Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi
•Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the anti-LGBTQI+ bill is yet to presented to Parliament
•He says it is a draft bill being sponsored by some MPs
•He wants Ghanaians to get the full fact of an issue before commenting on it
Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi has appealed to media practitioners and Ghanaians to exercise some restraint and get the full facts of an issue before running commentaries on them.
The Information Minister is concerned that some Ghanaians appears to always be in a haste to pass judgement on issues even when facts have not been presented to them.
Speaking on Okay FM, Oppong Nkrumah cited the case of the controversies around the anti-LGBTQ+ bill as an instance of how some Ghanaians have been misled on an issue.
He disclosed that at this particular time, the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Families Values Bill, 2021” is not before Parliament.
Oppong Nkrumah explained that the document in circulation is a draft bill by eight Members of Parliament which is yet to be tabled before the house.
“There are reports of a bill before a parliament to deal with LGBTQI but one should ask if there is indeed a bill before parliament. I can tell you that there’s no such thing before parliament.
“When something comes up, we don’t make time to read and understand it, we just carry along but there is no bill before parliament. Eight MPs have written to Parliament about how they want to regulate LGBTQI issues. It’s called private members draft.
“They held a prayer meeting with Speaker of Parliament to inform him about the bill and the Speaker assured them of his backing. As we speak, there’s no such bill before Parliament,” he said.
The controversial bill has sharply divided Ghanaians with people clashing heads on the matter.
Over the weekend the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George clashed with a number of high profiled persons on the proposed bill.
Sam George in a social media post commended his colleague MPs for their resolve in ensuring that activities of LGBTQ are criminalized in the country.
“I am proud of my 7 Colleague Members of Parliament with whom the Draft Bill for the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values was worked on.
“At a time when some may choose convenience and the alluring offers being made, these men and women have given true essence to the title the offices they hold bear. They have stood up for what is right, just, and noble.
“You have every right to disagree with our Bill. We can live and tolerate your disagreement. However, let your disagreement be based on law, fact, and science. Not your emotions or thoughts. We are open for anyone who has a memorandum on the Bill to submit same to the Parliamentary Committee when it calls for same. We are ready to debate the issues with anyone or group so long as it is based on law. We are Legislators,” he said.
But private legal practitioner Kofi Bentil has criticized the bill which he claims is ‘unconstitutional and a waste of time.’
“I’ll resist all invitation to discuss the pointless bill to regulate sex in Ghana. It’s patently unconstitutional and a waste of time. Whats saddest is that we used the first opportunity to do a private members Bill for this Brutum Fulmen!!” Bentil posted on Facebook on July 23.