Chairman of Advocates for Christ Ghana, Edem Senanu, has issued a caution against opposing the passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.
This warning comes in response to concerns raised by Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, the Chairman of the Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee, who highlighted the potential impact of politicizing the bill on its passage.
The bill had faced a prolonged delay, leading to frustration among its supporters. Allegations were made by proponents that certain Members of Parliament were collaborating with pro-LGBTQ campaigners to intentionally impede its progress.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Friday, December 8, Mr Senanu explained that “it would be politically suicidal for any group to say we are not going to support this bill.”
Edem Senanu has stressed the importance of avoiding acrimony over the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
He emphasized that the Anti-LGBTQ bill should not be seen as tied to any specific political party, whether the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Instead, Senanu highlighted that the bill represents the desires of the people of Ghana.
“Indeed, everybody knows that a good law is a law owned by the people, that is standard practice. Any piece of legislation that would pass the test of time must be a piece of legislation that emanates from the interest and aspiration of the people. So why would NPP or NDC either want to own it? … We are not interested in the partisanship,” he added.
According to him, Parliamentarians ought to “spend more time behind the scenes panning out the processes of how they are going to manage it [bill].”
He noted that, as the election year is approaching and if the data “is anything to go by, the CDD-Ghana’s data 2019, 2021 says that 93 per cent of Ghanaians have a position on this matter which suggests that while we may be embracing these people [LGBT community], we are not accepting of their practices and we don’t want that to be something that we want in our country.”
Edem Senanu reminded lawmakers to be mindful of their decisions on the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
He pointed out that their stance on this issue could have implications for their political careers, suggesting that their continued tenure in Parliament might be influenced by their position on the bill.
“If they [Parliamentarians] are not aware, perhaps all of us need to remind them that we the people of Ghana have a certain position on this matter and it would be really dangerous for them … they may choose to make those comments but we are reminding them that there is a very strong position that Ghanaians hold on this matter,” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, Parliament has commenced work on the bill.