Suit challenging anti-Gay bill was premature – Foh-Amoaning

Moses Foh-Amoaning, the Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, has described Richard Dela Sky’s petition against the Bill as “premature.”

On December 18, 2024, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Lovelace Avril Johnson, unanimously dismissed a petition filed by broadcast journalist and lawyer Richard Dela Sky, challenging the constitutionality of the bill.

Sky’s petition argued that Parliament did not meet the required quorum, as outlined in Articles 102 and 104 of the Constitution when the bill was passed. He claimed that the absence of a quorum during the legislative process rendered the bill unconstitutional and void.

Additionally, Sky contended that the bill violated several provisions of the 1992 Constitution, including Articles 33(5), 12(1) and (2), 15(1), 17(1) and (2), 18(2), and 21(1)(a), (b), (d), and (e). He argued that the bill threatened constitutional rights, including equality, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination.

Reacting to the decision, Foh-Amoaning welcomed the ruling, describing it as a clear application of constitutional principles. He emphasized that the Supreme Court’s judgment reinforced the procedural protections that govern the legislative process in Ghana.

Foh-Amoaning stated that the bill could only be contested once it has been enacted into law, underscoring that the court’s decision was a valid and appropriate application of the law.

“This case was premature. The Constitution is clear that the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction can only be invoked in matters involving anything done or purported to have been done under an enactment. A bill is not an enactment, it is merely a proposal. Until it is signed into law, it does not meet the constitutional threshold for judicial review.

“The proper time to challenge the constitutionality of this bill will be after it has been signed into law. At this stage, any action against it is premature,” Mr Foh-Amoaning said on Joy FM on Wednesday, December 18.