The Bill initiated by some six Members of Parliament seeking to criminalise lesbianism and gayism in Ghana has been kicked against by a group of 18 concerned Ghanaians.

The “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill,” which is currently before Parliament, according to the group, which has kicked against it, when passed into law would erode fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1992 constitution, and send Ghana to the dark ages of lawlessness.

Members of the group include legal practitioner, Mr Akoto Ampaw, Professor Emerita Takyiwaaa Manuh, Communication Specialist, Professor Kwame Karikari, Professor Kofi Gyimah-Boadi, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo of the Department of Communication Studies, and Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, Dr Yao Graham, Professor Dzodzi Tsikata and Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh of Centre of Democratic Development (CDD).

Others are former Secretary-General of the Trades Unions Congress (TUC), Mr Kwasi Adu Amankwah, Dr Kojo Asante, Mr Kingsley Ofei-Nkansah, Mr Akunu Dake, Mr Tetteh Hormeku-Ajie, the Dean of Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana, Professor Raymond Atuguba, Dr Charles Wereko -Brobby, Dr Joseph Asunka and Nana Ama Agyemang Asante.

At a press conference in Accra Monday (October 4, 2021), the group said their advocacy was not about whether lesbianism or gayism is right or wrong, but rather they were worried about the violations of human rights which the bill seeks to impose.

“The bill violates virtually all the key fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the constitution, namely the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to assemble, freedom of association and the right to organise, the right to freedom from discrimination and the right to human dignity,” Mr Ampaw said.

Source: Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson