Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed two attempts to overturn a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill passed by parliament earlier this year.
The court ruled on Wednesday that it could not interfere until the bill receives presidential approval.
Avril Lovelace-Johnson, head of the seven-member panel, delivered the court’s decision, stating, “Until there is presidential assent to the bill, there is no act of which the Supreme Court will use its supervisory jurisdiction to overturn.”
The proposed law has sparked intense debate in Ghana, with critics describing it as a step towards harsher persecution of LGBTQ individuals and their allies. Human Rights Watch’s interim director for LGBTQ rights, Rasha Younes, condemned the decision, saying, “Ghana’s Supreme Court unfortunately upheld the British colonial legacy of criminalizing so-called ‘unnatural sex.’ This law violates constitutionally protected rights to privacy and personal liberties.”
Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act of 1960, inherited from British colonial rule, already criminalizes “unnatural carnal knowledge.” This term, according to the law, includes same-sex relationships and, as interpreted by the court, extends to acts involving sex toys.
The new anti-LGBTQ bill, officially known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, proposes even stricter measures. It would increase the maximum prison sentence for same-sex activities from three to five years and criminalize identifying as LGBTQ, queer, pansexual, or any other non-traditional gender identity. The bill also threatens punishment for those who provide support or advocate for LGBTQ rights, including on social media.
Several prominent Ghanaians have opposed the bill. Samia Nkrumah, a former member of parliament and the daughter of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, has urged President Nana Akufo-Addo to veto the bill. She described it as “brutal, harsh, and unjust.”
The Roman Catholic Cardinal of Ghana, Peter Turkson, has also spoken against the legislation. Despite these objections, the bill, passed by parliament in February 2024, is still awaiting the president’s signature.
Critics have called for the president to reject the bill. Younes said, “The court’s failure to uphold basic rights for LGBTQ people only further emphasizes why the president should veto the new bill.”
