Debates of 7 Dec 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:20 a.m.
CORRECTION OF VOTES 10:20 a.m.
AND PROCEEDINGS AND 10:20 a.m.
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings, Tuesday, 6th December, 2005. Pages 1, 2. . . .19 [No Corrections were made.]
Hon. Members, we do not have any
Official Report for correction.
PAPERS 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Item 5 - Motions - Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
if we can defer this because I need to see the Chairperson of the Committee before we continue. Yesterday, the motion was moved and seconded and we were going to look at the report of the Committee. You may give us some few minutes whilst we move to another Ministry.
Mr. Moses Asaga 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just
wanted to correct the Loan Agreement and its purpose. It also included the refurbishment of the official residence of the President but in laying the Paper, that bit has been removed.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
I will advise you to take it up with the Leadership at this stage. It has been laid. So you take it up with the Leadership for any correction.
Mr. Asaga 10:20 a.m.
So, this is just for the
record so that we will know that we will need to do the correction.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
As I said, it has been laid,
maybe, you take it up with the Leadership.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I have just checked up and we are in a position to take item 5 now.
Yes, as I said, yesterday, we moved the motion and it was seconded and we are just to hear from the Committee's report and move on to discuss it.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Majority Leader, have
you moved the motion?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
it was moved yesterday and seconded.
CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL 10:30 a.m.
ESTIMATES 10:30 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to support the motion and in doing so I want to present the report of the Committee. [Interruption.]
1.0 Introduction
Furtherance to the presentation of the 2006 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic
Planning on Thursday, 10th November, 2005, and the subsequent motion for its adoption, the Annual Estimates for the fiscal year 2006 of the National Commission on Culture was referred to the Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture for consideration and report pursuant to Orders 140 (4) and 187 of the Standing Orders of the House and article 179 of the Constitution.
2.0 Committee Sitting
The Committee considered the Estimates of the National Commission on Culture with the assistance of the Chief Director of the National Commission on Culture and his technical team as well as officials of Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The Committee is grateful to them for their extensive co-operation in this regard.
3.0 Reference Documents
Reference documents used by the Committee during its deliberations were:
i) The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
ii) The Standing Orders of the House (2000 Edition).
iii) The 2005 Estimates and Actual Expenditure of the National Commission on Culture.
iv) The 2006 Draft Annual Estimates of the National Commission on Culture.
v) The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2005 financial year.
v i ) T h e B u d g e t S t a t e m e n t
and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2006 financial year.
4.0 Mission Statement and Objectives
The National Commission on Culture exists to maintain the unique cultural identity and values for the promotion of integrated national culture as well as contribute to the overall economic development of the nation. This would be fulfilled through maintaining the highest standards of excellence and competence in:
i) Developing and implementing policies and programmes which promote creativity and sustainability of positive values;
ii) Preserving, exhibiting and enhancing National Heritage;
iii) Establishing linkages with other sectors to project National identity; and
iv) Disseminating through existing media, Ghana's Cultural values and practices to Ghanaians and the world at large.
Consequently, the Commission seeks to achieve the following objectives:
i) To research, preserve, develop and promote relevant cultural values and practices that encourage National unity, social cohesion and harmony for socio- economic development.
ii) To create avenues to make the arts self-supporting.
i i i ) T o e n c o u r a g e a n d support public and private
participation in the development a n d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f cultural programmes.
i v ) To e n h a n c e , m o n i t o r and evaluate all cultural activities.
v ) To m a x i m i z e G h a n a 's com- parative advantage as a major centre for cultural tourism.
v i ) To in tegra te cu l ture in national development and accelerate poverty reduction.
v i i ) To d e v e l o p , p r o m o t e a n d e d u c a t e s c h o o l children participation in cultural activities.
viii) To foster the development of Ghanaian languages using the media.
5.0 Performance in the Year 2005
During the year under review, a total amount of forty-three billion, six hundred and fifty-three million, nine hundred and two thousand, one hundred and four cedis (¢43,653,902,104), was approved by Parliament for carrying out the activities of the Commission and its agencies.
The inadequacy of the approved funds by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning made the period under review a very hectic one for the Commission in view of the long list of programmes the Commission had drawn up. In spite of these difficulties the Commission successfully undertook the following projects and activities with the support of donor agencies:
i) Corporate Governance Work- shop
ii) NEPAD and Culture Workshop
iii) Culture and Education Seminar
iv) Revival of Theatre Programmes
v ) C u l t u r e a n d H I V / AIDS Workshops
v i ) Voca t iona l Tra in ing in
the Regional Centre for National Culture.
The Internally Generated Funds (IGF) from the institutions under the Commission from January to October 2005 was ¢1,228,979,814. The breakdown is as shown below:
6.0 Projection for the Year 2006
I T E M 10:30 a.m.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh (NDC - Wa West) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion to give this money to the National Commission on Culture. But in doing so, I wish to emphasis, the need for us as a country to make sure that we finance this institution to undertake research and identify those aspects of our culture that will make us a truly united and progressive country.
The National Commission on Culture (NCC) has very important roles to play in the sense that it should not be seen as one which is talking about drumming and dancing alone but one which will be talking about the cultures of the various people who make up the nation Ghana. They cannot do so if the resources they get are limited.
I will therefore urge that first, the Commission itself should go beyond the perception that people have about their role and also show their presence in the various regions, identify those common
things that hold us together as Ghanaians. And I am urging this House that we ask the Commission to give us areas that they have so far identified since their creation that will help us move forward.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion and plead that all my hon. Friends should support it too.
Minister for Public Sector Reforms
(Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom): Mr. Speaker, I wish to support the motion but I have a few comments.
First of all, if we look around all our coasts we have these Forts and Castles that come under the jurisdiction of the National Commission on Culture. But Mr. Speaker, when you enter many of these Forts and Castles, you will find that they are in a state of disrepair and indeed, a number of them are quite dangerous; and we have a number of tourists because of the world heritage sites -- especially the Elmina Castle -- that are not being properly maintained.
So as we consider the budget, we also need to find some ways that we can support the National Commission on Culture, particularly, the Museums and Monuments Board to perform their functions effectively, otherwise it would have a great negative impact on the tourism programme that we say we are implementing.
Therefore Mr. Speaker, I wish to suggest strongly that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning should consider ceding part of the gate fees that they collect. The entrance fees that they collect on these Forts and Castles should be given to the Museums and Monuments Board so that they can undertake maintenance and repairs of these facilities. I know the Elmina Castle quite well, so let me use that one as a
specific example. Mr. Speaker, if you go to many areas in that Castle, you will find that indeed, some of the walls are about to fall down and it is widely known but we are pretending that we are not seeing this and we are waiting for a disaster to happen. We need to bring attention to this situation so that it can be taken care of.
Mr. Speaker, secondly, if you go around many of our national monuments, you will find that we are allowing some of our children to be going around begging and harassing our tourists and if it is not the job of the Museums and Monuments Board or the National Commission on Culture, then I do not know whose job it is to be disgracing us in this manner, by allowing our children to put up signs pretending to be deaf and dumb, pretending not to have fathers or mothers and indeed to be harassing the tourists whilst our officials look on helplessly.
It is the job of the National Commission on Culture, it is the job of the Ministry of the Interior and others to ensure that our national heritage sites are protected and indeed, are guarded in such a way that they become a credit to us as a nation and not as matters in some instances of disgrace as we are seeing them.
Culture, museums, heritage are important items and so when we are looking at this budget, definitely, I support it but I do not believe that the amount that was here is enough. That is why Mr. Speaker, I am still supporting the point that has been made in all manner of different meetings to cede revenue that is collected to the museums and monuments so that these facilities and these world heritage sites can be properly maintained.
With those words, Mr. Speaker, I support the motion.
Mr. A. K. Agbesi (NDC - Ashaiman) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute in support of this motion.
Mr. Speaker, the Report of the Committee, at page 11, states that the Committee recommends that the singing of the National Anthem, the recital of the National Pledge should be inculcated in the daily activities of the House and this, they believe, will encourage the youth to take the National Pledge and the National Anthem seriously in their various educational institutions. Mr. Speaker, this is a noble recommendation, which I believe sincerely if executed, will go a long way to help the youth who are looking up to hon. Members of this House and other people in positions of authority to learn from them.

Mr. Speaker, I say this because in the early part of this year during the vetting of Ministers this issue came up. I believe that if this House can take it as a policy that we learn the anthem, we recite the anthem before business, Mr. Speaker, our children, the students, wherever they are, will be able to learn from us.

Mr. Speaker, it is also said in the Report

that parents have been advised that they should also teach their children that they should be able to learn and recite the pledge and the national anthem. Culture, Mr. Speaker, is being said, to be dying down and it is very necessary that these matters are taken up at the very beginning of teaching. Our children must be taught the culture of the various communities so that they grow with it and they are able to form part of themselves.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words,

