Ghana’s Top Court Move Eases Path for Tough Anti-LGBTQ Law

Yinka Ibukun and Ekow Dontoh
·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s Supreme Court dismissed a case filed against an anti-LGBTQ bill, bringing the proposed legislation closer to becoming law.

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A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, unanimously ended separate petitions filed by broadcast journalist and lawyer Richard Dela Sky and Amanda Odoi, an academic, challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

The dismissal is the latest blow to the LGBTQ community, which has in recent years seen rights curtailed across Africa. Uganda last year endorsed a law that prescribes the death sentence for some offenses while Kenya and Tanzania have also taken steps against LGBTQ people. In Ghana, the court’s decision paves the way for the nation’s president to weigh on the bill, which was introduced in parliament in 2021.

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“At this point, we would hope that the president refuses to sign this bill into law,” said Alex Kofi Donkor, the director of activist group LGBT+ Rights Ghana. “It will really be a great disappointment if the president signs this.”

Outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo had refused to take a decision until the Supreme Court heard the case. He now has seven days to sign, refuse to do so or refer the bill to the Council of State for advice, according to Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin. Akufo-Addo has just three weeks left of his term before handing over to President-elect John Mahama.

If endorsed, the punitive law would deepen discrimination against LGBTQ people and criminalize family members or colleagues who don’t report people from the community. The law may also jeopardize $3.8 billion of World Bank funding over the next six years, Ghana’s Finance Ministry said in March.

The Supreme Court had faced criticism for delaying its decision, including from parliament, which accused the judiciary of colluding with the executive to undermine its powers.

(Updates with comment from activist in fourth paragraph.)

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