The Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has expressed confidence that President John Dramani Mahama will honour his commitment to sign the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill when it is transmitted to him by Parliament.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, May 30, after Parliament passed the bill, Mr. George thanked the leadership of Parliament and members of the Constitution, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee for their role in ensuring the legislation progressed through the House.

He particularly commended the Chairman of the Committee for his leadership and dedication in steering the bill through Parliament.

Mr. George praised the speed with which the current committee handled the bill, contrasting it with the lengthy process under the previous Parliament.

“It took us three years under the previous leadership of the committee, but barely eight months under Honourable Shaibu to get here,” he said.

Following Parliament's approval of the bill, Mr. George indicated that it would now go through the necessary parliamentary processes before being transmitted to the President.

He expressed hope that the legislation would reach President Mahama by next week and stressed that he expected the President to assent to it.

“We will demand of the President to sign the bill because I am hoping that he made that commitment. I expect President Mahama to be a man of his word,” he stated.

Mr. George also recalled earlier criticism from some sections of the public who accused him of remaining silent on the bill after becoming a minister.

According to him, those criticisms overlooked the fact that there was no bill before the President at the time.

He explained that a legal debate emerged over whether the previous version of the bill remained valid after the dissolution of the Eighth Parliament.

“My original belief was that once Parliament had passed the bill and transmitted it to the President, Parliament had completed its work unless the President formally returned it with specific objections,” he stated.

However, he noted that his interpretation did not prevail, as the view adopted was that the bill lapsed with the end of the previous Parliament. As a result, the legislation had to be reintroduced and processed again in the current Parliament.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill has generated intense public debate in Ghana, with supporters arguing that it protects Ghanaian family values, while critics contend that it infringes on the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ persons and their allies.