Ghana Parliament Passes Bill to Codify Ban on Homosexual Acts

Ghana's Parliament passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill on Friday, imposing prison terms of up to 10 years for individuals who promote, sponsor or advocate LGBTQ+ acts and banning the funding of groups and activities related to those acts.

The bill also sets three-year prison terms for individuals engaging in homosexual acts. It retains the core provisions of legislation passed unanimously in 2024 but adds exemptions for legal professionals, members of the media, and healthcare professionals.

The measure is expected to be signed into law by President John Dramani Mahama. Under the Ghanaian constitution, the 2024 bill expired after former President Nana Akufo-Addo did not sign it before the end of the parliamentary term, requiring the new parliament to approve it again.

Same-sex sexual relations are already criminalized in Ghana under an existing colonial-era law, though there have been no prosecutions to date under that statute.

More than 30 of Africa's 54 countries have laws that criminalize same-sex sexual acts. Some of those laws carry jail terms of more than 10 years, while in Somalia, Uganda, and Mauritania the punishment is death. When the previous bill was passed in 2024, Ghana's Ministry of Finance warned that its enactment could jeopardize billions of dollars in international financing.

Human Rights Watch condemned the bill and urged Ghana's government to uphold international legal protections that guarantee every Ghanaian equality, non-discrimination, freedom of expression, and privacy.