I support the motion and urge the the Leadership of the House to seriously consider engaging teachers who will
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Ashaiman, have you not finished with your contribution?
Mr. Agbesi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will finish
my contribution by urging the Leadership of the House to seriously consider the matter of the House learning the National Anthem and reciting it before the close of business.
Mr. Dan Abodakpi (NDC - Ho West) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor and to express disquiet about the very meagre amount that has been given to the Commission. But having said that, Mr. Speaker, I want to suggest strongly that culture is an integral part of Ghana's total tourism product. The dis-aggregation of some of these integral units are what constitute our tourism and placing them under different institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) other than the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City, is not making it possible for us to harness fully the potentials of the tourism industry.
Indeed, a Commission such as culture and others that are placed elsewhere, especially under the Office of the President, in practice, turn to become orphan Commissions with nobody really there to talk for them 24 hours a day.
I will strongly suggest to the Executive to consider the possibility of restructuring and placing the Commission on Culture and the Parks and Gardens units all under the Ministry of Tourism and hiving off modernization and putting it somewhere, so that the tourism Ministry would be able to deal with and handle what constitutes Ghana's tourism product totally.
I hope that the Executive will take this suggestion seriously so that we can bring the National Commission on Culture, Parks and Gardens and tourism-related issues under the Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City for effective husbandry.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Majority Leader, who
is winding up on behalf of the Minister?
rose rose
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Minority Leader, do
Mr. Bagbin 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted
my hon. Colleague, the Minority Chief Whip to contribute first before I just give a few words.
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC - Ningo/
Prampram): Mr. Speaker, I just want to add my voice to what hon. Dan Abodakpi said. We have said it over and over again that it has been an annual ritual where for the past eight years or so we have been asking for the proper placement of an issue on culture, that it should be placed under the Ministry of Tourism and Moderni-zation of the Capital City so that the supervision will be perfect. The way in which it is hanging as a Commission under the presidency, we do not even know who in the presidency monitors and evaluates what they are doing. So we want to recommend that this Commission on Culture should be transferred to the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City.
Minority Leader (Mr. A. S. K.
Bagbin): Mr. Speaker, it is very important that we as a people reconsider our attitude towards our culture. We know that we
are also part of the global village but it is important for us to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that if you do not know where you are coming from, you will never know where you are going. It is important that we are able to identify the uniqueness of ourselves, our culture and our country.
Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly that
we need to create first before we talk about sharing. And sometimes, it baffles me that the reports from our committees seem to be giving an impression that we actually do not want to create. Last year, from the Committee's own report, the Commission was given ¢43.6 billion and they bemoaned the fact that a lot of programmes could not be carried out as a result of the paucity of the amount.
This year, it has been reduced to ¢42 billion and yet we are called upon to approve the same amount, a smaller amount for the Commission. Definitely, we have gold in our hands but we are just looking at the physical gold on the ground. Our culture is such that it could earn us billions of dollars. Unfortunately, whatever is good for us, we fail to see it.
I believe that the proposal made to put culture under the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City is worth considering; it is a very good proposal. I also think that singing the National Pledge on the floor of Parliament will definitely not enhance our culture, but I believe that there is the need for us to learn and recite the Pledge, but not sing it everyday on the floor of Parliament. As a Catholic, in our church here, our fellowship will always sing it at the end of our service. So definitely, I know how to recite the National Pledge -- [Laughter.] I am not referring to my good Friend, Professor Dominic Fobih -- who was tracked down
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minority Leader is misleading this House when he says his good Friend Professor Dominic Fobih was caught pants down or words to that effect. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Professor Dominic Fobih later claimed that he was rather flabbergasted and rather taken aback by such an elementary question which was posed to him -- [Interruptions.] Mr. Speaker, he could have recited it hundred times over if indeed it was found necessary to do that but under the circumstance -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, that was the circumstance why he declined, not failed, to make the recitation of the National Pledge.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Majority Chief Whip, this is not a point of order.
Mr. Bagbin 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, definitely, hon. Prof. Fobih did not hire a lawyer. We had a busy bee who decided to offer some service and definitely was saying something different from what I said -- [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Minority Leader, I
have already given a ruling on this matter. Please, go ahead.
Mr. Bagbin 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to assure him that I know the Professor wears trousers. I do not know about him wearing pants, so I did not say he was caught pants down -- [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker, definitely, this is a very
important subject matter that as a country
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Majority Leader, you
may wind up.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all my hon. Colleagues for the useful comments they have made in relation to these Estimates. Perhaps, at the next Committee of the Whole meeting we would look at matters raised by the hon. Member for Ashaiman. It is always good that these types of topics are discussed at closed meetings so that people can speak on the issue a bit more freely and then we get the best for all of us.
I am happy that we have all agreed, even if it is reluctantly, to endorse it and hope that by the mid-year next year there would have been enough money in the system so that this Commission together with other institutions including Parliament would all have some top-up to enable them do their projects, services and things like that.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all hon. Members
to wholeheartedly, this time, to support the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢45,266 million for the services of the National Commission on Culture for the 2006 fiscal year.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we can move to item 8 on the Order Paper.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment (Mr. J. K. Adda) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable approves the sum of ¢100,882 million (one hundred thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two million cedis) for the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment as well as its departments and implementing agencies for the fiscal year 1st January to 31st December, 2006 to enable them implement their programmes and activities for the period under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, the name of the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment since independence has gone through many changes, and these changes seem in a way, to reflect the relative attention and importance attached to it over the period. In the period immediately after independence, the Departments of Social Welfare, Labour and Co-operatives, which
are all under the sector Ministry, were all household words as many Ghanaians looked up to them for various forms of support and essential social services.
However, over time, these departments seem to have slipped into oblivion until recently when attention seemed to be refocusing on them for those vital services needed by many Ghanaians and this is manifested in the emphasis placed on human resource development by His Excellency the President, as well as social protection.
Indeed, Mr. Speaker, last year, the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment saw its resources doubled as an indication of the seriousness of the Government to once again, place this Ministry where it really deserves to be, that is, as a critical partner in the nation's development effort. During the 2005 financial year, the Ministry also worked very hard to ensure that a solid foundation is laid to facilitate the attainment of the goals set for the nation under His Excellency's vision.
Mr. Speaker, in this regard, it is our vision now to lift this sector up to a high profile Ministry and to ensure that it remains one of the key Ministries within the scheme of government business as it ought to, given that it is a Ministry that indeed, reflects the “human face” of government business. Mr. Speaker, the extent to which the Government's policies and programmes are successful, depends on the welfare and living conditions of its people. Our Ministry is the Ministry that measures or ought to be able to measure that impact and to reflect that situation in the reformulation of the Government's policies and programmes.
Mr. Speaker, the mandate of the Ministry to create a congenial environment
Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment (Mr. J. K. Adda) 11 a.m.
for employment generation, promote social protection, enhance productivity, maintain a peaceful industrial environment and generally develop the human resource capacity of the nation, are all reflected in the mission statement and strategic objectives of the Ministry and it is to these that we plan our programmes and activities.

In the year 2005, Mr. Speaker, the Ministry has tried to live up to this mandate in the activities that it carried out. Notable among these in the policy arena are the following:

i . d e v e l o p i n g a S o c i a l Protection Strategy;

ii. finalizing the Disability Bill;

i i i . r e v i e w i n g t h e C o - operative Policy and Bill;

iv. reviewing the Non- Government Organisations Policy within the context of the Trust Bill;

v. d e v e l o p i n g t h e S t r e e t Children Policy;

v i . f ina l iz ing the Nat ional Youth Policy;

v i i . deve lop ing a Nat iona l Y o u t h E m p l o y m e n t Programme;

viii. formulating the framework for a National Employment Policy and Strategy;

i x . d e v e l o p i n g a D r a f t Sector Strategic Plan;

x. ini t ia t ing Employment Survey; and
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Paul Okoh) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion, and in doing so, I present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
Mr. Speaker, in pursuance of article 179 (1), (2) and (10) of the Constitution of the Republic and Standing Order 140 (1), the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2006 financial year was presented to the
Nana Yaw Ofori-Kuragu (NPP - Bosome-Freho) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor of the House and in so doing, appeal passionately to the GETFund to come to the aid of the various departments that offer training under this Ministry.
Mr. Speaker, it is a sad case here because most of the agencies are nearly grinding to a halt. An example of this is the ICCES which is the Integrated Community Centre for Employable Skills. Most of the teachers in this institution have not been paid for the last two months. Training, Mr. Speaker, is very important not just to the youth but also to the old people who need jobs.
Mr. Speaker, the National Youth
Council, which oversees the National Youth Leadership Training Institutes, utilized its entire allocation for service to cater for feeding grants for students in the schools most of the year. Not only that, Mr. Speaker. In the latter part of the year, it also had to use some of this investment expenditure to take care of the students for two terms.
Mr. Speaker, this cannot go on. We appeal to GETFund to get involved as training is the backbone of employable skills; and in so doing, crime would be reduced as our kids would be off the streets.
With these few words, I support the motion.
Mr. Joe Kwashie Gidisu (NDC -
Central Tongu): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to get associated with
Mr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the report by the hon. Minister has indicated the big gap between what is required to run the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment effectively, and what is given.
Mr. Speaker, I have worked in this
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Pelpuo 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
seen the difficulty involved in the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment securing even the meagre sum allocated to them.
Mr. Speaker, I think, in order that this
Government could think about securing
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Deputy Minister for
Finance and Economic Planning (Dr. A. Akoto Osei), do you have any point of order to raise?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:20 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I thought we were listening to a motion on the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment. My dear Colleague said the Ministry of Youth and Employment; is there a different Ministry? I need to be advised.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, proceed.
Mr. Pelpuo 11:20 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the simple statement I would want to make is that if there is something called supplementary budget which would be brought the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment must be considered. Because, it is a critical situation that we have on our hands. All the promises made to the young people of this country, through budgetary allocations to them to help them to get employment, to help them to get macro- financing, are all becoming only lip-service to young people. I, therefore, would suggest that we take this matter seriously. We must reconsider them in the supplementary budget stage, if there is any, and ensure they get exactly what they need to run this Ministry effectively.
Mr. Francis A. Agbotse (NDC -
Ho West): Mr. Speaker, I would like to isolate one of the agencies under
Mr. Pelpuo 11:30 a.m.
money coming down to the people who were supposed to use the fund. Now, we have been told that the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment has also been given another fund to give to the youth, at least for youth development, youth employment, training, here and there.
Mr. Speaker, my concern is for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to release it in good time and for the hon. Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment to disburse it as fast as it can, so that those who actually need it can have the benefit of it; and I trust the hon. Minister and I know he can do it.
Mr. Speaker, as I say this, I would also want to draw attention to the Department of Social Welfare. The Department of Social Welfare actually needs help; for that Department is taking care of needy children and orphans.

Mr. Speaker, this is a non-profit department or organization and without enough funding, taking care of the needy children will be a problem. I remember there was a time that these children had to be asked to go and reunite with their family members. Most of them have lost both parents so they were to reunite with which people? Mr. Speaker, it is for this reason that I add my voice to it, so that when it comes to the disbursement of the fund from the Ministry, the Social Welfare Department is well considered.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion and urge that hon. Members all join in approving the amount specified.
Mr. A. W. G. Abayateye (NDC Sege) 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to support the motion on the floor.
Mr. Speaker, the Social Welfare Department within the Ministry is very vital, and it is that Department within the Ministry which is doing a lot of work. But it is very interesting that when we were handling the Human Trafficking Bill, the work was given to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, but the disbursement was to be done by the Women and Children's Affairs Ministry.
Looking at the work the Social Welfare Department is doing, and the meagre resources they are working with, as we approve the budget I wish to call on the House to, if possible, reassign the disbursement of the funds or realign the disbursement of the funds on human trafficking to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment so that the Department of Social Welfare can well be catered for.
Again, I want to draw the attention of the House to the MDPI issue. Because of the lack of funds to the department, the land has been encroached upon and the whole building now is - in fact, squatters are using it. I want to call on the House, if possible, to look at this thing because the case has been lying at the court and nothing is being done about it. But if Parliament, the legislators of the nation, can take this issue up, we believe that case will be solved, the squatters will be asked to vacate the place and MDPI will re-possess its land for that huge building there to be put to effective use. MDPI competes with all other institutes in the country but because of lack of resources to put their structure in place, here we find ourselves in a mess.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to plead with
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for North Tongu, do you have any point of order to raise?
Mr. Charles S. Hodogbey 11:30 a.m.
Exactly so.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Please, go ahead. You may resume your seat for the time being.
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Member said that the name of the Ministry is discriminatory. I think it is because of that discrimination that is why they created the Ministry for Women and Children's Affairs.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, please go ahead.
Ms. Tagoe 11:30 a.m.
He did not land. Mr. Speaker, all these two are Cabinet -- [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Central Tongu, do you have a point to raise?
Mr. Joe Gidisu 11:30 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the hon Member is misleading this House because the Ministry for Manpower, Youth and Employment is a Cabinet Ministry. She is seriously misleading the House.
Ms. Tagoe 11:30 a.m.
All right -- [Laughter.] But Mr. Speaker, if it is a Cabinet Ministry, like all the others -- [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister
for Finance and Economic Planning, do you have a point of order to raise?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:30 a.m.
Yes. My hon. Senior Colleague said the Ministry of Roads Transport is a Cabinet position. With all due respect, sir, at this particular moment, it is not. So she is misleading the House and she should withdraw that statement - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Let her go on.
Ms. Tagoe 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, once - [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Minority Leader, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Bagbin 11:30 a.m.
That is so, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we rather have the Ministry of Road Transport; we do not have Ministry of Roads and Transport, so the hon. Deputy Minister is misleading the House - [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Minority Leader, I have ruled him out of order. Deputy Minister, please continue.
Ms. Tagoe 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Ministry of Road Transport got ¢3.6 trillion; Education and Sports - that is all right, ¢8.3 trillion. The one working with human beings - Mr. Speaker, you look at Social Welfare, it has been said already -- [Interruption] -- We give then the power. Mr. Speaker, you look at the work of Social Welfare Department. What do they do? They are taking care of the disabled, taking care of the aged, taking care of orphans, taking care of widows and widowers, the homeless, then you give them a paltry sum of ¢100 billion. My God, this is too much of a peanut for a Ministry like this.
Mr. Speaker, we are 230 Members of Parliament here. Let us divide the ¢100 billion by 230; how much will each constituency get? Work your mathematics. Mr. Speaker, I think this is too small for our consumption. So we will ask the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning - Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, please listen - In their supplementary Budget, since they cannot change it now, we want to tell them that at least they should increase this peanut they are giving this young Minister to work with, or a great Ministry like this, they should change it to at least trillion or two trillion.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, God bless you.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
I think we should allow the hon. Minister to wind up at this stage.
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Jomoro (Mr. Lee Ocran), please, be very brief.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at page 13 of the Report, the last paragraph states that the Committee was however satisfied with the arrangements made by the Minister to make a special budgetary allocation of one trillion cedis for the implementation of the National Youth Employment Programme. Mr. Speaker, if one trillion cedis is going to be made available, why is it that it is not added to the budget so that we debate it properly and approve it? At what time is this one trillion cedis going to be added to the budget? I am not happy about that.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at page 9 -
Youth Training: It says the National Youth Council trains children in livelihood skills in the areas of snail farming, mushroom rearing, grasscutter chasing - Mr. Speaker, if you look at rural enterprise programme, if you look at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, it seems everybody is rearing snails and everybody is chasing grasscutters. Who is going to buy the snails that everybody is rearing? The only result is that we shall all get gout.
The snail rearing, I think, is becoming something like a passion where every Minister who comes - employment for the youth - snail rearing, grasscutter chasing, et cetera. We are in the 21st Century economy and a globalised economy of the 21st Century is to train people who will fit into that economy. People go about chasing grasscutters as if we are in Oguaa.
Minister for Manpower, Youth
and Employment (Mr. J. K. Adda): Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my appreciation to hon. Colleagues for the contributions they have made and also to talk on some of the issues raised
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 11:40 a.m.


