AFRICA/GHANA - Bishops call on new President to approve the Bill on family values

Accra (Agenzia Fides) - "What we want is that it is made into a law," said the President of the Episcopal Conference of Ghana and Bishop of Sunyani, Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, during his meeting yesterday (January 14) with President John Dramani Mahama, whom he asked to approve the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, a law described as an "anti-LGBTQ+ law" that aims to reaffirm traditional African family values in school education.
The bill was already approved by Parliament on February 28, 2024 and was awaiting approval by then President Nana Akufo-Addo to come into force. However, the latter did not do so because he had to wait for two Supreme Court rulings on whether the law was in accordance with the Constitution (see Fides, 18/11/2024).
President Mahama, who took office on January 7 of this year, responded to the request of the President of the Bishops' Conference by stating that "all bills that are not passed before the end of the parliamentary term expire according to the current provisions. So this bill is practically dead". "I do not know what the supporters of the bill intend to do, but I think we should discuss it again so that when we decide to move forward with the bill, we move forward with consensus," stressed the new Head of State. The President added that in his opinion the new law should be a government initiative (“For the law to have broader legitimacy and better chances of success, it should ideally be supported by the government”), but he also stressed that “if we teach our values in school, we do not need a law to enforce them”. During the meeting with the delegation of the Episcopal Conference, President Mahama thanked the Catholic Church for its contribution to education and health, as well as to the moral development of young people and their education. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 15/1/2025)

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