seek safety. Many of the farmers and herders who had managed thus far to make a living have had to give up their land, and their access to water, in favor of moving themselves to an area away from the warfare. This is only serving to increase resentment and add to the growing problem.

2. Declining wildlife populations because of warfare and excessive hunting

Remains of the ever present poaching epidemic in South Sudan especially

• The cause of the continent-wide decline is mainly due in equal parts lack of money and willing people to police parks, as well as the encroachment of humans on animal habitats. In addition, the ever present warfare and the growing bushmeat trade is said to have decimated populations.

• The numbers of elephants, hippos and other animals are believed to have also plummeted in southern Sudan, following years of war. The now independent country has the world’s second largest annual migration of large mammals and vast herds of gazelle and antelope, but these have been decimated by fighters hunting them for meat, skins/fur tusks etc. While wildlife declines in protected areas were concern invoking, researchers say the loss of large mammals outside parks and reserves were much worse, considering many species such as the rhino which is now practically extinct outside protected areas.

3. Periodic droughts

A failed attempt at farming in the scorched climate of Sudan.

• As brought up earlier in this post, Sudan has an extremely volatile climate also known as the inter-tropical convergence zone that some scientists call the ITCZ or “itch” for short. Regions residing in the “itch” experience extreme weather, both flooding and drought, which seem to be intensifying. Most scientists believe this is one effect of climate change, which has taken a devastating effect on Sudanese agriculture.

• As the earth grows warmer, and rains are no longer dependable, farmers no longer know when to plant their crops. Centuries-old traditions and climate cycles are changing, and no one knows how to predict them. As a result, crops fail and famine is now wide spread throughout Sudan.

-Darren Jeters

Religious Demographics of Ghana

by Jamin Shih

People of Ghana

The religious distribution in Ghana is fairly diverse, with a split of 30 percent Muslim, 38 percent Traditionalist, 24 percent Christian, and 8 percent other. This compares to the demographics in the United States where 76 percent identify as a denomination of Christian, 20 percent do not identify with any particular religion, and the other 4 percent identify as other.

Christian missionaries have been documented in Ghana since the 15th century through the Portuguese. However, in the Northern areas of Ghana, the predominant religion is Islam. This is most likely because the missionaries that set up in the Ghanaian area focused primarily on the coasts at first, out of ease of travel. There are a variety of denominations of Christianity present in Ghana, spanning a diverse set of beliefs and value systems. Similarly to religious beliefs across the globe, even individuals of the same denomination may not necessarily share all of the same values and ideals. Thus, I think it is really important to note that the homogenization of any subset of individuals, including those that share the same religion, is dangerous and may not adequately characterize a population.

Photo by Mikkel Grabowski

Some of the subsets of Christianity that are seen in Ghana are Evangelical Presbyterianism, Methodism, Roman Catholicism, Mennonitism, and others. The Ghana Christian Council, which was founded in 1929, unites all of these separate denominations. This organization represents Ghanaian Christians, serves as a liaison between Christian Ghana and the World Council of Churches, and is an important part of the structural side of institutionalized religion. However, there are some churches that are not connected through the Ghana Christian Council, and it is by no means mandatory.

Despite Christianity playing a sizable role of the religious demographics of this country, there are several other religious systems that greatly impact the culture and values of Ghana. Traditionalist beliefs stem from religions native to Africa and not from the spread of religious missionary trips from other parts of the world such as Europe.

Traditionalist religions in Ghana tend to revolve around the notion of a Supreme Being, which is usually referred to as Mawu or Nyame depending on the group. Despite this, the supreme being is not usually directly worshiped, which is quite different from some of the other religions that Americans may be used to. Lesser gods, similar in type to the pantheon of nymphs, demigods, and children of gods in Ancient Greek religion, are also believed to be present all throughout nature, taking up residence and sovereignty in trees, streams, and other aspects of nature. Unlike many denominations of Christianity, these traditional religions do not hold services weekly, but instead operate on a less frequent nature. Meetings may be biweekly instead and contain annual festivals and other important religious events.

