Africa-Press – Ghana. The Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-LGBT* bill, was passed by Ghanaian parliamentarians in February, but the president has since neither signed nor vetoed the bill.
Ghana’s High Court has dismissed a lawsuit against the West African country’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, seeking an expedited decision on whether to sign or reject the anti-LGBT bill, local media said.
The court reportedly ruled that it would be inappropriate to force Akufo-Addo to act on a bill that has been the subject of two High Court cases.
The mandamus petition was filed in March by Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the Member of Parliament, to compel the president to act on the anti-LGBT bill within seven days.
In late February, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill that criminalizes people who identify as LGBT* and those who advocate for LGBT rights. Those who have sex with members of the same sex face five years in prison.
In addition, the “propaganda” of LGBT rights and the financing of relevant activities could be punished with three to five years in jail under the bill.In March, President Akufo-Addo said he would wait to consider the bill, explaining that it would be challenged in the High Court because a citizen had challenged its constitutionality.
Responding to the president’s refusal to consider the bill, Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, said it violated constitutional provisions governing the legislative process in the West African country.
According to the speaker, the president has the constitutional power to approve or disapprove of a bill and must give his assent or seek the advice of the Council of State within seven days of the bill’s submission.
Ghana’s finance ministry warned that the president’s signing of the bill could cost the country $3.8 billion in financing from international banks over the next five to six years.
* The “LGBT movement” is classified as extremist by the Russian authorities and is banned in Russia.
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