Lawmakers from Uganda and Ghana have met ahead of Ghana hosting a major conference of African MPs and faith leaders opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.
Rights group Rightify Ghana has issued an alert about the planned gathering, which was confirmed by the Parliament of Uganda in a Facebook post referencing an 11 February meeting between officials from the two countries.
According to the post, the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family and Sovereignty will take place in Accra from 27–30 May 2026.
Speaker Warns Against ‘Cultural Distortions’
At the February meeting, Uganda’s parliamentary Speaker Anita Among reportedly urged African institutions “to advance the continent’s interests while preserving its values and traditions”, warning that Africa must protect itself against what she described as “cultural distortions”.
Previous editions of the conference have been hosted in Uganda, including a May 2025 gathering opened by President Yoweri Museveni and the First Lady.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre reported that 29 African MPs attended the 2025 event, including Zimbabwe’s Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
Platform for Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
The conference serves as a forum for campaigning against comprehensive sexuality education, promoting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and supporting restrictions on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
It also endorses the African Charter on Family Values, an initiative that seeks to “protect traditional family” structures and oppose so-called “foreign ideologies”, positioning LGBTQ+ rights as incompatible with African cultural values.
Rightify Ghana has highlighted links between the conference and Family Watch International, a US-based Christian lobbying organisation designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.
American and European right-wing organisations have long been accused by rights groups of funding and supporting campaigns across Africa aimed at curtailing LGBTQ+ and women’s rights.
Growing Pressure in Ghana
Hosting the 2026 conference in Ghana signals an effort to strengthen anti-rights advocacy in West Africa, with Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 frequently cited by supporters as a legislative model.
In comments reported by New Vision, Ghana’s Second Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah Amoako said:
“We are here to take the mantle that Uganda started a couple of years ago, and that is about fighting for African values. Uganda has held this session three times and some of us have participated in all three. We have seen the importance of it.”
Just days after the February meeting, Ghanaian lawmakers reintroduced the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill as a private member’s bill in Parliament. If enacted, the proposed legislation would significantly intensify penalties and restrictions targeting LGBTQ+ people and their allies.
Rights advocates warn that the Accra conference could further embolden legislative efforts aimed at restricting equality and freedoms across the region.