With the diversity of religious beliefs, there are of course measures in place to ensure that practicing of different religions do not conflict. There is a freedom of religion law in place in Ghana, but there were provisions legislated in order to monitor them. The Religious Bodies Law of 1989 was created to regulate churches. Despite this, the regulation has been relatively lax.

Corruption in Congo

by Natalie Bush

After briefly discussing corruption during a class presentation, I wanted to learn more about it specifically applying to the DRC. Thanks to the website presented in class, I was able to gain facts and a better idea of the issue.

Transparency International is an NGO that puts effort toward decreasing corruption. Each year, it publishes a Corruption Perception Index. Out of 176 countries, the DRC is ranked 160 on the index of corruption for 2012      (Transparency). The rank is based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. The index compiles its information from drawing on corruption-related data from surveys carried out by a variety of institutions. From this information, the organization then gives the country a score. Scores range from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Congo scored 21 (Transparency).

In addition to this, the website also provides additional data. In 2010, Congo ranked in the 3^rd percentile for their corruption control (Transparency). The control of corruption percentage reflects perceptions of the extent to which public profile power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption.

Lastly, the website assigns each country a score. The point estimates range from -2.5 to 2.5. The higher values correspond to better governance outcomes. Congo scored a -1.383 (Transparency). Again, this subpar score is consistent with the other rankings and somewhat expected amid the conflict in Congo. However, there are some discrepancies to the rankings.

The Corruption Perception Index is based off of the criteria stated above. However, critics point out a bias involved with the rankings. As discussed in class, the Corruption Perception Index receives a large sum of funding through corporate donors, thus presenting a conflict of interest. Additionally, some critics argue it is impossible to measure corruption to a full extent because it frequently goes unreported (Wikipedia).

While the Corruption Perception Index provides ballpark numbers for corruption among countries, it’s important to understand the data cannot be assumed to be fully accurate. It is certainly helpful in providing a rough idea but cannot be perceived as exact.

Sources:

Transparency

Wikipedia

Current Events in Ghana

by Jamin Shih

Retired Supreme Court Justice Justice Crabbe

In order to get a more nuanced view of the events that are happening in Ghana, I have decided to stay away from a topical-style blog post this week and focus instead on a variety of current events. Ghana has its own news website that reports entirely about political, business, health, and other aspects of news relevant to those who live in or are interested in Ghana. It’s extraordinarily interesting and I think it’s worth a read if anyone is at all interested.

The first story that popped my eye while writing this post was a report of a retired Supreme Court justice questioning the validity and fairness of elections in Ghana. The point he makes essentially is that there is not enough funding to the people and systems that support and run elections. Because of this inadequate funding, it is impossible to get a process as official and credible as he thinks is necessary for the people of Ghana. He also brings up worries of corruption, that money is being used to help public officials instead of aiding the needs of the people. Indeed, his words reminded me of Transparency International, the NGO that we talked about in class.

Speaking of Transparency, how does Ghana rank on their corruption scale? Ghana is actually doing quite well when compared to much of the world. It scored in the 60th percentile of the entire world on their scale. While obviously, this is not ideal, they are still performing better than most of the rest of the world in regards to political corruption. They rank 64th of the 176 countries examined by the NGO. It should be noted, however, that this survey is missing some key factors of corruption like bribe paying and anti-bribe conventions. This may have skewed Ghana’s score better than it should be.

It ranks a remarkable 41 out of 179 in regards to press freedom, which is amazing and something I’ve noticed from finding several news sites about Ghana. There doesn’t seem to be a lack of articles criticizing the government or laws in a way that is constructive and thoughtful. The abstract “voice and accountability” score, which denotes how much it appears that citizens matter and can get directly involved in the political and election process, is also quite good. Ghana scores in the 63 percentile, again beating most of the world. It’s really great to hear that Ghana is staying competitive in some areas of human rights.

