Former Director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Professor Emerita Abena Takyiwaa Manuh has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of double standards in the matter of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.
The NDC, she said, is a member of the Progressive Alliance whose aspirations and goals as presented on its website include promoting LGBTQI+ issues.
Professor Manu charged the party to look at its own associations because it cannot be a social democratic party and yet be promoting an anti-LGBT+ Bill.
“Does the NDC have one face at home and another abroad,” she quizzed.
Professor Takyiwaa Manuh threw the challenge on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday in response to an NDC Communicator who proclaimed that gays and lesbians should be stoned and killed.
She indicated that the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, Bill 2021 now referred to as LGBTQI+ Bill, or Gay Bill has no evidential support whatsoever to justify its necessity.
The proponents of the bill, she argued, have failed to adequately clarify the need for what is a draconian piece of legislation with evidence to support their claims, thus attesting to a lack of research on their part.
The controversial legislation is a Private Members Bill sponsored by eight MPs from the NDC Caucus and one member from the NPP Caucus.
They are Sam Nartey George (MP, Ningo Prampram), Emmanuel Bedzrah (MP, Ho West) Della Adjoa Sowah (MP, Kpando), John Ntim Fordjour (MP, Assin South) – the sole NPP MP sponsoring the Bill.
The remaining sponsors are Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini (MP, Tamale North), Helen Adjoa Ntoso (MP, Krachi West), Rita Naa Odoley Sowah (MP, La Dadekotopon) and Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor (MP, South Dayi).
According to Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, instances where the proponents of the Bill had cited research work, the information had been skewed to support their claim and did not reflect the intention of the work.
“One really strange thing is that they provide very little evidential grounds for anything that they say. Nothing! There is really no research except of course the false uses that they make of the research of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and of course of the findings of the CDD Afrobarometer survey.”
According to her, the use of the 18.1% HIV/AID prevalence in the gay community that has been used by sponsors of the anti-gay bill fails to recognize that the larger percentage of Ghana’s HIV/AIDS population belong to the heterosexual community.
“I also read the report and I know that the two highest groups that had HIV prevalence were men having sex with men and commercial sex workers. And it was because of multiple partners. So it was not just about their orientation.
“What is proposed in the bill will make the situation worse because it will drive people underground as has been shown in various places,” she stated.
Professor Takyiwaa Manuh argued that statistics from the CDD and Afrobarometer reports can be taken but stressed the import of these research works is not to legislate the intolerance of the 93% of people but to protect the 7% who identify as LGBTQ+.
She warned that if passed into law the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 will only embolden further intolerance as shown by the NDC Communicators pronouncement.
