The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has assured that he will get the anti-LGBTQ bill re-introduced, properly passed and signed into law for implementation.
He told lawmakers on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 that the old bill passed by the 8th Parliament expired and cannot be regarded as passed for assent by the current President.
“The 8th Parliament is a history and all businesses ended with it. Hold your peace; it will come back sooner than later. I want to get it properly passed so that implementation becomes easier,” he stated on the floor of the House.
The Speaker noted that a few shortfalls have been identified in the bill and would be addressed before fully implemented.
“There are a few things that our attention has been drawn to which we will work on together here so that when we pass the Bill, it is a bill that is accepted by all and will definitely obey the prescriptions of the bill,” he stated.
Bagbin added that the President has given “indication that he his willing anytime it is passed by the House to assent to it.”
Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin commended the Speaker for his commitment to ensuing the bill is passed.
“This is a very important matter and I am happy that you have brought it to a peaceful rest considering our unyielding posture our friends opposite me took on this matter,” he stated.
In the previous government, the bill was passed and went through all the necessary stages awaiting Presidential assent but it never happened.
It was reintroduced in Parliament after the House resumed from recess and was advertised on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 to be considered for business on Wednesday, October 22. It was expected to have met its first reading.
However, despite it being advertised the Bill was not found on the Order Paper for Wednesday, October 22, 2025 when the House was ready to take the first reading.
This caused the Minority to accuse government of attempts to avoid passing it, all in the absence of the Speaker.
Explaining the development on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga said there was no need to re-lay the bill since it had already been passed by the previous Parliament and sent to the Presidency for assent.
“We indicated that we thought the bills had been passed by this house already and had been sent to the presidency for assent. And so, we didn’t see the need to reconsider a bill that has already been passed by this house, waiting for presidential assent,” he told the House.
Ayariga noted that unless the constitutional procedure for returning a bill to Parliament is instituted by the President, the House has no business debating it again.
“Unless the constitutional procedure for returning the bill to us is complied with by the President for us to reconsider and then use our two-thirds majority to approve the bill, even if the presidency had some issues with it, there’s no need to relist it,” he explained.
The Minority has demanded that the bill be re-lay, insisting that an Order Paper Addendum must be raised for a re-introduction of the Bill.
