E-levy saga has taught Akufo-Addo a lesson – Law lecturer on anti-LGBTQ+ bill assent

Professor Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua has suggested that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is treading cautiously regarding the law, awaiting the Supreme Court’s verdict on injunctions filed against him and Parliament.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024, unanimously passed by Parliament on February 28, awaits the President’s assent.

However, legal hurdles have emerged with two injunction applications lodged in the Supreme Court against the bill.

Private legal practitioner Richard Sky  seeks to prevent the President from assenting to the bill,  “order restraining the President of the Republic from assenting to ‘The Human and Sexual Values Bill, 2024”.

According to Sky, such action “will directly contravene the constitutional safeguards of liberties and rights of Ghanaians”.

Prof. Appiagyei-Atua stressed the need to await the court’s decision before any action is taken.

“When an application for an injunction is issued against a party to a suit, we have to wait for the court to determine whether the injunction should hold or not before any action can be taken,” adding, “so it is incumbent on the Clerk of Parliament not to take any action until the court has determined the matter.

“Whether the injunction is thrown away or upheld, if it is thrown away, then what it means is that it paves the way for the Clerk of Parliament to submit the bill to the President and the President will be compelled and obliged by the constitution as well as the rules of court to accept that”.

The bill, if enacted, imposes severe penalties of three to five years imprisonment for promoting LGBTQ+ activities, and up to three years for public identification with LGBTQ+ identities.

The legal and societal debates surrounding these issues continue to intensify in Ghana’s legal and political spheres.