Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo has said he will not decide whether to sign a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill into law until the Supreme Court rules on a legal challenge.

Last week lawmakers approved the bill which seeks to severely curtail LGBTQ rights, drawing condemnation from rights activists despite gaining wide support in the conservative West African state.

The proposed legislation stipulates jail terms of six months to three years for engaging in LGBTQ sex and sentences of between three to five years for promoting or sponsoring LGBTQ activities.

The passing of the bill sparked criticism from several countries including the United States, as well as concern from Ghana’s finance ministry, which warned the financially-strapped country could lose billions of dollars in World Bank funds.

On Monday President Nana Akufo-Addo, who must sign the bill before it becomes law, said it was “yet to reach my desk”.

He said a citizen had mounted a challenge in the Supreme Court and declared he would “await the decision of the Court before any action is taken”.

It is not clear how long this could take, but even before the legal challenge observers believed the president was unlikely to make a decision ahead of a general election in December.

In a statement, Akufo-Addo acknowledged the bill had “raised considerable anxieties in certain quarters of the diplomatic community and amongst some friends of Ghana” about human rights and the rule of law.

“I want to assure you that no such backsliding will be contemplated or occasioned,” he said.

Thirty African nations currently ban homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).

-AFP