The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has voiced concerns over the emotional tone surrounding the discussions on the anti-gay bill in Ghana’s Parliament.
According to him, some of his colleague MPs become emotional during deliberations on the bill.
The Effutu lawmaker previously proposed a replacement of a minimum two-month imprisonment sentence with a minimum of one month of community service for individuals involved in LGBTQ+ activities.
Afenyo-Markin expressed worry about the state of the country’s prisons, emphasizing their inadequacy in providing necessary rehabilitation for offenders. On February 21, he withdrew his proposed amendments to the bill following the House’s rejection of his proposals to replace imprisonment with community service.
His withdrawn amendment also sought mandatory counselling on human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values as a post-conviction sentence.
The anti-gay bill has stirred controversy since its introduction in Parliament, with human rights groups arguing that it could violate the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Ghana.
In an interview on the Point of View on Citi TV with host Bernard Avle, Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the need for the law but emphasized the importance of a more lenient punishment.
He questioned the idea of imprisoning individuals for sexual relationships.
“I think that the latest law we have in parliament, LGBT thing, I think that we shouldn’t be emotional about it. I have been thinking, battling this, should a man be incarcerated because of sexual relationships? I have been asking that. In principle, I’m not against the need to enact Ghanaian values…but the punishment bit,” he said.
He argued that the law, if passed, has the potential to gag media houses.
“What you the media seem not to have realised is that there’s a subtle gag on you and also reintroduce criminal liable law. You guys have not read it.”
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