Pressure group, Arise Ghana has accused Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo of deliberately delaying the transmission of the anti-LGBTQ bill to the President.
This comes after the Supreme Court deferred its ruling on injunction applications filed by Dr. Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, which sought to block the bill’s transmission.
At a press conference, Samuel Nartey George, lead sponsor of the anti-LGBTQ bill, expressed frustration with the delay.
He called on the Chief Justice to empanel the Supreme Court and determine the matter swiftly, citing a previous Supreme Court judgment that dealt with similar issues.
Sam George also announced that the group’s “Family Values” march, initially scheduled for September 17, has been rescheduled to October 8.
The decision was made to avoid a clash with a protest organized by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is demanding free and fair elections.
Sam George emphasised that the Coalition on the Family Values March is non-partisan and apolitical, embracing people from all political, religious, and ethnic backgrounds.
He stated that postponing the march would allow the NDC’s demonstration to take place without drawing partisanship into the issue.
“We believe and hold the view, that in light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in that case, which deals extensively with the same matters raised by Amanda Odoi and Richard Dela Sky, the Chief Justice must empanel the Supreme Court and determine the matter in tandem with what her colleagues in that panel have done, with alacrity, because this matter stays in the hands of both the Executive and the Legislature.”
“In light of this, we were scheduled to march peacefully to present our petition on the 17th of September, which is coming Tuesday. However, we have become aware that the National Democratic Congress has also announced the same date to hold demonstrations in all 16 regions on matters involving the party and the Electoral Commission.
“The Coalition for the Family Values March is non-partisan. It is apolitical and has no political acclamation. It embraces people of all political persuasions, religious persuasions and ethnic persuasions.”
“It is therefore the view of the Coalition that even if the NDC were to stay its demonstration in Accra and proceed in the other 15 regions, and we proceeded with our demonstration on the same day in Accra, it had the tendency of drawing some partisanship into this issue, which is a national issue, where persons from the NDC, the NPP, the CPP, the PNC, independence movements and everywhere are aligned and agree with.
“In the interest of our neutrality, we have decided to postpone the Family Values March from the 17th of September to the 8th of October to allow for the political demonstration to happen.”
Explore the world of impactful news with CitiNewsroom on WhatsApp!
Click on the link to join the Citi Newsroom channel for curated, meaningful stories tailored just for YOU: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCYzPRAYlUPudDDe53x
No spams, just the stories that truly matter! #StayInformed #CitiNewsroom #CNRDigital
