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Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has pointed out that the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill passed by parliament is yet to be forwarded to the presidency for assent as it is yet to be authenticated by the clerk of Parliament and Speaker before it is transmitted to the President Nana Akufo-Addo for his assent.

According to him the process leading to it being forwarded to the President is not completed yet and believes Ghanaians should be made aware of this, “nothing has moved from the Parliament to the presidency yet”.

Again, “Mr. Speaker is yet to receive the authenticated Bill, the clerk himself has not yet seen it, the drafting department is still compiling, I have been going after it but they say it requires sometime a lot of changes were done I do not have the draft compiled bill. They are putting together all the amendments seeing to it that the I is doted and commas are there and the legal language is properly put together for us to know the state of the bill”.

He further pointed out at a media briefing that, the sponsors have to look at the final draft, adding that the sponsors have not seen the final draft. “It is upon the perusal of this that the clerk to parliament would be then required to authenticate it”.

He also supports that the Bill could be tested at the Supreme Court, stating that “we are a growing democracy; this is not an emotional journey this is a law that have to do with the right of citizens, the test thing is whether or not a sexual right in itself being brought to question should lead to a criminal penalty”, he said.

As a nation if we say our value system do not support man to man relation, woman to woman, are we also saying the means to reform those people with that orientation is to imprison them. “How does this position stand in accordance with our constitution?”

Also the issue of advocacy; are we saying media houses cannot take certain steps; how do we put that in the contest of the constitution? All these are issues when if they are tested in our courts would help us bring this matter to a good rest, he added.

“For me, I will like to say it is good to legislate against same sex and criminalize those who would entice under age children below 18 does not have the necessary maturity to take a decision, they are not adult enough”.

For people to surfer jail term, I think there is a problem and the Catholic Church came up strongly to make an appeal on that matter. We would have to test the law on that and see. As a country, tolerance is part of our value system; we should find a middle ground either way conservative way is not the way to go to transform a society, he emphasized.

More over our judiciary has a new sentencing system in place, it talks about non- custodian sentencing system as a form of reform and correction; we know the conditions in our prisons do not help in achieving that objective of transforming, correcting and reforming.

So, we should proceed with some caution and again urge a strong view in testing the law at the Supreme Court and we know where we are moving to as state.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Even before the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values (“Anti-LGBTQ”) Bill passed by Parliament on the 28th of February, 2024 is submitted to the president to assent to it, the Finance Ministry has recommended some actions to help minimize the impact of the bill on the 2024 budget.

Among the recommendations include:
a. H.E. the President may have to defer assenting to the Bill until the court rules on the legal issues tabled by key national stakeholders (CSOs and CHRAJ).

b. structured engagement with local conservative forces such as religious bodies and faith-based organizations to communicate the economic implications of the passage of the “Anti LGBTQ” Bill and to build a stronger coalition and a framework for supporting key development initiative that are likely to be affected;

c. an effective engagement with conservative countries, including the Arab countries and China. This could help trigger resources to fill in the potential financing gaps to be created; and
The recommendation is based on assessment carried out by the Ministry on the implications of the passage of the Bill on the 2024 budget of the country.

Per the assessment, it is believed that the reactions triggered by the passage of the bill from some of Ghana’s Development Partners, International Financial Institutions and CSOs in the country is an indication that the country would suffer some dire consequences by way of financial support from these institutions.

The report concludes that “the passage of the new Bill calls for fortifying local financial systems, strengthening African financial institutions as well as our development journey in partnership with other countries. In line with the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda, Ghana can navigate the complexities of international relations and emerge with a robust, resilient economy with Ghanaian ownership of the commanding heights of the economy.”

Read below the full document on the

Implications of – Anti-LBTQI BILL_240304_082203

 

Ghanamps.com

The Minority on the Committee on Mines and Energy has taken swipe at the ruling government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and revealed that the power sector of Ghana is collapsing per their investigation carried out.

According to John Abduli Jinapor addressing the media in Parliament on Thursday, February 29, 2024 noted that since February 2, 2024 there has been persistent and consistent load shedding by the generation companies and it is getting worse by the day.
He asserts that even the very day President Nana Akufo Addo came to Parliament to give his State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, “that very moment the utility companies were shedding load.”

He emphasized that there was five hundred and thirty megawatt deficit of power resulting in cutting off power to our neighbouring countries including Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso as there was some massive darkness on Wednesday and today midnight there would be load sharing.

“Our investigation indicate that some of the thermal plants are down; Tarko is down TICo is down so they are not generating enough power. More importantly, there is lack of fuel in the system because of financial constraints.

Mr. Jinapor affirmed that the government has not been able to purchase enough fuel to fire some of our thermal plants resulting in the load shedding that we have now; adding that one month of load shedding is more than enough.

The development, he said is continuous and persistent as such they believe it is about time those handling the power sector informed the people of Ghana so that they can plan ahead of time.

