The Executive arm of government, headed by the president, should not have allowed the anti-gay bill to go through Parliament for two years without serious engagements with all the key stakeholders knowing the severe implications for the economy and the country’s various international interests and obligations, the Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Professor H Kwasi Prempeh has said.
To him, the President should have engaged the sponsors and backers of the bill right from the very day it was initiated in Parliament knowing the potential implications.
Prof Prempeh was replying to a comment under a post he made on Facebook on the pronouncement by a renowned economist Kwame Pianim to the effect that the United States should deal with the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bgabin and lawmakers for the bill and leave the entire country alone.
“All the more reason the Executive should have taken exceptional interest in it from the beginning and made serious engagements with all the key stakeholders. Knowing its severe implications for the economy and the country’s various international interests and obligations, you don’t just sit and watch a bill like this go through the parliamentary processes for over two years without having any serious engagement with its sponsors and backers. Who does that!” he wrote.
Mr Kwame Pianim had appealed to the United States of America and other countries that are against the anti-gay bill, passed by Ghana’s Parliament to rather direct their anger towards the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin and all the Members of Parliament who supported the bill and got it passed.
He explained that the bill is not a referendum that was passed by the entire country hence sanctions should not be meted out to the entire country.
Speaking on the Business Focus with TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare on Tuesday, March 5, he said “my appeal to the US and the other countries who feel very strongly about lgbtq rights as human rights is that they should not use the instrument of sanctioning the whole country, they should put sanctions on the Speaker of Parliament, those who moved the bill and the 275 of the MPs, put sanction on them and leave the Ghana economy alone.
“This is not a referendum that has been passed by the people of Ghana, we are already suffering, so don’t add any sanctions to it, sanction the people who are doing this and if these people make our problems worse, all of us Ghanaians should consider seriously, this 8th parliament of the fourth republic, the administration none of them should receive their gratia.”
Mr Pianim further indicated that the statement that was issued by the Finance Ministry warning of the dreadful implication of the anti-lgbtqi bill came too late.
In his view, the Ministry should have sent this caution to Parliament the moment discussions on the bill commenced in the House.
The Ministry of Finance on Monday, March 4 pointed out dreadful implications of the president assenting to the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
In a brief on the implications of assenting to the Bill by President Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Finance said the country stands to lose huge financial support from the Bretton Woods institutions.
“In total, Ghana is likely to lose US$3.8 billion in World Bank Financing over the next five to six years. For 2024, Ghana will lose US$600 million budget support and US$250 million for the Financial Stability Fund. This will negatively impact Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability as these inflows are expected to shore up the country’s reserve position,” part of the brief cited by 3news.com reads.
The Ministry of Finance provided the details as follows:
- The expected US$300 million financing from the First Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (Budget Support) which is currently pending Parliamentary approval might not be disbursed by the Bank when it is approved by Parliament;
- On-going negotiations on the second Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (DPO) for budget support amounting to US$300 million may be suspended;
- On-going negotiations for US$250 million to support the Ghana Financial Stability Fund may be suspended;
- Disbursement of undisbursed amounts totaling US$2.1 billion for ongoing projects will be suspended; and
- Preparation of pipeline projects and declaration of effectiveness for two projects totaling US$900million may be suspended.
The Ministry cautioned that, “The potential loss of these financial resources will create a financing gap in the 2024 budget that the government must address through additional domestic revenue mobilisation and a significant reduction in expenditure. Failing this, Government’s ability to achieve the targets in the 2024 Budget will be undermined and the IMF-ECF Programme is likely to be derailed.”
Parliament on February 28 passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
But Mr Pianim said “I think that if this document is really true it shows how incompetent our administration is. it is really shambolic. Where was the Ministry of Finance when this bill was being discussed?
“Normally, when a bill is being discussed in Parliament, bills come from the government, the cabinet minister will take the document to parliament, convince his colleagues that he wants to pass this Act, and then it goes to Parliament.
“The Ministry of Finance should have sent this document to the cabinet and to the president and to the relevant committees of Parliament that were discussing it to say these are the financial implications of this bill.
“That is how it is done and then if the president is up to task and he is doing his job then the president will hold the breakfast meeting, invite Parliamentary leaders and say this is where the national interest is, this is the geopolitical implications of this bill and therefore think twice before you move ahead. That is what is done, you don’t wait for the bill to be passed and then you disgrace the whole nation.”