Source: Ghana Web

The final article that caught my eye was about a doctor’s strike in Ghana. There has been quite a big of controversy regarding the government not funding expensive post-graduate studies. In response, members from the Ghana Medical Association [or GMA] have been protesting and threatening to strike this coming Monday the 22nd.

Opponents have criticized that this puts patients at risk and also may not be technically legal, but the potential strikers have responded that the cause is important, no one can force them to work, and they are not worried.

I think this is a supremely interesting current event with major implications and I’m excited to see how this situation resolves itself.

Women’s Education in Ghana

by Jamin Shih

The traditional reason behind not educating women is the idea that someone must support the family and sending all the children in a family to school leaves no one to help take care of home issues. Between sending boys and girls, the idea asserts that it would make more sense to send boys because they could have the bigger economic gain. In many countries with this philosophy, men hold significantly more power than women, and thus it seems to be most advantageous for families to take advantage of this gender difference and push their sons to succeed. Indeed, in some countries with a patrilineal social arrangement, having daughters means that the family must spend more money on her once she marries and moves out of the house.

Source: USAid

As the first generation of individuals born in America in my family, I have seen first-hand some of these issues. Daughters in Taiwan move in with their husband and his parents and traditionally take care of her parents in-law. When economically simplified, this means that having daughters costs a family money while having sons brings in money. This is part of the reason why there is s such a huge emphasis on having sons. My grandparents on my mother’s side of the family wanted to retire but continued having daughters [nine in a row, in fact]. They never had a son and thus were never truly able to retire because they had to take care of the house. While my mother and some of her sisters did eventually break some Taiwanese traditions and helped around the house after their respective marriages, especially once my grandparents became sick, my maternal grandparents still were not able to have the relaxed years that my paternal ones did, who had three sons. While my mother and aunts are all well-educated, the problem still remains.

But how do these issues relate to Ghana? Ghana has a similar problem which stems from a disproportionate gender education. Luckily, many non-governmental organizations have made it their mission to solve some of the issues that a lack of formal education for young girls has. As this video demonstrates, there are a variety of reasons why young girls have been educated. It provides vast opportunities for them in their future career and life and also greatly improves economic relations. After all, when roughly half of a population isn’t working, how can we say a country is operating to their maximum financial potential?

I think what stood out to me the most in that video was the woman making money off of chicken eggs. Encouraging people to get involved in business, even in a small one-person business, is extremely important to helping people realize that they can break the gender roles and notions that are so ingrained in our heads. This is one of the reasons that Heifer International is so effective. Giving people the chance to work on a business project of their own is akin to the proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day ; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

Chief Justice Georgina Wood

The status of women’s education in Ghana, through the help of many non-governmental organizations and legislation, has greatly improved. Indeed, one of the reasons why Ghana is known for being so progressive is their treatment of women. Ghana currently has 29 women out of 102 seats in Parliament. It’s certainly not ideal, but it’s a wonderful step in the right direction. Ghana also has a female Chief Justice, another outstanding achievement. In addition, there has been a rise in female corporate executives and other women in the public eye.

This all goes to show that education is a gigantic contributor to success in our modern world and denying a thorough education to anyone is doing them a massive disservice. However, despite these advances, there is still much to be done. As this article shows, there are still issues with female objectification in Ghanian media that relates to sexual harassment cases of disturbing frequency. In addition, there is a trend of females pursuing corporate jobs that are told they must sleep with bosses to get the job. All of this stems from a culture that emphasizes that women are meant to be housewives and nurturing mothers over independent individuals.

There is still much to be done, at least the success that has been attained shows that it is indeed possible to rectify this issue.

Women’s Rights in the DRC

by Natalie Bush

This past week, we have been reading excerpts pertaining to Women’s Rights. Thus, for my blog this week, I wanted to explore the rights of women in the DRC. Dubbed by some as “the rape capital of the world,” the women of the DRC, as with most third world countries, do not receive the rights they so rightfully deserve.

