The anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which has been with the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of parliament since last year, is now ready to be presented to the house for debate, according to Samuel Nartey George, a member of parliament for Ningo-Prampram.
His admission comes at a time when Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States of America, who is currently on a tour of Africa, has called for respect for the human rights of LGBTQ+ people.
She and President Akufo-Addo made a joint press statement in which she stated that the US views issues relating to LGBTQ+ people as human rights ones and that any legislation that aims to annoy such people will not be tolerated.
The Bill suggests jail sentences for those who participate in same-sex activities as well as numerous measures to support the LGBTQ+ community.
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Sam George claims that because the Attorney General has given his approval for the bill in its present form, there is no obstacle preventing it from being introduced in parliament for discussion and eventual passage into law.
“When we finished the deliberations, I asked the Attorney General a question if the bill in its current form infringes on the human rights of any Ghanaian, and he was happy with the bill. He was emphatic and stated that absolutely not. He wants me to tell the media that he supports the bill. The bill is expanding the frontiers of our legal jurisprudence. The Committee has finished deliberations, and it’s at the behest of the Chairman. So I believe that the final report of the Committee may be laid before the house rises,” citinewsroom.com quotes the lawmaker as saying.
In the meantime, President Akufo-Addo stated in response to a question from journalists during the joint press conference with Kamala Harris that he trusts the Ghanaian parliament to do good work on the bill without violating any human rights while maintaining the integrity of the nation’s cultural values.
