In his State of the Nation Address on February 27, 2025, Mahama made no mention of LGBTQ+ rights or the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that was currently in the works. This omission raised concerns, particularly considering his earlier remarks on the subject.
In January 2025, President Mahama proposed that Ghana should prioritize teaching traditional family values through the curriculum rather than passing specific anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
“If we are teaching our values in schools, we wouldn’t need to pass a bill to enforce family values.”
He added at the time that the Ghanaian Family Values and Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights Bill had essentially expired since it had not been enacted prior to the dissolution of the previous parliament.
A group of politicians, religious leaders, and traditional authorities reintroduced the bill to Parliament on February 28, 2025, despite its prior lapse. Assin South MP Reverend John Ntim Fordjour affirmed the bill’s resubmission and encouraged President Mahama to sign it into law if the present Parliament approves it.
The president may have made the calculated choice to avoid escalating the already divisive matter by excluding any reference to LGBTQ+ problems from his speech. President Mahama may be being cautious, maybe waiting for the conclusion of parliamentary discussions before making a firm public statement, given the strong feelings on both sides.
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However, this strategy has not gone ignored. Critics contend that the President is avoiding a serious human rights issue by ignoring the problem. Regarding the entire speech, Patricia Appiagyei, the Deputy Minority Leader, said it did not provide the hope Ghanaians were hoping for and did not fairly depict the country’s actual situation.
It seems that President Mahama made a conscious decision to leave out LGBTQ+ topics from his State of the Nation Address, maybe in an effort to preserve social harmony as the legislative process progresses. It has to be seen as the issue progresses whether this approach will work or result in further criticism.
Under President Akufo-Addo’s administration, the measure, which aims to outlaw LGBT activities and make their funding, advocacy, and promotion illegal, was approved by the 8th Parliament but failed to get presidential assent.
