The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has received flak for responding to a petition that is calling on the legislature to enact laws against homosexuality in Ghana.
A Professor of Communication, Difference and Disparities, Kwaku Agyeman told Dzifa Bampoh on the First Take on 3FM Thursday June 23 that he feels ashamed that the Speaker will respond to a petition which in his view, is misogynistic in nature.
Mr Bagbin has revealed that immediate steps are being taken to ensure the passage of anti-gay laws in Ghana.
He said stakeholder consultations are currently underway to that effect.
“Urgent actions are being taken to pass a law to eventually nib the activities of these groups in the bud.
“Stakeholder consultations are ongoing and the results will feed into a Bill that will eventually be passed into law by Parliament,” Mr Bagbin said in answer to a question filed by a political activists in the Eastern Region Emmanuel Abankwa Kesse.
Reacting to the Speaker’s response, Professor Agyeman said “First of all, I am extremely disappointed in the Speaker of Parliament’s response to a petition that is so misogynistic.
“I am very surprised and I am quite ashamed as a Ghanaian to read response to a petition that claims that in the olden days girls who were pregnant before 18 were banished. You have a sitting Speaker of Parliament respond to something like that in a country where we are still fighting for women’s rights. That for me is extremely disappointing that a sitting Speaker will respond to a petition like that .
“The second thing is LGBT folks are working hard to make sure that there is a shred of empathy in the Ghanaian populace and what they are arguing for largely is not necessarily gay marriage whatsoever . Just treat people as human beings, it is a very basic thing.”