Mr. Speaker, on a much more serious note, on the issue of the one trillion cedis, this is an amount earmarked for the implementation of the Youth Employment Programme but it is done within the context of the various sector programmes. If we take the proportions of each of the sector allocations and put them together for the implementation of the Youth Employment Programme, it comes to one trillion cedis. So it is not like the one trillion cedis is set aside purposely for this Ministry alone. The details will be presented to the House in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about farming for our Ministry and I would like to state that the Ministry itself is making efforts to improve on its internal generation of funds situation. The MDPI if well resourced could become a leading centre of excellence for productivity measurement in the West African Region. So all what we need is a little extra resource and we will be able to generate a lot of funds.

On the NGO situation, we are trying

to finalize the Board and consider a way of improving on the revenue collection from the NGOs.

On issues concerning fund-raising for the Labour Department and the Factories Inspectorate as well as the NVTI, the Ministry intends to present to this House proposals on how to improve on our revenue generation for this Institute. We are all making efforts but we are still not having enough funds to implement our programmes. So I would like to conclude by again stressing the need for special dispensation to enable us recruit personnel for this Ministry.

On this note, Mr. Speaker, I thank you

for the opportunity.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢100,882 million for the services of the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment for the 2006 fiscal year.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we can take Item 9.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Minister for Manpower
Development, Youth and Employment - Item 9.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11:40 a.m.
Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment (Mr. J. K. Adda) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this august House approves the sum of five thousand, six hundred and sixty-three million cedis (¢5,663,000,000) for the National Labour Commission to implement its programmes and activities.
Mr. Speaker, the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which was passed by Parliament on 25th of July, 2003, and received Presidential Assent on 8th October the same year, made provision for the establishment of an independent National Labour Commission and a functional Secretariat.
Mr. Speaker, His Excellency President J. A. Kufuor swore into office members of the Commission on the 6th day of April, 2005 and this was followed by the inauguration of the Commission itself the same day.
Mr. Speaker, the Commission has been established to develop and sustain a peaceful and harmonious industrial
Mr. Speaker, the Commission has three broad objectives 11:40 a.m.
To strengthen the institutional capacity of the National Labour Commission to discharge its functions effectively.
To develop and sustain a peaceful and harmonious industrial environment to enhance higher productivity.
To promote industrial democracy and social dialogue.
Mr. Speaker, the objectives outlined above and translated into activities are closely linked to the aims and objectives of GPRS II through:
Building of the capacity of public and private sector agencies to promote workplace occupational safety and health standards. Ensuring the enforcement of the Labour Law which protects and guarantees incomes and wages security, health and welfare of workers as well as sustainability of business and industry.
Strengthening the tripartite process on employment; and social deve- lopment, and
Maintaining the principles of social dialogue.
Mr. Speaker, in the 2005 fiscal year, a total amount of ¢5,875,000,000 was allocated to the Commission to implement its planned projects and programmes. Even though the Commission started operating rather late in the year, it was
able to move forward utilizing the modest budgetary allocation made to it.
Mr. Speaker, since its inauguration, the Commission has succeeded in achieving the following results:
Recruitment of competent staff for its Secretariat.
Strategic workshop for members of the Commission.
Media sensitization workshop for journalists.
Training workshop on mediation and arbitration.
Training workshop for labour inspectors of the Labour Department.
Sensitization workshop for Justices of the Judiciary.
Workshop for essential service workers of the Ministry of Health.
Development of website for the Commission.
Development of database for mediators and arbitrators.
Production of pocket-size brochures on key provisions of the Labour Act.
Various activities were also carried out in the area of mediation, conflict resolution and others are currently ongoing during the 2005 financial year.
Mr. Speaker, to date, the Commission has received over five hundred (500) labour complaints/petitions from individuals, employers and organized groups. Fifty- five (55%) per cent of these cases have been settled successfully whilst the others are going through the various stages of resolution.
On Personal Emoluments
Mr. Speaker, in 2006, all personnel of the Commission will be paid directly from Item 1.
Some recruitments are anticipated to augment the staff at the Secretariat. It is expected that the allocation of ¢1,700,000,000 for the Commission should be adequate except that the Commission would not be able to open the three Regional Committees of the Commission as planned.
Administration Expenses
Mr. Speaker, the Commission has been allocated an amount of ¢550,875,000 to support its administration activities. Dominant in the areas of activity are payment of rent, insurance, refund of medical expenses, servicing of meetings, office consumables, printed materials and stationery, maintenance of plant, equipment and machinery, car maintenance allowance, et cetera.
Mr. Speaker, the amount allocated to the Commission under this item is woefully inadequate since after paying rent for the office accommodation, the Commission will have very little to operate with.
Mr. Speaker, under Service the Commission has been allocated an amount of ¢1,177,000,000 to execute its plans put in place to make a tremendous impact on its mandate. The Commission plans to continue with its advocacy role in order to promote an understanding of its activities. To this end, Mr. Speaker, the Commission intends in 2006 to organize a trainer of trainers' workshop for officers of the Information Services Department, and producing a 10-15 minute video clip on the Labour Act to be used by the trained information officers during their educational programmes.
Mr. Speaker, the Commission also intends to continue with the production of more brochures on key provisions of the Labour Act i.e. the rights and responsibilities of employers/employees, strikes and lockouts, dispute resolution mechanism, the employment relationship and the functions of the Commission.
Mr. Speaker, the Commission has
also programmed holding workshops to sensitize hon. Ministers and their Deputies, hon. Members of Parliament, essential service providers in the electricity, water and telecommunications sectors and the remaining essential service providers in the health sector.
Mr. Speaker, as a step towards reducing the incidence of perennial strikes in the country, the Commission has plans to commission research into the causes of strikes and their effects on business and industry. The Commission will also institute research into the level or compliance by employers with Collective Bargaining Agreements and the treatment of casual workers in the country.
Investment Activity
Mr. Speaker, the Commission is in rented premises and needs to acquire a property of its own to avoid paying exorbitant rents. This will involve either buying a new building, an old one for renovation or a plot for construction. The Commission will also still have to buy some vehicles and motor cycles, computers and their accessories to support its work.
Mr. Speaker, the Commission has been allocated ¢2,285,000,000 for its investment activities.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to state that even though the Commission is at its nascent stages of development, its modest achievements are helping to bring about a gradual transformation of the culture of industrial conflicts resolution. Much still needs to be done and indeed it would be preferable to establish zonal offices in 2006 in strategic locations such as Tema, Takoradi and Kumasi. These require resources but it is rather sad that the budget is being reduced from that of 2005 instead of being increased in 2006.
Mr. Speaker, hon. Colleagues, I wish to draw the attention of this august House to the need for a doubling of the allocation for 2006 to enable the Commission establish these satellite offices to reduce the workload and also expedite action on
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Paul Okoh) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion and in doing so present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
In pursuance of article 179 (1), (2) and (10) of the Constitution of the Republic and Standing Order 140 (1), the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2006 financial year was presented to the House on Thursday, 10th November 2005 by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu.
In compliance with Standing Orders 140 (4) and 184, the 2005 Draft Estimates of the National Labour Commission were referred to the Committee for consideration and report, and the Committee having held a meeting to so consider the Estimates reports as follows:
1.1 Acknowledgement
The Committee is grateful to the Sector Minister, the Deputy Ministers, the Ag. Executive Secretary of the Commission and officials of the Ministry who attended the Committee Budget hearing session to assist the Committee deliberate on the Estimates.
2.0 Reference Documents
In considering the Estimates of the Sector Ministry the underlisted docu- ments were referred to:
i) The 1992 Constitution of the Republic;
ii) The Budget Statement and
Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2006 Financial Year;
i i i ) T h e B u d g e t S t a t e m e n t and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2005 Financial Year;
iv) The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
3 .0 Miss ion Statement of the National Labour Commission
The National Labour Commission exists to develop and sustain a peaceful and harmonious industrial relations environment through the use of effective dispute resolution practices, promotion of co-operation among the labour market players and mutual respect for their rights and responsibilities.
4 .0 Object ives of the National Labour Commission
In order to realize its mission, the National Labour Commission has tasked itself with the following objectives:
To strengthen the institutional capacity of the National Labour Commission to discharge its functions effectively;
To develop and sustain peaceful and harmonious industrial relations environment to enhance a higher productivity;
Promote industrial democracy and social dialogue.
5.0 Review of the 2005 Performance of the Commission
In order to achieve the set objectives, the National Labour Commission was allocated an amount of five billion, eight hundred and seventy-five million cedis (¢5,875,000,000) under Head 185 for its operationalisation in the 2005 financial year.
A tabular representation of the allocation with respect to the various expenditure items is as follows:
Mr. J. K. Gidisu (NDC - Central Tongu) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and I have very brief comments to make.
Mr. Speaker, the establishment of the National Labour Commission (NLC) has given a new landscape for labour relations in the country. If you look at the mission statement of the Labour Commission it is to, among other things, promote co-operation among the labour market players and mutual respect for their rights and responsibilities. Mr. Speaker, doing this calls for a complete reorientation of the psychology of all the labour market players, in terms of the new Labour Act. Mr. Speaker, in doing so, there is the need for a very aggressive labour education, especially on the Act, among all the stakeholders.
Mr. Speaker, one very important player in this regard is the Government. The Government has a dual responsibility as an employer and also its position in terms of the Tripartite Committee. Mr. Speaker, it is very important for the Government to seriously look at its position in addressing labour issues especially agitations, more
especially among some segments of the working force, in order not to undermine the Labour Commission in terms of its mediatory role that it has to play.
I would want to refer to paragraph 6.6 of the Committee's Report in which it is noted that the Commission, in terms of its projections for the year, has plans to institute research into the causes of strikes and their effects on business and industry. It is quite mind-boggling for us as a State, which has passed through various stages of industrial relations, for the Commission to now be identifying causes of strikes as a major concern; I find it as not seriously going to address the current challenges of labour situations in the country. Because, our archives are filled with causes of labour agitations, in terms of strikes and their effects on business and industry. And for that matter, I would want to call upon the Commission to refocus on the emerging challenges of labour and industrial relations in the country, as a way of meeting the challenges that we now have on our hands in the country.
With these few comments, I would want to urge the House to support and approve the budget as presented to the House on behalf of the National Labour Commission.
Mr. Akwasi Afrifa (NPP - Fomena) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and to canvass for the approval of the Estimates for the Ministry.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned with only two areas. Number one is that the new Labour Act, as has been canvassed, has not gotten on well with most people in this country. I, therefore, expect the Labour Commission to undertake vigorous educational programmes throughout the country to educate the workers of this country to know exactly what is contained in the new Labour Law and what is expected of all workers in this country
Mr. J. K. Adda noon
Mr. Speaker, I think the points have been articulated enough by most of my hon. Colleagues and so I do not want to waste any more time. The only thing I would like to say is that the current National Labour Commission is resident in rented offices. It does not have a building of its own. It is important that we consider other logistical support for them, not only for Accra alone but also to enable them to expand to other areas. This will help curtail the problems of labour
disputes and help attract investments and facilitate private sector expansion.

