Majority Leader, James Agalga, has said the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill will be sent to President John Dramani Mahama before the end of November 2026, once Parliament corrects the mistakes in how the punishments were calculated.
The assurance sets a fresh deadline for the legislation that has divided opinion in Ghana and abroad, with supporters pushing for its passage while rights groups have warned about its consequences.
Parliament approved a new version of the Bill in May 2026, but problems with the sentencing provisions forced a pause, leaving the Bill unfinished before Parliament went on break.
In an interview on JoyNews Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Agalga gave a firm assurance when asked if the Bill would reach the President this month, saying “Absolutely.”
Asked if that would happen before the House rises, he added: “Yes, yes, yes.”
Also known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, a first version was approved by Parliament in February 2024 but never became law after it attracted strong criticism internationally, including concerns over development funding.
Then President William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declined to sign the Bill after a warning from his office was given to Parliament not to present it to his office, with some cases pending in the court at the time.
Agalga says the hold-up is because Parliament got some of the penalty calculations wrong. “For instance, how to compute penalty units was completely done in error, in some cases.”
He said the punishments as drafted do not sit well with other laws, which would make it difficult for judges to apply them. “Otherwise, the bill as it stands in this current form would have serious challenges when it comes to implementation.”
To fix it, the Majority Leader said the House will have to reverse its approval at the third reading stage so the flawed clauses can be looked at again. He, however, assured that “not much of substance would change.”
The assurance comes a day after Speaker Bagbin warned that he would name anyone who tries to block the bill.
Asked whether Mahama has shifted his stance on assenting to the bill, Agalga dismissed the suggestion, saying: “It’s Parliament’s work. We have the duty of enacting laws.”
He says Parliament must first clean up the defects it has spotted before sending the bill on, adding: “We think that we are the proper forum to correct those anomalies to pave the way for the bill to be transmitted to the president.”
Bagbin: I will mention names of MPs who obstructs legitimate processes to pass anti-LGBTQ Bill
