Member of Parliament (MP) for the Oforikrom Constituency, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo has suggested that the passing of the anti-gay bill will open the floodgates to many good policies for the governance of the country.
He explains that the passing of the bill could attract undue pressure and threats from foreign donors to withdraw their aid. He, however, believes that if this was to happen, it will allow the country’s leaders set priorities and manage the country better.
Discussing the effects of passing the anti-gay bill on the Happy Morning Show, he told Samuel Eshun: “The passing of the anti-gay bill could help us set our priorities as a country; making a cost benefit analysis on the approval or rejection of LGBTQ. We need to consider how that will affect our generation.
In my opinion, passing the bill will challenge us even to improve our governance as a people and as political leaders to do things that will make us independent from the western world.”
Stating what the passing of the bill could result in, he shared, “we cannot take a decision of passing the bill in a vacuum. So, what it means is that you may have to tighten your own system, increase the fight against corruption and make sure that you maximize every cedi expenditure in the public portfolio.”
Some legislators presented a copy of the draft of the Bill to the Speaker of Parliament. This bill is seeking to expand on the current law that provides up to three years in prison for same-sex activity.
The new bill when passed will prohibit and criminalize advocacy, funding and act of LGBTQ+ while promoting conversion therapy programs seeking to “convert” people from homosexuality to heterosexuality.
Already there are fears that the bill could face pressure from international donors and legal challenges, as the U.N. experts said it violated international conventions to which Ghana is party, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
While some have endorsed the bill, others have contended that the bill is an “impermissible invasion of the inviolability of human dignity.”
