Anti-gay bill grossly ill-conceived, unconstitutional, not in the best interest of the nation — CDD Ghana

The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and the Human Rights Coalition have condemned parliament's passage of the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill, describing it as "grossly ill-conceived, unconstitutional.

They said the Bill is not in the best interest of the nation.

In a statement dated February 29, the two organizations said passage of the bill, popularly known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, is a "regrettable" but "not surprising" outcome given the intense mass hysteria and fanaticism surrounding the debate.

"We remain resolute in our conviction that this bill is grossly ill-conceived, unconstitutional, and not in the best interest of the nation. It would be a major setback for Ghana and its standing as a democratic society if such a bill was to become law," the statement said.

The groups recalled that Ghana's democracy "is not a simple majoritarian democracy where the majority can impose their will or prejudices on a minority merely because they have numbers on their side.”

They added, "Ours is a constitutional democracy, in which even a majority, no matter how numerous or vociferous, is restricted as to what it can and cannot do in the name of law."

CDD-Ghana and the coalition said they would continue fighting the bill outside parliament as its passage is not the end of the road, noting that the bill still requires presidential assent to become law.

They expressed confidence that the bill would ultimately fail constitutional muster.

The organizations have petitioned the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the bill, arguing among other things that it infringes on privacy, freedoms of speech, association and the media as well as equality under the law.