Ghana Reintroduces Bill to Toughen LGBTQ+ Penalties.
Ghanaian lawmakers reintroduce a bill to increase LGBTQ+ penalties, with potential international financial consequences.
Ghana's Parliament Reintroduces Controversial LGBTQ+ Bill
Ghanaian lawmakers have once again presented a bill that seeks to increase penalties for LGBTQ+ activities. The bill was first introduced in 2021 but faced legal challenges that prevented its passage.
Under current law, same-sex sexual acts are punishable by up to three years in prison. The new bill aims to extend the prison sentence to five years and introduce further punishments for those who "deliberately promote, fund, or support LGBTQ+ activities."
The bill was initially approved by Ghana's Parliament in February 2024, but the then-President Nana Akufo-Addo did not sign it before his term ended in January, and John Dramani Mahama assumed office. For any bill passed by the parliament to become law, it must be signed by the president.
On February 25, 2025, the bill was reintroduced to Parliament, backed by ten lawmakers, including members from both the ruling party and the opposition. Samuel Nartey George and Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, both from the ruling party, alongside opposition MP John Ntim Fordjour, confirmed to Reuters that the bill was once again on the table.
LGBTQ+ activist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi expressed disappointment over the reintroduction of the bill, calling it disheartening, but emphasized that efforts to support LGBTQ+ rights would continue.
The Ghanaian Ministry of Finance had warned last year that if the bill became law, it could jeopardize the country’s $3.8 billion financial support from the World Bank and block a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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