The Centre for Religion and Public Life (CRPL Ghana) has accused Parliament's Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of deliberately frustrating stakeholder participation in discussions on the Human Sexual Human Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, popularly known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
According to the organisation, despite being invited alongside other civil society organisations (CSOs) to participate in proceedings on the bill, no opportunity was provided for them to present their views or defend memoranda previously submitted to Parliament.
"The Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee invited stakeholders and CSOs to participate in the consideration of the Human Sexual Human Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, yet failed to provide them with an opportunity to be heard.
"...we view this as a deliberate attempt to hinder full participation in the process," Reverend Canon Dr Confidence Bansah, founder of the organization said in a social media post on April 24, 2026.
Meanwhile, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the committee sitting held on April 24, 2026, Director of Programs and Operations at CRPL Ghana, Rev Dr Denis Mawunyo Adufuli, described the development as disappointing and contrary to democratic principles.
Rev Adufuli argued that the committee's failure to hear from invited stakeholders undermines the principle of fair hearing and weakens the legislative process.
He added that any legislative process concerning matters of national importance should reflect diverse perspectives through inclusive participation.
According to him, several organisations, including CRPL Ghana, had submitted memoranda to the committee weeks earlier with the expectation that they would be invited to defend their positions during deliberations.
"As of now, our expectation has not been met. We were expecting to be invited to speak to the subject matter, but we are not sure whether that consideration will be granted.
"We came fully prepared, expecting to be called upon to speak to our memorandum that we had earlier submitted to Parliament."
He noted that the short notice limited the ability of stakeholders to adequately prepare and raised doubts about whether the committee was genuinely interested in engaging external participants.
Rev Adufuli said from his observation, no civil society organisation present at the meeting was invited to present its memorandum.
"I have not seen any invitation to any CSO to speak to the memorandum they submitted," he added.
The Human Sexual Human Rights and Family Values Bill seeks to prohibit LGBTQ+ activities, advocacy and related conduct in Ghana.
