Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill: Voting to be done publicly, No delay antics will be allowed – Bagbin

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has revealed that the voting process on the Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill will be done in the full glare of the public hence each MP’s vote will be known by all.



This announcement was made by him on the floor of the house on Tuesday, 26 October 2021, when the house reconvened from recess for the third meeting of the first session of the 8th parliament. He said that the sittings of the committee on constitutional, legal and parliamentary affairs on the bill, will also be public.

Also, Hon Bagbin served notice that although all MPs will be given the opportunity to express their views without any hindrance, no one will be allowed to deliberately delay the processes involved in passing the bill.

He stated, “You all know that this house handles business beyond government business. We have constituency business and we have private members business. So, there’s a lot to be done within these two months but I want to take the opportunity and make mention of just three important matters pending to be presented to the house”.

“The first, as you all know, is the bill that has been christened the LGBTQI+”.

He continued, “Honourable members, the bill before the house has generated a national conversation and the bill before the house is christened ‘The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values’ and this bill continues to generate a lot of interest and, in fact, has taken and assumed some different dimensions”.



“For me, this is healthy for a maturing democracy like Ghana’s”.

Mr. Bagbin said that it was important “they allow various shades of opinion to come canvass their position on the bill”. He pleaded with Ghanaians to accommodate the views of others, whatever perceptions they have and to maintain the peace and coolness of mind and heart.

He was confident that the parliament of Ghana is capable of handling the situation while assuring citizens of this country that an enabling environment will be created for all to put across their views be at the end of the day, “the processes of the house will determine the outcome”.

He indicated the need “to take into consideration the human rights and freedoms that have been guaranteed under our Constitution and it’s a law that will take into consideration the richness of common sense, human decency, morality, facts, logic and at the end of the day”.

“It’s a law that will bring and transform this country into something else. So, please, let’s allow – whether they are religious bodies, civil society, academia or whatever – to participate in the deliberations of this house”.



“I know Ghanaians are expectant and I know we have over 100 petitions before the committee of constitutional, legal and parliamentary affairs but we’ll try not to allow any filibustering of this bill because it’s not only Africa; the whole world is looking for the outcome of this bill and, so, we’ll not just allow people to come and delay the process”.

“We’ll make the process public and I support what the majority leader said: the sitting of the committee will be public and the decision of this house will be public. We will want to know where each member of parliament stands”, he concluded.

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