Ghana must enact specific law against homosexuality – Yaw Oppong

A private legal practitioner, Yaw Oppong, is calling for a specific law in the country to make homosexuality a criminal offence.

He said although there are some provisions in the Criminal Code under which a homosexual can be prosecuted especially for having intercourse with a partner, a specific law must be enacted to declare homosexual relationship an illegality.

Commenting on the proposed integration of the current Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) on The Big Issue on Saturday, Yaw Oppong stated that the view was captured in the last Constitutional Review Committee report as those of many Ghanaians however the committee failed to back it in its recommendation except to say the courts must be allowed to make a determination on it.

“Sadly, when the Constitutional Review Commission was going round, in their report they said that majority of Ghanaians said that they want specific laws on this [homosexuality] matter; that we abhor it, it is a criminal offence, and [we should] provide a serious punishment for it but their [the Committee’s] recommendation was that we leave it to the court to determine,” he said.

Yaw Oppong therefore suggested that just as a specific law was recently passed to address the issue of vigilantism; same should be done for homosexuality.

“Apart from that small provision on so-called sodomy and unnatural carnal knowledge, we don’t have a specific law that expressly makes this thing a criminal offence. These people, may be living together, they are not motivated by just sex so if they decide not to have unnatural carnal knowledge, are we approving of it. So why can’t we just find time, make it very impossible for anyone to engage in it by enacting a specific law like the vigilantism act,” Mr. Oppong added.  

The planned integration of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education in the basic school curriculum has generated mixed reactions from the public with some suggesting that the course is a backdoor attempt to introduce children to LGBT issues.

That suggestion has been the premise for the vehement opposition to the CSE by stakeholders including the Pentecostal and Charismatic Council of Ghana (PCCG).

The Minority in Parliament has also kicked against the CSE but Yaw Oppong believes that Members of Parliament should go beyond their opposition to initiating processes to have a law enacted to make homosexuality illegal.