An economics professor and dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School, Professor John Gasti, has alleged a significant lobbying effort aimed at persuading President Akufo-Addo not to endorse the recently passed anti-gay bill.

He suggested that the Ministry of Finance is being influenced in its plea to the President not to sign the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.

Prof. Gasti's comments follow the Ministry of Finance's financial report to President Akufo-Addo, outlining potential losses in international donor funds, particularly from the World Bank, should the controversial bill be enacted.

According to the ministry's report, Ghana stands to lose over US$3.8 billion from the World Bank if the anti-gay bill becomes law. However, the President, in a statement on March 4, mentioned that the bill has not reached his desk.

Speaking on TV3's Ghana Tonight on March 4, Prof. Gasti questioned the relevance of the anti-gay bill in relation to the conditions set for the IMF bailout.

He asserted that the bill, whether passed or not, was not part of the conditions required for Ghana to receive approval for the US$3 billion rescue loan from the IMF.

“It sounds like there is a heavy dose of lobbying activities going on [in] these last minutes of the process. We knew that the constituents of the world that are not happy with the stand of Ghana on LGBTQ were very clear. All attempts were made to stop the process in parliament that didn’t happen”, he said, adding that the international community, having seen the signs of a unanimous decision to pass the bill in parliament, has occasioned “the upscale of lobbying activities across the board”.

“And now they are using our own finance ministry to blackmail Ghanaians to support the President not to sign the bill”, Prof. Gasti added.

“When we went to the IMF, there was no condition regarding LGBTQ issues”, the economics professor said.

“In fact, when the World Bank was giving us [Ghana] money, the only thing that they were waiting for was the signing of the IMF deal that opened the door for them to provide those credits that they’re providing to us”, he told Alfred Ocansey on Ghana Tonight.

He expressed concern about the apparent surge in lobbying activities, especially in the final stages of the process. Prof. Gasti noted that the global entities opposing Ghana's stance on LGBTQ issues intensified their lobbying efforts when attempts to halt the bill's progress in parliament were unsuccessful.

Addressing the role of Ghana's Finance Ministry, Prof. Gasti accused international forces of using it to pressure Ghanaians to support the President in not signing the bill into law.

He emphasized that the conditions set by the IMF did not include LGBTQ issues and highlighted that the World Bank's financial support was contingent on Ghana signing the IMF deal, which had already been done.

The Finance Ministry's concerns about potential cuts in World Bank financing included the First Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (US$300 million), the ongoing negotiation for the Second Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (US$300 million), and the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (US$250 million). Additionally, fears were raised about the cessation of disbursements for ongoing projects worth US$2.1 billion and another US$900 million in projects if the anti-gay bill were to become law.