Ghanaian Man Flees to Canada After Facing Death Threats Over Bisexuality

A 41-year-old Ghanaian, Mr. Declan Ofori Konadu, has sought refugee protection in Canada after narrowly escaping mob violence and death threats in his hometown, Offinso, in the Ashanti Region.

Mr. Konadu, the son of Ambrose Ofori and Rose Yaa Sraha, says his life has been under constant threat from family members, community leaders, and even the police after he was caught in a same-sex encounter in May 2023.

According to Mr. Konadu, his struggles with his sexuality began in the late 1990s while a student at Kumasi Anglican Senior Secondary School, where he was introduced to a same-sex relationship by his school “father.” Despite his Christian upbringing, he said he stayed in the relationship because it offered him protection from bullying.

In 2013, he married Ms. Agnes Asamoah, with whom he has a son, but he secretly continued relationships with men, including his former school “father,” who regularly visited him from abroad.

Trouble started on May 14, 2023, when the two men were allegedly caught in a compromising act inside a parked car at night. Mr. Konadu managed to escape, but his partner was severely beaten by a mob and later taken to the local chief.

“The chief and his elders declared me wanted. My family was disgraced, my wife divorced me, and I was told my punishment would be death to appease the gods,” he recounted.

Fearing for his life, he fled to Sunyani and later to Accra, where he lived in hiding. He claims his family was harassed to produce him, forcing some relatives to disown him. “I was told that I had desecrated the land, and the punishment was to be tied to a tree in the forbidden forest until I died,” he said.

With the help of a friend, Mr. Konadu managed to secure a passport and a Canadian visa, eventually leaving Ghana to seek asylum. He insists that returning home is impossible, given the cultural taboos surrounding homosexuality and the threats he continues to face.

Same-sex relationships remain criminalized in Ghana, with strong social stigma and, in some cases, violent reprisals against persons suspected of being gay or bisexual.