Plans are in place to present the Parliament of Ghana with a bill which if passed will create two different types of LGBT+ person –  the penitent and the irredeemable. The severity of the punishments then doled out would depend on which of the categories a person is placed in.

Moses Foh Amoaning, the spokesperson for the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values said a bill entitled, ‘A Comprehensive Solution Based Legislative Framework for Dealing with the Lesbianism Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Phenomenon,’ would be presented by the end of September 2018.

According to Amoaning, “Some become homosexual because of peer pressure, economic reasons, then, the medically affected ones like hormonal imbalance, such people need help, so we would provide such help for them through the Ghana Health Service, by setting up a comprehensive unit that has a psychiatric, psychologist, medical personnel, surgical team, guidance and counsellors then Gospel Ministers to help them.”

He continued, “But for those who think it is a lifestyle and they want others to get involved, the law will deal with them. We will clearly define what homosexuality is, what LGBT entails, and if they are caught, they will be prosecuted.”

It is not clear what the impetus for this new bill was or how necessary it even is. Homosexual acts remain illegal within Ghana and criminal law deals already have multiple existing provisions for punishing homosexual acts.

Wendy Isaack, an LGBT+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch spoke recently on the dangers LGBT+ people face. “Homophobic statements by local and national government officials, traditional elders, and senior religious leaders foment discrimination”, she continued, “Having a law on the books that criminalizes adult consensual same-sex conduct contributes to a climate in which LGBT+ people are frequently victims of violence.”

The National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values view homosexuality as a western importand have staged annual festivals with the intention to ‘pray the gay away’ from Ghana. They have multiple links with Christian evangelical and Catholic groups famous for furthering their particular brand of anti-LGBT+ hatred throughout Africa.