Vincent Ekow Assafuah
The Minority in Parliament has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of hypocrisy and double standards over the handling of sexuality-related content in the education system, following the emergence of controversial definitions in a Senior High School (SHS) teacher’s manual.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, said the inclusion of redefined concepts of sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, sexual rights and gender identity in the Physical Education and Health elective teacher manual represents a “clear curricular departure” that undermines the country’s cultural, religious and moral foundations.
Speaking from what he described as both a faith-based and professional standpoint, the MP, a Catholic and former Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the Ministry of Education, insisted that the content was neither accidental nor inherited.
He rejected claims by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) that the concepts were long-standing elements of Ghana’s curriculum.
According to him, a review of the 2024 Physical Education and Health core teacher manual shows it focused strictly on physical health, wellness, fitness, recreation and basic biological health concepts, with no reference to sexual identity, gender expression, sexual rights or protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“All these concepts appear for the first time in the 2025 elective manual. Any claim that they are legacy content is factually false and intellectually dishonest,” he said.
Mr. Assafuah further accused the NDC of abandoning the moral urgency it displayed while in opposition, particularly on matters relating to homosexuality and family values.
He recalled that leading NDC figures had previously argued that delays in passing the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill amounted to endorsement of homosexuality.
“Today, the NDC controls the executive and commands a majority in Parliament, yet that same urgency has disappeared,” he said, noting that 33 bills were passed under certificates of urgency in the last parliamentary session, none of which related to the LGBTQ bill.
He disclosed that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which elapsed with the dissolution of the previous Parliament, was reintroduced as a private member’s bill but removed from the Order Paper within 24 hours at the instance of the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga.
He described this as a deliberate frustration of a bill that had once been championed as a moral emergency.
The Minority also linked the current controversy to the introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education between 2012 and 2016 under a previous NDC administration, arguing that the party has been inconsistent in distancing itself from policies it once supported.
As part of its demands, the Minority called for the immediate withdrawal of all teaching and learning materials containing LGBTQ-related content, a transparent and inclusive review of affected materials, the dismissal of the Director-General, Prof. Samuel Ofori Bekoe, and Board Chair of NaCCA for breach of public trust, and a full parliamentary inquiry into the development and approval of the manuals.
Mr. Assafuah also appealed to religious bodies, traditional leaders, parents and civil society organisations to speak out, warning that “silence weakens accountability” on what he described as a matter of national values and legislative integrity.
“This is not just about politics or rhetoric. It is about public trust, parliamentary oversight and the protection of national values within our education system,” he intimated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House