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Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo not to hesitate in assenting to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.

The bill titled “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill” has been passed by Parliament to enforce its provisions prohibiting homosexual activities in Ghana.

The bill criminalizes the promotion, advocacy and practices of the LGBTQ+ community.

Offenders will face a minimum of 6 months to 5 years imprisonment.

But the international community has condemned this bill saying it is an abuse of the freedom and rights of the homosexual society.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk describes it as “deeply harmful” and implores the President not to append his signature to making it a law.

“The bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual and queer people – simply for being who they are – and threatens criminal penalties against perceived allies of LGBTQ+ people.”

“I call for the bill not to become law. I urge the Ghanaian Government to take steps to ensure everyone can live free from violence, stigma and discrimination, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Consensual same-sex conduct should never be criminalized,” Mr. Türk also argued.

US ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Evelyn Palmer also says the bill undermines human rights.

“I am saddened because some of the smartest, most creative, most decent people I know are LGBT. The bill Parliament passed takes away not only their basic human rights but those of all Ghanaians because it undermines their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. It will be bad for public order and public health. If enacted, it will also hurt Ghana’s international reputation and Ghana’s economy,” she wrote on the embassy’s X page.

But Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a Governance Lecturer at Central University, has admonished the President not to fall for the pressure from the international community.

He asked Nana Addo to quickly assent to the bill to enforce Ghana's proper human sexual rights and family values.

"Sign it quickly and immediately. Don't let it delay on your table at all," he briefly said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show.