MP Fights MP ...Over Adulterous Women Suggestion

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu Ekuful (Mrs) has condemned in no certain terms a suggestion by his colleague MP for Daboya/Makarigu, Nelson Abudu Baani that adulterous women should be hanged or stoned to death. According to her, the MP does not deserve to be made a law maker after making such suggestion, and should be made to apologize to all women. �For someone to advocate stoning and hanging for adultery in this day and age, I have no idea where that person is coming from. �I'm really trying to understand where he is coming from. Maybe he's at the wrong place and should not be someone who should be in charge of making laws for this country,� she mentioned. In an interview with Starr FM's Kafui Dey yesterday, Mrs. Ekuful stated that laws of Ghana were gender neutral and she was of the opinion that statements like Mr. Baani's own only fuels violence against women. She further described the Daboya MP as someone from the past century and said, �clearly his head must be re-examined.� She urged Ghanaians to condemn such statements and cautioned people justifying the statement under the guide of religion to stop, describing it as a �slippery slope� to embark on. She added that everyone had the freedom to practice their religion in the country, but should not be at the expense of others. The Daboya/Makarigu MP suggested that a law should be passed to prescribe hanging or stoning to death as punishment for wives who commit adultery. Mr Baani made the suggestion during a debate in parliament on the Interstate Succession Bill. The Bill, which was referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report, seeks a more responsive approach to the needs of nuclear families whose parents and spouses die intestate and will replace the Intestate Succession Act, 1985 (PNDC Law 111). The suggestion by the MP has been condemned by majority of Ghanaians and more especially by human right societies.