Parliament to start considering memoranda on LGBTQI+ bill
Parliament is scheduled to from next week start considering the various memoranda it received from the public on the anti-Lesbian ,Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Queer and Intersex(LGBTQI) Bill.
Championed by legislator for Ningo-Prampram Sam George, the Proper Human Sexuality and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, is before Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and has already generated a lot of conversation among the Ghanaian populace .
The Committee indicated that they had received over 150 memoranda from individuals, groups and faith-based organizations and has programmed to hear ten petitions each week.
This was revealed by Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin,when he presented the Business Statement for the third week ending, Friday, November 12, 2021, to the House.
Per Mr Afenyo-Markin’s estimations, the committee is scheduled to be hearing ten memoranda in a week, in other words it would take up to 15 weeks to complete the exercise.
A report would be compiled and presented to the house after the committee is done with hearing the views on the various memoranda.
“It is important that all those who brought the memoranda are heard by the Committee,” he added.
Since the bill was introduced last July by eight Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides, both proponents and opponents, including legal luminaries and academics have been justifying why their views ought to be heard.
As it stands now both sides of the House don’t support the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI ) practices owing to Ghana’s culture, morality and values.
The Speaker of the House, Mr Alban Bagbin, while making his position clear on outlawing the practice, has assured that the House would not engage in filibustering the proposed piece of legislation.
He further indicated that defending of the various memoranda concerning the bill would be done publicly and a vote on the Bill would also be done publicly.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
