Haruna Iddrisu faults Akufo-Addo over handling of LGBTQ bill

Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, has accused former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of breaching the Constitution in his handling of the anti-LGBTQ bill.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Haruna Iddrisu argued that the former President failed to comply with Article 106(7) and (8) of the 1992 Constitution after Parliament passed the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.

“I saw them a while talk about LGBTQ. Interesting times in Ghana. You were in Ghana, and Parliament passed a law. [Former President] Nana Addo Dankwa was in breach of the constitution,” Haruna stated on the floor.

He explained that the Constitution clearly outlines what a president must do when a bill is presented for assent. “Read Article 106(7) and (8). If Parliament gives a bill to the president, he can assent or not assent. The Constitution provides what he should do,” he said.

Article 106(7) and (8) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution outline what the President must do after Parliament passes a bill.

Article 106(7) directs that when Parliament presents a bill to the president, he must either assent to it or refuse to assent. If he refuses, he must send it back to Parliament with written reasons for not signing.

Article 106(8) further explains that if the president returns the bill and Parliament passes it again, either with or without amendments, by a two-thirds majority, the president is then constitutionally required to assent to it.

According to Haruna Iddrisu, Akufo-Addo failed to either return the bill to Parliament with his objections or assent to it within the prescribed time.

“You allowed it to lapse, and today we are discussing the same matter,” he lamented.

His comments were in response to remarks by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who had earlier urged Parliament to conclude discussions on the LGBTQ bill, recalling how the then-opposition NDC had accused Akufo-Addo of deliberately delaying the process.

But Mr. Iddrisu dismissed Afenyo-Markin’s justification, insisting there was no administrative lapse but a constitutional breach.

“The Constitution is elaborate. It is not to say President Akufo-Addo can disagree with Parliament, but if he agrees, he must convey it back to Parliament,” he emphasized.

The anti-LGBTQ bill, passed by Parliament in February 2024, sought to criminalize the promotion, advocacy, and funding of LGBTQ+ activities in Ghana.

However, it never became law after the President cited pending legal challenges and constitutional inconsistencies.

The bill drew widespread criticism from human rights organizations and international partners, who described it as discriminatory and contrary to Ghana’s obligations under international law.

Many Ghanaians also questioned how then Akufo-Addo government effectively ignored the bill, allowing it to expire in the 8th Parliament.