Indeed, it will also go a long way to bring in higher tax revenue to the Government. I wish to stress the need for supplementary funding to help the National Labour Commission expand. And as I indicated earlier, they will need double of the allocation for 2006.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved: That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢5,663 million for the services of the National Labour Commission for the 2006 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES noon
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry's key objectives are as follows 12:10 p.m.
1. To strengthen institutional capacity for effective policy formulation and execution.
2. To ensure free-flow of relevant public information in pursuance of the open government policy.
3. To effectively and efficiently monitor and evaluate public responses to government policy, programmes and activities and provide timely feedback to Government.
4. To provide human resource development programmes to facilitate increased efficiency in the media.
5. To project the image of the country, in collaboration with other government agencies to attract foreign investment in consonance with government policy of promoting the Golden Age of Business.
The Way Forward
Mr. Speaker, in terms of outlook for 2006 and beyond, the following are some of the major activities to be pursued:
Institutional strengthening towards:
An enhancement of main- streaming of development communication (DevCom) in all programmes and projects of MDAs will be persued to promote the GPRS II.
Continued public sensitization on the GPRS II programme and its achievements in colla- boration with NDPC and MDAs.
Enhanced collaboration with Ministry of Local Government a n d R u r a l D e v e l o p m e n t (MoLGRD) on public education on good governance.
Strengthening the Information Service Department's (ISDs) operations in the regions, districts and communities to promote MDAs collaboration with the Private Sector to facilitate its growth.
Enhancing the Information Services Department's (ISD's) opera t ions in a c i rcu i t ry
programme under the DevCom process to enhance outreach programmes in 2006.
Weekly Meet-the-Press for Ministers and addressing of topical issues.
Regional Ministerial briefing sessions with the media and Photo Exhibitions on local developmental and PSI projects.
Establishment of Information Desks in three areas (one in Asia Region, one in South Africa and another in Nigeria) at Ghana's Missions.
Facilitate the passage of the Right-to-Information Bill , and the formulation of the Broadcasting Law within a National Communication Policy.
Enhanced co-ordination, moni- toring and evaluation of sector Agencies' activities.
Necessary buy-into the Public Service Reform Programme through the Strategic Commu- nication concept of Develop- ment Communication (DevCom).
Mr. Speaker, in order to implement these activities during the 2006 budget period, the Ministry has been allocated the sum of one hundred and sixty-two billion, nine hundred and thirty-three million cedis
(¢162,933,000.00).
The breakdown is as follows:
¢
1. General Administration
-- 42,278,000,000.00
2. GIJ
-- 3,129,000.000.00
3. NAFTI
-- 9,773,000,000.00
4. GNA
-- 8,000,000,000.00
5. ISD
-- 17,381,000,000.00
6. GBC
-- 82,372,000,000.00
Total
= 162,933,000,000.00
a) General Administration
M r . S p e a k e r , t h e s u m o f ¢42,278,000,000 has been allocated for General Administration in the pursuit of policy initiatives to be driven by the Development Communication (DevCom) Strategy as the Ministry's reform initiative.
The Ministry will be seeking additional funds to further support the cost centres for various social sector programmes as will be found necessary in pursuing the three areas of stress on the development agenda which by His Excellency the President intimated in the 2005 State of the Nation Address.

In this connection, Mr. Speaker, we shall reinforce efforts at the Cost Centre level to optimize the garnering of IGF. A total of ¢51,041,000,000 has been projected for the sector as a whole in 2006.

(b) Ghana Institute of Journalism

(GIJ)
Mr. Speaker, the major issues facing the Institute are 12:10 p.m.
completion of a new classroom block at the school's new site; acquisition of a suitable vehicle for use of lecturers and
improvement of remuneration and service conditions so as to retain lecturers to sustain the tertiary institution status of the school.
GIJ has been allocated ¢3,129,000,-
000.
The GIJ has by Cabinet decision been transferred to the Education Sector and the move will be completed in the course of 2006.
( c ) G h a n a N a t i o n a l F i l m a n d Television Institute (NAFTI)
Mr. Speaker, the Institute has three major issues 12:10 p.m.
acquisition of a rented property on which it has its Studio 1 valued at ¢3.0 billion;
improved conditions of service for the lecturers and salary levels equal to those in the universities in order to retain lecturers;
the third concern is absence of a suitable vehicle to convey students to the countryside for practical work.
The Institute has been allocated ¢9,773,000,000.00 (inclusive of a projected retained internally-generated funds of ¢2,200,000,000.00).
Mr. Speaker, the Institute has three major issues 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ghana News Agency has been allocated an amount of (¢8,000,000,000.00). The Agency will require additional resources to purchase at least four pick-up vehicles, and some computers to improve the mobility of staff on the one hand, news gathering, processing, storage and transmission on the other to satisfy its clients better. GNA's re-engineering programme started in 2004 should be completed in 2006 towards the realization of self-financing.
(e) Information Services Department (ISD)
Mr. Speaker, ISD, being the major implementation agency of the Ministry, it has been allocated the sum of ¢17,381,000,000.00.
Under the Development Commu-nication Enhancement Programme, ISD will enhance it s operations in the regions and at community levels through revamping of existing information centres and opening of additional new ones to supplement the Community
Information Centres (CIC) programme being established in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications. The circuitry public education programme on government policies and programme which was introduced in 2004, will be intensified in collaboration with other MDAs.
It is necessary, Mr. Speaker, to recruit staff for the districts; to improve the cinema van numbers and other vehicles for monitoring of operations and distribution of various publicity materials nationwide. The minimum number of cinema vans required to cover all the 138 districts effectively would be one hundred and fifty (150).
Cabinet has given approval for the requisite staff recruitment and procurement of vehicles. Detailed discussions on the two issues on relevant financing will be concluded with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in due course.
Mr. Speaker, it would be useful to establish a total of three (3) information desks at the Ghana Missions under the auspices of the ISD in the Asia Region, South Africa and for the department's external operations to market Ghana more forcefully.
Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Government Portal www.ghana.gov.gh, a reliable and authoritative one-stop point for official information on Ghana is being managed by the ISD. Links have been established with a number of MDAs which have established websites. Its contents are being enhanced for both domestic and external stakeholders on information on Ghana.

Corporation (GBC)

Mr. Speaker, GBC's television transmission and coverage has gone digital and resulted in very good service. The Corporation has a sum of ¢82,372,000,000 (inclusive of IGF of ¢48,840,200,000 to be retained in 2006).

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry will take up further in the course of the year, with Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning shortfalls in the Corporation's subventions since 2002, which have caused some operational bottlenecks.

Conclusion

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, the Ministry's programmes will be driven by mainstreaming the Development Communication Policy in public business as a major reform initiative to ensure an interactive information flow and the use of relevant modern processes and technology to promote common ownership of national programmes. We shall aim at effective utilization of resources and optimization of the IGF potential of the relevant Cost Centres.

Mr. Speaker, on this note, I wish to move, that the House approves the sum of ¢162,933,000,000 (one hundred and sixty-two billion, nine hundred and thirty- three million cedis) for the services of

the Ministry of Information for the 2006 fiscal year.

See Appendix Below
Chairman of the Committee on Communications (Mr. Akwasi Afrifa) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and also ask for permission to submit the Report of your Committee that looked into the estimates.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The annual estimates of the Ministry of Information (MOI) were referred to the Select Committee on Communications on 10 th November 2005 for consideration and report in accordance with Orders 140 (4) and 182 of the Standing Orders of the House. This followed the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for 2006 to the House by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu (MP) in accordance with article 179 of the Constitution and Order 140 (1) of the Standing orders of the House.
The Committee met on 22nd and 23rd
November to consider the referral. The hon. Deputy Minister for Information, Ms. Shirley A. Botchway (MP), accompanied by officials of the Ministry and its agencies attended the sittings. The sittings were also attended by officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) and the Audit Service.
The Committee is grateful to the hon. Deputy Minister and all the officials for their kind assistance.
2.0 Reference Documents
i. Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992;
ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana;
iii. The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the
2006 Financial Year; iv. Report of the Select Committee
on Communications on the Annual Est imates of the Ministry of Information for
2005.
3 . 0 M i s s i o n S t a t e m e n t a n d Medium- Term Objectives
The Ministry of Information exists to ensure an effective two-way commu- nication flow between Government and its publics, through the development, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and activities towards socio-economic development.
In pursuit of this mission, the Ministry has five main objectives under its medium term plan:
a. to strengthen institutional capacity for effective policy formulation and execution;
b. to ensure free flow of public information in pursuance of the open government policy;
c. to effectively and efficiently monitor and evaluate public responses to government policies, programmes and activities and provide timely feedback to Government;
d. to provide human resource development programmes to facilitate increased efficiency in the media;
e. to project the image of the country in collaboration with other government agencies, to attract foreign investment in consonance with government policy of promoting a Golden Age of Business.
TOTAL 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC - Tamale South) 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity. I rise to speak in support of the motion and to urge hon. Members to approve the sum of ¢162,933 million for the services of the Ministry of Information for the 2006 financial year. In doing so, I would like to make a few comments, in particular, about the status of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Mr. Speaker, if you refer to paragraph 7.5 of your Committee's work, with your permission, I would like to refer to the second paragraph which reads and I quote:
“The Committee noted that three nagging issues of the Institute about which concern has been expressed over the years still remain unresolved to date. Firstly, GIJ has been upgraded into a tertiary institution and offering a degree programme in affiliation with the University of Ghana and as such requires to improve its faculty and training infrastructure.”
Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Institute
of Journalism, even though has been upgraded into a tertiary status, it has not been accompanied by competent
legislation which approves of it as a degree awarding institution. Therefore, a critical review of NRCD 275 is imminent and we will need an assurance from the sector Minister and the Deputy Minister present about what they are doing in particular, about the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the
training of young people. We are talking about getting young people to move into journalism and public relations.
Mr. Speaker, we do have an opportunity, if we are able to upgrade the Ghana Institute of Journalism. Over the years, they are unable to benefit - and the Committee captured it rightly - they are unable to source even the GETFund, yet it is a tertiary institution in Ghana.

