Ghana Supreme Court Upholds Anti-LGBTQ Bill

Supreme Court of Ghana denied two attempts on Wednesday, December 18, to repeal a contentious law that lawmakers passed earlier this year that severely restricts the rights of LGBTQ people.

The Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was widely supported by the populace of the conservative West African nation, but it was condemned internationally when lawmakers adopted it in February. The draft law specifies that engaging in LGBTQ sex carries jail sentences ranging from six months to three years.

Only after being ratified by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo—who has not yet made his choice public—will the bill become law. Akufo-Addo, who will formally leave office on January 7 after serving two terms, had earlier said he would wait for the Supreme Court to rule on the bill’s constitutionality before acting.

“It will be premature for this court to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene. Consequently, the action fails,” said judge Avril Lovelace-Johnson, head of the court’s seven-member panel, while delivering the judgement.

“Until there is presidential assent to the bill, there is no act of which the Supreme Court will use its supervisory jurisdiction to overturn,” she added.

The court’s decision came after legal challenges brought by university researcher Amanda Odoi and Ghanaian broadcaster Richard Dela-Sky, who contested the bill’s constitutionality.

A number of nations, including the United States, have criticized the law, and Ghana’s finance ministry has expressed fear that its ratification could endanger billions of dollars in World Bank assistance.