Plans to present Ghana’s President, John Mahama, with an honorary doctorate by Lincoln University in the United States have been cancelled at the last minute, reportedly over his willingness to sign a pending anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
Mahama was scheduled to visit the Pennsylvania university on 26 March to receive the doctorate in recognition of his “contributions to public service, democratic governance, peaceful international and inter-African relationships, and global advocacy for justice, equality, and education.”
The event was set to follow Mahama’s presentation of a landmark resolution at the United Nations in New York, declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest crime against humanity.”
However, on Monday, the university announced cryptically that “due to unforeseen circumstances, the university is cancelling the visit from John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana…”
Concerns over anti-LGBTQ+ stance
According to local Ghanaian media, a statement from the country’s embassy in the US confirmed that the university withdrew the invitation in response to concerns about the President’s stance on the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
The embassy stated that, “It is both surprising and regrettable that such concerns have surfaced at this late stage, especially with the president already in the United States in anticipation of the visit.”
In November 2025, President Mahama said that, should it be passed by Parliament, he would sign the controversial bill. “[If] it comes to me as president, I will sign it,” he asserted.
Bill targets LGBTQ+ identity and expression
Ghana’s parliament first passed the bill in 2024, but it expired without being signed into law by Mahama’s predecessor, former President Nana Akufo-Addo.
In February, lawmakers reintroduced the legislation and renewed efforts to pass it for a second time. The proposed law seeks to criminalise identifying as LGBTQ+ or as an ally, in addition to targeting same-sex intimacy and gender-affirming medical services, with penalties of up to three years in prison and fines.
The dissemination or publication of materials that advocate for the equality or affirmation of LGBTQ+ people would carry prison sentences of between five and ten years. Organisations supporting LGBTQ+ rights would be disbanded, and adoption by LGBTQ+ people would be outlawed.
The furore has cast a shadow over Ghana’s historic UN resolution on the slave trade, with critics questioning how the country reconciles its important stance against this human rights abuse while planning to imprison its own citizens simply for identifying as LGBTQ+.
Bill’s sponsor responds to university snub
Homophobic Ghanaian MP and sponsor of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, Sam George, condemned the university’s decision, accusing it of attempting to impose Western values on Ghana.
“Our values cannot be diluted and bought by sinister forces on the prowl. The folks at Lincoln University should bow their heads in shame. We are a proud Nation and no one should think they can dictate what happens in our Nation.”
