The Minority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of adopting a contradictory position on the country’s controversial anti-LGBTQ bill after assuming office.
Speaking in an interview with TV3 Ghana on Tuesday, Afenyo-Markin said the NDC had strongly backed the proposed legislation while in opposition and used the issue politically against the former administration of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
“This whole LGBTQ thing, I think our friends in opposition were more interested in winning elections by blackmailing the Akufo-Addo government,” the Effutu lawmaker said.
The bill, formally known as the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, has generated intense public debate in Ghana and drawn international scrutiny over its potential impact on LGBTQ rights and civil liberties.
Afenyo-Markin argued that the NDC, now in government under President John Dramani Mahama, is encountering the same legal and governance difficulties surrounding the bill that it dismissed while in opposition.
“I knew that the NDC itself upon coming into power would have difficulty in signing the bill and I have been proven right,” he said.
“Our friends in the NDC, they have been caught by their own blackmail and they will struggle a bit. The very thing that they themselves wanted to push on our government, they cannot take it,” he added.
The Minority Leader also questioned recent comments by Mahama indicating that further consultations were needed before any action is taken on the proposed legislation.
“Mr. President himself indicated that there must be further consultation. Why further consultation? What must be looked at again?” Afenyo-Markin said.
Mahama has recently suggested that the bill is not currently among the government’s top priorities, remarks Afenyo-Markin described as politically inconsistent.
“He is a communication expert so he knew what he was saying when he again said that ‘that is not his priority,’” he said.
“You were in opposition and did not speak against the law in its shape and form, but now that you are in office, you have seen the reality,” he added.
