Since the passage of the Human Rights and Family Values Bill by Parliament, several arguments have been presented as the reason why the President should not assent to it. Prominent among these reasons are economic consideration and human rights.
Speaking on the unending innuendos about its economic implications, lawyer Jantuah, a legal practitioner and member of the Convention People’s Party is of the view that, the brouhaha against the legislation is uncalled for. He emphatically rejected the idea of an economic fallout.
“All these international companies, they know what they get from our country, they will not stop business. Tullow Oil will not get up and go, and Newmont won’t go. None of those international companies in the country will get up and leave because they have an interest here,”
Lawyer Jantuah
Meanwhile, the bill passed by Parliament on 28 February 2024 is still languishing at the President’s desk. It has divided the country along several lines, both legal and moral lines. Its opponents continue to amplify the idea of an unbearable economic ramification.
Underscoring the preponderance of economic consideration at the Ministries, a “leak” from the finance ministry estimated the figures as the following;
US$300 million expected financing from the First Ghana Resilient Recovery Development awaiting Parliamentary approval might not be disbursed, Ongoing US$300 million negotiations for the second Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (DPO) for budget support could suffer suspension, Existing negotiations for US$250 million to support the Ghana Financial Stability Fund could be affected, Disbursement of unreleased amounts of about US$2.1 billion for ongoing projects will be suspended, and Preparation of pipeline projects and declaration of effectiveness for two projects totaling US$ 900 million may be suspended.
Ministry of Finance
Per the ministry’s assessment, Ghana will experience budget pressure should funds get locked up over the assent to the bill. The finance ministry’s statement concluded that “The potential loss of these financial resources will create a financing gap in the 2024 budget that the government must address through additional domestic revenue mobilization and a significant reduction in expenditure. Failing this, the Government’s ability to achieve the targets in the 2024 Budget will be undermined and the IMF-ECF Programme is likely to be derailed.”
The Political Standoff
In the interim, the standoff between Parliament and the Presidency hardens. President Nana Addo’s refusal to assent to the bill as many Ghanaians expected of him is shaking the polity. Parliament under its Speaker Alan Bagbin has also suspended the approval of the President’s vetted ministers also sighting a judicial proceeding.
Considering the fact the bill was sponsored by an opposition Member of Parliament, and the Speaker used to be an opposition lawmaker, the logjam is gradually becoming partisan and political. The majority and minority now trade jabs respectively in defense of the Speaker and the President.
When the Majority leader Afenyo Markin berated the Speaker saying “The upshot is that Mr Speaker has torpedoed the Government’s work by depriving the President and Ghana of the able men and women who will assist him in running the Government machinery. It is our humble belief that it is the Speaker who is undermining our democracy and not Mr President.”
The minority wasted no time to come to the Speaker’s defense, with praises saying “The Majority Caucus is engaged in deliberate distortions and grand propaganda to whip up public sentiments against the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the Minority Caucus with these false claims.”
Finally, a return to economic postulations. Sam George, the architect of the bill rebuffed and rubbished what he saw as “economic grandstanding”. Questioning the accuracy and relevance of those claims, he responded by saying “Uganda, whose economy is very small compared to Ghana, is projected to be the sixth fastest growing economy this year despite all the sanctions placed on them. Do you think that American businesses are operating in Ghana because of LGBTQ rights or they are operating because of profits? If they are doing business in Ghana and making good profits, they will not close up their shops and leave Ghana because of a few misguided elements in the West calling for LGBTQ rights.”
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