Mr. Speaker, all that we need to do, and in discussing this, I would mention the National Television Institute (NAFTI), we should take it away from the Ministry of Information and place it under the Ministry of Education so that as an institution under the National Council for Tertiary Education, they can source the GETFund, not only to improve their infrastructure but also related issues about faculty development and training.

Mr. Speaker, if you go to their new site, only the residence of the director is there. Since 1999, a programme was initiated but nothing has been done about it and I think that it is appropriate that the Ministry of Information accepted that it is not their business running educational institutions such as the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) or NAFTI. They should leave it for

the Ministry of Education and Sports in order for us to strengthen those institutions and for them to take opportunity of the Ghana Education Trust Fund to develop.

Mr. Speaker, my view is that in the next few years, GIJ should be able to expand its admissions into the thousands instead of talking about 200 or 500 students, once they have the requisite academic infrastructure, they would be able to do well. Mr. Speaker, that notwithstanding, if any of the Deputy Ministers of Education and Sports is available here, there is some discretionary opportunity given under the GETFund and they can exercise it in favour of the institutions such as the GIJ and NAFTI.

Mr. Speaker, I would further like

to refer to paragraph 7.3, which is on the issue of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), our only state-wholly- owned media house which is supposed to contribute to informing, educating and entertaining Ghanaians. Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to say that the GBC today is in crisis. It is in crisis because even the Board of GBC have reduced themselves into a management entity against all known corporate principles. The Board should have nothing to do with the day- to-day administration of an entity such as GBC. But the GBC Board is currently undertaking the day-to-day activities of the GBC. That is a serious conflict.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, our corporate law,

Act 179 of 1963 is specific that the Board should concentrate on broad policy issues and implementation and leave the day-to- day administration to management. You have a Board Chairman who wants to act as Chief Executive of GBC.

Mr. Speaker, I am told that even today
Mr. Osei-Prempeh 12:20 p.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct a wrong impression being created by my hon. Colleague. I am a member of the National Media Commission which has oversight responsibility over GBC. It is never true that the Board is doing the day- to-day running of GBC.
Mr. Speaker, everybody knows that there have been some crisis, some stolen cheques and cashed cheques and other things and the Director-General has proceeded on leave and a new Acting Director-General has been appointed and because of that the Board had taken some decisions with regard to withdrawal of cheques at certain levels. Mr. Speaker, this is a normal practice. They put a ceiling that when it gets to such a ceiling the Board must be informed. But to say that the Board has descended to the day-to-day running of the place, Mr. Speaker, is wrong information, it is wrong and I am afraid he cannot prove it so he must withdraw that.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Member, you may
take it on board.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wished
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it was published in the Daily Graphic. Indeed, even the matter regarding the Managing Director is currently before court. Mr. Speaker, a High Court even gave a mandatory ruling that the former Director- General be returned to post. I hope that my hon. Colleagues are aware of this. Now the matter is currently being contested in court and Mr. Speaker, I am aware that - [Interruption.]
Mr. Osei-Prempeh 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
former Director-General went to court for an interlocutory injunction and it was asked that the Board and NMC be served - They have been served and the matter is being contested in court. The court never made any order that she be returned to post.
No. It was an interim injunction granted for a limited period of eight days. It is never said that they were restrained or she was asked to return to post. Mr. Speaker, he should give the full facts, otherwise, he distorts the facts.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Member, continue.
This was a point of order and I have given my ruling.
Alhaji Abukari 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
wanted your guidance on this because when he gets up he does not say whether he is rising on a point of order -
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
No, not at this stage.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I hope
that the full facts about the management of GBC would be made known pretty shortly.
Mr. Speaker, if you watched your
Committee's statement, the second paragraph under 73, there is a major shortfall in the personal emoluments of GBC and that currently explains the trend of industrial dispute ongoing, which is undermining a very important strategic State institution like the GBC.
Mr. Speaker, at the committee level, our understanding was that the Auditor- General is currently auditing the accounts of GBC and as and when it is made known will help all of us in resolving some of the issues and crisis pertaining at the GBC in order for us also to deal with the shortfalls in terms of their budgetary allocation. Because once personal emoluments are affected then management is likely to be under immense pressure because they may not be able to meet other issues.
Mr. Speaker, may I also refer to paragraph 5.0 of your Committee's work which is on the People's Assembly concept. Mr. Speaker, if you remember, this was a major good governance policy initiative by the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government. The NPP has contributed to deepening it by allowing His Excellency the President to avail himself of the opportunity of interacting with Ghanaians. It is my submission to this House -- and I hope that the NPP would not copy it to become their policy statement.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if the NPP is unable to do it, future NDC Government would bring the President to this House to answer Parliamentary Questions as a process of deepening good governance. [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, finally,
on the Ghana News Agency. Mr. Speaker, as you know, many of the things that happen in the countryside and beyond Accra and Kumasi are normally not informed because we do not have a restructured or strengthened Ghana News Agency.
Accommodation is a problem, even office accommodation; staff is a problem; resource allocation is a problem and I think that if we are to get information which is consistent with the primary objective of this Ministry, we will have to strengthen the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and provide them with adequate budgetary resources -- even vehicles, across the regions they do not have. How can they travel to Savelugu or Bunkprugu for a purpose of gathering news which happens in that area without vehicles? It is problematic. The same can be said for other regions.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Order! Order!
12. 30 p.m.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, finally, on the staff of the Information Services Department, I think that the hon. Minister will need to be supported to strengthen the Information Services Department
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
(ISD). We noticed a major shortfall, even though Cabinet, we were told, had given approval for the recruitment of some four to five hundred personnel, no budgetary provision was made for it, yet it would affect their performance on the ground.
With these few comments, Mr. Speaker,
I would like to support the motion and hope that the hon. Minister for Information would work in tandem with other institutions under him, to ensure that Ghanaians are adequately informed but not adequately misinformed.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Alhaji Malik A. Yakubu (NPP -
Yendi): Mr. Speaker, I would like to support the motion and my area of interest is the Information Services Department
(ISD).
Mr. Speaker, it appears to me that because of the spread of FM stations, televisions and even the new progressive action taken by the Ministry to establish the Ghana Government website, there is the tendency to dilute the effectiveness of the Information Services Department. Mr. Speaker, as a rural man, I know that even in the face of these developments of the spread of FM stations and even some television stations, the rural person's best friend is still the Information Services Department.
Mr. Speaker, what happened in the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, where the Information Services Department went with their cinema vans to the villages, where the Chief and his elders and the citizens of villages would gather and be entertained and informed -- Mr. Speaker, it is still relevant today.
Mr. Speaker, many, many rural people do not even have radio sets and when they have radio sets the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) radio, its local
language broadcast is very limited and the Information Services Department still remains the most effective information machinery to reach the villagers.
The Commi t t ee , i t s e l f unde r observations and recommendations has indicated under paragraph 7.2 that they noted that the ISD's fleet of operational vehicles increased from thirty-four to forty in the first half of the year and likely to increase further to fifty-four by the end of the year.
However, there has not been a corresponding increase in the Adminis- tration vote of the Department to take care of the running cost and maintenance of the vehicles. The Committee viewed this as an omission and recommends that this be addressed.
Mr. Speaker, I think the Committee needs to do something to help the Ministry of Information. It is well known in this House, as our general practice, that Parliament does not increase the votes of the budget of the MDAs; it can only decrease. And if the Committee simply recommends that this be addressed -- an obvious shortfall -- then it means that nothing would be done. It would have been useful if the Committee had, on behalf of the Ministry, approached the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and pointed out this obvious, glaring omission and tried to sort it out with them. Before even this motion comes to this House, the matter would have been resolved.
So I think that the Committee should look at this problem of the Ministry of Information and see what it can do as a committee to help resolve the problem that the Ministry has.
Mr. Speaker, if you take subparagraph three, under paragraph 7.2, it says that the Committee was informed that the Ministry has secured Cabinet approval

for the recruitment of the requisite staff to enhance the Department's operations in the regions and communities.

With this vote, that has been allocated, I doubt if the approval can be implemented because the hon. Member who spoke last already had indicated how the vote for the staff is inadequate and that is for those existing and even those anticipated to be employed for the regions and communities, I doubt if that is captured here, which means that that approval may come to mean nothing.

It is also important that Ghana should be effectively sold abroad, not-withstanding the website and the last paragraph on that page seven, the Committee pointed out the fact that the Information Services Department has sought to extend its presence to certain strategic locations of the world without success. It appears it is still the same. And if we want to progress and get external co-operation, the image of Ghana abroad is important and the Information Services Department officers in the various Embassies in strategic part of the world would do a lot to sell our image.

I want to urge that both the Ministry and Parliament, through its Committee, should realize that the Information Services Department is the real marketing manager for this nation and if it is not equipped effectively to sell Ghana's image within and without, I think we will not be able to project the quality of Ghana out.

Talking about the rural population, as I started with, Mr. Speaker, the staff of Information Services Department are well versed in the vernacular and they are able to translate things that are difficult for the ordinary educated person to translate in the local dialect. They do it so well that the villagers are able to understand them

programmes and policies through the Information Services Department.

Here they are, Mr. Speaker, their information services vans, now is an apology of the word, and very few of them and those that are there are so rickety that they are not able to perform the way they used to do in the past.

Mr. Speaker, I think the vote of ¢17.3 billion for the Information Services Department is a big joke: It is not going to be able to help them to perform the vital role that it plays and I wish that even with the motion now on the floor, the Committee should still look at this problem and do some advocacy for Parliament to be able to do something for this segment of the Ministry of Information, which is so vital for a still rural and still high illiterate population Ghana is. If this is done, I am sure that the Information Services Department would become more effective.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Alhaji Sumani Abukari (NDC -

Tamale North): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion of the House and to make just a few observations.

Mr. Speaker, my first observation is about the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). I believe hon. Haruna Iddrisu has competently dealt with that problem but there is a little bit that I think should be highlighted. Mr. Speaker, if you look at paragraph 7.6 of the report the Committee says that, and Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I quote:

“The miss ion of NAFTI i s to produce film and television professionals to promote socio- economic development. Since

1999, the Institute has upgraded its Diploma programmes to a four- year Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in affiliation with the University of Ghana.”

Mr. Speaker, however, with this laudable vision, the Institute which requested ¢32.1 billion, was given only ¢9.7 billion. Mr. Speaker, this is not good enough. I think that that Institute deserves better than this. Mr. Speaker, this is an Institute that would produce our film directors and all the professionals that we need for the film industry.

Mr. Speaker, it is very necessary that they produce more and more of them because if one watches our television screens, our screens have been taken over by foreign films which have very negative influence on our youth -- very negative influences, Mr. Speaker, that arm robbery is going up is partly due to the films we see on our screens and most of them, foreign films.

If we had our own directors and professionals in the film industry who would produce more films, I believe that we could produce films that would project our own culture and our own customary practices like some Nigerian films do.

Mr. Speaker, some Nigerian films

actually project their culture and their customs and depending on the area that the film comes from, you will know what their customary practices are. And I think that it also contributes to tourism because these films are distributed worldwide now, as I understand it. And people who see them would want to go to Nigeria to

see whether what they see is true or not. Here we depend mostly on foreign films, which are of little value to us, which only contaminate our values here.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the effect of foreign films here should be looked at again. And I hope that the Government will look at NAFTI again and see how they can help the Ministry of Information to reorganize and to refinance and to refurbish it to produce more of the professionals that we need for that industry. I think the hon. Minister for Information deserves that assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I will then move on to

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Mr. Speaker, GBC is in a sad situation today and I do not understand how in this democratic era workers can decide who they would want to run their industry or their corporation or their board. I do not understand why a group of workers will say “we do not want our board” and then the director or the head of the place is changed. The next day, they will say “we do not want this person” and then he is changed.

