In the heart of the Ashanti Region, where tradition often collides violently with personal identity, a 38-year-old survivor is stepping out of the shadows to recount a harrowing journey of exploitation, loss, and a narrow escape from death.
Speaking to NewsAlertGh, the man, who is now seeking asylum in the United States, detailed a life defined by the trauma of “unnatural carnal knowledge” laws and the terrifying rise of vigilante justice.
Born in Kumasi in 1987, his ordeal began long before the headlines. He describes a childhood of confusion that turned into a cycle of sexual exploitation at just 16 years old. A senior student, who initially acted as a protector, eventually used threats of expulsion and death to maintain a forced relationship that lasted for years.
“I could not resist because I feared the consequences of his threats,” he told reporters.
“Eventually, I began to understand that I was not heterosexual and that I was drawn to both men and women.”
The search for safety initially led him to Germany in 2023, but the respite was short-lived. After becoming entangled with a man linked to a dangerous gang, he was forced to flee back to Ghana to escape death threats. He returned to his homeland hoping for anonymity, only to walk into a nightmare that would claim the life of a close friend.
The Midnight Ambush in Kumasi
In July 2024, what began as a birthday celebration with a friend, Kwadwo Randy, ended in a bloodbath. As the two men slept, a mob armed with machetes, stones, and petrol stormed the compound. The air was filled with shouts of a “gay party,” a trigger for extreme violence in a community increasingly radicalized against the LGBTQ+ community.
“They beat us mercilessly, poured petrol on us, and tied us to trees,” he recalled with visible trauma.
“The mob said they would burn us alive. I was terrified.”
His life was saved only by the intervention of a local hunter who, under the cover of the chaos, discreetly cut his ropes and urged him to hide in the brush by a nearby river. While he lay shivering in the bushes, he heard Randy’s final, desperate cries. Days later, his cousin showed him a photograph of a mangled body. It was Randy—beaten to death by the mob.
A Legal Landscape of Fear
The survivor’s story is a chilling reflection of the legislative shift currently gripping Ghana. While Section 104 of the Criminal Offences Act already criminalises same-sex intimacy, the reintroduction of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in 2025 has signalled an even darker era. The proposed law seeks to imprison individuals not just for acts, but for simply identifying as LGBTQ+, while mandating that citizens report suspected individuals to the authorities.
Human rights organisations have documented over 70 attacks in nine months, noting that police often arrest victims of mob violence rather than the perpetrators.
“I was afraid to go to a hospital or the police because health-care workers and officers in Ghana often denounce LGBTQ people and call for mob justice,” the survivor explained.
“I have no faith that the police would protect me.”
The Final Plea
Having survived a lifetime of exploitation, gang threats abroad, and a near-lynching at home, the survivor is now appealing to the international community. He argues that his government is not only unable to protect him but is actively legislating his persecution.
“My government is unwilling and unable to protect people like me; instead, it is enacting laws to punish us,” he stated.
“I have suffered physical and emotional trauma, have lost friends, and fear that returning to Ghana would result in imprisonment or death.”
As he seeks asylum in the United States, his case stands as a stark testament to the human cost of Ghana’s intensifying crackdown on sexual minorities—a journey from the vibrant streets of Kumasi to a desperate fight for the simple right to exist.
