The public hearing on the anti-gay Bill which started yesterday under the auspices of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament has been temporarily suspended.
The 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 was quoted in a Citi news report sighted by GhanaWeb.
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.
During the first public hearing on Thursday, some groups that are in support of the Bill hyped it as one that reflects the views of the majority of Ghanaians on the subject matter, while the others who are not in favour of the Bill insisted that when it is passed, it will be a breach of human rights and against Ghana’s cultural values.
Sam Nartey George, Ningo-Prampram MP, and one of the sponsors of the anti-LGBTQI Bill, described as satisfactory the first day of public hearings on the bill.
“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.
Spokesperson of the group, Akoto Ampaw, said the anti-gay Bill introduced in Parliament by some MPs imposes cost and other charges on the Consolidated Fund, therefore, it should have been introduced by the government and not MPs.
“Our respectful submission here is that the Bill has been introduced in Parliament, not in the manner laid down. This is because this is a private member’s Bill and under Article 108 of the constitution it is the President or his agents who can introduce Bills generally in Parliament, and where a Bill does not impose a charge on the Consolidated Fund or any public funds, then it may be introduced by any Private Bill,” Akoto Ampaw explained.
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