The Minority in Parliament, led by NPP Member of Parliament for Effutu and Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of hypocrisy and political double standards over its handling of the proposed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the anti-LGBTQ bill, as well as a recent controversy surrounding a Senior High School teachers’ manual.
At a press conference held on Monday, January 26, 2025, within the precincts of Parliament House, the Minority sought to assess and hold the John Dramani Mahama-led NDC government to account after one year in office. Central to their critique was what they described as the NDC’s deliberate retreat from positions it aggressively championed while in opposition.
“Let me straight away zoom to raise an issue of NDC’s hypocrisy and double standards,” Afenyo-Markin stated. “In the 8th Parliament, when they were in opposition, they told the whole world that there was a need to pass an anti-LGBTQ law. They said it was necessary to protect our culture and religious beliefs, and that there must be a law criminalising acts of lesbianism, gayism, etcetera.”
According to the Minority Leader, NDC MPs were highly visible in their advocacy at the time, engaging communities across the country and mobilising religious leaders, traditional authorities, and the media in support of the bill. However, he argued that since assuming power, the same party has gone conspicuously silent.
“One year down the line, they have been in office and they have gone quiet on this anti-LGBTQ law,” he said. “We now hear His Excellency the President playing on words, claiming that the government is conducting wider consultations to see how the law could be formulated in a better way.”
Afenyo-Markin expressed disbelief at what he described as a sudden change in posture. “Really?” he asked. “Was it not the same law they said was good enough to be passed? And when Minority members, through a private member’s bill, decided to pin them to their own principles, suddenly—after all the processes had been followed and approval given—the NDC, through its Majority Leader, used procedure to claim there was no such approval by the Speaker.”
He further accused the Majority of attempting to scapegoat the Clerk to Parliament and deliberately frustrating the legislative process. “As we speak, they have refused, neglected, and deliberately denied the people of Ghana the very anti-LGBTQ law they themselves spoke so loudly about,” he said.
The Minority Leader also addressed a separate but related controversy involving the Year 2 Physical Education and Health (Elective) Teachers’ Manual for Senior High Schools. Some Minority MPs had alleged that the manual introduced LGBTQ-related concepts into the curriculum through references to terms such as “sexual rights,” “gender identity,” and “sexual orientation.”
Following public outcry, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) issued a statement clarifying the content of the manual and describing the inclusion of certain terms as an error. However, Afenyo-Markin rejected this explanation.
“In our own curriculum, they have found space to introduce what we consider the promotion of sexual rights into the education of our children,” he said. “When they were exposed, they said it was a mistake—an anomaly. What kind of anomaly is that?”
He argued that the explanation was untenable given the processes involved in producing official government materials. “These are documents that were printed, circulated, and signed by no less a person than the sector Minister,” he said. “It took the vigilance of the Minority for this to be exposed, and now they want to dismiss it as an anomaly. We do not accept that.”
Afenyo-Markin concluded by reiterating the Minority’s position that the NDC exploited the anti-LGBTQ bill for electoral advantage and is now attempting to distance itself from the consequences of that strategy.
“We hold the view that the NDC used the anti-LGBTQ law only as a tool to win power,” he said. “Now that they are confronted with the realities of governance, they want to run away from it. We will insist that they act by their own stated principles.”
Rightify Ghana 