By Charles S. Amponsah
Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has accused the Majority side of double standards over their current handling of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, commonly known as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, October 22, the MP for Effutu said the Majority, which now forms the government, is attempting to distance itself from the bill after previously forcing it through when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in power.
“Mr. Speaker, we are in this political act together, and what is happening today is posterity in action. When we were in government, our colleagues knew the views of stakeholders on this matter, but they were determined to push it through. Now the chickens have come home to roost.”
He accused the Majority of hypocrisy, recalling that during the NPP administration, the then-opposition side insisted that the controversial bill be passed despite warnings from international partners such as the IMF and World Bank.
“Yesterday, when we raised this issue, you insisted the bill must pass. Now you are in government in the hot seat and you are running away, talking about procedures and administrative errors. There was no mistake,” the Minority Leader said.
He further alleged that the current government used the LGBTQ+ debate for political advantage when it suited them but is now backtracking under pressure from the international community.
“You forced LGBTQ+ down the throat of the Akufo-Addo government. Today, you claim you don’t want it. You used it to win elections, and now that your stakeholders, the international community, are warning you, you want to run away. Run to where?” he asked.
The Minority Leader reminded his colleagues that they once ignored pleas to manage the situation when the bill’s passage created tension between Ghana and international partners.
“You remember that hot afternoon when I pleaded that we manage the situation, and you refused? Today, you are in government, and you now see what governance means. You are in the kitchen; you feel the heat,” he said.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin likened the Majority’s current position to “a scorpion placed on a shivling,” saying they must now deal with the consequences of their earlier actions.
“That scorpion, that LGBTQ+ scorpion, you placed it on that shivling. Whether you like it or not, it’s yours,” he quipped.
The Minority Leader reaffirmed his side’s commitment to seeing the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025 through Parliament despite recent delays. The bill, which was listed on Tuesday’s order paper, was not taken on Thursday as scheduled. According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader had explained that the delay was because the Speaker and the Clerk to Parliament were not available.
The legislation, sponsored by John Ntim Fordjour (Assin South), Samuel Nartey George (Ningo-Prampram), Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzra (Ho West), Helen Adjoa Ntoso (Krachi West), Nurideen Muhammed Mummuni (Nalerigu-Gambaga), Vincent Ekow Assafuah (Old Tafo), Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana (Gushegu), Rita Naa Odoley Sowah (Dadekotopon), Dr. Tiah Abdul Kabiru Mahama (Walewale), and Anthony Mmieh (Odotobri), seeks to impose strict penalties for same-sex relationships, public displays of affection, and the promotion or funding of LGBTQ+ activities in Ghana.
One Response
The LGBT is an abomination which God hate it must be ban for ever in Ghana.it destroy nation and does not develop a nation.