To start, the way a woman is treated in Congo reflects on her racial background and immediate environment. For example, some argue lower-class urban women enjoy fewer freedoms than rural women (Every Culture). This occurs because women living in the cities are more dependent on their husbands for their livelihoods while women living in rural lands find independence through gardening, cooking and making small crafts for sale.

However, women living in one of the major cities of Congo, like Kinshasa, are more able to form groups that challenge male superiority. In urban cities, they are able to band together with each other to resist unfair treatment. One of the acts they have conducted in Kinshasa is organizing prayer groups to mobilize efforts to remove Mobutu (Every Culture). These women play a prominent role in challenging traditional roles of authority and working toward equality.

From a statistical standpoint, 61.2% of Congolese women live underneath the poverty threshold against 51.3% of men, according to a 2010 study (Peace Women). In the government, an even more alarming number was found in the study. Women comprise less than 9% of the government in the DRC (NATO). To help put this in perspective, in the United States currently 16% of seats in Congress alone are held by women. This ranks America as #69 among countries with the highest percentage of women working in the government (SouthernCT).

As noted earlier, women in underdeveloped countries face worse conditions. For example, in Congo women are regarded lower than males on the scale of social hierarchy. Unlike America, there is a high degree of societal pressure places upon young women to marry. Those who do not marry in Congolese culture are assumed to be prostitutes regardless of her professional status (Every Culture).

Several factors play important parts in contributing to this reality. Lack of financial resources and education are two of the largest contributors. I could write an entire post on the additional variables that play into account but I would rather focus on what we can do to make a change.

As noted in Half the Sky, educating girls and providing them with jobs is a step in the right direction to close the gender gap. By empowering women, they are able to become more independent by taking control of their lives and gaining a voice. In the United States, exposing Americans, especially students, to life abroad the comfort of our borders can broaden their perspective and ultimately provide them with a platform to better enrich their cultural understandings.

Sources:

Every Culture

Peace Women

NATO

SouthernCT

The LInk between Globalization and poverty in Kenya

The Globalization is (not) always so good !

By: Konstantsa Karaleeva

Edited by: Natalie Bush

In his movie Globalization is Good, Johan Norberg travels to three countries-Taiwan, Vietnam and Kenya , to show how globalization impacts poor countries and their economies. He draws a parallel between Taiwan and Kenya. Fifteen years ago the two countries had the same rates of poverty. Now Taiwan is fifteen times richer and Kenya remains in poverty. The main reason behind the increase of Taiwan’s economy is the globalization, opening of new markets and establishing international companies and investments in the country. Whereas on the other hand, Kenya failed to open it’s doors for globalization, which led to the country remaining in poverty.

In the movie, Norberg meets with market workers from Kibera, just outside the capital, Naoibi. They are forced to run their shops in extremely bad conditions. If they want to own their land they have to go through nine procedures and wait months. This condition makes it practically impossible for the workers to do so. They do not receive any income from the government and are not able to own their shops and the land for it. This is why they can’t make investments and grow their business. The same problem occurs with the farmers in Kenya. In the movie, there are some additional questions raised. Is it just Kenya shutting its doors to globalization or are the big global forces (EU and the USA) preventing small countries from developing by not allowing them to export their goods? These larger, more dominant countries are making even more restrictions for small countries. To some extent this is because of all the anti-globalization movements as shown in the movie.

Johan Neborg also showed in his film several documents the EU has, full of laws, rules and restrictions for importing agricultural products from Kenya. These conditions and the competitiveness makes it impossible for Kenya to take advantage of the globalization and start to import products, which could lead to the growth of Kenya’s economy.

However, it is important to note the documentary was created in 2003, 10 years ago. I was wondering what, if any changes to the rates of poverty in Kenya since then have occurred. According to the economy rate from 2012, it was mirror image of this in 2011, but unfortunately it is decreasing instead of increasing. This leads us to the thought that maybe Kenya still fails to utilize globalization for economical growth.

