The Minority in Parliament has sworn not to allow the House to work on any other bill if the committee working on the anti-gay bill does not speed up its work.
The Minority, led by its Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak accused the Chairman of the Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, of deliberately delaying work on the bill so that it does not get passed.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament yesterday, Mr Mubarak said there is an easy way one can adopt when working on voluminous and controversial bills to speed up the work, but the Chairman has decided to adopt a method that is intended to slow the progress of the bill and for that reason no other bill will be allowed in Parliament until works on the anti-gay bill is completed.
“What you are doing at that Committee, Mr Speaker, I am repeating it to the Chairman, you are deliberately wasting time on the bill. You don’t want the bill to come to this house.
“Since this is the method that the Chair of the Constitutional and Legal want to use to delay that bill, that bill was in this house before so many other bills, I can assure that any other bill you introduce in this house we shall resist it… We will make sure that that bill as long as it stays there no any other bill passes through this house, if you try to do that we shall oppose it because we see that it is deliberate.”
The Asawase legislator made the comments when the Chairman of the Committee sought to clarify some allegations being levelled against him with regard to the bill.
Mr Anyimadu’s comment also comes after a Sponsor of the bill, Mr Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, the Member for Ho Central, indicated on Monday that the bill was being delayed.
Public hearing on the Promotion of Proper Sexual Human Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-gay bill commenced in Parliament on November 11, 2021 after it was presented to Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, on June 6, 2021 by the Coalition of Members of Parliament (MPs) against LGBTQI through a private members bill and refered to the Committee.
According to Mr Mubarak, Article 106 (14) of the 1992 constitution, enjoins every committee of Parliament working on a bill not to delay works for more than three months.
“A bill introduced in Parliament by or on behalf of the President shall not be delayed for more than three months in any committee of Parliament”, the article reads.
The Minority Chief Whip said the assertion that the bill involves a lot of work could not be true because the Chairman of the Committee knows how and what to do when working on voluminous bills.
He noted that the Chairman of the committee has worked on so many other bills and had done a very good job and so the assertion that the anti-gay bill is voluminous is just an excuse.
“You are deliberately delaying the bill so don’t make excuses. If you wanted it to be fast you will know what to do. It is a fact because if you look at the method that he is using, this is not the first time a bill has been given to his committee and we know how he works.
“When you want to expedite things you know how you do it . So this one you are deliberately wasting time at the committee with the bill…”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee has indicated that it is on course with the bill and would present the report to the House soon.
He pointed out that the Committee is working on several bills, in addition to the 187 memoranda it received on the anti-gay bill alone and advised his colleagues not to succumb to pressure from the public in relation to the bill.
He expressed some level of surprise at the allegations being levelled against him, especially from sponsors of the bill, because according to him they (sponsors of the bill) have been with the committee throughout and know the status of the bill.
“Honourable Bedzrah, who raised the issue was at our last meeting so it is surprising that the same person who was aware of what the committee was doing will come and say the committee is doing nothing.”
