Ahmad 
Ghana’s Supreme Court has upheld an old law dating back to the 1960s that criminalizes “homosexuality” in the country, in a ruling by a seven-member panel.
This comes as Ghana awaits another ruling from the court on whether to toughen the penalties for the act in a new bill.
The court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the 1960 law, which describes “homosexuality” as “unnatural sexual relations” and carries a prison sentence of up to three years, with the court’s president, Paul Baffoe Boni, saying the reasons for the decision would be made public later.
The sentence will be extended if the Human Rights and Family Values Bill, passed in February, comes into force and the government steps up its campaign against the promotion of “homosexuality.”
The Supreme Court last week postponed a ruling on a petition by two citizens to block the new bill from being signed into law.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornou said a decision on the motion to stay the bill’s transmission to the president would be made once a ruling on its constitutionality had been issued. “Our decision is to defer a ruling on the preliminary motion until the final decision on the substantive issue is made, and then we will issue a full ruling,” Torkornou said.
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