Mahama Ayariga, the Majority Leader, has accused the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, of trying to sabotage the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
According to Mahama Ayariga, Alexander Afenyo-Markin is deliberately obstructing the passage of the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
The Minority leader on the floor of parliament argued that the Majority Leader is of the view that the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill was passed in the 8th parliament and therefore should not go through the process again.
Afenyo-Markin stated, “By constitutional imperative, the law was already passed, and it was for the president to sign; for him, it will therefore be constitutionally superfluous for another bill to go through the process. I want to know whether or not that position of the Majority Leader is the view of this house or otherwise”.
However, the Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, who was presiding over proceedings, highlighted that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has already given his ruling on that issue and should not have been raised by a leader or any member of parliament.
Afenyo-Markin further added, “Speaker with respect, can an application be repeated? The application can be repeated when your application is denied, and the majority leader has not departed from his own application. Mr Speaker, can the same application be made in the circumspect?”.
The Majority leader, reacting to Afenyo-Markin’s argument, stressed that the Minority leader is raising all sorts of issues to impede the passage of this bill.
He further assured the Minority and Ghanaians that the bill will be passed, and when it is passed, President John Mahama will assent to it.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, the Minority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, stated, “He is guilty of obstructing the passage of this bill; he does not want the bill. He is not out of order innocently, Mr Speaker; he is deliberately obstructing the passage of this bill. He does not want this bill passed, so he would be raising all sorts of issues to impede the passage of this bill, but I want to assure him that this Bill will be passed and when it is passed, the President will give his assent”.
“There will be no directive to the clerk of parliament to cease and desist in presenting the bill to the presidency; there will be no threat to the clerk of this parliament, so please let us take the bill to the consideration stage.
This parliament has indicated to Ghanaians that within the next two weeks, we want this bill passed. So cooperate with us and let the Bill pass”.
Meanwhile, Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has urged Ghanaians not to listen to persons who do not know what is happening in Parliament regarding the anti-LGBTQ+ bill currently before Parliament.
According to Speaker Bagbin, the bill has already gone through the necessary processes in Parliament, and he expressed confidence that it will be passed when the House reconvenes.
Speaking at an event, Alban Bagbin disclosed, “I’m sure one of the reasons we punished him and his party is one of these, so we started, and we processed it, it has gone through all the stages, and the next meeting of Parliament will get us asking to pass that bill into law”.
“So, don’t listen to people who don’t know what is in Parliament. Please, I repeat, don’t listen to people who don’t know what is in Parliament,” he cautioned.
“They can play that kind of bad politics. That is not what we are here for. We are different from those practising it. Our cultures, values, and principles are different. They know the effect and what it is doing to them. We resist it today; we will not be colonised again. That is gone; it’s history,” he added.
Speaker Babgin further disclosed that the president gave him his assurance that he will sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law once the House passes it.
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@degreatmantv #duetwith DE Great man tv Afenyo don't the Lgbtq bill to passing #ghanatiktokers#fyp#ndc ♬ original sound – DE GREAT MAN TV.
