The Ho Circuit Court has for the third time adjourned the case against some 21 LGBTQI activists arrested in Ho in the Volta Region for allegedly holding a meeting to champion LGBTQI activities in the region.
They are to return to the court on July 14, 2021.
The court adjourned the case after the prosecutor prayed it to give the prosecution team time to seek legal advice from the Attorney General.
The court presided over by Justice Felix Dadzomor granted the plea of the prosecutor Ayamga Yakubu Akologo, represented by Agnes Ahiable on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
The suspects were granted bail on Friday, 11 June 2021, by the Ho High Court presided over by His Lordship Justice Yaw Owoahene-Acheampong after the circuit court denied them bail earlier.
The suspects, who include 16 females and 5 males, were first arraigned on Friday, 21 May, but were remanded into police custody by the circuit court.
The suspects, who were said to have been at a conference in the Ho Municipality where they were arrested, were charged with unlawful assembly.
LGBTQI rights in Ghana
Some persons have called for a specific law in Ghana to make homosexuality a criminal offence.
Although there are some provisions in the Criminal Code under which a homosexual can be prosecuted, especially for having intercourse with a partner, the belief is that a specific law must be enacted to declare homosexual relationships illegal.
Others have also called for a review of Ghana’s laws to be more accommodating of minority groups, as many countries are decriminalizing homosexuality.
In February 2020 for instance, the then Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, warned the World Bank against homosexuality conditions in development assistance to Ghana.
Homosexuality won’t be legalized under Nana Addo – Presidency
In April 2018, the government rejected claims that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had approved same-sex marriages in Ghana.
A statement from the presidency said, President Akufo-Addo will not legalise such a relationship in Ghana.
“Indeed, the President remains focused on delivering on his mandate and improving the quality of lives of the Ghanaian people. It will NOT be under his Presidency that same-sex marriage will be legalised in Ghana,” the statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin added.
The statement was a response to some claims allegedly made by the General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Asiedu Nketiah who reportedly told NDC members in Kumasi that “Nana Addo says men will marry men, and women will marry women.”
