Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, who also serves as Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, has questioned whether the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is truly committed to passing the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
During his interview today, Mr Baffour Awuah said the government’s current actions show that it may not be serious about pushing the Bill forward.
According to him, the issue was mainly used for political gain because many Ghanaians strongly supported the Bill at the time.
“The commitment of the government is absent. It was just politics; it was just meant to carry Ghanaians along because, if you recall, there had been an Afrobarometer survey that said over 90 per cent of Ghanaians wanted the Bill passed, and so it was enough political market for them,” he said.
He explained that because many people supported the Bill, it became an attractive campaign message for politicians.
“Because if you have over 90 per cent of Ghanaians that want the Bill passed, and you sing their song, they are likely to come to your side politically,” he added.
Mr Baffour Awuah also claimed that some of the promises made during the campaign were mainly to win votes, but the government has not fulfilled them since coming into power.
“So in their desperation to win power, these are some of the things they stated, but clearly, just like many other issues on which they have disappointed Ghanaians, this is one of them,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has instructed Parliament to speed up work on the reintroduced Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill and encouraged lawmakers to quickly continue discussions on the proposed law.
