Ghana's president Nana Akufo-Addo says he won't sign a controversial anti LGBTQ+ bill into law until the supreme court has ruled on whether it is constitutional. The bill passed parliament unanimously but has been widely condemned internationally.

Accra

The Ghanaian government is currently at a pivotal stage regarding the Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with President Nana Akufo-Addo saying he will withhold his approval. The proposed bill, which has faced unanimous approval from the Ghanaian Parliament, is under scrutiny to determine its constitutionality by the Supreme Court. This move comes amidst widespread international condemnation of the bill.

President Akufo-Addo's decision to pause and await the Supreme Court's judgment underscores the tension between local legislative processes and international human rights perspectives. The delay in the enactment highlights the complexity of balancing internal political consensus and the standards set by global human rights advocacy.



Enactment of Ghana anti-LGBTQ law looms

Suli, not his real name, is gay, but he hasn't yet come out in public because he fears he will be attacked. He says members of Ghana's LGBTQ plus community were already living with the threat of homophobic violence. A new anti-LGBTQ plus law would make things even worse. Life has actually changed for the worse for me personally. And I am not just here to speak on my own personal behalf. Because I have seen this played out in other people's lives. The level of fear has increased. The level of isolation has increased. Same-sex intercourse is already illegal in Ghana, punishable by up to three years in prison. The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill would further restrict the rights of LGBTQ persons with geoterms for identifying as gay or promoting LGBTQ activities. I'm urging a lot of Ghanaians to go and read the bill and see what this bill is. Because it is not a bill that is supposed to promote Ghanaian family values. This is a bill of real hatred and vengeance. That is what the bill actually is. LGBT groups have condemned the bill and say it has implications for all Ghanaians. It is not only LGBT people, even the media. You could go to prison as a media person for publishing news that is considered to be promoting. So the idea that we have to stifle knowledge, that we have to withhold the production of knowledge in a way that assumes that you only have to speak in a certain way that supports discrimination against other members of the community, that is very problematic. The bill has the backing of religious and traditional leaders. It's also supported by many Ghanaians with conservative beliefs. In my opinion, it's good that the bill should be passed because everybody with their culture, Americans have their culture, we have our culture. So I think something that we, that is our culture, that is most accepted. We need the bill to protect our culture. As Africans, we have a culture, we have a culture to protect, so we can't allow the Western countries to control us. You see, I don't understand why we say we are an independent country, when we don't depend on ourselves. We allow the Western countries to control us, everything. But outside opinions are having an influence. Ghana is in the midst of an economic crisis. The finance ministry has warned the president that signing the controversial bill into law could cost the country billions of dollars in much-needed funding from the World Bank. Suli says if the bill becomes law, his future lies outside of Ghana. I will definitely hide, and I will leave. I will not choose to stay in a country that sees me as a criminal. I refuse to. I refuse to be gagged. I refuse to be seen as a criminal. I refuse to be criminalized because of who I am as a person. But for now, Suli is staying in the hope that the Supreme Court and the president decide against Ghana's anti-gay bill.

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