2024-03-01 01:41:47
Ghana’s parliament has passed a bill, which imposes prison sentences of up to three years for anyone who identifies as homosexual. For those who finance or form LGTBI groups, repression can reach 5 years in prison.
During the debate, opposition deputies tried to replace prison sentences with community service and the receipt of counseling and indoctrination to recover heterosexuality. Ghana thus joins the growing number of African countries that are curtailing the rights of the LGTBI community.
This bill will come into effect when signed into law by President Nana Akufo Addo, who has already said he would proceed if the majority of Ghanaians wanted it. Homosexuality is already illegal in Ghana, limiting the fundamental rights and freedoms of these people.
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After the approval of the bill, Representative Sam Nartey George stressed in statements to the press the importance of the head of State giving his approval to enact the legislation. “We want the president to keep his word and sign the bill so that it can come into force,” he declared, referring to Akufo-Addo, who had so far avoided the tense debate over the bill, pledging to react immediately. once it was voted by Parliament.
It also encourages the general public to report gays to the authorities so that action can be taken. MPs said the bill was drafted in response to the opening of the first LGBTQ community center in Ghana’s capital, Accra, three years ago.
On the other hand, the president of the Board of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, urged Akufo-Addo not to approve the law, ensuring that “human rights do not depend on majority approval or disapproval” and that Ghana is a “secular and multi-religious” country.
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