Anti-LBGTQ+ bill must be reintroduced in new parliament-Speaker Bagbin rules

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has ruled that the controversial Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill must be reintroduced in the 9th Parliament, declaring that all pending business from the 8th Parliament expired with its dissolution.

The clarification comes after days of confusion among legislators, following arguments from the Majority Leader that the bill had already been passed and therefore did not need to return before the House.

Mr. Bagbin firmly disagreed.

“The eighth Parliament is history — and so are all businesses that were pending. We now have a new Parliament, and any such bills must be reintroduced,” he said.

According to the Speaker, although the bill had been transmitted to former President Nana Akufo-Addo for assent, the presidency failed to return it to Parliament as constitutionally required.

“They wrote to say they would not assent but failed to provide reasons or return the bill. They imprisoned it there,” Mr. Bagbin explained.

He confirmed that the bill, which began as a private member’s bill sponsored by MPs with support from traditional, religious, and civil society leaders, has now been retrieved and will follow the procedures for reintroduction.

“It was the people’s initiative, not the government’s,” the Speaker stressed, rejecting a proposal by the former administration to convert it into a public bill.

He added that, in line with Parliament’s Standing Orders, he will perform the procedural steps necessary before the bill is officially laid again before the House.