“This denial can no longer hold; the government should do the needful by telling Ghanaians the truth and find money to buy the fuel to fire the plants”, he emphasized.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Nigo-Prampram Samuel Nartey George, one of the sponsors of the anti-gay bill when it was passed on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 in an interview pointed out that he hopes the speaker’s outfit would pass on the passed bill to the President as early as possible and hopes “the President would be a Man of his words and give assent to the Bill.”

According to him the president in the Eastern Region told the Anglican Church LGBTQ+ would not be established under his watch when he gave assurance to the clergy, and would not tolerate anything to do with LGBTQ+.

“The Bill has been passed, we expect the President to walk his talk, we the sponsors, we are very grateful to the media and we would continue to work with you in the sensitization of the public as sponsors”

Sam George further pointed out that the media has been their partners as sponsors of the bill and thanked the media for carrying their voices and taking the nation along and per the CDD research ninety three percent (93) of Ghanaians support the bill.

He also commended his colleagues from both sides of the House particularly the former Majority Leader Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for his role to fine tune the Bill with his amendment, same with the Deputy Educational Minister Ntim Fordjour  and the former Minister of Environment Science and Technology Dr Afriyie.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Parliament of Ghana has adopted new Standing Orders since the 2nd day of January 2024.

The revised Standing Orders according to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin seeks to address the evolving needs of Ghana’s dynamic and hybrid parliamentary democracy.

The Speaker, affirming the need for the new Standing Orders said the processes and procedures in the House is challenged, with time and practice exposing the gaps and deficiencies in the November 2000 Standing Orders.

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The Member of Parliament for Afram Plains South Joseph Appiah Boateng has criticized the New Patriotic Party led government for not showing any interest in constructing roads in Afram Plains North and South areas.

in an interview with Ghanamps.com that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not interested in constructing roads in Afram Plains North and South to a motorable status.

The MP in an interview with Ghanamps.com disclosed that even though Parliament has approved a loan facility from the German and United Kingdom government for roads in the Afram Plains areas, it has rather been diverted to the Ashanti Region.

According to him, he was not convinced with answers given by the sector Minister on the floor of the House on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 when he asked a question on how the Ministry is going to construct their roads.

He noted that the Minister’s answer to the effect that thirty-nine percent of the roads have been done cannot be accurate because “there is nothing going on. There is no road construction going on despite the NPP government declaring 2022 as year of roads. We did not see anything in Afram Plains in 2023 and currently 2024 the story is the same; there is not even road patching going on. I do not know why they keep telling falsehood to the public, NPP government has failed us big time”, he added.

Hon Joseph Appiah Boateng further pointed out that when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) comes to power in 2025 he would lead the crusade for the roads in Afram Plains to be done since the constituency both South and North holds the food basket of the nation and he believes the John Mahama led administration would ensure the roads are done.

He noted that currently, it is difficulty to ply roads in the Afram Plains with salon cars without heading straight to the mechanic shop.

On the issue of attacks on market women who send food items to other part of Ghana by arm robbers, he noted that the situation has improved as the Ghana Police have helped a lot in that direction.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Francisca Oteng-Mensah, the Member of Parliament for Kwabre East Constituency in the Ashanti Region is the youngest MP in the fourth Republic. Born on February 14, 1993, she entered parliament in 2017 at the age of 24.

She is currently a two-term MP having been in the 7th and 8th Parliament.

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The Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin in moving for the motion of adjournment after the President Nana Akufo-Addo presented is last but one State of the Nation Address said his side is prepared to debate the Minority on their past record of SONA which was full of lamentation from 2013 to 2015.

And further pointed out that like the president alluded to as a country we are down but we would rise again under his able leadership with the hope he is providing moving into the future, his side was prepare to debate the SONA but members need to prepare for this hence he would call for adjournment.

H assured the Minority Leader who was busy jotting down notes that they are fully prepared for them as they would play back their previous records of lamentation and he should go according to the standing orders by seconding the motion for adjournment and not deviate.

Meanwhile, the Minority did what was unexpected by shouting and demanding the return of Mr. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the immediate past leader of the majority caucus while Afenyo was on the floor. They chanted, “we want Kyei, we want Kye”; but Mr Afenyo Martin reminded them that the Majority side had a smooth transition unlike the Minority sider that had brouhaha.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga has expressed disappoint in President Nana Akufo-Addo for not touching on corruption in his last but one State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, February 27, 2024.

In an interview after adjournment of the House, Mr Ayariga queried why the president failed to mention his fight against corruption saying “why did he not mention his fight against corruption? He has totally failed in his crusade”, he stated.

Again, one other major incident he did not mention is the Akosombo spillage. He could not even remember the plight of our brothers and sisters; he could not be bothered about the affected Communities.

“I am disappointed; even if you have done nothing about it mention that it was one of the things that happened. No plans to address this problem is very sad, he emphasized.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

President Akufo-Addo today presented his last but one state of the nation address (SONA) to parliament giving overview of the country’s socio-economic standings even as the country is currently pursuing an IMF programme.

Below is the full Statement as presented to Parliament.

2024 Message on the State of the Nation