Haruna Iddrisu rallies MPs for ‘make-or-break’ anti-LGBTQ Bill

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, has rallied his fellow legislators to back the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ Bill in Parliament.

At a press conference on Friday, October 15, 2021, Mr. Iddrisu said the Bill had full bipartisan support, with all MPs united in “holding high the moral flag of our country.”

He views the consideration of the bill as make-or-break for Ghana’s moral fabric.

“Certain issues of significance either make or put asunder the collective unity of people of a nation at critical moments in its history, and the Parliament of Ghana must stand the litmus test.”

While he expressed confidence in both sides of the House, he added that “if anybody fails you, it is not the NDC Minority.”

The Minority Leader expects a high degree of rigour in the consideration of the Bill.

“Every accompanying sentence, we will insist on a vote, including amendments to every provision,” Mr. Iddrisu said.

“We will do what is legally needful within the 1992 constitution clause by clause, and we want every member of Parliament to get counted and to stand to be counted as reflecting the aspirations of Ghanaian people.”

Mr. Iddrisu’s opposite on the Majority Side, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, was less emphatic when talking about the Bill on Wednesday and said Parliament should ensure that the rights of citizens are protected.

While he said democracy is about majority rule, he added that “it doesn’t also mean we should trample on the rights of others.”

“The appropriate thing will be done,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu remarked further on Parliament’s consideration of the Bill.

Parliament is currently receiving memoranda on the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill ahead of its resumption later in October.

While data indicates that most Ghanaians are in favour of the Bill, it has face criticism from renowned artists and academics.

The Bill prescribes that people of the same sex who engage in sexual activity could spend up to 10 years in jail.

Varying forms of support for the LGBTQ+ community will also be criminalised if the Bill, known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, is passed into law.