A new lawsuit has been launched against the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, generally known as the anti-gay bill, drawing Parliament into a new legal battle.
This comes after a resident of Ashanti Region, Paul Boama Sefa, sued the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, and the Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, over the same bill.
In a writ, Mr. Sefa claimed that the Speaker and Attorney General had breached the constitution with their handling of the Proper Sexual Human Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
During a plenary session on Friday, First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu said that another suit had been filed against the bill, with the Speaker named as a party.
One of the sponsors of the bill, Samuel George Nartey, who is the NDC MP for Ningo-Prampram, had wanted to know when the House would consider the second reading of the bill.
The First Deputy Speaker said that two lawsuits had been filed against the bill, one in the High Court and one in the Supreme Court, and that the Speaker would have to make a decision and confer on it before the House could proceed.
“Mr. Speaker brought the court action to the attention of leaders, and I think you may wish to discuss with the Speaker what steps you may take before programming it,” he suggested.
This means that the anti-gay bill may be delayed or shelved for some time, despite the Speaker’s assurances to supporters that it will be passed soon.
“I will prefer to join my Maker than to live. That is me. I am a Catholic and pro-life. I will not do anything that will end the world because God says the world is eternal. Until He comes back we cannot do that to end the world,” the Speaker stated recently.
On October 26, 2021, Speaker Bagbin announced that Parliament would make public all the legislative processes involved in the passage of the law when the House considers the bill.
The anti-gay bill has generated heated debate and triggered conversation on various media platforms as it seeks to criminalise the activities of LGTBQ+ people in the country.
According to the Speaker, from the sitting of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to the last stage of the passage process, which is the third reading of the bill, will be made public, including “the decision of this House.”
He was addressing Members of Parliament (MPs) at the opening of the third meeting of the House during which he explained that what accounted for the move is that “the whole world is looking for the outcome of this bill.”
“We will make the process public and I support what the Majority Leader said. The sitting of the Committee will be public and the decision of this House will be public. We will want to know where each Member of Parliament stands,” he noted.
Mr. Bagbin indicated that the House would countenance delay of the legislative process, asserting, “I know Ghanaians are expectant and I know we have over 100 petitions before the committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, but we will try not to allow any filibustering of this bill.”
He said the anti-LGBTQ+ bill had generated a national conversation, and “it continues to generate a lot of interest and has taken assumed different dimensions.”
“For me, this is healthy for a maturing democracy like Ghana. It is important we allow various shades of opinions to canvass their positions on the bill. As Ghanaians, I want to plead with us to accommodate the views of others, whatever perceptions they have.”
“Let’s maintain the peace and the coolest of mind and heart,” he entreated and continued, “The Parliament of Ghana is capable of handling the situation.”
The Speaker assured Ghanaians that the House would create the enabling environment for all to “put across their views,” adding that “at the end of the day, the processes of the House will determine the outcome.”
“And when that is done, I am very convinced that the law that will come out of all these, if any, will protect the culture and values of our people and the Ghanaian identity.”
“It is a law, I believe, that will also take into consideration the human rights and freedoms that have been guaranteed under our constitution, and it is a law that will take into consideration the richness of the common sense, human decency, morality, logic and at the end of the day, it is a law that will bring and transform this country into something else,” he stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House