Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency, has disclosed that the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill received extensive consultation.
On Wednesday, February 28, Parliament passed the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as an anti-LGBTQ+ bill. The bill has yet to be assented to by President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking on The Key Points on TV3, the North Tongu legislator noted that the anti-LGBTQ+ bill received significant consultations before its passage.
“I have never seen a piece of legislation that has had this extensive consultation,” he said, adding, “At the last count, about more than 100 groups have been consulted and engaged including and across CSOs [Civil Society Organisations] and CHRAJ.
“This is one bill that I even saw international organisations come to parliament, UN Agencies, AU and ECOWAS, international NGOs—all making inputs, submitting memos,” he stated.
Ablakwa further indicated that in passing the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin criticised the Legal Committee of Parliament for “keeping too long with their consultations.”
“The Speaker even criticised the committee that they were keeping too long with their consultations and going on and on that how far do you want to go with consultations, won’t it have a certain determination?”
However, Ablakwa maintained that the former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye and Speaker Bagbin made the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Value Bill a “legacy project.”
Meanwhile, a private legal practitioner and journalist, Richard Dela Sky, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court against the constitutionality of the bill. Amongst other reliefs, Sky is praying the court to declare the bill passed by Parliament “null, void and of no effect.”