A co-sponsor of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, has urged Parliament to immediately transmit the legislation to President John Dramani Mahama for the constitutional processes required after its passage.
Ningo-Prampram MP, Samuel Nartey George, argued that Parliament has exhausted its role regarding the bill and lacks the authority under its Standing Orders to revisit or reconsider legislation that has already been passed.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values in Accra, Sam George maintained that the Speaker’s call for a reconsideration of the bill is not supported by parliamentary procedure.
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He explained that after carefully reviewing Parliament’s Standing Orders, he found no provision that permits the House to rescind or reopen a bill that has already been approved.
“The Speaker has appealed. I have gone through the Standing Orders since I saw that appeal, and there is nothing in our Standing Orders for a rescission. When Parliament passes a bill, Parliament is functus officio,” he stated.
Mr. George argued that Parliament’s only remaining responsibility is to formally transmit the bill to President Mahama, who can then exercise the constitutional options available to him.
“The only role Parliament has today is to transmit the bill to the President. When it goes to the President, the President has indicated he would want to scrutinise the bill. The Constitution spells out the steps the President can take,” he added.
The legislator further stressed that Parliament must operate strictly within the framework of its rules and procedures, insisting that appeals or requests outside the Standing Orders cannot supersede established parliamentary processes.
“Parliament is a House of rules. Respectfully to Mr. Speaker, it is not a House of appeals. If no rule in the rule book allows what is being sought, then we proceed by the rules we have,” he said.
His remarks come in response to a directive by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, for the House to reconsider the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025.
The Speaker made the call following consultations with both Majority and Minority leadership, citing the need to build a broader consensus on the controversial legislation.
Addressing Parliament on June 2, Speaker Bagbin expressed surprise that the bill had been fully passed on May 29, indicating that he had expected only the consideration stage to be undertaken before proceedings ended.
He further argued that the bill’s significance and the intense public interest surrounding it warrant wider stakeholder consultations and greater consensus before it proceeds further.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill continues to generate nationwide debate, with supporters advocating its swift enactment while others call for broader consultation and scrutiny before it is presented for presidential action.