By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Former President and Flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama has expressed his stance on the LGBTQ controversy, saying his faith is against same-sex marriage.
“My faith is against LGBTQ. I am a member of the Assemblies of God. This is due to the fact that the faith I have does not allow for the marriage of people with the same sex,” he said.
Mr. Mahama in a breakfast meeting with the clergy in New Juaben South mentioned that the Anti-LGBTQ bill which is currently in parliament might not see light due to the government’s stand on Private Member’s motion.
According to him, the Attorney General, Mr. Godfred Dame has made it clear that a Private Member’s Bill can be passed without hesitation but if it contravenes Article 108(a) of the 1992 Constitution which provides that Parliament shall not proceed on a bill or effect an amendment to a bill that, in the opinion of the person presiding imposes a tax or impose a charge on the consolidated and other funds of the state, then it might not be signed.
“The Anti-LGBTQ bill which is still before Parliament. The government has shown that when Parliament passes the bill, it won’t be assented to by the President because the Attorney General has stated that a bill can be passed with a Privatemember’s motion but it should not impose cost on the funds of the state,” he added.
Mr. Mahama urged that consensus be met between the Executive and Parliament so that clauses within the Anti-LGBTQ bill that will impose charges on the consolidated funds of the state be omitted.
He further added that, one can not cheat nature by deciding to transform from his original gender state to the other gender state in the name of rights, expression and sexual orientation.
