Asiedu Nketiah accuses Akufo-Addo of orchestrating lawsuit to block anti-LGBTQ+ bill

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of being behind the lawsuit aimed at preventing him from assenting to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill recently passed by parliament.

During an interview on Joy News’ PM Express, Nketiah asserted that the President's mention of a lawsuit before it was filed suggested orchestration on his part to thwart the bill's progress.

According to Nketiah, the Akufo-Addo's actions indicate a deliberate attempt to obstruct the bill from becoming law, despite no official court proceedings having commenced at the time of his statements.

"It is clearly an excuse and it’s a wrong excuse because he [President Akufo-Addo] was citing the court case even before anybody could file it. It tells you that he [President Akufo-Addo] orchestrated the filing... Because if you have heard that somebody is going to court, the person has not gone to court and yet you are injuncting yourself, then it means that you’re part of an orchestration to go to court in the first place," he said on PM Express.

Nketiah further cast doubt on the independence of the individual who filed the lawsuit, implicating Richard Dela Sky, a private legal practitioner and journalist, whom he alleged has close ties to the government.

Expressing disappointment in the President's refusal to receive the bill from parliament, Nketiah accused him of displaying impunity and questioned his reluctance to clarify his stance on the matter.

He further added that the Akufo-Addo's actions suggested a predetermined agenda to avoid dealing with the bill, despite the constitutional obligation to receive it and consider his options.