By Stephen Asante
Accra, March 24, GNA – The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s opposition to gay marriage is in no doubt.
“The President has gone on record to say that he is opposed to gay marriage – it will never happen in his life,” he emphasised.
Likewise, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the Attorney-General held the same view, he added.
Mr Yeboah Dame, in an interview with an Accra-based radio station, Asaase Radio, monitored by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), on the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, passed by the Parliament recently, said the opposition of many Ghanaians to gay marriage was firm.
“…Of course, even my opinion, my formal opinion to Parliament was quite clear,” he stressed.
Issues such as the prohibition of gay marriage, gay practices and gay couple adopting children have been extensively dealt with in the society.
According to the Attorney-General, the respect or opposition to the practice of gay, lesbianism and all, must be distinguished from the constitutional validity of the Bill.
“It is one thing saying that you are opposed to the practice of gay, which, of course, most people are in this country.
“In my view as the Attorney-General, assessing the constitutional validity of this Bill, I look at it purely from a legal lens, and that process must be distinguished from whether one is opposed to gay practice or not,” he explained.
The Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill passed recently, with an overwhelming backing of Ghana’s two major political parties – the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) as well as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – is yet to receive a Presidential assent.
It proposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+, and imposing a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups.
Generally, it seeks to punish those who take part in LGBTQ sexual acts, as well as those who wilfully promote, sponsor, or support LGBTQ+ activities.
Commonly referred to as the anti-gay bill, it received sponsorship from a coalition, comprising Christian, Muslim and Ghanaian traditional leaders.
Amnesty International has warned that the Bill poses significant threats to the fundamental rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ people, urging the President to tread cautiously in the passage of the Bill into law.
Mr Yeboah Dame, on the Presidential assent to the Bill, said there was the need for the law to take its course given the current legal challenges pending before the court.
“For now, there are constitutional challenges, so we have to let the Supreme Court have the opportunity of determining them.
“At this stage, it is only the Supreme Court which can determine whether some aspects of the Bill complied with the law or not. So, we might just leave it to the Court to determine,” the Attorney-General advised.
Some opposition Ghanaian lawmakers have criticised the President for what they described as his lukewarm attitude in assenting to the Bill, threatening to make the course of the Government’s business in the Parliament House more difficult, if their expectations were not met.
Mr Yeboah Dame described the development as unfortunate, saying it was just unnecessary politicking.
“I think that the unjustified tit-for-tat ought to stop. That is not the way to build a democracy.
That is not the way to build a country. And that is actually not the way to also construe our Constitution.
“If we seek to construe our Constitution, it must be done in good faith. You do not construe it in a way to suit your purposes and say that you are trying to counter the action by the President in respect of a wholly unrelated process,” the Attorney-General cautioned.
Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated that his Administration would uphold the rule of law in the process of assenting to the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2024.
Issues raised about the Bill and currently pending before the law court, would have to be dealt with before his Administration could signify assenting or otherwise to the Bill, he noted.
A recent statement issued by the Office of the President, and copied to the Clerk to Parliament, the Majority Leader, among others, stated that, under the prevailing circumstances, it was appropriate “to cease and desist from transmitting the Bill to the President until the matters before the Supreme Court are resolved”.
“This Office is aware of two pending applications for an order of interlocutory injunction, both filed on March 07, 2024, in the Supreme Court in Dr Amanda Odoi vrs The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney-General, and Richard Sky vrs The Parliament of Ghana and The Attorney-General, respectively, to restrain you and Parliament from transmitting the Bill to the President, and, also, to restrain the President from signifying his assent to the Bill, pending the final determination of the matter.”
The statement said the Attorney-General had, by a letter dated March 18, 2024, informed the President that he had been duly served with both applications.
GNA