On July 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ghana dismissed an application that sought to halt the Parliament of Ghana from proceeding with the passage of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, commonly referred to as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
The application was filed by Dr. Amanda Odoi, a Research Fellow with the Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy, and Documentation (CEGRAD) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), and another individual. The nine-member panel, presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, unanimously rejected the application, stating that the plaintiffs did not provide sufficient reason for the court to order Parliament to stop its processes to pass the anti-gay bill.
The justices who sat on the application were:
1. Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo
2. Paul Baffoe-Bonnie
3. Gabriel Pwamang
4. Mariama Owusu
5. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu
6. Yonny Kulendi
7. Barbara Ackah-Yensu
8. Samuel Asiedu
9. George Koomson
Dr. Amanda Odoi also withdrew a contempt charge against Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who she claimed had allowed the House to proceed with the Bill despite a substantive case pending before the courts.
In other developments, the Parliament of Ghana has adopted the motion of the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (anti-LGBTQI bill). The bill has undergone the second reading on July 5, 2023, and is now at the consideration stage, where the House will review it clause by clause and make the necessary amendments proposed by the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee.
Source: Ghanaweb
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