Mr. Speaker, I think that we ought to look at it more critically. And particularly so, Mr. Speaker, we have been told several times that this particular Government is very gender sensitive by choosing a female Director of GBC, this woman is being hounded out of office. For me, I have met her at a meeting and another symposium somewhere because of her efficiency and qualification. And yet the women who sit down and cry about gender sensitivity, about gender equity and all that, all keep quiet.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Member for
Okaikoi, do you have a point of order to raise?
Nana Akomea 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this
matter of the Directorship of GBC is in court, as we speak, and I would want to plead with the hon. Member to restrain himself from discussing that matter.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Member for
Tamale North, I hope you are taking note of that.
Alhaji Abukari 12:40 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker,
Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong 12:40 p.m.
On a
Alhaji Abukari 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
actually I should have said the “Media Commission”; I am particular about the performance or the non-performance of the women, the gender advocates; they are all silent this time and I am shocked.
Mr. Speaker, since the case is in court,
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Member, I hope you will not go further. All right.
Alhaji Abukari 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will
stop there but, at least, my message has gone down.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the issue
of the Information Services, I quite well remember when we were children, we learnt a lot from this. There is a description of those vans -- I cannot say here in our language. We learnt a lot from these information vans and we learnt from them and I am happy to know that the number of vans have increased.
But I think that many more should be provided and, at least, these vans should be manned by qualified personnel who can go and show films and educate us. They can educate us about how to treat our water in such a way that we do not get guinea- worm. They can educate us on how to use condoms and not make babies when we do not want them -- [Laughter] They can educate us on a lot more issues, Mr. Speaker, and yet these vans are not there and my only misgiving is that the hon. baby faced Minister for Information may use them for his propaganda services and in which case we will come back here and cry foul again. Otherwise, Mr. Speaker, we need more of those vans in the rural areas so that the younger ones will see or get educated about a lot of the events in the country and the spirit of nationalism can be driven home to the younger ones from the films that they see from these vans.
So Mr. Speaker, this particular Ministry,
I think, has been given, to my mind, a raw deal and I think that they deserve more than they have been given because they have a vital role to play in our good governance system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Deputy Minister for Tourism and
Modernization of the Capital City (Mr. S. Asamoah-Boateng): Thank you, Mr. Speaker for this opportunity to support the motion, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢162,933 million for the services of the Ministry of Information for the 2006 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, we all appreciate the
importance of information dissemination and gathering in our governance in this country.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Information
has been doing a yeoman's job considering the resources at their disposal. I was at the Ministry of Information as a Deputy Minister until recently and I can tell this honourable House that the Ministry of Information has a task that requires the attention of all of us and that if the country needs to move on, we need to communicate our ideas, our policies to those we are representing in this House. And also the Government needs to be able to communicate effectively through this Ministry and all other agencies for these programmes and policies to be brought in by the whole people of Ghana.
So Mr. Speaker, we all appreciate the importance of this Ministry but as has already been said on the floor of this House, the allocation given to the Ministry of Information, in particular I noticed every hon. Minister would want to complain about allocation. But this Ministry in particular is critical because governance, as we all place our attention on good governance in this country, requires the linkage between the governed and the governors.
But there must be communication or information flow that people understand, so that we can carry the whole nation forward. Otherwise, whilst some would
want us to get somewhere others do not understand and it creates chaos. We all appreciate the emergence of the radio stations all across the country.
But Mr. Speaker, we all wonder sometimes where they get their information from and sometimes we need a strong centre that disseminates information and guides the whole country as to what is happening .
Mr. Speaker, for instance, if we take the
case of the Ghana News Agency, its role cannot be underestimated and yet we know the strain under which they go through.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that this day,
the Ministry of Information has succeeded in getting them some resources to get the vehicles they require and the training. But it is still inadequate and we need to find a way to get the Ghana News Agency to be self-financing so that they can also perform the role that they have to perform. And then the information flow can be genuine and legitimate so that we can all be part of this governance.
Mr. Speaker, I notice that my hon.
Colleagues have all contributed to the issue of inadequacy of resources to the Information Services Department. I am glad when my colleagues on the other side talk about the importance of this Ministry, especially the Department. I wonder what they were doing when they were in Government, not providing the vehicles for the Information Services Department
(ISD).
Mr. Speaker, when we came into
government, ISD had only about twenty- four vehicles available but when my hon. Colleague and I left it to hon. Nana Akomea, we have gone to raise this number above forty. And I think that we need to get each district one vehicle
or one information van. That must be the objective and we must support this idea because we have the decentralization policy we are all pursuing, both sides of the House.
We are all going to make sure decentralization works. And if we provide one information van per district, it is not something that we should be crying about. We must work towards this idea and we must ensure that the Government and all of us support this objective.

Mr. Speaker, we also looked at the Ghana Broadcasting Company (GBC). We have had a lot of problems going on there but GBC is central to Government's dissemination of information and we must all contribute constructively so that the problems can be resolved. I know that sometimes if we are not careful people will take it out of context and then politics comes in, but the issues going on there must catch all the attention that we can give to it, so that contributions can go to enhance the performance of the GBC and we can all be proud of it.

Mr. Speaker, I think that this whole

House supports the ideas and programmes of this Ministry headed by my hon. Colleague, hon. Dan Botwe; and we need to support him and his deputy so that this Ministry can achieve what we are looking for. Good governance is what this country needs so that all the developmental programmes that we are crying for can take place.

On this note, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity and I fully support the motion on the floor.

Minister for Information (Mr. Dan

Botwe): Mr. Speaker, I would want to thank the honourable House for letting me have the feeling -- and I am leaving the House very confident -- that the House really places a lot of importance on the Ministry. We have taken note of the comments and the suggestions and I am very confident that my Ministry can count on the support of the honourable House when we come back to you next year to help us pursue some of the suggestions that you have made.

I hope to assure my hon. Colleagues

that Cabinet has indeed decided, and the Ministry of Information was also very willing, to let the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) go to the Ministry of Education. A Bill will come to this House for the necessary contributions and hopefully its passage.

Ghana News Agency (GNA) over the past years has had only one vehicle per region. The Ministry had made presentations and we expect that at least, the regional offices of the GNA will get one pick-up each.

I am also very happy about the concerns

expressed about the Information Services Department. It is important that each district gets at least one vehicle to explain governance, in this case, the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive and the very good work of the Government, especially the Executive, to the rank and file of the people.

So I want to thank this honourable House for its support and concerns and to assure you that my Ministry will work closely with the honourable House in helping us realize our ideal.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That this honourable House
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 12:50 p.m.
TOTAL 12:50 p.m.
Mr. P. C. Appiah 12:50 p.m.
None

Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa): Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I do not support the approval of this motion. I say so because the Report contains a material
Dr. Ben Kunbuor (NDC - Lawra/ Nandom) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not very clear in my mind, after hon. P. C. Appiah- Ofori's statement, whether I should make
any contribution at all. But subject to the fact that this has to be taken and, perhaps, not thrown away but properly gleaned and brought back, I would like to draw attention to two essential issues on tax administration and the revenue agencies in this country.
Quite often, we normally present the efficient collection of taxes as if that were sufficient just to put monetary arrangements in. But the type of tools in terms of fiscal regime and legislation that we put in place can actually impede the amount of tax that is collected. And once these revenue agencies actually implement these policies, it becomes important that there should be some harmony and cost- effectiveness in terms of the tools that they use.
Mr. Speaker, we are beginning to witness, particularly in relation to the VAT Service, a movement away from higher thresholds to lower thresholds in terms of retailers. And yet, the best practice has always shown that where you have higher thresholds, the cost of collecting the monies becomes smaller and efficient because compliance becomes easier.
But as you begin to broaden the base and rope a larger number of people with lower thresholds, then you will find that the cost of collection is very difficult and it becomes ineffective and this means that we must draw the clear balance as to the threshold that we put in relation to the cost of collection. And we also must have some consistencies in the policies.
The whole idea of a large taxpayers' unit, is supposed to address this issue of the ease of collection. And so to have a large taxpayers' unit, just to test it out to see how efficient it is, only to start lowering your thresholds in which you are roping in-non-large taxpayers creates some contradiction in the policy.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I have been looking at the revenue figures over some time, in terms of collection. What one
rose
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member, do you
have any point of order to raise?
Mr. R. A. Tawiah 1 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a serious meeting going on over there; I do not know whether - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member, that is not a point of order. Hon. Member for Lawra/Nandom, please continue.
Dr. Kunbuor 1 p.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I would want us to now come out to normally justify the performance of these revenue agencies, in relation to indicating how much has been spent over the particular year in collecting the tax, so that we can disaggregate it and get a clearer picture of our revenue agencies' performance.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the tools that these agencies use do have a number of difficulties, particularly in relation to tax administration. There is now a consolidation of almost all the aspects of tax, from gift tax to capital gains to income tax, in which you have a common administrative framework.
When you add that to the new cost structure that is supposed to deal with tax appeals, you will see that even the VAT and CEPS all converge, at the level of the courts, as elements of tax administration. But you begin to see that there is a legal framework that is not the same for most of them and, Mr. Speaker, I will just draw attention to one.
For instance, one is not clear in his mind when you arrive at the high court with a tax appeal - the suspension effect in relation to VAT as against income tax. We are quite clear that in relation to income tax, a particular percentage of the tax that is due has to be paid as a precondition for you to be heard on appeal at the tax court. Unfortunately, we are not clear in our minds, in relation to VAT, whether that suspension effects happens; because there is no indication as to what payment will be done in relation to VAT before you can actually go to be heard on appeal.
I think the need for harmonizing this particular regime, in relation to objections and appeals is very clear. This will put most of the tax administration agencies in the proper state for efficient collection of tax.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs/ Majority Leader (Mr. F. K. Owusu- Adjapong) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that after we have looked at any of the Estimates we begin to suggest that there should be more money for that particular agency. From yesterday, the other day, that is all we have been doing; which means that we are urging these revenue agencies to find a way of increasing the size of the cake.
That means, they need to work a bit harder; not that they are not working hard, but they should work a bit harder so that
rose
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, do you have a point of order?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on
a point of order. I heard our able Majority Leader attempting to clothe himself with jurisdiction to interpret the law. He went further to say that that is the law and that is it. Mr. Speaker, in consonance with the 1992 Constitution, I am afraid the Majority Leader does not have the power to tell us what is the law and how the law should be interpreted.
Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong 1:10 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, let me repeat. This is what is stated in the law. And I repeat it, that it is the law.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have all virtually agreed that we need more money from these agencies. I believe with
the explanations we are seeking from the Minister, there should be no problem in all of us agreeing that we demand more money from them, and therefore he should approve the little that has been given to them.
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
The Minister will
have the opportunity to wind up.
rose
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Yes, hon. Member for Sene?
Mr. Felix Twumasi-Appiah (NDC - Sene) 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I stand to support the motion on the floor and I am particularly happy about the fact that if you look at paragraph 3.2, a percentage has been earmarked to be retained by the revenue agencies for their self-use, particularly when it would help boost their morale and serve as motivation for them to collect more taxes.
But Mr. Speaker, I would want to make one observation here. It however beats my imagination to note why in a developing country like Ghana we still are collecting import-based duties and taxes under the CIF based regime. What it means is that we are contributing to the collapse of our insurance agencies.
That is, in any developing country one would realize that the insurance factor of their taxes is made to be paid inward, that is, country of domicile and not outside it. This is because when insurance is paid outside the country of domicile it means that the country creates more jobs for other insurance companies abroad, collapsing the native insurance companies, and by so doing reducing taxes that would otherwise have come to the state -- and allowing them to go elsewhere:
I would want to recommend to the Deputy Minister for Finance and

