Don’t Politicize Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, Chief Imam’s Spokesperson Tells NDC, NPP

Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, Spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, has urged political parties to stop turning the anti-LGBTQ+ bill into a partisan battle between the NDC and NPP.

Speaking to the media, Sheikh Shaibu said he was disappointed by the fresh political wrangling over the bill. He argued that Ghana has already built broad national agreement on the issue and it should not be reopened for party contest.

His remarks follow renewed debate sparked by two recent developments. President John Mahama, speaking at Chatham House in London, said proper constitutional and legislative steps must be followed before any bill comes to him for assent. Separately, Speaker Alban Bagbin suggested both sides of Parliament may need to review the legislation again before it moves forward.

But Sheikh Shaibu insisted the matter has already been thoroughly debated. “I think that, as a nation, there is no question regarding our unanimity regarding the anti-LGBT bill,” he said. “Both parties have expressed their positions, stakeholders, including religious bodies, have also stated their positions, and Parliament under the former government, and even the present one, have all debated this issue.”

He noted that Parliament had already passed the bill previously. It only lacked presidential assent before legal and procedural issues stopped it from reaching the former president.

“What I know is that at least procedurally, Parliament had passed the bill earlier on. It only needed the presidential assent, which, by certain legal processes, failed to reach the table of the president, and so the former president did not sign,” he explained.

Sheikh Shaibu said he expected the current process to be simple: fast-track the bill to President Mahama’s desk in line with promises he made to sign it.

“So I thought that this one was going to be just a pass through for us to quicken the pace and get it on the table of the current president, in accordance with his promise that he will append his signature,” he said.

He expressed concern that the issue is becoming politicized, with the Majority and Minority taking opposing stances.

“For us to come here, where we do not know where we are facing, the Minority taking a position, the Majority taking the position... for me, it's disappointing to say the least,” Sheikh Shaibu said. “I hope that we will not politicise this matter, because this matter that we are dealing with is a non-political matter from my angle.”

He stressed that opposition to LGBTQ+ practices cuts across Ghana’s cultural and religious values and reflects a widely shared position. “LGBT in whatever form it takes, it is an attack on the family institution, which is a secret unit of society,” he added.