By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, April 24, GNA-Mr Shaibu Mahama, the Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, has described the erstwhile Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration’s failure to assent to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill as a “blessing in disguise.”
According to the Chairman, also the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Daboya-Mankarigu, the development offered the Ninth Parliament an opportunity to revisit the bill and address gaps identified during its initial consideration.
Mr Mahama made the remarks on Thursday, April 23, at a stakeholder engagement on the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025 held in Accra.
He said, “This bill was introduced some time back, but with the passage of time, many things may have changed. For us, it is a blessing in disguise. If there were clauses we overlooked in the last Parliament before it lapsed, we now have the opportunity to incorporate, delete, amend, or reshape the bill.”
However, Mr Alhassan Suleman, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Committee, disagreed, urging Parliament to pass the bill in its current form.
He argued that the legislation, which was approved by the Eighth Parliament, had already gained broad public acceptance and required minimal changes.
“As far as I’m concerned, we don’t have to do much. Ghanaians have accepted this bill as fit for purpose, and we should not tinker with it,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the principal sponsor of the Bill, Mr Samuel Nartey George, dismissed concerns about potential economic repercussions, noting that other African countries that have passed similar legislation have not suffered adverse economic consequences.
He called on the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee to expedite its work to ensure the bill is passed swiftly and assented to by President John Mahama.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah