The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, has insisted that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin, has no authority to nullify Parliament’s approval of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, arguing the law was passed strictly in line with House procedures and that no standing orders were violated during its approval.
His remarks follow the Speaker’s call for Parliament to review the contentious bill after issues were raised about the process leading to its passage on Friday, May 29.
Hon. Bagbin had said he anticipated the House would begin deliberations on the bill and was taken aback to discover that all legislative stages had already been concluded.
Appearing on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, June 2, which was monitored by Ghanaian Radar, Mr. Mahama Ayariga stressed that Parliament operated within its rules and rejected claims that the bill was improperly approved.
He said the Speaker’s move was merely a plea for a rethink and cannot undo a decision already made by the House. “The Speaker is only appealing. He cannot in any way reverse what has happened. What has happened has happened. We have passed many bills the same way, and indeed there was no rule that was breached at all,” Mr. Ayariga stated.
He clarified that concerns about the rule requiring a bill to pause 24 hours before moving to the next phase were settled via a procedural motion to shorten the time, a common parliamentary tool used to fast-track legislation.
“If you check the Votes and Proceedings, you will see clearly that the procedural motion was moved and allowed by the First Deputy Speaker. We abridged time and that enabled us to take the bill through the third consideration stage. So there was absolutely no breach of procedure,” he said.
Mr. Ayariga also rejected assertions that the bill could have been pulled by one of its backers, especially Assin South MP, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour. He noted the bill had several sponsors and that the withdrawal of support by a single sponsor would not have stopped Parliament from considering it.
“The Honourable Ntim Fordjour could not have withdrawn the bill. He was not the only sponsor. There were several other sponsors, so whatever he threatened to do or not do had no effect whatsoever on the bill and its consideration by the House,” he added.
The discussion comes after Bosome Freho MP Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh raised concerns that none of the Minority sponsors of the bill were present when Parliament wrapped up the final legislative stages.
