Edem Senanu, Chairman of Advocates for Christ Ghana, has expressed disappointment at the turn of events following the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, asking President Akufo-Addo to use the occasion of his birthday to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law.
Although he stressed the essence of allowing constitutional bodies to work in a democratic society, the association will soon be on the streets to protest against the president.
“It has been disappointing and frustrating, but it is also a beautiful thing to see that the democratic institutions of the state are working. At one point, it was in parliament and moved to the judiciary.
“We hear it is our president’s wish to wish him a happy birthday and tell him it’s a good time to sign the bill and have the goodwill of the people on his birthday and moving into the future,” he said in an interview on TV3’s midday bulletin, News Central.
He also lauded Parliament for its decision to write to the apex court asking the court for an expedited hearing in the matter of two independent applications for interlocutory injunctions on Parliament concerning the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
He agreed that it was a good move by Parliament, arguing that “a lot will stand on what the Supreme Court will say about it”, adding, “For some of us, Article 106 is clear and plain we are not clear in our minds why the presidency has chosen this route it just seems like gymnastics to us.”
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“But having said that, let us hear what the Supreme Court would have to say and let’s move on because the process has already been outlined. We believe that parliament is doing the right thing, the president should not be seen to be abdicating his responsibility,” Edem Senanu added.
He, therefore, called on the president to “act and act timeously otherwise, very soon, as others have said, we will be mobilising people to have marches around the country.”
Parliament unanimously passed the anti-LGBTQ+ bill a month ago [February 28, 2024]. But President Akufo-Addo has yet to assent to the bill.
The President communicated his decision to await the court’s determination of the matter based on the Attorney-General’s advice.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024, if assented to, prescribes between three and five years imprisonment to persons found guilty of willful promotion, funding, and advocating for LGBTQ+ activities prohibited under the act.
Also, persons who publicly identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, an ally or pansexual face between two months and three years of imprisonment.