Ghana and Uganda Echo Each Other's Clamp Down On Gay People

Ghana , despite its more solid reputation for democracy and respect for human rights than authoritarian Uganda , is joining it in more stringently criminalising homosexuality - and vacillating about the legislation to do that.

Uganda's Parliament first passed the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2013. This criminalised consensual same-sex conduct with penalties of up to life imprisonment, and the death penalty for those convicted of 'aggravated homosexuality,' which could include just repeated consensual same-sex acts. The Constitutional Court annulled the law because it wasn't passed according to correct parliamentary procedure, but the basic bill was eventually passed in May 2023.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has created ambiguity about his attitude towards the legislation, including calling on Parliament to revise the original draft before it was passed in May last year. He had also indicated ambivalence about the earlier 2013 version of the bill. His critics believe this is posturing to placate Western donors who have strongly condemned the legislation.around his country's similar legislation and probably for similar reasons.

Several human rights advocates and prominent Ghanaians have also condemned the bill. Samia Nkrumah, a former member of parliament and chair of a major political party in Ghana - and daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, who led the country to independence - But if so, the homophobic threat is nothing new across much of the continent. As the Institute for Security Studiesout last September, homosexuality is already a crime punishable by at least imprisonment in 33 of 55 African countries. It added that from 2023 to date, six states - Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, Niger, Tanzania and Uganda - had strengthened their anti-homosexuality laws.

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