Committee suspends public hearing of the anti-LGBTQI+ bill
Public hearings of the Anti-Gay bill has temporarily been put on hold by the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
At the commencement of the first public hearing on Thursday, groups in support of the bill deem it as reflecting the views of most Ghanaians while groups not in support of the bill see it as one of the breaches of human rights.
The committee is expected to listen to the authors of the 150 memoranda defend their views either for or against the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill.
As they ended the first session of public hearings on Thursday [November 11, 2021], Chairman of the Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, blamed time constraints as the reason behind the suspension of the hearings.
“We haven’t finished with the public hearings. There are other memoranda that we have received but we are constrained with time and we cannot predict what time we would have to meet and continue,” he said.
However, legislator for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, who is one of the sponsors of the anti-LGBTQI Bill, was satisfied with the first day of public hearings on the bill.
“I think it was a good day. Everyone had their say and democracy won. Ghana continues to be a beacon of the African continent. I am reliably informed that in many European countries where Private Members are laid, the public does not have the opportunity to send in memos talk of public presentation as it was done. So I think this is a feather in our cap as a people.”
One of the groups against the bill, the Concerned Ghanaian Citizens who were present on the first of the day of the public hearing called on the committee to advise Parliament to reject the bill.
For Mr Akoto Ampaw, the Speaker of Parliament exercised unreasonable discretion in admitting the bill.
The was also concern that this bill violates fundamental human rights and promotes hate.
Other groups that appeared before the committee on the first day of the hearing included the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Human Rights Coalition, Amnesty International and Advocates for Christ.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
