Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has indicated that Parliament could pass the reintroduced anti-LGBTQ bill within days once debate on the legislation begins this week.

Speaking on PM Express on May 26, 2026, the South Dayi MP disclosed that the parliamentary committee handling the proposed legislation has completed its work and is prepared to present its report before the House.

“The report will be laid on Thursday,” he stated.

According to Dafeamekpor, Parliament is ready to fast-track the remaining stages of the legislative process once the committee report is formally presented.

“When it’s laid, we can take the report, debate it, that’s as part of the principles for second reading, and adopt it,” he explained.

“Once it’s adopted, we move into consideration. Consideration, we can even decide to do consideration on Friday, and pass.”

The Majority Chief Whip argued that lawmakers are not dealing with an entirely new bill because Parliament had already approved an earlier version of the legislation.

“You see, the Ghanaian family values bill, we have already passed it,” he said.

“It was a certain president who decided not to sign, so the terms of the bill are essentially what Parliament had already passed.”

His comments suggest that the governing side intends to expedite the legislative process rather than reopen lengthy debates on issues lawmakers believe have already been addressed.

When asked whether the bill would be passed this year, Dafeamekpor maintained that Parliament would conclude work on it within weeks.

“Yes, in a couple of weeks, not even months,” he said.

“We’ll pass it once we do the second reading on Thursday or Friday, and with consideration, we can pass it.”

He also defended the planned expedited process, insisting Parliament should not be accused of abusing urgency procedures since members are already familiar with the contents of the bill.

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“But when we do consideration expeditiously, let the NPP not shout that we are abusing the certificate of urgency,” he stated.

“It will be rapidly done, because we cannot be reenacting what we have already read,” he added.

Background

The reintroduced anti-LGBTQ bill in Ghana, formally known as the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, was first introduced in Parliament in 2021 by a group of bipartisan lawmakers. The proposed legislation seeks to prohibit LGBTQ activities, advocacy, funding, and the promotion of non-traditional sexual orientations and gender identities in Ghana.

The bill sparked intense national and international debate, with supporters arguing that it was necessary to protect Ghanaian cultural, religious, and family values. Critics, however, described it as discriminatory and a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution.

Parliament passed the original bill in 2024, but it did not become law after former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declined to assent to it before leaving office, citing pending legal and constitutional challenges before the Supreme Court.

VPO