Godfred Yeboah Dame, Attorney General and Minister of Justice has appealed to the Chief Justice to enable live broadcasts of court proceedings on the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice, the Attorney General said the significant public interest surrounding the anti-gay bill was the basis for the request.
“Respectfully, in view of the public interest in the cases concerning the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024 (the Bill), I would like to recommend that the media (including radio and television) be given full access to the relevant courts to undertake a coverage of all proceedings in those cases concerning the Bill.
“The cases under reference are as follows: Supreme Court 1. Dr Amanda Odoi v The Speaker of Parliament and Another (Suit No. J1/13/2023), and 2. Richard Dela Sky v The Parliament of Ghana and Another (Suit No. J1/9/2024).
“It is my respectful view that the transparency to be engendered by a coverage of the proceedings would be in the best interest of the administration of justice,” the letter added.
Two controversial lawsuits have since stopped the bill from being transmitted from Parliament to the Presidency for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to possibly assent to it.
Richard Sky, a private legal practitioner, and Dr Amanda Odoi, a researcher at the University of Cape Coast, are challenging the constitutionality of the passage of the LQBTQ+ Bill passed by Parliament.
President Akufo-Addo has since declined to receive the bill, pointing to the two pending cases at the Supreme Court as the basis.
According to him, provisions in the bill “raise profound concerns regarding the potential infringement of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed to every Ghanaian by the Constitution.”
The bill, which prohibits LGBTQ+ activities and their promotion, advocacy and funding, was passed by Parliament on Wednesday (28 February 2024).
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