A Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, says former President Nana Akufo-Addo has been vindicated following Parliament’s passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2025 with amendments.

Bentil criticised lawmakers for introducing exemptions into the legislation after previously urging Akufo-Addo to assent to an earlier version of the bill.

In a Facebook post hours after the bill was passed, he argued that the amendments amounted to an acknowledgment that the previous version was flawed.

“It’s the height of hypocrisy to force a clearly flawed Bill on NPP and scream on the rooftops that he should sign it; but when it came to your turn to sign your own bill, you have watered it down to nothing,” he wrote.

Parliament on Friday (30 May) passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2025, widely known as the anti-LGBT bill.

The legislation includes amendments exempting lawyers who provide legal advice or representation to persons identified as LGBT from sanctions under the law.

It also protects journalists and media organisations reporting on LGBT-related issues in the course of their work, as well as medical, psychological and counselling professionals providing services to such persons.

Bentil maintained that the inclusion of the exemptions undermined criticism previously directed at Akufo-Addo for withholding assent to the earlier version of the bill.

The bill now advances to the next stage of the legislative process.