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God the Almighty,” PM Tsvangirai said.
“While I might differ with them as a Christian and as a social democrat, I refuse to throw a stone at them.”
The PM went on to quote Biblical scriptures from the books of Luke and John where Jesus admonished his listeners not to judge.
Mr Tsvangirai has been under fire for flip-flopping on the issue of gays and lesbians.
Last year, he condemned homosexuality at a gathering in Chitungwiza before making a sudden U-turn when he appeared on the BBC programme Newsnight where he told his interviewer that he wanted gay rights enshrined in the country’s new constitution.
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Observers said Mr Tsvangirai’s support for gays may have been influenced by British premier David Cameron who recently threatened to withhold aid to countries that do not include gay rights in their statutes.
However, many African countries, Zimbabwe included, consider homosexuality anathema.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s most populous nations, is seeking to tighten laws against homosexuality, which has riled human rights groups and Western countries like Britain.
Ghanaian President John Atta Mills said his country will neither initiate nor support any attempts to legalise homosexuality.
“Let me also say that while we acknowledge all the financial assistance and all the aid which has been given to us by our development partners, we will not accept any aid with strings attached if that aid will not inure to our interests or the implementation or the utilisation of that aid with strings attached will worsen our plight.
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“Let me make one thing very clear, no one can deny Prime Minister Cameron his right to make policies, take initiatives or make statements that reflect his societal norms and ideals but he does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially when their societal no-rms and ideals are different from those which exist in Prime Minister Cameron’s society.”
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, said the country must stand up and uphold its values and not allow other countries to manipulate it.
Ghanaians, especially religious leaders, said the British premier lacked understanding of Ghana’s cultural values.
A member of the Chief Imam’s Educational Fund in Ghana, Alhassan Abdulai, also said the Islamic community was appalled by the threats of the British premier and gave indications that “if push comes to shove,” the Muslim faithful in the nation would stage a demonstration against seeming plans by the British government to legitimise homosexuality in Ghana.
Minister of Trade and Industry Hannah Tetteh joined the fray on Tuesday, insisting same sex relationships were unacceptable in African cultural set-ups and that no amount of threats would make Ghana stoop to Britain’s threat.
Turning to political violence, Mr Tsvangirai accused the police of being partisan and a “source of violence and instability.”
The PM said he would raise the issue of political violence with the President during their weekly meetings.
Online Reporter