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Charles Owusu has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to assent to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill with immediate effect.
The bill, which has been passed by Parliament, makes the promotion, activism and acts of homosexuality in the country illegal and punishable by law.
Offenders will be sentenced to a minimum of 6 months to 5 years in prison.
Following the passage of the bill, pressure has been mounting on the President to cancel it.
International Community Blasts Ghana
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk describes the bill as “deeply harmful” and implores the President not to append his signature to making it a law.
“The bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual and queer people – simply for being who they are – and threatens criminal penalties against perceived allies of LGBTQ+ people.”
“I call for the bill not to become law. I urge the Ghanaian Government to take steps to ensure everyone can live free from violence, stigma and discrimination, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Consensual same-sex conduct should never be criminalized,” Mr. Türk also argued.
US ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Evelyn Palmer also says the bill undermines human rights.
“I am saddened because some of the smartest, most creative, most decent people I know are LGBT. The bill Parliament passed takes away not only their basic human rights but those of all Ghanaians because it undermines their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. It will be bad for public order and public health. If enacted, it will also hurt Ghana’s international reputation and Ghana’s economy,” she wrote on the embassy’s X page.
Presidential Assent
Although the bill has been passed, it awaits the President’s signature to become law.
Without the President assenting to it, it will be difficult for the bill to become operational and for offenders to be punished.
President Nana Addo has, before the passage of the bill, made his stance clear that he is not in support of homosexuality, however whether or not he will sign this bill remains in suspense.
Legacy
Charles Owusu, Nkoranza North parliamentary aspirant, has appealed to the President to sign the bill immediately for posterity sake.
He condemned the LGBTQ+ community stressing their activities are a direct contravention of proper Ghanaian values and sexual orientation.
To him, no person in Ghana should be allowed to engage in homosexuality because aside it being against proper Ghanaian values, it is also an abomination to God and the nation.
“Let this be the number one legacy you will leave for this nation and posterity will remember you that it was under your regime that this abomination wasn’t permitted,” he advised the President.
He made these submissions on Friday edition of “Kokrokoo” morning show.
