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Claim: BBC News Africa’s documentary alleges Ghana has toughened its laws against the LGBTQ community.
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s investigation showed Ghana has not “toughened” its laws against the LGBTQ community as the BBC alleged. In fact, the West African country does not have an explicit law proscribing gay relationships. However, the law against “unnatural carnal knowledge” applies to gay individuals.
Full Text
A BBC News Africa documentary has alleged that Ghana and Uganda have toughened their laws against the LGBTQ community.
In a report filed by BBC News reporter Madina Maishanu, she claimed gay sex is punishable in Ghana.
“In Ghana, gay sex is already punishable by up to three years in prison,” she reported from minutes 0:27 to 0:28 of the video report posted on Facebook on Sept. 7, 2025.
She also touched on efforts by some Ghanaian lawmakers to toughen the sanction regimes against gay sex in the West African country.
“But right now, some MPs are pushing a bill that would go further with up to ten years behind bars for anyone who promotes or supports gay rights,” the reporter said.
See minutes 0:28 to 0:37 of the BBC News Africa’s video report for Madina’s comment.
The social media data showed the documentary has over 206,344 views, 6.134 likes, and 1,734 comments as of Sept. 16, 2025.
Reacting to the report, Facebook user Charles Kaputula wrote:
“I thought human rights should be emphasised more in Gaza than pushing for rights that people can live without. Each country has its own laws, it’s called sovereignty.”
Another Facebook user, Andre Kophe Jason, said, “In Ghana, the NDC abandoned it but used it to deceive the people for votes and won.”
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim due to its virality on social media.
Verification
DUBAWA’s research revealed that Ghana has not “toughened” its laws against the LGBTQ community as BBC Africa News alleged.
The West African country does not have an explicit law proscribing gay relationships, although it has other laws applicable to that sexual orientation.
However, the law against “unnatural carnal knowledge” applies to gay individuals.
Section 104 of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) makes sexual intercourse with a person not less than 16 years with or without consent in an unnatural manner punishable between three and 25 years.
“Unnatural carnal knowledge is sexual intercourse with a person in an unnatural manner or, with an animal,” Section 104(2) of Act 29 reads.
Legal expert Ace Ankomah noted that this law does not apply to all types of “homosexuals” in the country.
“By the way, non-homosexual anal penetration (i.e., performed by men on women, whether consenting or not) is just as criminal as homosexual anal penetration,” he wrote.
In other words, Ghana’s law proscribing anal sex is applicable in the situation of a man and a woman and a man and another man.
The closest the West African country came to enacting an explicit law was in February 2024, when its legislature passed the human sexual rights and family values law.
However, President Nana Akufo-Addo did not pass the law then, rendering it ineffective and not applicable per Ghana’s constitutional framework.
If the country wants to reintroduce the law, it will have to go through the lawmaking process again because of the setback suffered by the previous one.
Uganda, however, introduced an anti-gay law in 2023, making the identification as gay illegal in the East African country.
The law imposes a duty on friends, family, and society members to report individuals in same-sex relationships to the authorities.
Conclusion
Contrary to the BBC Africa report, Ghana has not toughened its anti-gay laws since 1960, when it enacted its penal code.
