By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Members of the Ghanaian parliament have reintroduced a bill considered one of the most restrictive anti-LGBTQ legislations in Africa, three MPs backing the proposal told Reuters.
This follows an earlier failed attempt to enact the law due to a legal challenge.
Currently, same-sex relationships are punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment in Ghana. The reintroduced bill seeks to increase the maximum penalty to five years and introduce jail terms for the “wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities.”
The bill was initially passed in February 2024 by parliament but was not signed into law by then-President Nana Akufo-Addo before his tenure ended. When John Dramani Mahama assumed office in January 2025, the bill remained in limbo.
Under Ghana’s constitutional democracy, any law passed by parliament must receive presidential assent to take effect.
Ruling party lawmakers Samuel Nartey George and Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, alongside opposition MP John Ntim Fordjour, confirmed to Reuters that the same bill was reintroduced on 25 February, sponsored by 10 MPs in total.
The bill escalates a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights and penalises those accused of promoting sexual and gender minority rights.
The reintroduction is “disheartening and hard to process,” said Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, a Ghanaian trans woman and LGBTQ+ activist, who vowed that pro-LGBTQ+ activism would continue.
Although President Mahama has expressed a preference for an executive bill over one sponsored by parliamentarians, the bill’s fate remains uncertain.
Last year, Ghana’s finance ministry warned that passing the bill into law could jeopardise $3.8 billion in World Bank financing and derail a $3 billion IMF loan package.
