A group of popular Ghanaian experts in various fields have kicked against the passage of a bill in parliament aimed at criminalising same sex activities in Ghana.
They have described the bill as an impermissible invasion of the inviolability of human dignity.
The private members’ bill dubbed Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 is being pushed for passage by some members of parliament. It is proposing heavy punishments for persons who engage in same sex or its related activities including a 10-year jail term for offenders.
The promoters of the bill which was presented to parliament in June 2021 also want promoters of any sexuality that falls within the LGBTQI+ spectrum other than between a man and a woman to suffer consequences.
But following a public notice by the parliamentary service on behalf of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs requesting for written memoranda on the yet to be considered bill, the group of high profile Ghanaian lawyers, Communications, Media and governance experts say the bill is undemocratic.
The experts include Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, Prof Kofi Gyimah-Boadi, Dr Rose Kutin-Mensah, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, Professor Kwame KariKari, Mr Akoto Ampaw and Professor Raymond Atuguba.
In two separate memos to parliament seen by Mynewsgh.com, the groups say passage of the bill will amount to sacrificing the fundamental human rights of individuals who wish to enjoy their sexual rights on the bases of so-called Ghanaian cultural and religious values.
They argued that promoters of the bill have not provided data to support claims that allowing same sex activities will erode the cultural values of the Ghanaian society.
“The proposers of this far-reaching claim have not provided any data or evidence to suggest that there is such a threat, beyond a resort to some dogmatic religious tenets and so-called Ghanaian family values,” the memo said.
They stated further that per Article 18 of the Constitution of Ghana, the country is practicing a secular democracy and “not a theocratic Christian or Islamic Republic or an African traditional monarchy or chiefdom.”
They added that “our Constitution rightfully forbids the imposition of a religious dogma, whether Christian or Islamic or traditional on Ghanaians.”
Source: MyNewsGh
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