President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stressed the need for the public to respect each other’s opinion on the matter on the debate on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning (LGBTQ) bill before Ghana’s Parliament.
“What I hope for is that the debate itself would be civil and that we would recognize the need for us to be tolerant, of each other’s views even when they are opposing views,” he said.
Speaking on an Accra base radio station (Peace FM) at the start of his three-day tour of the Greater Accra Region, Nana Akufo Addo said “I am hoping that the process would continue acceptably and at the end of the day we would know the position of our legislature”.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says he is not pressured with regards to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill before parliament.
Nana Akufo-Addo said, “It’s in parliament, it’s a private members’ bill – we’ve been fighting for a long time for the opportunity for private members to sponsor bills in parliament, I believe this is the first that is being sponsored under this opening that has been given –parliament is looking at it and let’s see how the process develops”.
“We’re talking about public opinion, we are talking about the legitimate processes that are being used”, he noted. What I would hope for is that the debate itself would be civil and that we will recognize the need for us to be tolerant of each other even when there are opposing views”.
“I was, for instance, impressed by the intervention of some very renowned, well-positioned people within the civil society sector of our country, coming forward to express their views on the matter”, he added.
“I think that it would be a credit to Ghanaian democracy if this matter is handled correctly”, the president stressed. I believe the reference has been made to the Constitutional and Legal Committee, appropriately. That’s a committee that looks at the issue of rights and constitutionality of legislation in our parliament. I hear that over 130 memoranda have been submitted to them. I am anticipating that they will all be looked at closely before they can come to some consensus”, he further mentioned.
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