Sources:

blackboard/readings/ on globalization/globalization is good

Language in Kenya and its relation with three aspects of Kenya

BY:Konstantsa Karaleeva

Edited by : Natalie Bush

My grandfather used to say, “I don’t understand what people who speaks other language say but I can tell you what kind of people they are only listening to their words.“ I’ve never thought how right he was before doing one of the first readings for this class. It is amazing how many researches and studies have found exactly the same thing. My grandfather was uneducated ,gfamrerm , who grew up in a small Bulgarian village in the mountains. His natural intelligence told him language, behavior and way of thinking are all connected. Language Can Shape The Way You Think remains one of my favorite articles from this class. Being a non-native speaker, using English for studying and living in an English speaking country have proved to me this is true. Frequently I have trouble with English because my mind forms my thoughts in a very different way than the way I need to find the right wording for specific things. Every time when I translate something I face the different way of thinking behind the two languages. Studying a third language here makes it even more interesting.

I think if we look closer to the language spoken in Kenya we can better understand some of the issues Kenya has and we can learn much more about this country and its culture. After reading about Kenyan language, I identified three aspects of Kenya related to its languages: Kenya’s history, tribalism and attitude toward life.

MEANING OF SOME WORDS IN SWAHILI

English was inherited from Kenya’s British colonial past. Even today, English is the language of choice in business, academics and social set-ups in Kenya. This fact is related with Kenya’s history. By knowing English is the official language we already know that it was colonized by England . There is second official language in Kenya and it is Swahili (also called Kiswahili). Swahili is a unifying African language. Even illiterate Kenyans know some basic Swahili. The purest form of Kiswahili is spoken along the coast where native Swahili people live. Swahili is one of the most common African languages and it is spoken in many countries other than Kenya, such as Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Zaire.

Having too different official languages has resulted in a third language which is combination of them. Sheng is a commonly spoken slang in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. It is a mixture of Swahili and English, with a sprinkling of other indigenous languages. In fact, Sheng is more than just slang – it’s a lifestyle, especially among the urban youth who, today, are more fluent in Sheng than in the purer forms of Kiswahili.

Trying to understand Kenya’s economy and especially the political system is not easy. To have a better understanding for those things, one has to know more about Kenyan tribalism. Kenya is divided on different tribes, with different viewpoints, understanding, rituals, needs and political views. That is one of the basic reasons for the violence in the elections of 2007 and overall violent acts in Kenya. Tribalism caused some tension, problem and issues in this year’s election too. More about that can be read in my “Kenyan March Madness Post.”

Speaking about Indigenous people of Kenya in class, gave me the idea to write about the indigenous issues and indigenous people of Kenya. As the guest lecturer on Thursday suggested, South Africa can be related to the so called Kansas Nation ( United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) who have similar histories connected with indigenous people and their rights. Only this part of Africa can be related to it because it was under English colonization. That is why I think it is important to talk about the Indigenous Languages in Kenya.

Kenya’s ethnic languages are spoken mostly in rural settings and in homes where all members belong to the same ethnic group. The most dominant of the indigenous languages are Kikuyu, Dholuo and Luhya. Kikuyu is the language of the Kikuyu people, Kenya’s largest ethnic group. It is closely related to the Embu, Mbeere, and Meru languages spoken by neighboring communities in the Mount Kenya region.

The Kikuyu language is widely spoken in Kenyan towns. Additionally, members of other ethnic groups also speak it. This is particularly true in business situations. Since Kikuyu people run the majority of Kenya’s businesses, it is common to find people conducting business in the Kikuyu language. As a result, other business people have had to adapt and learn Kikuyu too in order to do proper business.

(Stay tuned for my Blog for more information about Kenyan Indigenous people.) -Authors note.

