Moving to Ghana: Going Home, and Who Has to Plan Harder
MEMBER SAFETY MAP · GHANA
For a lot of us, Ghana is a great move. For some of us, the law makes it a harder one.
Has Ghana's anti-LGBTQ+ bill become law? Is it still coming? Should it change my plans? If you're Black, or part of the African diaspora anywhere in the world, and you're looking at Ghana, you've probably asked at least one of those. Here's where it stands today, 22 October 2026.
Short answer: not law yet. Not dropped either.
But I want to back up first. Because the bill only makes sense next to the bigger thing that's happening.
The move a lot of us are making
Some people call it the Black exodus. Black and Afro-descendant people from all over the world, the US, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Afro-Indigenous people, looking at Ghana not as a trip but as a place to live. Some of us call it going home.
And Ghana built doors for it. That's not a vibe, it's in the law.
TWO ROUTES BUILT FOR THE DIASPORA Right of Abode. Lets Africans in the diaspora stay in Ghana indefinitely, enter without a visa, and work without a work permit. The application asks for a Ghanaian sponsor, two Ghanaian attestations, financial documents, a police report and a Ghanaian medical report. Citizenship for the historic diaspora. Granted to descendants of the transatlantic slave trade through vetting and a swearing-in ceremony. The most recent ceremony was on 5 March 2026. |
So for a lot of people, this is a great move. I mean that. You get a route most countries will never offer you, in a place that says out loud that it wants you.
Now, here's the part people don't expect. Being Black in Ghana doesn't mean being read as local. Obruni is a word Ghanaians use for a white person or a foreigner, and a study of African Americans who moved there found it gets used for them too. Only 1.5% of people in Ghana were born abroad. So plan on being seen as a foreigner first, whatever your roots. That's not a reason not to go. It's just true.
Plan on being seen as a foreigner first, whatever your roots.
For a few of us, it is harder
However. For a few of us who are also LGBTQ+, this could be a hard move. And that's where the bill comes in.
Ghana criminalizes same-sex relations, and a wider bill is still before Parliament. Under the 1960 law, consensual sex between men is a crime, up to three years, and the Supreme Court upheld it in July 2024. The law as written applies to men. There is no legal recognition of same-sex couples.
Then the bill. The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill passed Parliament on 29 May 2026. As passed, it keeps same-sex conduct a crime, adds prison terms of 5 to 10 years for "promoting" LGBTQ+ activity, bars LGBTQ+ people from adopting or fostering, and sets a duty to report.
WHERE THE BILL STANDS, 22 OCTOBER 2026 29 May 2026: passed Parliament. Not sent to the President. 30 July: the Speaker said Parliament would reopen it to revise three sentencing clauses. 31 July: Parliament adjourned without doing that. 3 November 2026: Parliament returns. |
LGBTQ+ If you are LGBTQ+ IN SHORT Same-sex relations are a crime in Ghana today. A wider bill passed Parliament in May 2026 and is not law yet. Parliament plans to reopen it. THE FACTS Criminalized Criminal Offences Act 1960, section 104(1)(b) Up to 3 years Maximum sentence for the existing offense 5 to 10 years Sentence for "promoting" LGBTQ+ activity in the bill as passed in May 2026 (not law) |
From the LGBTQ+ section of the Ghana entry, Member Safety Map.
So that's where it is. In between. And the President has said he can sign it, ask the Council of State for advice, or send it back once it reaches him.
Here's how the entry puts it, and I'd rather you hear it plain. Plan for a country where your relationship has no legal standing, where public display can carry risk, and where the law may get stricter after you arrive.
Plan for a country where your relationship has no legal standing, and where the law may get stricter after you arrive.
And you might not be LGBTQ+. Somebody you love might be. A partner. A kiddo who hasn't told you yet. A sister who'd want to visit with her wife. That's Mistake 4 in my second video, by the way: I didn't think about what the move would ask of my family. Ask that question out loud before you go.
WATCH
If you are a woman moving alone
I wanted to give you a number for single Black women here. I looked. The map doesn't have one, and I'm not going to make one up. So here's what it does have.
On paper, Ghana scores 100 out of 100 on marriage and on property and inheritance law. On the safety laws the World Bank codes, it scores 31. That measures which laws are written, not how safe daily life is.
Daily life has its own numbers. In the national survey, 36% of ever-partnered women had faced violence from their current or most recent partner, and 28% in the past 12 months, mostly emotional. Of women who had faced physical or sexual violence, about half told no one. And family is the most common place women turn for help.
GENDER If you are a woman IN SHORT Full marks on marriage and property law. The services behind the law score about half, and partner violence is common. THE FACTS 67 / 100 Laws on the books 51 / 100 Services and budgets behind the law 50 / 100 How enforcement is seen 36% Ever-partnered women who have faced emotional, physical or sexual violence from their current or most recent partner Scores are the World Bank's own, rounded, out of 100. We do not rate or rank countries. |
From the Women section of the Ghana entry, Member Safety Map.
So if you are moving alone, know your own support before you need it.
That's the line from the entry, and it's the one I'd underline. Who do you call? Who's near you? If your family is an ocean away, who's your family there?
I kept Ghana free on purpose, because the people who ask me about it most are the ones with the fewest places to get a straight answer.
What I can't tell you is whether Ghana is right for you. Nobody can, and nobody should pretend to. For a lot of us, it will be. What I can show you is what's on the books and what's pending, with the sources, so you go in with your eyes open.
The Ghana entry names the bill, dates it, and it's on my watch list. I check it on 5 November, after Parliament returns. And the rest of the entry has the same nine sections as the others: Women, LGBTQ+, Race and ethnicity, Disability and health, Family, Older movers, Newcomers, Institutions, and Money.
Moving abroad with kids, or as a same-sex couple? Start with what the law actually says.
The Ghana entry is free for members. Read it: lwinnovations.com/countries/ghana
This is general education, not legal advice about anyone's situation.
IMAGE CREDITS
Flag of Ghana: public domain, via flagcdn. Video still: LW Innovations YouTube. Figures: LW Innovations Member Safety Map, Ghana entry (World Bank WBL 2026; Ghana DHS 2022; UN DESA 2024).
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