Ho West MP, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, has declared that he will not return to Parliament if theย Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Billย is not passed and assented to.
Speaking on JoyNewsโ PM Express on Wednesday, Mr Bedzrah said his stand is based on principle and moral conviction, not politics.
โIf itโs not assented to, I will not come back to Parliament again,โ he declared.
โThis is a live studio, and Iโm saying it. Iโve even told my colleagues. Iโve told everybody that if itโs not passed and assented to, Iโll not come back. What do I come to do? If I donโt have a principle, I donโt have a moral principle to my generations unborn, then what am I doing?โ
He stressed that his entire parliamentary career and personal convictions are tied to defending the bill, which seeks to criminalise LGBTQ activities and promote what sponsors call โproper human sexual rights and family values.โ
โThat is my whole life. I mean, some of us, you know us, I did not just enter Parliament because I want to be a member of Parliament,โ he said.
โOur principles, and we must defend those principles. My colleagues who think that we are just there to do politics, some of us are not there to do politics. We are there for a purpose โ for the forward movement and advancement of this country.โ
Mr Bedzrah, who is one of the sponsors of the bill, also accused Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin of being โuntruthfulโ about claims that he once sought to amend the bill when he was Majority Leader in the previous Parliament.
He said at no point did Mr Afenyo-Markin or anyone from his office reach out to the billโs sponsors to discuss any proposed amendments.
โHe has never come to us as sponsors either to change or do any amendment, or even hold on the bill,โ Bedzrah insisted.
โThis is the first time Iโm hearing anything like this, and I am surprised that the same Minority Leader today will stand in front of everybody in Parliament advocating for this bill. So what kind of double tongue is this?โ
Mr Bedzrah explained that as one of the eight sponsors of the bill, he worked closely with other members, including Ntim Fordjour and Sam George, to coordinate its progress in Parliament.
โWe meet as eight members, including Hon. Fordjour, to agree as to how to go about this business,โ he said. โWhen he brought those amendments, he lost miserably.โ
His remarks came in response to Mr Afenyo-Markinโs earlier claim on JoyNews that the then-opposition NDC refused to cooperate with efforts to amend the bill to make it more acceptable for presidential assent.
For Mr Bedzrah, however, the issue is not about political strategy but moral clarity.
His position is firm โ if the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill does not receive assent, his 16-year journey in Parliament will end.
Source: Myjoyonline
