The Member of Parliament for Assin South, John Ntim Fordjour, has accused President John Dramani Mahama and the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of deceiving Ghanaians over the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, claiming the party has shifted its position after winning power in 2025.
Speaking at a press conference at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) office on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, Ntim Fordjour alleged that the NDC “weaponised the human sexual rights and family values bill using it as a political tool to deceive eminent clergy, our imams, our revered traditional leaders, and the good people of Ghana.”
He argued that the party used the bill aggressively while in opposition but has now retreated from its earlier stance after assuming power.
“Today, having secured power through this grand deception, President Mahama and his government have seamlessly shifted their stance, abandoning the very course they championed so loudly in opposition,” he said.
Ntim Fordjour recalled that when the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was introduced in 2021 as a private member’s bill, it had eight sponsors, including himself and several NDC MPs.
“I stood proudly as a sponsor alongside seven members of the NDC… Honourable Sam Nartey George, Honourable Emmanuel Kweisi Bedzrah, Honourable Alhassan Suhuyini, Honourable Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, Honourable Helen Adjoa Ntoso, and Honourable Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor in 2021,” he said.
According to him, the NDC at the time treated the bill as both a moral and political issue, engaging religious leaders, traditional authorities and the public while portraying the then NPP government as reluctant to act.
“During the 2024 election campaign, the then candidate John Dramani Mahama explicitly pledged to sign the bill into law when voted into power,” he added.
NtimFordjour claimed that the NDC’s position changed after taking office in 2025, with the government adopting a more cautious approach.
He cited meetings between President Mahama and religious leaders, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, where the President suggested introducing a government-sponsored bill instead of the earlier private member’s bill.
He quoted the President as saying the previous bill was “effectively dead because it had expired with the eighth parliament” and that it “probably shouldn’t be a private member’s bill… it probably should be a government bill with government behind it at a consultation with all stakeholders.”
“This was the first clear signal of a shift from rhetoric to risk management,” Ntim Fordjour said.
He added that the government began to consider factors such as constitutional concerns and potential risks to international funding, including support from the World Bank and IMF.
The Assin South MP further pointed to a March 31, 2026 engagement between the President and civil society groups at the Jubilee House, where Mr Mahama reportedly said the bill was no longer a priority.
“He stated that this government remains focused on basic needs and that the bill… is no longer a priority. Shocking. No longer a priority,” Ntim Fordjour said.
He questioned the change in position, asking: “Were these basic needs not present between 2021 and 2024 when he and his party weaponised LGBTQI propaganda to win votes?”
“To advocate so aggressively for a policy in opposition only to dismiss it as a low priority once in government is the height of hypocrisy and deception,” he added.
Ntim Fordjour also accused President Mahama of presenting different positions to local and international audiences.
Quoting a statement by the African Human Rights Coalition, he said the President had “presented two faces to the world, one tailored for Ghanaian voters at home and another carefully curated for American audiences abroad.”
He linked this to the reported cancellation of an honorary doctorate by Lincoln University, claiming it showed that the international community had taken note of the situation.
The NPP MP further accused the government of attempting to introduce LGBTQ-related content into Ghana’s education system.
He said during a January 2025 engagement with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, President Mahama suggested that teaching family values in schools could reduce the need for legislation.
“More than even the family values bill, it’s us agreeing on a curriculum that inculcates these values into our children as they are growing up so that we don’t need to legislate it,” he quoted the President as saying.
However, Ntim Fordjour alleged that the government had instead pursued “a deliberate, orchestrated, and diabolical LGBT agenda in our schools,” a claim he said the NPP had exposed earlier this year.
