Ghana parliament - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Ghana’s president says anti-LGBTQ bill has not reached his desk

AN anti-LGBTQ bill passed by Ghana's parliament last week, which could derail international aid for the West African country if it becomes law according to an internal government memo, has not yet reached the desk of President Nana Akufo-Addo, he said on Monday. In his first comments on the bill's passage, he said Ghana would not backslide on its human rights record and added that the bill had been challenged in the Supreme Court. "I have learnt that today, a challenge has been mounted at the Supreme Court," Akufo-Addo said in a statement. "In the circumstances, it would be as well…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Ghana parliament passes stringent anti-LGBTQ law

NEWS

GHANA'S parliament passed legislation that intensifies a crackdown on the rights of LGBTQ people and those promoting lesbian, gay or other non-conventional sexual or gender identities in the West African country. Gay sex was already punishable by up to three years in prison. The bill now also imposes a prison sentence of up to five years for the "wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities". The bill, one of the harshest of its kind in Africa, still needs presidential assent to come into force. President Nana Akufo-Addo has not confirmed if he will sign the bill into law. A…

Nov

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana parliament begins public hearings on anti-LGBT+ law

LGBT+

Ghana's parliament on Thursday will hold its first public hearing on a new law that would make it illegal to be gay or to advocate for gay rights, its press office said. The so-called family values bill is currently before the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, which said it had received more than 150 memoranda from individuals, groups and faith-based organizations on the bill. The committee is expected to hear 10 petitions each week in a series of public sessions before the bill is put to a vote, deputy majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said. Gay sex is already…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s style of democracy has recently shown cracks. Here’s how to fix it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE sight of soldiers in Ghana’s parliament on January 7, 2021 was a first for the country. What brought the institution to this point – now the subject of an inquiry – was a scuffle between parliamentarians from the governing party and the opposition, over the election of a Speaker and two deputies. In the end, an opposition candidate was – for the first time – elected as Speaker. KADERI NOAGAH BUKARI, Research Fellow, Department of Peace Studies, University of Cape Coast I have studied several conflict and resolution situations in Ghana. And in my view, what happened in parliament…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 shuts Ghana’s parliament

COVID-19

GHANA's parliament has suspended most of its activities for three weeks after at least 17 MPs and 151 staff members were infected with the coronavirus, the speaker said yesterday. President Nana Akufo-Addo warned last month that infection rates were skyrocketing and threatened to overwhelm Ghana's health system, part of a second wave of the virus across Africa that has been far more serious than the first. "Having regard to the upsurge in coronavirus cases in the House ... I have, in consultation with leadership, decided that the sitting of the House be suspended for three weeks," Speaker Alban Bagbin told…