The Ho West MP, Emmanuel Bedzrah, has dismissed claims by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin that there was a high-level consensus between the NDC and NPP in 2024 that the controversial bill was “needless.”
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, the co-sponsor of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill described the claims as “untruthful,” insisting that the Effutu MP never engaged the bill’s sponsors in any such agreement or amendment discussions.
“For crying out loud, you can ask Moses Foh Amaning when we met as a group of sponsors. I was leading this whole business until I said we wanted Sam George to take over as our spokesperson.
“If there was anybody that needed to be talked to, it was me. Honourable Afenyo-Markin today, I have realised that he’s not been truthful at all. He has never come to us as sponsors either to change or do any amendment, or even hold on the bill,” Mr Bedzrah stated.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had earlier told JoyNews that in the last Parliament, when he served as Majority Leader, he engaged high-ranking NDC figures before the bill was passed for presidential assent. But Mr Bedzrah insisted no such meeting ever took place.
“Those people above us call us as party folks who were pushing for the bill,” he explained, rejecting the suggestion that the discussions might have happened at levels beyond the sponsors.
He also questioned Mr Afenyo-Markin’s reference to Sam George, saying the Ningo-Prampram MP could not have been the only person to speak for all sponsors.
“I am telling you on authority that Sam George did not tell us or inform us that anybody had called him. Rather, our party was behind us. Look, we meet as eight members, including Ntim Fordjour, to agree as to how to go about this business,” Bedzrah said.
The Ho West MP also dismissed claims that the NDC betrayed Afenyo-Markin after supposed backroom negotiations led him to propose amendments to the bill.
“In Parliament, if you have those backroom negotiations, you would have to talk to the sponsors. If it’s a ministry, you have that conversation with the ministry. Nobody had any conversation with us.
“Otherwise, we would have backed down on it. You came with all kinds of things, thinking that you are the Majority Leader, and therefore people should just succumb to you,” Mr Bedzrah said.
He added that Afenyo-Markin’s current advocacy for the bill on the floor of Parliament contradicts his earlier position.
“This is the first time I’m hearing anything like this, and I am surprised that the same Minority Leader today will stand in front of everybody in Parliament advocating for this bill. So what kind of double tongue is this?” Mr Bedzrah questioned.
Emmanuel Bedzrah also made a personal pledge, declaring that his political career depends on the bill’s passage.
“I can say on principle that if this bill is not assented to, I will not come back to Parliament again,” he vowed.
“This is a live studio, and I’m saying it — I’ve even told my colleagues that if it’s not passed and assented to, I’ll not come back. What do I come to do if I don’t have a moral principle for my generations unborn?”
He stressed that his stance on the bill is rooted in conviction rather than politics.
“That is my whole life. I did not enter Parliament just to be an MP. Our principles must be defended. Some of us are not there to do politics. We are there for a purpose, for the forward movement and advancement of this country. I’m very passionate about it,” he concluded.
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