Africa: African Clergy, Scholars Call for Pause On Laws Targeting Sexual Minorities

What the report says

Twenty-five African and African-diasporan faith leaders, theologians, scholars and constitutional thinkers have launched a new initiative, the African Democratic Covenant, urging African governments to pause laws that criminalise sexual minorities. According to the AllAfrica-posted 263Chat report from Harare, the launch took place during a virtual press briefing organised by Interconnected Justice and attended by journalists across the continent.

The Covenant’s supporters said the immediate goal is a continental moratorium on tougher criminal penalties and related legislation, which they argue would create space for education, constitutional discussion and African-led deliberation. They framed the effort as part of a wider conversation about democracy, human dignity, sovereignty, women’s rights, religion, economic inequality and the relationship between Africa and its diaspora. The group said it is not trying to impose an outside sexual ethic, but instead to encourage debate rooted in African constitutional and social realities.

The report highlighted comments from several participants, including Bishop Joseph William Tolton, who said African sovereignty should include protection of dignity and imagination as well as control over resources. Ghanaian scholar Akosua Adomako Ampofo warned that reducing one minority’s rights could weaken broader democratic freedoms, while Rev Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth called for greater care toward sexual minorities and for renewed reflection on Christianity’s historical ties to colonial power. Former Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga also challenged broad appeals to “African values” when used to justify restrictions on constitutional rights.

The initiative places particular attention on Ghana, where debates over human sexual rights and family values have become linked to questions of religion, constitutional rights and governance. More broadly, the Covenant says it wants to strengthen ties between Africans on the continent and the diaspora and to promote an African-led discussion on democracy and human dignity.