The Member of Parliament for Tema West, James Enu, has dismissed claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the reintroduced Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, has been watered down.
He argued that assertions that the legislation has been significantly altered are misleading and intended to create unnecessary controversy.
Speaking on Ekosii Sen on Asempa FM, Mr. Enu described criticisms from the NPP as “born out of mischief.”
He maintained that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has only addressed issues that were previously overlooked under the former administration.
“The NPP saying the reintroduced anti-LGBTQ+ bill has been changed is born out of mischief. They have realised that we have done what they were supposed to do,” he stated.
Mr. Enu explained that all key stakeholders were engaged throughout the legislative process and contributed to discussions leading to the passage of the bill.
He further noted that some of the revisions were introduced to provide clarity and ensure proper interpretation and implementation of the law.
He cited exemptions for lawyers defending persons accused under the law as an example, explaining that legal practitioners are only performing their professional duties when representing clients.
“The exemptions like a lawyer defending an accused person for LGBTQ is warranted because he is only defending his client. We wanted to provide clarity by laying emphasis,” he said.
The Tema West MP maintained that all amendments made to the legislation are legally grounded and do not undermine the objectives of the bill.
According to him, suggestions that the legislation has been weakened or lost its deterrent effect are inaccurate.
“There is nothing that has been watered down. We only wanted to bring clarity,” he stressed.
His comments come in response to concerns raised by Assin South MP Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, who has argued that the amended legislation differs substantially from the version passed by Parliament in 2024 and has lost some of its key enforcement provisions.
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