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Anti-LGBT bill not necessarily seeking to imprison people – Dafeamekpor
One of the eight Members of Parliament sponsoring the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, Rockson-Nelson Defeamekpor, has clarified that it does not seek to purposely to imprison culprits.
He explained that it is to serve as a deterrent, adding that, the main purpose is to ensure reforms.
Speaking in on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, December 12, he said “Nobody is intending to imprison anybody with this bill. It is a conduct that we think that we should check as a sovereign people.”
Meanwhile, Parliament could not agree on the appropriate punishment for LGBTQ+ persons engaging in unnatural carnal knowledge with each other.
The bill criminalises sex between persons of the same sex, between a man or woman and an animal or object, proposing imprisonment of between 3 and 5 years.
However, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee recommended a jail term of up to 3 years without suggesting a minimum sentence.
Mr Dafeamekpor said: “I support the lower limit. The legislation we are considering, which would lead to an enactment, involves certain aspects of conduct that we need to proscribe, and not all of them should necessarily lead to custodial sentences. Regarding the minimum, which became a point of contention on the floor, it means the court wouldn’t have the discretion to even caution someone and discharge them after they have been convicted. However, the intention of this legislation is not necessarily to imprison people,” he explained.
He added that the bill is designed in a way that the court can grant culprits a second chance to amend their ways if found guilty.
“There would be circumstances where, after a successful prosecution and conviction, the court may be inclined, depending on the peculiarity of the case and the applicable law, to merely caution the person to go and be of good conduct.”
He, therefore, called for support from international stakeholders against the bill to appreciate its focus.
Speaking on the same show, the Chairman of Advocates of Christ Ghana, Edem Senanu agreed with the concept that the court can caution individuals found guilty of same-sex activities.
He described it as a fair approach, adding that there should be instances where cases of persons cautioned more than once are followed up with sanctions being escalated.
“The concept is not bad. It is to ensure that certain things are not promoted. I don’t think that anyone should have a problem if the judge thinks that the merits of a case are such that they want to caution an individual,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
