The politics of public outrage

PolitIcs is filled with issues to which sections of society react with public outrage.

Take as an example the current furore around the LGBTQ+ issue. Some sections of society, notably traditional and religious leaders and their representative organisations, have expressed outrage at the seeming reticence of President Mahama to make the issue his government’s top priority.

Ever since a private members’ LGBTQ+ bill was introduced to parliament in 2021, traditional and religious leaders have publicly proclaimed their support for the bill, outraged that Ghana tolerates what they see as aberrant behaviour.

Such a law is necessary, they proclaim, to protect Ghana’s traditional culture, said to be under threat from a Western-inspired and funded campaign to normalise same-sex relations.

This, it is said, is the thin end of the wedge: a Trojan horse of westernisation and its running dog, secularisation, aiming to hollow out Ghana’s traditional culture and throw citizens headlong into the cesspit of Western me-first individualism.

Their repeated expressions of public outrage about this issue serve to encourage the politically powerful to stem the tide of LGBTQ+ activities and, more generally, westernisation and secularisation.

Human trafficking and child labour

A news item in the Daily Graphic on Saturday 11 April caught my eye: ‘Religious leaders urged to support fight against human trafficking, child labour’.

The Graphic’s story referred to the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs’ efforts to integrate child protection measures into the performance assessment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, part of their efforts to fight human trafficking and child labour.

Human trafficking and child labour are significant, persistent problems in Ghana.

Recent data indicate a surge in cases and a high prevalence in specific industries.

Due to poverty and weak enforcement in rural areas, they remain a serious concern despite efforts by the government to combat them.

According to the Ghana Police Service, reported human trafficking cases in Ghana increased more than 10-fold from 95 in 2024 to 1,202 in 2025. In addition, an estimated 91,000 people live in conditions of modern slavery today in Ghana.

Two million children engage in child labour, often in hazardous conditions.

Child trafficking is particularly prevalent on the Lake Volta, where children as young as four years-old are forced to work long hours under hazardous conditions, including diving to untangle nets.

Overall, around 50,000 children work in the fishing industry.

In addition, children are trafficked and subjected to forced labour in the cocoa farming sector and in artisanal gold mining (galamsey).

Finally, there is the kayayei phenomenon: where young girls from the rural north are trafficked or forced to migrate to cities such as Accra to work as head porters (kayayei), where they are at great risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Religious responses to human trafficking and child labour

What caught my eye in the Graphic’s news item was that the Minister, Ahmed Ibrahim, speaking during a high-level meeting of Heads of Faith-Based Organisations, found it necessary to call on religious leaders to support the government’s fight against human trafficking and child labour.

Why are religious leaders not doing it already?

Where is religious leaders’ public outrage at the evils of modern slavery and child exploitation?

Isn’t gross exploitation of children an issue which religious leaders feel strongly about? Why their silence?

Public outrage and politics

In his controversial 31 March comment that Ghana had other priorities above a new LGBTQ+ bill, President Mahama mentioned the following issues which his government wants to prioritise: economic stability and recovery, job creation, improving livelihoods and lowering the cost of living, education, healthcare, food security and providing essential infrastructure, specifically mentioning roads and shelter.

It is not clear where fighting human trafficking and child labour come in the list of the President’s priorities, although it is clear from minister Ibrahim’s public concern that the government is not happy with the current situation.

Overall, the issues identified by Minister Ibrahim should provoke public outrage, including from traditional and religious leaders.

Rather than spending so much time and effort on the LGBTQ+ issue, it may be better for traditional and religious leaders to express their public outrage at the failure to deal with the myriad problems of Ghana nearly 70 years of independence. 

The writer is an Emeritus Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK.