The Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs will resume its public hearing on the series of memoranda for and against the Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill today, Monday, November 29, 2021.
The Bill aims to make LGBTQI+ activities in the nation illegal.
The public hearings are intended to allow supporters and opponents of the Bill to explain to Committee members why they support or oppose the Bill.
Kwame Anyimadu, Chairman of the Committee, told Citi News that eight people or groups would testify before the Committee today, Monday.
According to him, participants would be allowed 15-20 minutes to deliver their presentation before being asked questions for clarification.
“The number of memoranda that we have received is many but we are envisaging eight or nine persons or organizations to appear before us today, Monday. We have read the memoranda that they submitted so they will be given some minutes to actually go through what they have submitted and then members will ask questions for clarification.”
On Thursday, November 11, 2021, the committee opened its public hearing. However, it halted its public hearings after the first day, claiming time limitations as the cause.
“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,” the chairman of the committee said in a Citi News interview.
Concerned Ghanaian Citizens, who spoke on the first day of the public hearing, urged the committee to encourage parliament to reject the Bill.
The group’s spokesman, Akoto Ampaw, said that the speaker of Parliament used excessive discretion in accepting the bill.
According to the group, the bill breaches Ghanaians’ core human rights and fosters hate.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Human Rights Coalition, Amnesty International, and Advocates for Christ were among the other groups who spoke before the committee on the first day of the hearing.
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