By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Oct 27, GNA – Mr Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, has asked the Committee working on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, to hasten its work and present the report to the House for a debate.
Mr Bagbin said: “The bill is causing global waves and there is the need to bring finality to the matter.”
“The house remains expectant of the various committees of these bills sooner than later,” he said on the floor of Parliament.
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill also known as the anti-LGBT Bill, among others, prescribes that people of the same sex who engage in sexual activity should spend up to ten years in jail.
The Minority accused the Committee of deliberately delaying work on the bill and threatened to block the passage of government Bills if the anti-gay Bill was not worked on speedily.
Contributing to the discussion, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader assured that Parliament would not be pressured by international relations to go against Ghana’s interests.
He cited Article 40 (a) of Ghana’s Constitution as “the driving principle that should underpin our international relations.”
“In its dealings with other nations, the Government shall promote and protect the interests of Ghana,” he referred to the Constitution.
While data indicated that most Ghanaians were in favour of the Bill, it had been critiqued by others.
Differing forms of support for the LGBTQ+ community would also be criminalised if the bill is passed into law.
It has, therefore, generated varied opinions with many expressing mixed views about some clauses in the document.
To that end, various persons and institutions had filed memoranda in support of the bill and to help fine-tune it.
Several renowned legal, academic and civil society professionals had also filed documents challenging the legislation.
In the memorandum, they contend that the Bill was an “impermissible invasion of the inviolability of human dignity.”
They further argued that pushing through the Bill would be to challenge Ghana’s Constitution and democracy.
GNA