Ho West MP Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah has vowed not to seek re-election if the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill is not passed and assented to.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Mr Bedzrah said his stance is rooted in principle and moral conviction rather than politics.
“If it’s not assented to, I will not come back to Parliament again,” he declared. “This is a live studio, and I’m saying it. I’ve even told my colleagues and everybody that if it’s not passed and assented to, I’ll not come back. What do I come to do? If I don’t have a moral principle to my generations unborn, then what am I doing?”
He emphasised that his entire parliamentary career and personal beliefs are tied to defending the bill, which seeks to criminalise LGBTQ activities and promote what its sponsors call “proper human sexual rights and family values.”
“That is my whole life. Some of us did not just enter Parliament because we wanted to be members of Parliament,” he stated. “We must defend our principles. My colleagues who think we are just there to do politics are mistaken. Some of us are there for a purpose — for the forward movement and advancement of this country.”
Mr Bedzrah, one of the bill’s sponsors, also accused Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin of being “untruthful” about claims that he once sought to amend the bill when he was Majority Leader in the previous Parliament.
He denied any engagement with Mr Afenyo-Markin or his office over proposed amendments.
“He has never come to us as sponsors either to change or do any amendment, or even hold on the bill,” Bedzrah insisted. “This is the first time I’m 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?”
According to him, 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.
“We meet as eight members, including Hon. Fordjour, to agree on how to go about this business,” he said. “When he brought those amendments, he lost miserably.”
His comments were in response to Mr Afenyo-Markin’s 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 transcends politics — it is a matter of moral conviction. He insists that if the bill does not receive presidential assent, his 16-year parliamentary career will come to an end.
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
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