Mr. John Ndebugre, a former Zebilla Member of Parliament and private legal practitioner have criticized proponents of the anti-LGBTQ bill, claiming they are misleading the country.
“That Bill is absolutely unnecessary. They are wasting everybody’s time,” he said.
“The Bill is saying don’t ever associate if you are persons of the same gender and I cannot support such a situation,” the former MP added.
Mr. Ndebugre was also taken aback by some who believe that the freedom of LGBTQ individuals to choose is not a basic human right.
“It is in the constitution that you can make a choice to associate with anybody you want. Why are you saying we cannot associate?” he quizzed.
Mr. Ndebugre also believes that the law is heavily predicated.
“The Bill speculates that if I associate with [another man], the purpose is for us to have sex. We don’t make laws based on speculation” he stated.
Additionally, he confirmed Akoto Ampaw’s statement that a Bill of this sort could only be introduced by the executive branch of government in accordance with Article 108 of the constitution since it would result in government expenditures.
“Look at the time they have wasted today. It is on our charge, and it is on the charge of the consolidated fund,” Mr. Ndebugre noted.
Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs is now conducting public hearings on the bill’s memoranda.
The Committee has received approximately 150 memoranda on the controversial subject of sexual orientation from religious entities, civil society organizations, and citizens.
The Bill stipulates that individuals of the same sex who engage in sexual conduct face up to ten years in prison.
Numerous kinds of support for the LGBTQ+ community would also be criminalized if the bill, dubbed the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, becomes law.
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