Akufo-Addo To Wait For Supreme Court Decision Before He Assent To Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill2 min read
President Akufo-Akufo-Addo has urged all stakeholders to await the outcome of the case that has been filed in the Supreme Court by a concerned citizen with regard to the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill passed by Parliament before any further action is taken.
The President said with this new development, it would be proper to wait for the ruling of the Supreme Court.
“… I have learnt that, today, a challenge has been mounted at the Supreme Court by a concerned citizen to the constitutionality of the proposed legislation. In the circumstances, it would be, as well, for all of us to hold our hands, and await the decision of the Court before any action is taken,” the President wrote in a statement posted on Facebook by Director of Communication at the presidency, Eugene Arhin on March 4.
On February 28, Parliament passed the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, otherwise known as anti-gay Bill.
This has attracted varied reactions from various stakeholders, including the diplomatic community.
The Ministry of Finance in a brief to President Akufo-Addo on March 4 pointed to dire implications of assenting to the Bill.
In the statement released by Eugene Arhin, President Akufo-Addo assured the diplomatic community that Ghana will not back slide on its human rights records.
“I am aware that last week’s bi-partisan passage by Parliament of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, on a Private Member’s motion, has raised considerable anxieties in certain quarters of the diplomatic community and amongst some friends of Ghana that she may be turning her back on her, hitherto, enviable, longstanding record on human rights observance and attachment to the rule of law. I want to assure you that no such back-sliding will be contemplated or occasioned,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
He added that “The operation of the institutions of the Ghanaian state will determine the future trajectory of the rule of law and human rights compliance in our country.”