Economic Planning that steps should be taken to ensure that at least insurance on import-based items are paid in Ghana here and not abroad.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion on the floor.
Minister for Education and Sports (Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo) 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this House, in its wisdom in making this law for allowing the revenue agencies to retain a portion of their income, used the words “up to”.
Mr. Speaker, in practice the three agencies have never even used the same figures. Whereas VAT went up to 2.75, IRS was 2.5 and CEPS was about 2.6. Because, it depends on your mode of operation, your mode of collection. When you go to CEPS, they are charging import VAT which is a very easy way of raising the resources. Goods arrive and you just add twelve and a half per cent of VAT on the goods. Your effort in the collection is very little.
It is different from VAT itself which would move from shop to shop, factory to factory to try and make a collection. So we give VAT a higher percentage than the rest. But as long as we do not exceed the three per cent, Mr. Speaker, we are within the law.
So when we come here seeking a figure, that figure is not even a specific percentage, it is an average we are dealing with. Because in practice, the three agencies have different percentages but none of them ever exceed three per cent, because the law says up to three per cent; and as long as you are within the three per cent, Mr. Speaker, you are within the law.
Therefore the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning in his wisdom would
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
The last contributor, yes hon. Member for Nabdam.
Mr. Moses A. Asaga (NDC - Nabdam) 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion - [Interruption] - Yes, to support the motion for the allocation that is being made for the revenue agencies. And I am also very happy that hon. P. C. Appiah-Ofori has raised this issue about the percentage we are holding for each of the revenue agencies.
I think that it was good that he came up with these issues so that we would be able to know for each revenue agency what percentage is being allocated rather than
just an average, a weighted average, which some revenue agencies may misapply to think that this is what they are entitled to as far as the weighted average is concerned.
But I still think that even though the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has the discretion to be able to raise an average up to three per cent, it would also be prudent enough if, maybe, Parliament or the Finance Committee is informed about the rates of the retention.
Otherwise, we might have calculated something for them based on this budget only for the Minister to go and raise the retention on his own, and that would then distort the figures approved by Parliament.
rose
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Yes, Minister for Education and Sports?
Mr. Osafo-Maafo 1:10 p.m.
On a point of information. Mr. Speaker, this budget drastically reduced taxes. Corporate tax was brought down from thirty-two to twenty-eight to twenty-five; and other taxes came down. Personal income tax also came down. So it is not really right to say that if revenue goes up then it is coming from tax increases, when open
taxes were reduced here in this House.
Mr. Asaga 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether he does not understand the word ‘partly'. I said partly; the increase in revenue was also because of increase in taxes. Yes, increases in tax rates and also introduction of new taxes. The National Reconstruction Levy did not exist; the petroleum tax agencies did not exist. So if we have collected more, it is not just by efficiency. This is what I am trying to say.
Dr. A. A. Osei 1:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend and Colleague is grossly misleading the House. Mr. Speaker, this Parliament as far as I know, is reviewing a Budget Statement which has no tax increases whatsoever. Now, if he is going back four years and taking note that this Parliament brought in the National Reconstruction Levy, that is a different matter.
There are significant tax reductions. Personal income taxes were reduced drastically from 28 per cent to 25 per cent. So when he is talking about tax increases, when we are dealing with tax decreases, I do not know whether it is the choice of words that is confusing him, but there are clearly tax decreases.
So to say that revenue has gone up because of tax increases is misleading the House. As a matter of fact, last year, taxes went up as a result of the decrease in corporate income tax rate. So he should be saying the proper thing to the House.
Mr. Asaga 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I still
maintain what I am saying because in reference to the tax revenues, we were giving praises to the revenue agencies and we made the comparison that on average from the year 2000 up to the year 2005, taxes or collection of taxes have been increasing. I am saying that the increases
Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Hon. Member, go ahead
and wind up, please.
Mr. Asaga 1:20 p.m.
So Mr. Speaker, I think
that we still need to look at their efficiency, measure them not only by when we have increased and introduced taxes but when we have also plugged the loopholes.
On this basis, I support the amount allocated to the revenue agencies and hope that they will perform better.
For example, last year, we got about ¢13 billion of import duty from the Paga border. I do not think that for this same year we have been able to get ¢13 billion, and nobody is asking the question why are we no longer getting ¢13 billion from the Paga border, as they did very well in 2004. And the reason was that there was no cotton import into Ghana because the cotton or the textile industries were doing a little bit better.
Because of the collapse of some of the textile companies, this year cotton into Ghana has reduced and that is why the Paga situation has also changed. So I am just putting things in context so that we know all aspects of it and not just to be lauding ourselves that we have done well, we have done well.
Prof. G. Y. Gyan-Baffour 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, let me first of all thank all my hon. Friends on both sides for the advice and suggestions that were made with respect to tax collection in the country. We appreciate all those concerns and remarks.
But Mr. Speaker, let me just clarify the
point that, yes, the law says that all these revenue agencies should retain up to 3 per cent of their collections. But Mr. Speaker, just as the former Minister for Finance and Economic Planning explained, these percentages are based on the difficulties or otherwise of tax collection relating to each of these agencies; and where tax collection is easier, their percentage is relatively lower than where it is difficult to collect.
And what the Minority side actually said also is true to the extent that there is a correlation between the number of people paying taxes and the cost of collecting taxes. That is what is actually reflecting in the percentages in the various tax agencies. But then the figures that we see here are not actually either 25 per cent or 2.5 per cent or 3 per cent of the gross tax collected. It is actually a percentage of the gross net -- the refunds.
So it is actually a percentage of the net taxes that are collected. But the figures that you see in there which were multiplied by 2.5 and therefore gave us ¢600 billion is actually based on the gross and not the net. So that is where the difference is actually coming from.
Mr. Speaker, we know of the issue as to whether taxes are increasing not because of efficiency, or whether because of maybe new taxes. This is also something that probably we have to rethink about because if the taxes increase in tandem with the growth in the economy -- if the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows faster than it used to be then of course, we have more resources coming in that are taxable. And therefore, the increase in taxes may be due to efficiency and may also be due to the fact that the economy is growing faster than it used to do in the past.
Mr. Speaker, to the extent that its overall revenue is growing, maybe isolating a particular border to show a decline in that border may be probably because there has been a shift in the
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, may we now move to motion no. 11.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 1:20 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion so ably moved by the Minister and in so doing to read the Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on Thursday, 10th November 2005 presented to the House, the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2006 financial year.
Mr. Speaker subsequently referred the Annual Estimates for the year 2006 of the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City to the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism in pursuant to Standing Orders 140(4) and 159 of the
House.
2.0 Terms of Reference
The Committee was requested to critically analyze the annual estimates of the Sector Ministry and report to the House.
3.0 Deliberations
In response to this, the Committee met and deliberated on the Annual Estimates with the Minister for Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City (MOTMCC), Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the Deputy Minister, Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, a Director at the Ministry, and other officials of the Ministry including Directors of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Hotel Catering and Training Institute (HOTCATT).
Officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning were also present. The Committee is grateful for their useful contributions.
4.0 Reference Documents
The Committee in its deliberations referred to the following:
1. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
2. Standing Orders of the House.
3. The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2006 Financial Year.
5.0 Mission and Objective
The Minis t ry of Tour ism and Modernization of the Capital City exists to formulate policies, which will create the enabling environment for Tourism to contribute to the achievement of Ghana's Socio-economic goals, and to coordinate
and harmonize activities that impinge on the orderly development of Accra into a modern 21st Century city. 6.0 Implementing Agencies
The main implementing agencies of the Ministry remain the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Hotel and Catering Training Institute (HOTCATT).
7 . 0 E x p e n d i t u r e E s t i m a t e s for Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City
(MOTMCC)
The Ministry will undertake the following major activities and programmes under the GPRS II:
Continuation of the construction of the remaining 11 Tourist Receptive Facilities to be located in the Volta, Upper East, Northern, Ashanti and Eastern Regions to improve visits and spending, thereby creating employment and income in the communities.
Other activities to be undertaken by the Ministry are:
a) Accelerate integrated community- based tourism development and promotion through the following activities:
Identify additional tourism attractions
Develop land-use plans in the community to attract private investments
Sensitize the community on how to be tourist-friendly
Ensure the environments in
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 1:40 p.m.
African countries being featured on CNN and so on, and it is also good that Ghana is also able to feature and not hide behind the “lack of funds”.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry has in the last couple of years engaged in constructing receptive facilities which would provide

visitors - information desks, catering conveniences, and your Committee found this initiative very laudable. We urge the Ministry to continue to establish these receptive facilities across the country. And we hope it would spur private investment on in some of our tourist sites.

tourism industry, even though we realize the huge potential that it has. That is a clear contradiction that needs to be addressed.

Mr. Speaker, in that connection, therefore, I think that our development economists in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning especially should begin to rethink the importance that they attach to this industry. This is one industry which, if we harness properly, can indeed rake in lots of foreign exchange. And in fact, as the Minister said, there are sleeping giants within this subregion - Nigeria, for example, suddenly is beginning to diversify its economy and it is beginning to place a lot of premium in tourism development.

When this sleeping giant fully awakes and we do not put our acts together, Ghana should forget it. This is because for all the things that we have, Nigeria has so much also, apart from the Forts that we have in abundance that they cannot compete with. So it is very important that we get up and focus and ensure that we place ourselves in a position that we can always maintain the competitive advantage that we have.

Mr. Speaker, in this connection I want to suggest that tourism development -- In fact, the tourism development programme of the country is not and must not be seen as a Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City's programme only. It must be seen as a national programme; it must be seen as a sector-wide programme. So various Ministries, especially the infrastructure- providing Ministries should harmonise and synchronise their programmes with that of the Tourism and Modernisation

of the Capital City Ministry so that the infrastructure that needs to be developed to support the industry can be developed.

This annual ritual of we coming here

to bemoan the inadequate infrastructure is not helping anybody and it is making us appear as if we are not serious in pushing our tourism industry forward.

Mr. Speaker, I would want to use this opportunity also to urge the Ministry - Recently, we are hearing about some of the evils associated with the industry, with the homosexual activity, et cetera. I think, as a nation, we must make a clear choice. Perhaps we should be con-centrating more on the up-market segment of the industry so that we avoid wholesale tourism promotion. But for us to effectively focus on the up-market segment would require that if it is eco-tourism that we want to develop, we move on all fours to ensure that we provide all that it takes for us to make Ghana an eco-tourism destination.

The historical tourism that we have, we must provide the resources in order to ensure that we become the place of choice for those activities. That is the only way we can fully concentrate on that segment of the market that carries little risk as far as paedophiles and all those other negative forces that are associated with the industry are concerned.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that early in the year some additional resources would be made available, especially when we realise that the investment budget of the Ghana Tourist Board, for example, the releases are about 75 per cent negative variance. This is not good enough. People have been thinking that the tourism-related agencies make money. No. We must accept that tourism is a service-providing industry; and we are helping these agencies to provide the services that would position

On the modernization of the capital city, Mr. Speaker, your Committee observed that

tourism is very keenly affected by the sum total of the conditions in the country -- issues like security, hygiene, sanitation, the state of roads, the state of infrastructure; all of these have a huge bearing on the state of tourism in the country. So when the Ministry of Tourism was given the additional responsibility of the modernization of the capital city, the hope was that it will give the Ministry a very good platform to influence the development of the capital city, to start with, in terms of providing the optimal conditions for tourism.

