I held 18 town hall meetings prior to sponsoring anti-LGBTQ+ bill – Sam George
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Member of Parliament for the Ningo-Prampram constituency and sponsor of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, Samuel Nartey George (Sam George), has revealed that he held 18 town hall meetings with his constituents before sponsoring the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
This, according to him, was to make sure he represented the “views and opinions” of the constituents.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues programme yesterday [Sunday, March 10], Sam George maintained that Members of Parliament (MPs) are not in Parliament to espouse their personal views but rather the people they represent.
“You sit in Parliament not because of your private opinions but because you represent the people who voted for you to sit there. So if the people who voted for you hold a certain opinion, your view is of no consequence as a Member of Parliament. It is the view of your constituents,” he said.
“I am not sitting in parliament because I am Sam George; I am sitting in Parliament because about 100,000 people on the voters’ register in Ningo-Prampram went to the polls and the majority of them voted for Sam George to become their MP,” Sam George explained.
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He added, “That is why, before I started sponsoring this bill, I held 18 town hall meetings in my constituency because I want to be sure that I represent the views and opinions of my constituents.”
The ranking member on Parliament’s Communications Committee further stated that the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, in his view, “received support from all MPs” in the house.
“We were able to get the bi-partisan support of our colleagues by simply taking our time to explain every single provision of the bill and it was well-debated,” said Sam George, stressing that every MP in parliament supports the bill.
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“I believe so. People have had the opportunity to speak up and at the end of the second reading, the Speaker put the question and said if anybody had anything against the bill, stand up and speak.
“Nobody spoke. We had over 100 amendments and each time we went through the amendments, none of the amendments were defeated that we as sponsors brought forward,” he told Alfred Ocansey on Hot Issues.
Sam George, however, agreed that a few people might have had certain reservations about the bill and they spoke about it.
This, he said, is a sign of a “democratic parliamentary process” where everyone can state their displeasure, which is always subjected to a vote, stating that “the majority will always carry the day.”
On Wednesday, February 28, Parliament unanimously approved the anti-LGBTQ+ bill after three years of appearing on the floor of Parliament.
The bill has since attracted varied reactions from various stakeholders, including the diplomatic community. Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has yet to assent to the bill.
