Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has revealed that Parliament is in the process of coming up with a law against homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexuality.
He makes the revelation in a reply to an activist in the Eastern Region, Emmanuel Abankwah Kesse, who had written to the Speaker asking for a law to be passed to remove the ambiguity surrounding Ghana’s official stance on the matter of the LGBTQI+ movement.
“Urgent actions are being taken to pass a law to eventually nib the activities of these groups in the bud. Stakeholder consultations are ongoing and the results will feed into a Bill that will eventually be passed into law by Parliament,” the Speaker’s reply partly read.
Commiserating with Mr. Abankwah and his concern for the LGBTQI+ activities, the Speaker wrote, “It is indeed a phenomenon that should not be encouraged or accepted by our society due to its eventual negative impact on our society.”
The revelation will come as a blow to the LGBTQI+ movement in Ghana which has recently been in the news over the disruption of its meetings and arrests.
But it comes as a mood lifter for many anti-gay-rights movements in the country including the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Value and religious factions such as the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), National Peace Council, and the Office of the National Chief Imam.
In the past, President Akufo-Addo’s virtual invitation to gay rights activists to rump up activism in the country was seen to have encouraged the LGBTQI+ movement to demand recognition of their rights.
However, the President has since recanted his earlier position and vowed nit to have the rights of gays legalized in the country.