The First Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, has claimed that President Akufo-Addo is using various tactics to avoid signing the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill into law.
The bill, which was approved by Parliament on February 28, 2024, criminalizes LGBTQ+ activities, as well as their promotion, advocacy, and funding.
President Akufo-Addo has stated that he will await the Supreme Court’s ruling on a legal challenge by Richard Sky before making a decision on the bill.
However, Mr Ibrahim, the Member of Parliament for Banda, suggested in an interview on Citi News that the president is trying to find ways to avoid signing the bill.
According to him, if the president does not sign the bill within seven days, he is required to refer it to the Council of State for advice.
“The president I know is buying time. He used every avenue and wanted us to delay the bill so that it doesn’t come to Jubilee House under his time for him to sign. That is why they wanted to put it down, bring other bills, we finish them, and they will bring others until Parliament said if we don’t finish this one, we will not do anything else. That is when they realized their hands were tied, and it was passed.”
“Now, by Article 106 of the 1992 Constitution, the president is mandated to refer the bill within seven days to the Council of State if he doesn’t want to sign it.”