ACCRA, April 24, 2026 — The Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Hon. Mahama Shaibu, says the committee has inserted “sufficient provisions” into the anti-LGBTQ bill to prevent mob attacks and guarantee healthcare access for suspected persons, following two days of clause-by-clause consideration.
Briefing journalists in Accra Thursday after the committee wrapped up sittings, Hon. Shaibu said the panel would reconvene to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” before finalizing its report for plenary when Parliament resumes next month.
Two-Day Review Ends
“We ended two days of considering the bill that Ghanaians know as the LGBTQ bill,” Shaibu told journalists. “We did that yesterday and today, and we ended just a few minutes ago.”
He explained that the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill was first introduced in 2024 but lapsed at the end of the 8th Parliament. When re-introduced in the 9th Parliament, Speaker Alban Bagbin referred it to his committee.
The committee convened Wednesday and Thursday to review the bill clause by clause. “We invited all stakeholders: traditional rulers, civil society organizations, UN organizations, and government institutions that have a mandate on this — the AIDS Commission, the AIDS Control Programme, CHRAJ, Legal Aid, and all the other institutions,” Shaibu said. “Religious bodies were also fully and heavily represented, as well as traditional rulers.”
He said the committee took memoranda from various institutions and gave stakeholders the opportunity to flag issues with specific clauses. “Yesterday was very successful. Today we concluded a few clauses here and there,” he added.
New Safeguards Against Vigilante Action
Hon. Shaibu said the committee held “extensive discussion” on mob justice. “You cannot just see a person walking on the street and assume that he is a member of the LGBTQ community, so we’ve made sufficient provisions for that,” he stated.
Under the revised bill, citizens are prohibited from taking matters into their own hands. “You don’t need to touch anybody,” Shaibu said. The bill now lists officials to whom suspicions must be reported — including community leaders, chiefs, MPs, and District Chief Executives — who will have a “duty, within a certain number of days, to make a complaint to the police.”
“Then the prosecution process will start, because it’s on the basis of suspicion,” he explained. The committee reached consensus to split the relevant clause into two: one covering the reporting regime, and another imposing “severe sanctions” for the prohibition of any attacks.
“Rights Will Be Protected”
Shaibu emphasized that the bill was drafted “with due regard to the dignity and respect for human rights of the individual.”
“The fact that you contract a disease, HIV or whatever, as a result of an activity that is prohibited does not prevent or preclude you from accessing health care,” he said. “It’s like — the fact that he has gone to rob does not deny the person access to health care. Those rights are protected.”
He summed up the committee’s approach: “While people who belong to that community are prohibited, for individual rights, their rights will be protected.”
The committee’s report is expected to be laid before the full House when Parliament resumes in May. Shaibu did not give a specific date but said the panel would finalize its work after tying up loose ends on the clauses.
Source: Clement Akoloh/parliamentnews360.com
