Moses Foh-Amoaning, Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, has sharply criticized Ghana’s abstention in a United Nations Human Rights Council vote on July 7, 2025, to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (A/HRC/59/L.2). In an interview with Adom FM on July 9, 2025, Foh-Amoaning called the abstention “the wrong decision,” urging Ghana’s leaders to act decisively. “It is time our leaders give urgent reasoning regarding this LGBTQI+ matter,” he stated.Foh-Amoaning, a prominent advocate for the “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill,” also attributed the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) loss in the 2024 general elections to its handling of LGBTQ+ issues. “This LGBTQ+ issues contributed to the NPP losing the 2024 elections,” he claimed, suggesting that former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s refusal to assent to the 2024 version of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which lapsed due to legal challenges, alienated voters.
The bill, reintroduced in February 2025 by Assin South MP Reverend John Ntim Fordjour and nine others, seeks to criminalize same-sex relationships, advocacy, and related activities. Foh-Amoaning revealed that his coalition has escalated its efforts, stating, “We have submitted a request to the Constitutional Review Committee to explicitly state in the constitution that LGBTQIA is a crime in Ghana.” This move aims to entrench anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in Ghana’s legal framework, reflecting widespread public support, with a 2023 survey showing 86% approval for the bill.
Ghana’s abstention in the UN vote, which passed with 29 votes in favour, 15 against, and three abstentions, has drawn criticism from conservative figures. Okaikwei Central MP Patrick Boamah called it “shocking,” while Ntim Fordjour labelled it “cowardly,” both urging a vote against the resolution.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended the abstention in a July 9 press release, citing alignment with Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and its binary gender definition, clarifying that the vote concerned protection from violence, not endorsing LGBTQ+ rights.In response to criticisms, Minister for Government Communications Felix Ofosu Kwakye, in a July 7 Asempa FM interview, defended the Mahama administration, noting that President John Dramani Mahama is “putting measures in place for the bill to be passed as a government bill.” Kwakye accused the NPP of failing to advance the bill during its eight-year tenure, questioning their pressure on critics like Ntim Fordjour.
Foh-Amoaning’s remarks, coupled with the coalition’s push for constitutional amendments, intensify pressure on the Mahama administration to address the anti-LGBTQ+ bill amid domestic support and international warnings of economic consequences, including a potential $3.8 billion World Bank funding loss. As debates escalate, the call for “urgent reasoning” underscores the deepening divide over LGBTQ+ issues in Ghana.
Rightify Ghana 