TAC says Ghana's anti-gay bill is 'useless and oppressive'
If signed into law, the bill will see LGBTQ people being jailed for at least three years while a five-year sentence would be imposed against initiatives supporting the community.
Civil society organisations on Thursday 6 March 2023 led a protest at Ghana’s High Commission to South Africa in the capital city - after the country’s parliament passed an anti-LGBTQ+ bill. Picture: Alpha Ramushwana/ Eyewitness News.
PRETORIA - Civil society organisations protested outside the Ghana High Commission to South Africa in Tshwane.
This comes after Ghana passed a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill that has been condemned globally.
If signed into law, the bill will see gay people being jailed for at least three years while a five-year sentence would be imposed against initiatives supporting the community.
Same-sex acts are already against the law in Ghana, and carries a three-year prison sentence.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Gender Dynamix are calling on Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo to refrain from promulgating the bill.
Gender activists, who protested against the bill in Pretoria on Wednesday said Akufo-Addo must consider the implications.
TAC Gauteng Chairperson Monwabisi Mbasa said Ghana is imposing a law that will violate the human rights of LGTBQI+ people.
“This nonsense must not be signed into law because it is illogical, it is useless, it is backwards, it is oppressive.”
The finance ministry in Ghana has also warned Akufo-Addo that the law could see sanctions being imposed on Ghana.