Majority Leader Ayariga Questions Return of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill to Parliament

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has dismissed suggestions that Parliament should reopen discussions on the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2021 — widely known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill — insisting that the legislation has already completed the parliamentary process.

Addressing journalists during a media briefing with parliamentary leaders, Mr Ayariga explained that the bill, which was passed in February 2024, is currently awaiting presidential assent and therefore does not require any further consideration by the House.

“So that is where it should be taken up, and I do not see why anybody should bring us a bill that we have passed already.”

According to him, when he noticed the bill listed again on the Order Paper, he sought clarification from Speaker Alban Bagbin, who was equally surprised to see it re-advertised.

Mr Ayariga said the Speaker subsequently summoned the Clerk to Parliament to explain how the bill had been placed on the Order Paper without his knowledge.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill prescribes a minimum of three years’ imprisonment and a maximum of five years for individuals found guilty of engaging in or promoting same-sex activities. If signed into law, it will also ban advocacy, financing, and promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and related groups in Ghana.

The Bawku Central legislator said sponsors of the bill had not presented any convincing justification for bringing back a law that had already received parliamentary approval.

In response, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin criticised the Majority side for what he described as a sudden change in stance regarding the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.

He recalled that members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus, while in opposition, had strongly pushed for the bill’s passage, but now appeared hesitant under international pressure.

“Now, the chickens have come home to roost. Only yesterday, when we were raising this issue, Mr Speaker, you were saying that the bill must pass.”

“Now, you are in government and in the hot seat and when the IMF, the World Bank, the Inter-Parliamentary Union are threatening, you are now running away saying procedure.”

Mr Afenyo-Markin maintained that there was nothing procedurally wrong with the bill and accused the current Majority of retreating from a cause they once championed. He alleged that the NDC had used the bill as a political tool to gain public support, only to now backtrack in the face of global scrutiny.

Story by Adwoa S. Danso