The third connection of language is life philosophy. Do you remember Lion King.? Yes, you for sure know this song. It is called Hakuna Matata. Not many people actually know this is not a made up phrase, but it is a phrase in Swahili. The film’s production team claims it picked up the term from a tour guide while on safari in Tanzania. It was then developed into an ideology that, along with the seemingly antithetical value of duty to the monarchy, is central to the moral content of the film.

The title phrase is pronounced with American English phonology within the song, including a flapped “t”, rather than as it is pronounced in Swahili.-Note

Even though the idea for the usage of this phrase came from a safari in Tanzania, Swahili is also spoken in Kenya and this phrase is also used there. It can be translated literally as, “There are no worries.” Its meaning is similar to the English phrase “no problem.” As a bicultural, I definitely can see how sayings, phrases and proverbs in one’s language represent the cultural understandings and beliefs of this nation. I think that this phrase and life ideology can be related to some extent to the African culture in general, including Kenyans.

sources:

KEEP-CALM-OMATIC-CALM. CO.UK

KIKUKALCHO.COM

wikipedia.com

The Status of Gay Rights in Ghana

by Jamin Shih

The Ghanaian president recently denounced homosexuality.

Despite being known as a relatively progressive and liberal country, the state of gay rights in Ghana is disconcerting. Ghana is one of several countries that views homosexuality as an import of the West or a byproduct of Western ideals and culture. This is a particularly dangerous idea because it negates the experiences of homosexuals, especially those not in the West. It also justifies systematic discrimination, jail time, and even the death penalty for gay individuals under the pretense that individuals from X country are not “supposed to be gay” and are instead affected by Western thought.

Another dangerous practice about homosexuality that Ghana shares with other countries in the world is the separation between gay men and lesbians. As with many places in the world, male homosexuals are a considerably larger issue in public opinion and politics than female homosexuals. This can even be seen by the way gay issues are treated in the United States. Gay men are significantly more featured in American media, both politically and culturally, than lesbians.

This is almost certainly due to the underlying sexism of anti-gay attitudes. For a man to fulfill what society deems a female gender role is degrading while a woman fulfilling a male gender role is not nearly as large of an issue and in some ways socially encouraged (as seen in the difference between the treatment of tomboys and the lexical gap that is boys who play with traditionally female toys). As would be expected, this underlying sexism is predominantly targeted against females and is quite harmful towards the goals of feminism.

This can be seen through the Ghanaian legal acts surrounding gay rights. The topic of lesbianism is extremely hazy under the law because they do not have male genitalia, and much of the controversy regarding gay rights is about gay men and not lesbians. In fact, the invisibility of lesbians in American discourse is a well-documented and problematic issue that demonstrates the underlying sexist nature of anti-gay politics. It should also be noted that the article above contains a common pitfall of speaking about homosexuality immediately before or after discussing serious crimes, such as murder, rape, or sexual assault.

Without writing a sociological essay on the intersectionality of issues surrounding sexual orientation and gender, however, there are very real effects that even those who are not up-to-date with sociological research can attest to. When a gay journalist met with several Ghanaian officials, it did not take long for controversy to spread and accusations of sexual scandals to spring up surrounding the election of these individuals, despite the discourse between these individuals and said journalist being ridiculously short.

This is just a small example of a long line of hypersexualization in the portrayal of gay issues by the media and opponents of gay rights that seeks to discredit the values of the gay rights movement– namely that homosexuals differ with heterosexuals only in sexual orientation and not through a certain essential or intrinsic difference in character traits or values.

What is perhaps more disturbing than how quickly a scandal erupted over nothing in order to discredit gay rights is the punishment for being a homosexual in Ghana. Homosexuals engaging in homosexual relations can be imprisoned for between five and twenty-five years. This is absolutely deplorable and a serious human rights issues. While it is true that Ghana does not institute the death penalty for homosexuality, jail time is still a horrific punishment and more needs to be done to advance education and political discourse on the topic.