The Board Chair of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, has raised concerns over the political motivations behind the newly passed anti-LGBT legislation in Ghana.
On Wednesday, February 28, Ghana’s parliament unanimously passed the controversial Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill after months of deliberation.
In an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM, Professor Gadzekpo questioned the sincerity of the bill’s proponents, suggesting that political expediency rather than genuine societal values underpinned its passage.
She alleged that Mr Sam George, a leading advocate of the bill, had a different stance in 2015 when former President John Dramani Mahama was rumoured to have connections with a homosexual individual.
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“I am telling you that they have passed it not for any reason but for political reasons. Mr. Sam George, the chief proponent of the bill in 2015 when his candidate John Mahama was accused of having a friend who was a homosexual sponsoring him, etc. Sam George is on record saying that the constitution protects those rights,” Professor Gadzekpo said.
She questioned the sudden change in George’s stance, stating, ” I have to wonder why he changed his mind… What has changed? 10 years ago did he have a different morality from today, from 2021 when he proposed the bill,” she asked.
According to her, the passage of the bill reflects political maneuvering rather than a commitment to protecting societal values.
“That is why I am saying there is politics. They are walking over the bodies of vulnerable people,” she added.
The Bill currently proscribes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalizes their promotion, advocacy and funding. Persons caught in same-sex relations would be subjected to six months to three-year jail term with promoters and sponsors of these acts bearing a three to five-year jail term. The Bill would now require presidential assent to become law.
