Alhaji Kamal-Deen Abdulai, the deputy National Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has accused President John Mahama of pleasing Westerners with his recent comments in the UK following the passage of the anti-LGBTQ Bill.
He disclosed that President Mahama’s procedural hurdles explanation on the anti-LGBTQ Bill was to please Western partners to get money.
According to Kamal-Deen, Ghana’s handling of the bill is influenced by economic dependence on Western countries.
He, however, argued that Ghana should not allow external financial considerations to shape its domestic policy decisions, citing countries such as Senegal that have passed similar laws, adding that Ghana should be hesitant in taking a firm stance.
Kamal-Deen noted that despite Ghana’s rich natural resources, including gold, cocoa, bauxite, manganese, timber, bitumen, and oil. Such dependence, we are still dependent on Western countries.
Speaking on Channel One on Wednesday, June 3, Abdulai argued, “Our President is in the UK and must speak well so that Western people will hear that he will speak well before he gets money.
If not, if he doesn’t say there’s a long route to go, he won’t come home with money. That is the reason why the President could not speak well when he was in the UK, as he cited procedural challenges,” he added.
His comments follow, John Dramani Mahama has said that despite the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly known as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, a few issued has been raised.
According to John Mahama, the passage of the anti-LGBTQI Bill by Parliament won’t be a law yet, as a few procedural hurdles that must be resolved before it reaches his desk for assent.
Speaking during a Chatham House interview on Monday, June 1, as part of his trip to the United Kingdom, President Mahama stated, “Parliament has been considering it, and it was supposed to have been passed last week. There have been a few issues raised.
“One, that there wasn’t a quorum when it was passed. That’s an issue that has come up. And then, two, there were some procedural lapses in terms of its passage.
“I just got some communication that the Speaker was reading a statement to address the issue of the lapses in the passage of the Bill. And so, like I said, when I was the opposition leader, the President had a number of options in this matter. It must come for assent.
“And so, once the President gets it, you go through it, because you are not part of the discussion in Parliament. And so, the legal representative, the legal counsel in the Presidency and the Attorney General would sit on it, because it was a private member’s motion. This was not a government bill.
“And so, we’ll look at it and make sure that everything is in order before the President is advised to assent”.
He added, “The President has another option if there are some things that he thinks are a problem. He can refer it to the Council of State for advice.
The Council of State is an advisory body to the President. And so, they’ll take a look at it and then they’ll advise the President. And if there are issues — substantial issues that are raised — the President would return the Bill to Parliament, indicating exactly what the issues are.
And so, there’s still quite a while to go before that Bill becomes law”.
Watch the video below:
The Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill will be reviewed by the Attorney General and legal advisers before any presidential assent-President @JDMahama pic.twitter.com/2V4hHceywS
— Popo🇰🇼🇬🇭 (@Popony_J) June 1, 2026
