For his stance against homosexuality, some Members of Parliament from the Scottish Legislature boycotted John Dramani Mahama during his visit to the House in March 2016, then Presidential Staffer, Samuel Nartey George, has revealed.
Sam George made the disclosure whilst reemphasising the flag bearer of the NDC’s abhorrence for homosexuality, along with other personalities from the political divide whose contribution helped in the successful passage of the Anti-Gay bill.
Sam George was lauding the bipartisan support for the bill on TV3 Sunday, March 10, 2024, when he made the revelation.
“It’s been a bipartisan thing –we’ve had the Chairman of the NPP during their end of year church meeting last year stating emphatically that the NPP is against LGBTQ and supports the Bill,” he stated adding that “the leader of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, in the Eastern region, about four weeks ago emphatically stated his position and that’s not the first time he’s stated his position, he’s stated his position over and over from when he was Vice President, when he became President,” he said on Hot Issues on TV3.
“In fact, I remember in March 2016, I was a Presidential Staffer at the time, he went to visit the Scottish Parliament and there was a boycott of him by some Scottish MPs simply because of his abhorrence for homosexuality,” Sam George added.
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He also mentioned some members across the political divide who made the coming into being of the draft bill a success.
“The beauty of this bill is it’s not been partisan. It’s been bipartisan in Parliament. We’ve had support from both sides of the House. We have the Hon. John Ntim Fordjour, who is the Deputy Minister of Education as one of the sponsors, Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, immediate past Majority Leader, he was one of the key people who helped us in shaping the law –filed over 40 amendments to the law, contributed immensely to shaping this law as it is.”
Continuing the list of persons who contributed towards the success of the bill, the MP mentioned the “immediate past Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Afriyie, he contributed extensively to the discussion of chromosomal structure; its definition and the definition for sex so it’s been a very bipartisan thing. We had Hons. Haruna Iddrisu, Muntaka Mubarak, Cassiel Ato Forson, I cannot mention people without mentioning his support in carrying this bill through, The Rt. Hon. Speaker himself,” he extolled.
The Anti-gay bill aims to uphold human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values, prohibiting LGBTQ+ activities and its associated advocacy, promotion, and funding. Offenders face imprisonment, with individuals involved in promotion or sponsorship facing steeper penalties.
The bill now awaits presidential assent to be enacted into law.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has cautioned the President not to assent to it due to a potential financial implication it will have on the State.
These risks include a potential loss of $850 million in budgetary support from the World Bank this year alone.
In the 5-page document, the Ministry explained that “for 2024 Ghana will lose US$600 million Budget support and US$250 million for the Financial Stability Fund.”
“This will negatively impact Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability as these inflows are expected to shore the country’s reserve position,” the statement added.
