The former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay has dismissed assertions that the hot-button topic of same-sex marriage and its aligning issues, often summed up as LGBTQ+, are among the pressing issues facing the country.
Mr. Blay said he did not understand the basis for a legislation to curb these acts as there were already laws that dealt with ill behavior.
“I don’t agree that the bill needs to be assented to. To me, my position on the bill is that it was unnecessary. It has not been a big problem in this country. We have a strong culture, sub-culture, and individuals who may step out of line with our sub-beliefs here and there. But the laws of this country adequately cater for that,” he said on GHOne TV’s Hard Talk.
The party chair said he hoped some members of the opposition who have been strong proponents of the bill will carry on with their determination to pass it when they come to power in the coming week.
“So this LGBTQ issue has been championed by people who had previously dismissed it themselves and now they are now championing it and it has come to this far. It makes no difference. If they who championed it, many of them have come to Parliament. Let them push it,” he asserted.
The proposed new legislation, The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill which was backed by both major political parties has stalled in Parliament after President Akufo-Addo declined to assent to it, citing legal challenges to its validity.
The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the bill could not be annulled as it had not yet become law.
The former Chairman also indicated that he would refuse to sign the bill into law if he were the president, indicating that foreign donors had threatened to curtail aid to the country if the bill became law.
“Our development partners and co have indicated that clearly that they think it is an abuse of human rights and for that reason if you go ahead and assent to it, they may apply certain sanctions and withdraw some assistance,” he stated. “I take it very seriously.”
