Communications Minister Sam George says he expects President John Mahama to sign Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ bill into law soon, after Parliament passed it on Friday.
Parliament approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, by voice vote on 29 May. The legislation criminalises LGBTQ activities, carrying up to three years in prison for same-sex acts and longer terms for funding or promoting them.
The version passed carries new exemptions. Lawyers offering legal advice or representation, journalists and media organisations reporting on the issues, and medical professionals providing surgical, psychological or counselling services are shielded from prosecution.
George, a principal sponsor, told Joy News he hoped the bill would reach the president next week. He said he would then press Mahama to sign it, “not because Sam George says so but because he made that commitment.”
Mahama pledged in November 2025 that he would assent to the bill if Parliament passed it, and Speaker Alban Bagbin has said the president gave him a personal assurance to that effect.
George contrasted the situation with that under former President Nana Akufo-Addo, when a legal challenge blocked Parliament from transmitting an earlier version. That bill was never signed and lapsed when Parliament’s term ended.
The bill now awaits transmission to the president for assent. It has drawn sustained criticism from rights groups at home and abroad, who say it threatens civil liberties, while supporters frame it as a defence of family values.
