Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, the founder of Perez Chapel International, has weighed in on the debate surrounding the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill (Anti-LGBTQ bill) after President John Mahama stated it was not a priority.
It will be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama’s statement that Ghana is still grappling with the provisions of basic needs of education, health care, jobs, food, clothing, and shelter, which is his government’s main focus and not the Anti-LGBTQ Bill.
According to John Mahama, the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, while important, is not Ghana’s most urgent concern at this time.
Speaking during a Presidential Dialogue with Civil Society Organisations at Jubilee House in Accra on Monday, March 30, Mahama stated, “We are still grappling with the provisions of basic needs of education, health care, jobs, food, clothing, and shelter”.
“While there are strong and differing views within our society, we believe that issues must be addressed through democratic processes, our core values, dialogue, and the rule of law,” he said.
However, Archbishop Dr Charles Agyinasare, during an interview with Bola Ray on Starrchat, expressed confidence in President Mahama to assent to the bill when passed by parliament.
According to Archbishop Agyinasare, President Mahama has fulfilled a lot of his promises, adding that he believes the president will sign the bill when passed.
Archbishop Agyinasare is quoted to have said, “President Mahama has fulfilled a lot of his promises, I believe he will sign the anti-LGBTQ-bill once it’s passed by parliament”.
Meanwhile, the president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Matthew K. Gyamfi, has said that for President John Dramani Mahama to say the anti-LGBTQ Bill is not a priority is a very dangerous statement.
Bishop Gyamfi argued that President Mahama’s remarks indirectly tell him that the bill that Ghanaians placed before Parliament is not something that he’s considering seriously.
According to Bishop Gyamfi, prioritising economic issues does not conflict with passing the anti-LGBTQ Bill.
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference asserted that Ghanaians need jobs, but the anti-LGBTQ Bill is equally important.
Bishop Gyamfi rejected recommendations that the controversial LGBTQ bill should be sidelined in favour of economic and social priorities.
According to the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ president, he acknowledged the importance of pressing concerns such as jobs, cost of living, and healthcare, but argued that values cannot be traded for them.
Speaking on PM Express on Joy News on Tuesday, Bishop Gyamfi stated, “He’s not wrong in pursuing his matters, because Ghanaians need jobs. They need help. They need other things. So these are important, and they should be a priority for the President.”
“And equally important and no less important is this law, this bill that Ghanaians have placed before Parliament, and we realise pursuing jobs, getting help for people, is not exclusive and cannot exclude, and should not exclude looking at proper family values and sexuality, the one does not throw away the other one.”
“We do not see how pursuing jobs, creating health and other things, how passing family values law will affect negatively, adversely passing this law, so for him to say it is not a priority for us is a very dangerous statement.”
“What makes it dangerous is he’s telling us indirectly that for him, this bill that Ghanaians, represented by a group of people, have placed before Parliament is not something that he’s considering seriously. The law is not important to him.”
See the post below:
Bola Ray interviews Archbishop Dr. Charles Agyinasare on #StarrChat…#StarrFM#EIBNetwork#GHOne pic.twitter.com/c7hTmr2CeH
— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) April 16, 2026