Ghana’s Parliament passes draconian anti-LGBTQI+ Bill; journalists assaulted

Association

Ghana’s Parliament passes draconian anti-LGBTQI+ bill

On 28th February 2024, the parliament of Ghana passed the draconian anti-LGBTQI+ bill, the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill”, now renamed to “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024”, which seeks to harshen the prison sentences for consensual same-sex conduct and criminalises individuals and organisations advocating for LGBTQI+ rights. Additionally, failure to report LGBTQI+ people is criminalised and the use of social media platforms to produce, publish or disseminate content promoting such activities is prohibited. The President is yet to sign the controversial bill into law, his office citing two pending cases against the bill at the Supreme Court. One court case, initiated by academic and gender activist Amanda Odoi, states that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill violates government procedure, in particular article 108 of Ghana’s Constitution, which stipulates that only the executive can introduce a bill that imposes a cost on the state. A second suit, initiated by lawyer and journalist Richard Dela-Sky, challenging the constitutionality of the Bill, had its first hearing on 8th May 2024, and was adjourned to a later date.

In the uproar that followed a dispute between the Speaker of the Parliament and the President over assenting to the anti-LGBTQI+ bill, the Parliament was adjourned in March until it reconvened on 17th May 2024. On 29th April 2024, a court dismissed a legal challenge by Member of Parliament Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor to force President Nana Akufo-Addo to assent to the bill.

Previously, in early March 2024, Ghana’s Ministry of Finance warned the President, in a confidential four-page document, of an economic fallout following the endorsement of the anti-LGBTQI+ bill.

As reported previously on the Monitor, the anti-LGBTQI+ bill was first introduced to the Ghanaian parliament in June 2021. Since the introduction of the bill, an increase in attacks against perceived LGBTQI+ people was documented by human rights groups. In February 2021, a LGBTQI+ centre in Accra was forced to shut down after it was raided by security forces.

While the bill enjoys popular support in Ghana, a number of influential people have raised concerns on the bill, including Samia Nkrumah, daughter of the leader of Ghana’s independence movement and first president of Ghana, Kwama Nkrumah, who called the bill “brutal, harsh and unjust”.

The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Volker Türk, and several UN experts, including Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression and opinion, condoned the passage of the bill and urged President Nana Akufo-Addo not to sign the bill. In a statement, the UN experts said:

A coalition of 18 civil society actors, known as the ‘Big 18’, and the Human Rights Coalition have been opposed to the bill since the start, saying it violates key fundamental human rights, including the freedom of expression, association and academic freedom. They likewise urged the President not to assent to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024.

Same-sex relations are already criminalised in Ghana’s Criminal Code.

Expression

Attack on Class Media Group offices

On 25th April 2024, four unidentified perpetrators on motorbikes threw petrol bombs and stones over the wall of the offices of Class Media Group in Accra, shattering the media outlet’s door. The motive of the attack on Class Media Group, the owner of nine radio stations, C Television broadcaster and the Class FM news site, remains unknown.

Several journalists physically attacked during political events ahead of December general elections

On 27th January 2024, member of Parliament (MP) for Yendi in Northern Region, Farouk Aliu Mahama, reportedly assaulted correspondent for Citi FM/TV Mohammed Aminu Alabira while he was reporting on the violence that erupted over allegations that an electoral official had destroyed ballots during the parliamentary primaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). MP Mahama reportedly slapped the journalist and kicked him in the leg, before the MP’s security personnel grabbed Alabira by the neck and seized the journalist’s phone. The journalist had to seek medical care following the assault and reported the attack to the police. The Office of MP Mahama denied he and any individuals associated with him were involved in the incident.

In a press release on 28th January 2024, the regional chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) called on the police to arrest the MP and to ensure that justice is served. During a press conference on 6th February 2024, the GJA, together with media associations Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) called on media to blacklist MP Farouk Aliu Mahama, thus refusing to provide media coverage of the MP.

In another incident, on 4th January 2024, alleged NPP supporters assaulted radio journalist David Kobbena who was covering the vetting process for NPP candidates to run for parliament in the upcoming general elections in December 2024 at the NPP offices in the Central Coast region. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), who spoke with Kobbena, two women in t-shirts branded with a picture of the Minister of Fisheries and MP for Awutu Senya East constituency, Mavis Hawa Koomson, approached the journalist shortly after he arrived at the NPP offices, mistook him for another journalist and accused him of having insulted Komsoon during a programme on the UTV station. Kobbena refuted these claims and even showed his press card which stipulated he worked for Cape FM. Although the women walked away, a man approached Kobbena, making the same accusations, while a group of NPP supporters reportedly gathered around Kobbena and started slapping and punching the journalist in the face and all over his body. The assault only ended when other journalists at the scene intervened. Following the incident, and inaction both from police and NPP officials, GJA declared a media blackout on MP Mavis Hawa Koomson on 25th January 2024. In February 2024, the media blackout was revoked after Minister Koomson, together with the Minister-designate for Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, met with the GJA to seek an amicable settlement. In a statement, the GJA said that during the engagement, Minister Koomson pledged her support to ensure justice for the journalist.