Parliament after a labourious journey of law making on Wednesday finally passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill into law.
The Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI+) legislation bans same sex relationship and provides for related activities.
The bill imposes a prison sentence of up to five years for the “wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities”.
The bill will be presented to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, after which he has seven days to assent or refuse to assent, according to the 1992 constitution.
Immediately after the passage of the LGBTQ+ bill, it emerged that there are those who support the passage of the bill by Parliament, and those against, resulting in war of words.
While religious groupings, parents, traditional authorities and moralists welcome the passage of the bill as victory for efforts to protect proper human values in Ghana, human rights advocates consider such move as an infringement on the rights of individuals.
The Coalition of Muslim Organisations, Ghana, (COMOG) expressed happiness about the passage, saying, “After three long years of topsy turvy, the goal of regulating and eventually proscribing the practice of LGBTQI+ in Ghana has been achieved and deemed it an important milestone in the history of parliament in Ghana.” It expressed gratitude to Allah for answering their prayers as a Muslim organisation.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) commended the entire membership of the Coalition, the private sponsors/promoters of the bill in Parliament and all others who in diverse ways lend their support to the passage of this all-important bill.
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) said the passage of the LGBTQI+ bill into law would protect authentic Ghanaian family values which are under threat from homosexual acts.
It praised everyone who made efforts and spent time on developing the bill, which when passed into law would promote proper human sexual rights and impose punitive measures that are commensurate with the act of homosexuality.
The Christian Council Ghana, making reference to biblical quotations, said the bill would protect the good family system that was inherited from ancestral lineage.
In reaction, the United States (US) says Ghana’s newly passed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill would have implications on the country’s economic development.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH – FOLLEY
