The Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament has temporarily suspended public hearings in relation to the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
On Thursday, during the first public hearing, groups that are in support of the bill touted it as one that reflects the views of majority of Ghanaians on the subject matter, while the groups against the bill described it as one that is in breach of human rights and against Ghana’s cultural values.
The Committee is expected to give audience to the authors of over 150 memoranda on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill.
Closing the first session of public hearings on Thursday [November 11, 2021], Chairman of the Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, cited time constraints as the reason for 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.
Meanwhile, Ningo-Prampram Member of Parlimaet, Samuel George, and one of the sponsors of the anti-LGBTQI Bill described as satisfactory the first day of public hearings on the bill.
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“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,” he said.
The Concerned Ghanaian Citizens, which made an appearance on Day 1 of the public hearing, called on the committee to advise parliament to reject the Bill.
The spokesperson of the group, Akoto Ampaw, said the Speaker of Parliament exercised unreasonable discretion in admitting the bill.
In the group’s view, the bill violates the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians and promotes hate.
Other groups that appeared before the committee on the first day of hearing included the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Human Rights Coalition, Amnesty International and Advocates for Christ.