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A senior Economist, Mr. Kwame Pianim has urged Ghanaians to agree that lawmakers in the 8th Parliament, as well as the members of the executive arm of government, should not be paid ex-gratia if the anti-LGBTQI+ bill brings financial distress on the economy of Ghana.

According to Mr. Pianim, the European countries who are against the passage of the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill should direct their anger towards the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon.  Alban Bagbin and all the Members of Parliament who supported the bill and got it passed.

Mr. Pianim stated that the anti-gay bill is not a referendum that was passed by the entire people of Ghana hence sanctions should not be meted out to the entire country.

Speaking on the Business Focus with TV3, Mr. Kwame Pianim said, “my appeal to the US and the other countries who feel very strongly about LGBTQ+ rights as human rights is that they should not use the instrument of sanctioning the whole country, they should put sanctions on the Speaker of Parliament, those who moved the bill and the 275 of the MPs, put sanction on them and leave the Ghana economy alone.

He added that, “This is not a referendum that has been passed by the people of Ghana, we are already suffering, so don’t add any sanctions to it, sanction the people who are doing this and if these people make our problems worse, all of us Ghanaians should consider seriously, this 8th parliament of the fourth republic, the administration none of them should receive their gratia.”

Speaking on the appeal of the Finance Ministry to the president restraining him from assenting to the bill, Mr. Pianim said “I think that if this document is really true it shows how incompetent our administration is. It is really shambolic. Where was the Ministry of Finance when this bill was being discussed?

“Normally, when a bill is being discussed in Parliament, bills come from the government, the cabinet minister will take the document to parliament, convince his colleagues that he wants to pass this Act, and then it goes to Parliament.

“The Ministry of Finance should have sent this document to the cabinet and to the president and to the relevant committees of Parliament that were discussing it to say these are the financial implications of this bill."

He added, "that is how it is done and then if the president is up to task and he is doing his job then the president will hold the breakfast meeting, invite Parliamentary leaders and say this is where the national interest is, this is the geopolitical implications of this bill and therefore think twice before you move ahead. That is what is done, you don’t wait for the bill to be passed and then you disgrace the whole nation.”