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Anti-LGBT bill: It promotes hate crime – Partington
Country Director of Amnesty International Ghana, Genevieve Partington, says the Anti-LGBT bill when passed will increase the spate of hate crimes in the country.
According to her, the bill’s passage will legitimise the attack, harassment and persecution of LGBT people in the country.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, she noted that persons perceived to be gay or lesbian could easily fall victim to mob justice as a result of the anti-gay bill.
“It promotes hate crime. Let me give you an example, if people are perceived to be lesbian or gay, let’s just say me, I’m in a hotel room with another lady and someone decides to call and suspect that I am a lesbian, you know, it can promote hate crime.
“Because what if I am not and just as we catch thieves in Ghana and we do instant justice and mob action, this can also increase mob action towards this community so this is one thing I feel is not good,” she explained.
She further said portions of the bill also infringe on the body autonomy rights of children through the introduction of so-called corrective medical procedures for children who are intersex.
She noted that such procedures on children could have serious harmful effects on the children in the future and should not be encouraged.
“I think that’s a violation of children’s rights because basically you’re allowing the parents to decide which sex they want to be and from medical research sometimes what happens is that as the child grows, sometimes maybe the testosterone levels are higher and then maybe the parents wanted a girl so realigned the child’s gender to a girl and then they [the child] realises that ‘no, I feel more like a boy,’” she said.
Ms. Partington also stressed that the inclusion of conversion therapy in the bill was a dangerous addition.
She explained that conversion therapy has proven not to be effective in changing the sexual orientation of people and its practice is invasive and aversive towards the supposed patient.
“Conversion therapy is a very dangerous practice. Conversion therapy entails changing an individual’s sexual orientation using very evasive methods like brain surgery, hormonal castration, aversive treatments like electric shocks, nausea inducing drugs, hypnosis, and these are all non-evidence based medical procedures,” she said.
Amnesty International maintains that the Anti-LGBT bill is draconian and must be gotten rid of.
The government is set to lay before Parliament today, November 21, a Constitutional Instrument (C.I) seeking to restrict the importation of selected strategic products into the country.
The items, numbering over 20, will include rice, tripe (popularly called “yemuadie” in Ghana), and diapers.
The government said the move is part of efforts to enhance local production.
Speaking during a press briefing in Parliament, the Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond said, “Stomach of animals, bladder and the chunk of intestines (yemuadie), the country had had to put in an amount of about $164 million towards the importation of these items. We are taking steps to ensure that in terms of rice, there’s no poverty of rice in the country.”
He emphasized, “By these restrictions, we are not going to ensure that there’s no food in the country at all; that is not the point at all. There have to be some efforts by the government to ensure that we go back to Acheampong’s operation feed yourself. There are about 22 items on the list, one of them, I think, is diapers.”
He announced the introduction of the Ghana Standards Authority Regulations 2023, which also seeks to streamline the manufacturing of cement to ensure competitive pricing.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says former President John Dramani Mahama does not understand the 24-hour economy policy he is proposing.
According to the Vice President, that policy is already being implemented in the country, as hospitals, fuel companies, among others, operate a 24-hour system.
Dr. Bawumia, therefore, urged Ghanaians to ignore Mahama during the 2024 polls since he has nothing new to offer and vote for the New Patriotic Party.
“John Mahama says he has a new idea. What is the idea? He says he wants a 24-hour economy. He doesn’t even understand that policy. Today in Ghana, our hospitals work 24 hours, our electricity company works 24 hours, our water company works 24 hours, our fuel stations work 24 hours, and many chop bars work 24 hours. Today because of digitalisation, you can transfer money 24 hours, you can receive money 24 hours… So he doesn’t understand his own policy. It doesn’t make sense.”
“So I want you to vote for me in 2024 because I will bring a new vision, I will bring a new policy. Mahama is the past, Dr Bawumia is the future. If John Mahama was there, we would say we have a dumsor economy, you can’t have a 24-hour economy in dumsor. So, you want to vote for Dr Bawumia in 2024, we will take the country to new heights,” Dr Bawumia stated.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of pressuring the House to pass a number of bills under a certificate of urgency.
Mr. Bagbin cited bills such as the Affirmative Action Bill, which is allegedly being pushed by the IMF as part of the conditionality for the balance of the $3 billion credit facility for Ghana.
Speaking at the Speaker’s Breakfast Meeting on Monday, Alban Bagbin insisted that the House will not be coerced by the IMF to pass the bill.
“Even in this budget, you can see the arm of the IMF in a lot of provisions in the budget. A critical bill like the Affirmative Action Gender Equality Bill has come to Parliament under a certificate of urgency. Please, it won’t happen; we won’t pass it under a certificate of urgency.”
“There are critical stakeholders we must consult and make sure we go together. We will not be dictated by the IMF; that one, you can be assured. This is a very critical bill that the IMF should know that we need the buy-in of the stakeholders to be able to implement it,” Alban Bagbin said.
The Affirmative Action Bill, when passed into law, would seek to expunge the historically low representation of women in decision-making spaces and promote democracy and development through all-inclusive participation.
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