University of Ghana denies amending statutes to allow LGBTQ+ activities

43

by Abigail Arthur

The University of Ghana has strongly refuted allegations made by private legal practitioner Moses Foh-Amoaning that the institution has altered its statutes to accept LGBTQ+ activities on campus.

The claims were carried in a GhanaWeb report on Friday, 21st November 2025, following comments Mr. Foh-Amoaning made during an interview on Onua FM’s “Yɛn Nsempa” programme.

In the interview, Mr. Foh-Amoaning, who also serves as Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, alleged that the University’s Council, led by the Vice-Chancellor, had amended the institution’s statutes to accept transgender and LGBT+ activities.

He further claimed that his organisation had written to the University seeking clarification but received no response.

However, in an official statement issued on 24th November 2025, the University described the allegations as false, misleading and defamatory. Management clarified that the recent review of its statutes, conducted in 2024, did not introduce any provisions endorsing or admitting LGBTQ+ activities.

According to the statement, the revisions were made strictly in line with national laws and the University’s regulatory framework.

The University explained that the only changes involved the replacement of gender-specific pronouns such as “he,” “she,” “him,” and “her” with gender-neutral terms like “they” and “their.” This, it stated, was simply a linguistic update to streamline the statutes and align them with modern English usage.

The institution noted that the singular “they” has been widely accepted in academic, legal and even religious texts over the past two decades, citing the 2011 New International Version (NIV) Bible as an example.

To illustrate the nature of the changes, the University provided an example showing how a clause previously referring to a council member as “his or her” was revised to use a gender-neutral construction without altering meaning or introducing new provisions.

The statement also revealed that the University had responded to enquiries from Mr. Foh-Amoaning’s coalition. A letter dated 10th November 2025 clarified the University’s stance on pronoun adjustments in the statutes, contrary to the claim that no response had been issued.

Management further condemned what it described as an unwarranted personal attack on the Vice-Chancellor. The University stated that attempts to personalise an institutional governance matter and to impugn the Vice-Chancellor’s integrity were in bad faith. It emphasised that no Vice-Chancellor holds unilateral authority to change University statutes, and therefore the allegations targeting her were unacceptable.

The University has demanded an immediate retraction of the false statements and a public apology from Mr. Foh-Amoaning. Failure to do so, it warned, would compel the institution to pursue legal action to defend its reputation and that of its leadership.

In addition, the University urged GhanaWeb, Onua FM and other media organisations to exercise greater responsibility when reporting on sensitive institutional matters. It cautioned that amplifying unverified claims misleads the public and harms the credibility of national institutions. Media houses were encouraged to verify information with the University’s Public Affairs Directorate before publication.

Despite the controversy, the University reaffirmed its commitment to academic excellence, ethical governance and the creation of a safe and lawful environment for all members of its community. Management stressed that it remains focused on its mission of delivering transformative education and impactful research and will not be distracted by unfounded allegations.

Source: citinewsroom.com