A legal practitioner, Richard Dela Sky, has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the anti-gay bill. The suit was officially lodged in the Supreme Court of Ghana today, March 5, 2024, at approximately 1 pm.
However, questions have arisen regarding President Nana Akufo-Addo's awareness of the legal action, as he mentioned the suit in his statement yesterday, predating the actual filing date. The President asserted that a suit had been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the controversial bill, a claim now being contested.
Criticism has been directed towards President Akufo-Addo, Vice President Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, and the entire New Patriotic Party (NPP) by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi. In a statement, Gyamfi accused the NPP of orchestrating a clandestine legal challenge to provide a pretext for the President to withhold assent to the bill, despite outwardly expressing support for it.
Sammy Gyamfi further accused the NPP of betraying the trust of religious groups, traditional authorities, and the Ghanaian public at large, alleging that the party pretended to endorse the anti-LGBTQI bill while covertly working against it.
The statement from the NDC Communications Officer concludes with a strong condemnation, stating, “Shame on President Nana Akufo-Addo, his complicit Vice, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, and the entire NPP, for toying with the values of our nation and the future of our children.” Gyamfi emphasized that Ghanaians now perceive the NPP as the real proponents of LGBTQI rights.
The legal challenge, spearheaded by Richard Dela Sky, seeks a declaration from the Supreme Court that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill is null, void, and without legal effect.
