Sam George, Ntim Fordjour and 8 other MPs to reintroduce Anti-LGBTQ bill in Parliament

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The information gathered suggests that the member for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George, member of parliament for Assin South, Ntim Fordjour and 8 other MPs will reintroduce the Anti-LBGTQ bill in Parliament as the House resumes today.

The Anti-LBGTQ bill seeks to define, protect and regulate human sexual rights while reinforcing traditional family values within Ghana.

Sources revealed that the proposed legislation aims to create a balanced legal framework that safeguards individual rights on sexuality, privacy and dignity.

It also promotes the preservation of family structures rooted in Ghana’s culture and traditions.

The Anti-LBGTQ bill under Akufo-Addo faced several lawsuits filed against the bill, leading to a delay in its signing.

Eventually, the bill, which became a burden for the previous government, remained just a bill and was not passed into law before Akufo-Addo left power.

Meanwhile, conversations and discussions about the controversial anti-LBGTQ bill have resurfaced under the John Mahama government.

In December 2024, during an interview with the BBC, Mahama, the NDC government, would sign the anti-LBGTQ+ bill.

He stated, “It is not an anti-LBGTQ+ Bill, but a Family Values Bill. It was approved unanimously by our Parliament. You see, it’s against our culture, I mean African culture, our religious faith – Muslim and Christian and all that.

But I think we must look at the bill, and the president must indicate what he finds wrong with the bill and send the bill back to Parliament or alternatively, he must send it to the Council of State and get the Council of State’s advice”.

After assuming power, addressing a delegation of Catholic bishops from the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, John Dramani Mahama suggested a government-sponsored LGBTQ+ bill, as opposed to one led by private members.

John Mahama stated, “I think it should not be a Private Member’s Bill, but a government-sponsored one. If we were teaching our values in schools, we wouldn’t need to pass a bill to enforce our family values, and that is why I think more than even the family values bill, is us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they are growing up, so that we don’t need to legislate it.

“I don’t know what the promoters of the bill intend to do, but I think we should have a conversation on it again so that all of us, if we decide to move on the way forward, we move forward with a consensus,” he said.

Mahama further highlighted the challenges encountered by the initial anti-LBGTQ+ bill,
He stated, “But as far as I know, the bill did not get to the president. And so, the convention is that all bills that are not assented to before the expiration of the life of Parliaments expire. And so, that bill effectively is dead, it has expired”.

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