(LifeSiteNews) — I was asked by the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family to attend the Fourth African Parliamentary Conference on Family Sovereignty and Values in Accra, Ghana. This was a three-day conference held in Parliament House Accra from June 3-5, 2026.

Around 20 of the 54 countries in Africa were represented. This conference was initially launched and hosted by Uganda in the city of Entebbe from 2023 to 2025. The conferences represent a push by African lawmakers and civil organizations to defend traditional cultural identity, oppose external ideological influences and assert regional sovereignty. The core objectives include protecting the traditional African family structure, resisting outside pressures to take up agendas that are pushed by the West as “human rights,” and promoting African self-sufficiency in all areas. By coming together on core traditional and family values, African countries can form a bloc large enough in population and resources to be able to veto any undesirable agenda that Western or Eastern blocs try to force on them. The goal was to produce and adopt a Charter on Family Sovereignty and Values.

The location of the Fourth African Parliamentary Conference on Family Sovereignty and Values was very appropriate. Accra is where the first post-colonial pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah held his seat and envisioned the “United States of Africa” in the 1960s. Nkrumah posited that economic and political control by former colonial powers kept African nations weak and divided. Nkrumah transformed Ghana and pioneered pan-African unity, making Ghana the first independent nation, and his drive to unify Africa left solid structures like today’s African Union inheriting his core vision.

A new drive to unify Africa was started three years ago in Uganda. MP Sarah Opendi, chair of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on the Family, was the founding chair of the first of these African Parliamentary Councils. She is the primary legal and political architect behind the African Charter put forward for adoption at the meeting last week in Accra. The Charter seeks agreement by African heads of state to unite together to override new international “human rights” that conflict with African cultural and family values.

Uganda has been particularly concerned with the West’s attempts to require recognition of LGBTQ+ “rights” as a condition for foreign aid in Africa. Uganda has been attacked for enacting stringent laws against homosexuality, but it must be remembered that in the 19th century the King of Uganda, Kabaka Mwanga, executed 45 young men for defying his sexual advances. These men became the Uganda Martyrs, who are celebrated every year as symbols of religious faith and conservative cultural values. Ghana has also recently passed laws against homosexuality.

In addition, the Charter mentions several key areas of concern: the introduction of “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” including abortion, radical gender ideology, sexuality education, and controversial medical practices, moral principles and legal systems. The Charter seeks to defend the family, parental rights and Africa’s spiritual and cultural identity from these incursions. One notable and concerning exception, however, is any mention of the dangers of contraception.

The conference in Ghana targeted several areas of concern in the Charter. Sarah Opendi opened the talks. She stated the need to end financial contributions that have hidden clauses attacking family values. Africa needs to create its own seed money. A Protection of Sovereignty Act was signed by President Museveni of Uganda in May which requires registration of foreign-funded groups, limits political advocacy, and introduces severe penalties for violations. It implements strict disclosure for international funding directed at domestic organizations. Organizations in advocacy, public governance and human rights face heightened compliance about how funds are utilized. The law was softened at the last minute due to criticism from governance analysts and international legal organizations.

On the second day, Archbishop of Kumasi Gabriel Anoyke spoke eruditely on behalf of the Ghanaian Conference of Bishops and confirmed the traditional gender divisions of man and woman. There was a very motivating talk by the Hon. Sam Nartey George, Ghana’s minister for communication, digital technology and innovations, about the power of controlling one’s digital data and the vulnerabilities exposed if one does not have control. He received a standing ovation. Dr. Wahome Ngare from Kenya shared his opinion that the recent outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola was probably laboratory–generated.

The conference ended with the successful signing of the Charter by the delegates. There was one abstention, South Africa, whose representative said the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman went against her country’s established definition.

In the various speeches at the conference there seems to be a definite underlying anxiety that Africa has been ruthlessly manipulated to the detriment of the family and traditional African values. However, there was also an overwhelming optimism and excitement that Africa was now moving forward to preserve its sovereignty in defense of family and traditional values. It is significant that the Charter has been signed in Ghana, where Nkrumah’s foresight realized many years ago that it would be necessary.