The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority caucus in Ghana’s Parliament has challenged the John Dramani Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to demonstrate the political will it once championed in opposition by ensuring the prompt passage of the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law.
The Minority says the call has become urgent following what it describes as the reintroduction of LGBTQ+-related concepts into a Senior High School teacher’s manual approved under the supervision of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA).
Addressing a press conference at Parliament House on Thursday, January 15, 2026, the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Asafuah, said the content contained in the Physical Education and Health Elective Teacher Manual introduces redefined concepts of sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, sexual rights and gender identity that contradict Ghana’s cultural, religious and moral values.
Mr Asafuah dismissed claims that the concepts are legacy issues inherited from a previous administration, insisting they reflect current policy decisions taken under the NDC government.
He emphasized that the matter goes beyond curriculum development and directly engages Parliament’s responsibility to protect national values through legislation.
“The issue before us is not ambiguity. It is political will,” Mr Asafuah said. “The NDC repeatedly told Ghanaians in opposition that the failure to pass the Anti-LGBTQ+ law amounted to endorsement. Today, the NDC controls the Executive and commands an overwhelming majority in Parliament, yet that same urgency has disappeared.”
According to the minority, the NDC Government with it’s super majority has successfully passed more than 33 bills in the current Parliament, many under certificates of urgency, demonstrating that when the Executive and the Majority Caucus consider an issue important, parliamentary processes are swiftly mobilised.
“The Anti-LGBTQ+ bill has not been accorded similar urgency. That is not a procedural accident; it is a political choice,” he added.
The Minority also raised concerns about the handling of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in the current Parliament. According to Mr Asafuah, the bill lawfully elapsed with the dissolution of the previous Parliament and was duly reintroduced as a Private Member’s Bill. However, it was removed from the Order Paper within 24 hours at the instance of the Majority Leader.
He described the explanation that the bill was removed due to an assumption that it had already been passed as untenable, arguing that the status of a bill is a matter of parliamentary record and procedure, not conjecture.
Placing the controversy in historical context, the Minority recalled that comprehensive sexuality education was first introduced into Ghana’s education policy framework between 2012 and 2016 under an earlier Mahama administration. Mr Asafuah said this underscores what the Minority considers a pattern of inconsistency in the NDC’s public posture on sexuality-related issues.
The NPP Minority is demanding the immediate withdrawal of all teaching and learning materials containing LGBTQ+-related content, a transparent and inclusive review of all educational materials, and a full parliamentary inquiry into the development, approval and circulation of the manuals.
It is also calling for the dismissal of the Director-General of NaCCA and the Chairperson of the NaCCA Board for what it describes as failures of oversight and breaches of public trust.
Mr Asafuah appealed to religious bodies, traditional authorities, parents, teacher unions and civil society organisations to examine the teacher’s manual and speak out, stressing that the passage of the Anti-LGBTQ+ law remains central to protecting Ghana’s moral and cultural values.
“This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “It is a question of national values, legislative integrity and whether the government will match its past rhetoric with concrete legislative action.”
By: Christian Kpesese
