The Majority and Minority groups in Parliament yesterday clashed over the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill popularly referred to as the Anti-gay or LGBTQI Bill.
The Private Members Bill being promoted by some members of the minority group has been with the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for the past three months and the committee is expected to consider and present its report to plenary for second reading and debate.
However, the Minority accused Chairperson of the Committee, Mr. Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, of deliberately delaying and holding back the Bill from coming to the floor of the House.
Minority Chief Whip Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka, speaking on the matter, presented the concerns of members about the unnecessary delay of the Bill, attributing the delay to the Chairman.
According to him, the members who raised the matter at the plenary were justified in view of the winding procedure that the Chairman adopted since the Bill was referred to the Committee.
Mr. Muntaka said he advised the Chairman to hold a one-off public engagement with the public and take the clauses of the Bill one after the other to enable them to make inputs satisfactory to all.
“You opted to use a vehicle that gave people unfettered time meanwhile you know of the Constitutional provision, Article 106 (4) which states that a Bill introduced to this House shall not be delayed for more than three months at any Committee.
“If you realised there will be a delay the only thing you do as a Chair is come back and tell the House because of such and such reasons there will be some delays”, Mr. Muntaka told Mr. Anyimadu-Antwi.
He accused the Chairman of deliberately wasting time on the Bill because he doesn’t want it to get to the plenary.
“If you say what I am saying is a lie, work hard in a week and you will be able to bring the report but you are deliberately wasting time because you don’t want the Bill and that is a fact.
“This is not the first time a bill has been referred to his Committee and we know how he went about when you wanted to expedite action on it.
“This one you are deliberately wasting time and delaying the Bill at your Committee and I can assure you and your front bench with what you have done and trying to justify it, no bill will pass through this House without our resistance,” he added.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ho West Constituency, Mr. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah had raised concern about the Bill during the presentation of the Business Statement on Tuesday and the time it is taking the Committee to present its report.
He deplored the delay and argued that the LGBQTI+ Bill is as important as many other Bills that the Committee had quickly pushed through the House.
Anyimadu-Antwi’s response
The Chairman of the Committee was, however, not enthused about the claims of the Ho West MP when he responded to the accusation yesterday.
According to him, the Committee advertised the Bill after it was referred, which elicited 187 memoranda from the public and went ahead to hold public hearings during the last meeting.
He stated that as part of the timetable of the Committee, private hearings have commenced after the public hearing.
“Just last week we had an in-camera meeting and we invited all the sponsors of the Bill and Hon. Kwasi Bedzrah was invited to the meeting so it is surprising the same person who was aware of what the Committee is doing will come to the floor of the House and say we are doing nothing about the Bill.
“I want to set the records straight that the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is on course so far as the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill is concerned,” he stated
Deputy Majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, contributing to the debate questioned why accusing fingers are being pointed at the Chairman when Minority members are also on the Committee.
He warned his side will not allow the Minority to single out the Chairman and stressed, “That agenda he was setting is full of mischief, it is partisan and political.”
