The Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament and MP for Asante Akim Central, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, has warned that any attempt to politicise the passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, would jolt its passage.
According to him, it is the sense of the House that the Bill needed to be passed and politicising same would put spokes in the wheel of the legislative process on the Bill.
“It is important to note that all MPs agreed that we must pass this Bill and, therefore, I must warn that any attempt to clothe this Bill with political colours will suffer non-passage of the Bill.
“The moment it is clothed with a political colour, I am sure my people will support me and we will have a stalemate in the passage of the Bill,” Mr Anyimadu-Antwi told journalists in Parliament, Accra yesterday.
This threat comes on the back of claims by the Minority that the Majority side of the House was frustrating the passage of the Bill; having programmed it for consideration.
Ningo-Prampram MP and lead sponsor of the Bill which seeks to proscribe same sex relationship, Sam Nartey George, told the media on Wednesday that despite the Bill scheduled for Wednesday, the Majority were not willing to start with the consideration.
But dismissing the allegations, Mr Anyimadu-Antwi said he had not been informed that the Bill was to be taken at the sitting of the House on Wednesday.
Members of the Committee, he said, were ready and any moment the Speaker and leadership agreed on when the consideration should commence, it would be taken.
“It is better all of us come together and go through the consideration in order that we get a good Act for the nation,” he entreated.
Meanwhile, Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nsawam/ Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, said the Bill had not been programmed to be considered as claimed by the Ningo-Prampram MP.
“When we had pre-sitting meeting (on Wednesday) nobody, and read my lips, nobody mentioned this Bill.
“I want to challenge anybody who is alleging that such a matter was discussed at pre-sitting meeting to come up and say it. Nobody discussed it,” he stated.
He said business of the House is determined by the Business Committee which is made up of leadership of both sides and the consideration of the Bill had not been scheduled for Wednesday as claimed.
At one of the pre-sitting meetings of the Business Committee, Annoh-Dompreh said “I asked when we are taking the Bill and my colleagues on the other side said they were waiting for direction from the speaker.”
He said his side of the House was ready and would back the passage of the Bill if same was programmed for the consideration of the House.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
