British Tourist Held on Sodomy Charges in Ghana
British photographer John Ross MacLeod, 63, is being held on sodomy charges in Ghana after officials searched his bag for drugs and instead found a CD with sexually-explicit photos of MacLeod and a 19-year-old Ghanaian man whom he had traveled there to visit.
Sodomy and homosexual acts are illegal in Ghana. MacLeod reportedly met his friend, Emmanuel Adda, over the internet.
Ghana's Joy Online reports: "The Deputy Director General said Macleod arrived in the country on October 2, 2007 and was met on arrival by Adda, who took him to a hotel at Dome an Accra suburb. He said Adda, who lives at the Christian Village, near Achimota, took Macleod home and introduced him to his parents as a pen pal from the UK who was visiting Ghana. Mr Yeboah said because Adda was awaiting his results, he was able to accompany the suspect to the Kakum National Park, near Cape Coast, the Elmina Castle and Lake Bosumtwi among other places of interest..."
Said police spokesman Charles Darkwa: "During his stay in Ghana, Adda traveled round the country with Macleod, who took the opportunity to sodomize him and took pictures as well."
The Ghana media outlet adds: "They pleaded guilty to the first count of unnatural canal (sic) knowledge and were convicted on their own guilty plea to GHc600 (¢6 million) each or in default six months imprisonment. Macleod pleaded not guilty to possessing obscene pictures and was granted a GHc5000 (¢50 million) bail with three sureties, whom he could not provide. The two are in custody."
Ghanaian men are among the sexiest in West Africa...Too bad, I can't visit that country because of their prejudice against gays and lesbians!
Jokes aside, I get very frustrated when I see such reports. These people are very poor, obviously, and the minute that boy introduced an older white gentleman to his parents, they must have suspected something. I grew up in a similar environment and this is a well known phenomenon. The "kid" can enjoy the perks of having an older (white) man for companionship and society will close its eyes but the minute it goes public, they cast the 1st stones and shout "unnatural carnal acts" and the likes. Uggh!!
Posted by: Shabaka | Nov 6, 2007 3:55:05 PM
I believe the report says 'unnatural CANAL knowledge'. The mind boggles.
Posted by: Darren | Nov 6, 2007 4:13:41 PM
"...unnatural canal knowledge..."
Freudian slip, Andy?
Either way, to travel to a country and not know its laws, or what it takes to circumvent them is really pretty stupid.
Okay and a 44 year age difference? Gross.
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Nov 6, 2007 4:17:07 PM
Maybe the guy knew the rules and risked it - either way, it's wrong that these are the consequences. If consensual, it's just illogical that sex can be illegal: even if the age difference repels some people (which again, really is no one's business). Having said that, I won't be choosing Ghana as a holiday destination any time soon.
I agree with Andy's amendment - being arrested for 'unnatural canal knowledge' really is 'sic'.
Posted by: Darren | Nov 6, 2007 6:00:40 PM
I wonder what the older guy did to attract such scrutiny from the airport officials? Maybe they'd been tipped in advance, given the strange (and rather obvious) pairing noted by Shabaka?
Getting to the point of reviewing contents of his CDs seems really odd. Unless they were labeled something like "Me screwing a 19-year-old local boy a couple days ago."
Posted by: Paul | Nov 6, 2007 6:11:08 PM
As a gay man who hails from Ghana, I am very unhappy that my home country still consider homosexuality "sick". I get very frustrated when I see gay people imprisoned. Ghana is a very wonderful country that needs to break free from its colonial laws and extreme conservatism.
Posted by: Kofi | Nov 6, 2007 9:43:30 PM
The geezer should cough up the bail money for him and his twink and get their asses to the nearest Gay/British friendly foreign consulate. I mean, really, the bail is only like 304 GBP each. Or around $634.98 in US dollars.
Posted by: Wheezy | Nov 6, 2007 10:10:00 PM
Wheezy, the first two bails (one each) are indeed about $634 each. But the second one is more than $5,200, and the guy couldn't provide the required sureties.
My guess is that he's a sex tourist with limited funds, and probably blew most of his money on his flight to Ghana. Still, you'd think he could muster the resources---unless the authorities aren't letting him.
Kofi, I've met many wonderful people from Ghana, and it isn't the only country with these sorts of problems. Even authorities in parts of the United States continue to exploit and abuse gays and lesbians. It takes a long time to change hard-wired attitudes, but hopefully the day will come.
Posted by: Paul | Nov 6, 2007 11:07:49 PM
Who the hell has to fly all the way from the UK to Ghana for sex?
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Nov 7, 2007 1:11:59 AM
ANON...You obviously have never met ghanaian men! Trust me you'd fly half way across the world too! I remember "Douglas" from high school. Meeaouww!!
Posted by: Shabaka | Nov 7, 2007 10:47:02 AM
Well, I surely have no reason to be proud that my ancestors came from such a twisted place.
That said, I'm curious about all the details of the pictures, such that the authorities just "knew" that the sex took place in Ghana and/or that the boy was from Ghana. Fishy!
Posted by: Brandon | Nov 7, 2007 1:28:49 PM
Presumably the video had a time-date stamp on it, so they could tell it was made during his visit. And who knows, maybe the younger guy accompanied him to the airport.
Posted by: Paul | Nov 7, 2007 1:35:19 PM