Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, has backed the Speaker’s decision in respect of the committee making its deliberations on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, public.
Speaker Alban Bagbin on Monday made the anti-LGBTQ+ bill Parliament’s top priority when the House resumed from recess.
He said he will ensure that the public knows where every Member of Parliament stands on the bill, which is meant to legislate against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+).
For Mr Anyimadu-Antwi, who chairs the committee working on the bill, the Speaker’s decision will make the process transparent.
He, however, clarified that any other committee work, such as considering modalities for the public hearing, will be private.
“What the speaker is referring to is when we hear the petition, because we are going to invite them and listen to their argument. But when the Committee itself sits to actually deliberate on our own, that one won’t be in camera.
“So we are going to invite the people that have submitted their applications, and if they want the cameras to be there, we don’t have a problem,” the Asante-Akim Central legislator said.
Meanwhile, the lead sponsor of the bill and MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, has said that beyond the public sitting, he expects voting on the bill to be public and not by a secret ballot.
Reiterating the words of the Speaker, Mr George said it will allow the citizenry to know the stance of every legislator on the issue.
In August, eight parliamentarians jointly submitted a private bill to push for the criminalisation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer and their related (LGBTQ+) activities in the country.
The proponents also want the promotion, advocacy, funding, and acts of homosexuality to be forbidden in the country.
Since the controversial bill was made public, opposers have argued that should it be passed into law, it will violate the fundamental human rights of individuals who identify with the group.
The bill is currently with the Parliamentary Committee that has since called on citizens to submit documents stating their positions on the bill.
