By Leo Nelson
As the debate over the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill or the anti LGBTQ+ Bill continues, Nigo-Prampram Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, and a key sponsor of the Bill, Sam Nartey George, has insisted that the controversial legislation remains a national priority.
According to him, critics who argue that the country should focus on other pressing issues fail to appreciate the gravity of incidents occurring within society.
President John Dramani Mahama, during a March 30 meeting with civil society organisations at the Jubilee House in Accra, reportedly said the bill was important but not among the country’s most pressing challenges.
“I explained during my recent engagement with the World Affairs Council that it is not the most important issue we face as a nation. We are still grappling with the provisions of basic needs of education, health care, jobs, food, clothing, and shelter,” he stated.
The remarks have triggered public debate, from bodies such as religious groups, with critics accusing the government of inconsistency, arguing that it had previously pushed for stronger urgency on the bill but now appears to be shifting its stance.
Responding to the backlash, Sam George defended the continued push for the legislation, insisting that concerns about family values and child protection remain central to the bill’s intent.
“People don’t understand what this is about. Just last week, I had to help a father whose 21-year-old son had been abducted by someone who was sodomising him as his gay lover.
“A 55-year-old Ghanaian, UK Ghanaian, kept the man’s 21-year-old son away from him. Thanks to COP Lydia Donkor, Director General of CID, who worked with our team to identify, track the number, and identify the person, and rescue the boy just last week,” he told Journalists at the Ministry of Communication on Friday, April 10.
He argued that such incidents underscore why the bill should not be deprioritised, adding that Ghana is capable of addressing multiple national challenges simultaneously.
“To those who say we have other priorities, this is a priority for us. This is a priority for us. Any country worth its salt can deal with multiple priorities at the same time,” he stated.
“We’re not saying we should stop building roads because we don’t have enough hospital beds. We’re not saying we should stop building schools because we don’t have enough pipe-borne water flowing through our taps.
“We are dealing with our roads, we are dealing with our hospitals, we are dealing with our schools, we are dealing with water, we will also deal with our family values.”
Sam George also stressed that his electoral mandate reflects strong public support for his position on the bill.
“As for me, as the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, the people voted for me, and that was one of the reasons why they increased my vote margin from sixty-nine percent to seventy-four percent. They said, ‘Sam, go back to Parliament and make sure this bill is passed.
“So for my people in Ningo-Prampram and me, this is a priority, along with our roads, which are getting fixed, along with our health clinics, which we are building, along with our school blocks that we are building, and the water problem that we are tackling. So it remains a priority for us,” he said.