President John Mahama has stated that an updated education curriculum will more effectively instil values in citizens to counter the influences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ+) individuals, rather than relying on legislative measures. During a visit from the Catholic Bishop Conference at his office in Accra, the president voiced scepticism about the effectiveness of laws in promoting family values.
“It leads us back to the discussion we had, that if we are teaching our values in school, we won’t need to pass a bill to enforce family values,” the president told the clergymen. He continued: “And that’s why I think more than even the Family Values Bill, it’s us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they’re growing up so that we don’t need to legislate it.”
President Mahama appears to have toned down on his insistence to sign the controversial bill if elected as head of state. Presently, there is no such family values bill before the legislature as the previous one dubbed, Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, died in the previous 8th Parliament.
The president also said he was open to making a renewed bill government-backed in order for it to “have broader legitimacy and a higher chance of success”. Former President Akufo-Addo had famously declined to assent to the bill after it was passed in Parliament last year, citing legal challenges to it in the Supreme Court.
Following the apex court’s ruling that the bill could not be challenged as it had yet to materialize into law, Mr. Akufo-Addo remained passive, allowing the bill to expire. During the transition in December, Mr. Mahama urged his predecessor to sign the
