Article By AF Mikki, Ashanti.
Is NPP Supporting Gay Movement In Ghana? What’s the Interest Of Afenyo Markin In This?
Before the Christmas break of 2023, word came out that the President just as he declined assenting to some bills introduced in Parliament would do same to the Bill criminalising gay movements and promotion of LGBTQ activities even though the BIll is undergoing amendments before final passage in Parliament.
However, it is intriguing how the sequence of things are showing clearly that perhaps the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under the Presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is now acting like a focused group whose forte is to frustrate attempts to outlaw the dehumanising behaviour of homosexuals.
Interestingly, immediately the Bill was introduced in Parliament, the President in an infamous interview on Aljazeera said that just as many modifications of lifestyles had come into the world, gay movements and their activities were bound to happen in Ghana 🇬🇭.
Try as much as the NPP spin doctors and communication experts did to cleanse the President from the obvious gaffe, it however became apparent that the President, a known human rights activist is akin to banning or outlawing the way of life that was even lower than animals.
May obsevers have said that the tacit admission by the President that gay movements were bound to happen alerted those who were against the movement to stand on their feet.
The avenue to stop this, was therefore to use law to push if not force the government to state its stance clear on the matter.
And alas, a bill was proposed in Parliament and work began on it as the Members of Parliament began to state their views on the matter and in some instances this generated heated arguments on the same to either outlaw or criminalise the activities of gay groups and their promoters.
Fast forward, the Bill has gained grounds with Hon Sam George on the minority leading the charge, enjoying an unalloyed support from the Majority Leader and Assemblies of God worshipper, Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu.
Having been read the first and second time, the Bill is being subjected to some proposed amendments and tweaking to make it workable.
But suddenly, the NPP Majority side whose membership was in full support of legislation are now showing slackness and apathy towards getting the Bill finally read and approved to criminalise those who may seek to promote, practice and or engage in advocacy for Homosexuals.
Perhaps, the new hatchet man the NPP has found in frustrating the passage of the Bill is Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin, MP for Effutu whose recent statements in Parliament suggests someone who was on an evil mission.
Isn’t it surprising that this young man and deputy Majority Leader is now trying to usurp the powers of his boss, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu who has days without number stated categorically his opprobrium and dislike for anything gay or LGBT in Ghana.
Well…perhaps the NPP is using Afenyo Markin to do its bidding to frustrate the passage of the Bill so that they can attract the kind of sponsorship it is looking for from gay groups to prosecute its campaign for the 2024 General elections.
It would therefore not be surprising that there are subtle but labored attempts to push Osei Kyei Mensah BONSU aside and get into his stead Afenyo Markin to become the new leader of the party in Parliament so he can completely scuttle attempts to push through the legislation against gay movements and activities in Ghana 🇬🇭.
Worryingly, the Center For Democratic Development (CDD) have had their hands strengthened by the movements and statements from Alexander Afenyo Markin and had been quoting him copiously to back their stance that the Anti-gay bill should be withdrawn from Parliament.
This same CDD is in both the High and the Supreme Courts to challenge the ongoing debate in Parliament about the Bill to criminalise same sex activities and promotion of same.
I guess the CDD’s hands have been further strengthened by the nationwide advocacy it is currently carrying out to shape the minds of media persons and to get the media to support them in their devilish enterprise.
It must be said that the Ashanti Regional members of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana 🇬🇭 (PRINPAG) members demonstrated semblance of rejection when they threw out in the open the issues that were discussed by the CDD group at a recent conference in Kumasi and questioned the real motives of the outfit whose acclaim to fame was to seek for the development of the citizens of Ghana 🇬🇭.
I guess the public should attach seriousness to what’s happening in Parliament about the matter under discussion and reject any group or party that would seek to thwart the collective resolve of Ghanaians to outlaw and punish anything homosexual or gay movements would attempt to do in Ghana 🇬🇭!
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