Twenty-five African and African-diasporan faith leaders, theologians, scholars and constitutional thinkers have launched the African Democratic Covenant, calling on African governments to pause legislation that criminalises sexual minorities and open broader dialogue on democracy, human dignity, sovereignty and constitutional rights.
The Covenant was launched on Monday during a virtual press convening attended by journalist across Africa.
The press briefing was organised by Interconnected Justice (ICJUSTICE), bringing together religious leaders, academics, constitutional thinkers, and emerging leaders from Africa and the diaspora.
Its proponents said the immediate objective was to secure a continental pause on what they termed “super-criminalisation” of sexual minoritie while creating space for education, constitutional dialogue, and African-led deliberation
They argued that the debate should extend beyond sexuality to wider questions concerning democratic participation, women’s rights, religious influence, economic sovereignty, and Africa’s relationship with its diaspora.
Bishop Joseph William Tolton, President and Founder of Interconnected Justice, said African sovereignty should encompass more than control over natural resources.
“We cannot reclaim our minerals while surrendering our spiritual imagination,” Bishop Tolton said, arguing that African reconstruction should not come at the expense of the rights and dignity of African people.
In the Covenant’s founding declaration, the organisers call on African presidents to declare an immediate moratorium on legislation that constrains democratic freedoms and imposes tougher criminal penalties on sexual minorities
“This call is not an appeal to delay. It is a demand for responsibility,” the declaration says.
The organisers contend that the proposed pause would allow governments and societies to engage in constitutional dialogue rather than resolving complex questions through hurried legislation.
The Covenant frames its broader programme as African Reconstruction, built around economic sovereignty, spiritual self-determination, constitutional pluralism, and human dignity.
Bishop Tolton said the initiative was not simply about sexuality but about the broader direction of African societies.
“This is not simply a debate about homosexuality,” he said. “They have built a global movement around whom Africans should fear—and which rights African women and girls should lose. We are building a Black International movement around who Africa must become.”
The organisers argue that legislation targeting sexual minorities should be examined alongside broader questions of governance, economic inequality, corruption, resource extraction, and political power.
They maintain that Africa’s pursuit of sovereignty should include the freedom to critically examine inherited ideas about Christianity, family, gender, sexuality, political authority, and human dignity.
The briefing document says the initiative does not seek to impose a Western sexual ethic on Africa but calls for African-led deliberation over the continent’s constitutional, political, and social future.
The discussion placed particular attention on Ghana, where legislation concerning human sexual rights and family values has become part of a wider debate over constitutional rights, religion, and democratic governance.
Ghanaian feminist scholar and professor emerita Akosua Adomako Ampofo argued that the issue should not be treated as an isolated moral dispute.
“Shrinking the rights of one minority sets a precedent for police surveillance, censorship, and the dismantling of broader democratic freedoms,” she said.
Professor Ampofo said public attention could be diverted from pressing developmental challenges when minority groups are presented as the central problem.
“A nation is best judged by how it treats those with the least institutional power,” she said.
She challenged the characterisation of human rights as foreign to Africa, arguing that African traditions of mutuality, solidarity, and dialogue provide a basis for protecting human dignity.
The Covenant’s organisers also questioned claims that criminalisation is necessary to protect Christianity, African culture, or African sovereignty.
They pointed to public interventions by Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson and Anglican Archbishop Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith in favour of education and deeper understanding rather than criminalisation.
The Covenant’s briefing makes clear, however, that neither cleric is affiliated with or endorses the initiative.
Rev Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth described sexual minorities as “children of Africa” and urged religious and diaspora organisations to reconsider their role in supporting vulnerable communities while engaging with African Christians who hold different theological positions.
“Stop financing fear and calling it a mission,” he said.
He also called for greater examination of the historical relationship between Christianity, colonialism, and political power.
The Covenant’s organisers argue that Christianity must remain open to theological examination, particularly given its historical use in legitimising slavery, colonialism, and apartheid.
Former Kenyan Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court Dr Willy Mutunga drew on Kenya’s constitutional experience, referring to judicial decisions concerning freedom of association, protection from discrimination and reproductive rights.
Dr Mutunga questioned the use of “African values” as a blanket justification for policies that restrict constitutional protections, arguing for broader engagement with history, culture, and human dignity.
The Covenant also seeks to strengthen links between Africans on the continent and the global African diaspora.
Its organisers argue that slavery, colonialism, and the partition of Africa fragmented African peoples across geographical and political boundaries, creating a need to rebuild political, moral, and economic relationships.
Bishop Tolton said the initiative should not be viewed as an external intervention by the diaspora.
“This is not the diaspora doing something for Africa,” he said. “This is people of African descent on the continent working with those of us in the diaspora to design solutions that strengthen democratic realities.”
The Covenant’s declaration argues that the African Union’s recognition of the diaspora as the “Sixth Region” reflects existing links based on movement, investment, return, and shared destiny.
The media’s role also emerged during the discussions, with Bishop Tolton urging journalists to examine the networks, funding, and political relationships behind anti-gender campaigns across Africa.
He called for greater coverage of African voices that support democratic inclusion but often have limited access to influential media platforms.
“The media has to do a better job of actually talking to Africans who have more progressive sensibilities,” he said.
Beyond the immediate call for a legislative pause, the Covenant proposes a Desmond Tutu Conference, A Black Global Freedom Gathering, bringing together African and diaspora voices to examine governance, economic justice, spirituality, inequality and democratic participation.
The proposed gathering is presented as part of a tradition of major Pan-African and global assemblies, including the Pan-African Congresses and the Bandung Conference.
The organisers say the conference would examine how governance can secure dignity and accountability while remaining grounded in African cosmologies, how African societies can confront extraction and inequality, and how indigenous spiritual traditions can contribute to social cohesion and collective healing.
ICJUSTICE describes the African Democratic Covenant as the first coordinated public campaign emerging from its wider network of faith leaders, scholars, civic leaders, and young people.
The organisation says its broader objective is to reconnect struggles involving racial justice, African sovereignty, the dignity of sexual minorities, women’s rights, economic justice, spirituality, and political power.
