The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has been accused of political hypocrisy over its handling of the LGBTQ+ issue, which the party extensively used during its 2024 election campaign to win the hearts of many Ghanaians, particularly the religious community.
During the campaign, the NDC positioned itself as the defender of Ghanaian cultural and religious values, repeatedly warning that the previous NPP government was promoting a “pro-LGBTQ+ agenda.”
However, since assuming office, the NDC government has remained largely silent on the matter, prompting the New Patriotic Party(NPP) to claim that the party’s earlier rhetoric was purely a campaign tactic rather than a genuine moral commitment.
Double standards
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Osahen Alexander Kwamena, has accused the Majority side of double standards over their current handling of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, commonly known as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the MP for Effutu said the Majority,
“which now forms the government, was attempting to distance itself from the bill after previously forcing it through when the NPP was in power.
Mr. Speaker, we are in this political act together, and what is happening today is posterity in action. When we were in government, our colleagues knew the views of stakeholders on this matter, but they were determined to push it through. Now the chickens have come home to roost,” he stated.
He accused the Majority of hypocrisy, recalling that during the NPP administration, the then-opposition side insisted that the controversial bill be passed despite warnings from international partners such as the IMF and World Bank.
“Yesterday, when we raised this issue, you insisted the bill must pass. Now you are in government in the hot seat and you are running away, talking about procedures and administrative errors. There was no mistake,” the Minority Leader said.
He further alleged that the current government used the LGBTQ+ debate for political advantage when it suited them but is now backtracking under pressure from the international community.
You forced LGBTQ+ down the throat of the Akufo-Addo government. Today, you claim you don’t want it. You used it to win elections, and now that your stakeholders, the international community, are warning you, you want to run away. Run to where?” he asked.
“The Minority Leader reminded his colleagues that they once ignored pleas to manage the situation when the bill’s passage created tension between Ghana and international partners.
“You remember that hot afternoon when I pleaded that we manage the situation, and you refused? Today, you are in government, and you now see what governance means. You are in the kitchen; you feel the heat,” he said.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin likened the Majority’s current position to “a scorpion placed on a shivling,” saying they must now deal with the consequences of their earlier actions. “That scorpion, that LGBTQ+ scorpion, you placed it on that shivling. Whether you like it or not, it’s yours,” he quipped.
NDC running away
Similarly, addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps at Parliament House in Accra on Wednesday, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, the NPP Member of Parliament for Assin South and a sponsor of the bill, alleged that the NDC government was running away from passing the anti-LBGTQ+ bill into law, hence its attempt to clandestinely remove the bill from the Order Paper.
He indicated that the bill had undergone all the parliamentary procedures, while the Attorney General’s Office had reviewed and gazetted it. He added that the bill was therefore was due for consequential referral to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee.
He, therefore, insisted that the leadership of Parliament must raise an addendum on the bill for its first reading on the floor of Parliament. The Assin South legislator said a survey conducted revealed that 93 per cent of Ghanaians support the passage of the anti-gay bill into law.
