Ghana’s Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, has said that the country’s anti-gay bill that is currently waiting to be signed into law was politically motivated and that there is no need to handle it urgently.
According to Mr Dame, the discussions and proceedings surrounding the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill have been tainted with political motives.
“Every aspect of this bill is politically motivated. Otherwise, there is really no urgency,” he told TV3’s Joseph Ackah-Blay in an exclusive interview on Thursday. “I remember mooting the contract management bill, a bill that had the potential to save the state millions of Cedis in judgment debt, passed by parliament in July 2023, it was only presented to the president for his assent about three weeks ago. Every step in this matter is politically motivated.”
Ghana’s Parliament unanimously passed the controversial bill on February 28, 2024, after months of deliberation.
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Since its passage, two individuals, gender activist Dr. Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, a journalist at private media outlet, Citi FM, have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality and implications of the bill for the country.
On March 19, the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, in a letter to parliament advised them to halt any attempts at submitting the anti-LGBTQ bill t to the President for signing until pending legal challenges are resolved.
Following that, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Wednesday also said Parliament would halt the approval of President Akufo-Addo’s new ministerial nominees until the Supreme Court concludes the lawsuits that have been leveled against their nominations.
But Mr Dame has asked the Speaker of Parliament, to desist from engaging in a tit-for-tat with the Presidency.
In his view, this is the time to look at things within the legal framework.
“This is a time we have to look at things legally, through the appropriate lenses and with all respect to stop the unnecessary tit for tat that is being done by some people,” he said.