Mahama Ayariga, a member of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, has stated that legal action will not deter Parliament from passing the Promotion of Proper Sexual Human Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, also known as the Anti-LGBT Bill.
This comes as the Supreme Court is being asked to censure the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, for allowing the chamber to discuss the law despite outstanding legal challenges.
Dr Amanda Odoi, one of the persons who has sued the Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General over the Anti-LGBT law, claims that the Speaker has shown disdain for legal proceedings.
She claims that the Speaker’s actions violate the Republic of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and calls for punishment for contempt in the public interest and to protect the Court’s dignity.
Dr. Odoi contends that the Speaker’s decision to allow Parliament to proceed with the bill’s Second Reading notwithstanding the current litigation and accompanying interlocutory injunction application shows disrespect for the Court’s authority and undermines public trust in the legal system.
In the reaction to the case, Bawku Central Member of Parliament Mahama Ayariga remarked that he hasn’t given much attention to it since he believes it would fail at the Supreme Court. He believes the lawsuit’s content is faulty.
“I haven’t paid attention to it because I took the view that it is not going to see the light of day in the Supreme Court.”