Your Committee observed that it does not seem the Ministry has been very successful in impacting on the modernization of Accra. And if you look at the budget that was allocated to the Ministry for modernization purposes, it is about ¢100 million. It shows clearly that the Ministry may not be able to play any significant role in influencing the modernization of Accra.

Your Committee is of the firm belief that with the current sorry state of Accra, in terms of the filth, the overcrowding, disorder, the congestion, the noise, the pollution and so on, we need a more focused attention to be brought on the modernization of Accra, which is touted as the gateway to West Africa.

Mr. Speaker, your Committee concluded after critically examining the Budget Estimates, that the MOTMCC should have approval to spend the sum of ¢39,563 million for its activities in the year 2006.

Question proposed.
Mr. Daniel K. Abodakpi (NDC - Keta) 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor and urge my Colleagues to overwhelmingly approve this paltry sum of money that has been allocated to the Ministry.
Listening to the Minister's presen-tation clearly gives a certain impression and indication
that as a country, as a Government, we lack commitment towards the development of the
Mr. F. W. A. Blay (CPP - Ellembelle) 1:50 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I also rise to add my voice to those advocating that we vote for the motion.
Mr. Speaker, I have said it here before that it is unfortunate the kind of emphasis we put on the Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City. I agree
with the hon. Member who spoke earlier, hon. Dan Abodakpi, that we appear not to take tourism in this country very seriously and, indeed, if one looks at the report itself, one gets a little bit sad. It is one of the thinnest reports that has been given, precisely because there has not been much you could talk about.
Indeed, I listened to the hon. Minister when he was moving the motion. I nearly thought that he was not doing that with much enthusiasm, precisely because there is not much meat to the report and the kind of emphasis needed for this sector.
Mr. Speaker, next to agriculture and probably mining, tourism comes as the biggest foreign exchange earner for this country, even in spite of the very little effort that Ghana has been putting into it. I have been told that the growth rate of tourism in terms of its contribution to the economy of this country is about, averagely, 11 per cent.
When you talk about the growth rate in the economy itself, it hovers around four (4) to six (6) per cent. It means that this is the fastest growing sector in our economy as against agriculture and mining. Indeed, it is not only Ghana. In all other countries in the world including Japan, United Kingdom and America, tourism is either first or second in terms of its contribution towards the economy of those countries.
If you even come to Africa, Kenya and Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and some other places, South Africa also and Mozambique, quite recently, tourism is playing a very significant role in promoting their economy. I am even told that in 40 countries, that is, the least developed countries all over the world, tourism is the first, number one, in terms of contributing towards the economy; and we are among those countries.
However, we have been depending
only on old cocoa and mining -- mining which even does a lot of damage to the environment. One, of course, is not saying that we should not engage in mining. But if we emphasise on tourism and ensure that Ghana becomes a tourism destination sector as against other countries, indeed, if you come to the sub- region, West Africa, apart from Senegal, The Gambia, we might have the most competitive resources and pray that if we harness them very well, we stand to gain.
We have been told that we have been earning $1 billion a year and we expect to earn about $1.2 billion next year. This is nothing to write home about. Indeed, Kenya earns about $7 billion; South Africa earns over $30 to $40 billion. So we still can. Like it has been said, we have the competitive advantage. Apart from eco-tourism, if we want to really sell our country in terms of tourism to those our black brothers in the diaspora, we have that advantage. It is not gore. We have been told about 700 or so - It talks about 40 people - A thousand people would come to this destination. And indeed, when you consider the numbers even, one would say that about 50 per cent are those of our own kind, Ghanaians who are returning home. The rest may be businessmen and so on and so forth. There is very little to talk about really making efforts to bring about tourism.
The Chairman, when moving his report, did suggest to the Ministry that we should find alternative means of really advertising tourism on the CNN. One slot may cost about $120,000 or even more. Nothing has been provided here. Mr. Speaker, nothing has been provided here for that and we are talking about alternative means of advertising our country on the CNN or BBC. I find it strange that we cannot even find it - nothing has been provided.

As my very good friend, hon. Abodakpi said, in terms of even investment, 75 per cent in terms of negative was provided. For modernization of Accra, ¢100 million was provided and with this, we say we want to promote the growth of tourism in our country. To make it earn for us what indeed we deserve to earn we can do it as fast as possible, maybe more than agriculture or any other sector.

Mr. Speaker, we have said it here, that we need to change our mindset. If we do not do so, it is sad. This is a goldmine and we are not doing much about it, and it is multi-sectoral - roads and so forth, sanitation, environment; we can link up. But if we want to decide, to focus on it, we need to empower the Ministry, other than that we are really joking. We come with only this report.

Talking about the Tourist Board, it even does not have an office; it is now that it is being given an office. It is a joke, Mr. Speaker. I would not say that next year round, those who are really planning the economy and allocating resources, need to put more emphasis on this sector, other than that, I am afraid, we are not doing well for ourselves.

On that note, I support the motion.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

(Mr. A. Osei-Adjei): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor. But I want to recognize one thing which the Committee actually said. It says here -- and with your permission, I beg to quote:

“The Ghana Tourist Board is the ultimate enforcement agency of standards in the hospitality industry
Mr. F. W. A. Blay (CPP - Ellembelle) 1:50 p.m.
And so we need a very strong political will to be able to make the tourism industry what we expect it to be. And so we need to conform to the challenges with this national commitment.
In Indonesia for example, when they decided that they wanted to promote their tourism industry, right from the national to the community level, the mindset was changed and everybody turned into tourism. In Ghana it is not the same and so we need to reinforce our political will and change our mindset and ensure that we make tourism a growth sector for us. In doing so, maybe, we have to look at the industry strategy by way of hotel development policy. If we are not careful, Accra is going to be choked and we have to initiate certain policies that might attract investors to locate even outside Accra. So we would need a strategy by way of hotel development strategy. We might also put in more incentives to attract investors to move outside Accra.
Mr. Speaker, your Committee in its report, I think that is page 5, section (d) says that the Ministry would vigorously promote domestic tourism by improving the organization of national and regional festivals and events. I am very pleased with this statement and I want to suggest, that we have one product that we could integrate into our tourism programmes and really make a showcase in Africa; and that is cocoa.
Mr. Speaker, cocoa has been talked about and recently it has been talked about in this House with all the seriousness; and I am just thinking, why can we not have a national cocoa day? Why can we not have a national cocoa day as a major tourist event in this country? We sit in Parliament and talk about cocoa, but we go to the cafeteria to take tea; cocoa is not even served there; and I am just wondering where we are getting to. And so I would suggest to the Ministry to look at the

cocoa day as a major tourist event.

There are places where they have ice and they have been able to use ice as a national event, and people from all walks of life go to see ice. We could also use cocoa and make something out of cocoa.

With this contribution, I support the Motion.

2. 00 p.m.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon. Members, we shall have extended Sitting.
Mrs. Agnes A. Chigabatia 1:50 p.m.
(NPP - Builsa North): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion for the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City.
Mr. Speaker, if you agree, the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City is a Ministry that projects the cultural activities of Ghana -- our beaches, our festivals, game reserves. And the same Ministry employs and trains people into the industry. So I believe that with this peanut -- There is a popular saying in Ghana that we use fish to catch fish. This Ministry needs money to make money and I do not think the thirty-nine billion cedis is the money the Ministry needs to make money. I would therefore plead, as we are trying to approve this, with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to see whether there is a surplus somewhere to assist them.
I wish to emphasise that there are a lot of tourist attractions still lying idle. Mr. Speaker, this is free information and I am not going to charge for it. I want to tell the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City that in the Upper East Region we have idle spots still lying down; when we go to Upper East Region, we talk about the Paga crocodiles. Paga crocodiles
are not the only things you see at Paga.
We have this thing -- and I do not know whether the Ministry has discovered it. We have the slave bowl rock. It is a rock with some spotless carvings in it and it was believed that during the slave trade, that was where the food for slaves were being placed for them to eat. Before you go to that place -- a car cannot go there. You have to go by foot or you go by motorbike or you go by a bicycle. This is something very vital and I think when we pick it up it will go a long way.
We also have the magic drum rock. That is a rock by itself. It is just lying down and if you strike once you get a lot of tunes on it. That one too is lying down and it can make money for Ghana and we have not seen it.
In the Builsa District we have this chains they used for the slaves and due to the bravery of the Builsa people, we fought and conquered them. We have those chains and no one is asking for them. So I would plead that these areas, these virgin areas in the Upper East Region, if the money is approved and as we are still looking for more money, they should go up to the Upper East Region and see how best they can take these tourist attractions in order to create more money avenues for Ghana.
With this, I plead with my hon. Colleagues to approve the money allocated to the Ministry.
Thank you.
Mrs. Alice Teni Boon - (NDC - Lambussie) 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to support the motion on the floor and I urge all my hon. Colleagues to support this very important Ministry. But Mr. Speaker,
before I go ahead, I want to also say that it would not be out of place after hearing a lot on the budget of the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City, for culture to be added to the Ministry of Tourism.
I want to re-echo it that it would be really better that tourism goes along with culture. It is like it has been stripped of something very important that belongs to tourism and I feel that it would be proper that the two marry and go together. Any time I tried examining tourism without culture, it looked to me like a very handsome man in the midst of ladies but who cannot perform. So I think that we should do everything to get tourism and culture to work together so that it can perform.
I also think that in this country, at certain times we overlook certain things. If you critically look at tourism, in most countries, tourism is the high income earner for those countries. We have heard it, most hon. Members have said it. Senegal, Gambia -- Even Gambia, this small country, its tourism is well patronized because they have developed their tourist centres. So I do not see why we cannot do the same.
Mr. Speaker, almost every year we talk about these same things and it is the same story. As my hon. Sister rightly said, we use fish to catch fish and I think you sow before you can reap. So I do not think it would be out of place if we try to invest into tourism. We have seen other countries and they have done it. I have always cited Malaysia. We took off almost at the same time with Malaysia and Malaysia has been able to do it. Why can we not do it? We can also do same and do better.
As hon. Chigabatia said, the hon. Minister asked every constituency to get its attractive tourist centres for the Ministry. They compiled these things
years and years back and nothing is being done. This is because they do not have the financial support; there are no funds for them to do these things and if they do not have funds to do these things, certainly, people would not be able to visit such sites. It is the old same tourist centres that we have. Most Ghanaians are tired and fed up with the old tourist sites.
The last time I was talking to my children and said we need to go on sight- seeing they asked, mummy where? We have gone to almost all the places, the rest there are not good. Kids are saying this, how much more adults? Let us see how best we can develop our tourist sites.
Look at the beaches. If you go along our beautiful beaches and you have visitors and take them round they tell you, Ghana is blessed. We have rich tourist centres and we can make good use of such centres but the hon. Minister's hands are tied. The man has no funds to develop, so what would he do? He is just looking at it; he has the ideas but what can he do? I think that we need to change.
We need to look at what we would do so that at the end of the day we would be able to reap back what we have sown. I do not think tourism will be able to fail Ghana when Gambia is doing it, when Senegal is doing it and when even Nigeria is beginning to develop their sites. We are brothers and we are still sitting down looking at it. Anytime we come, the money is not enough. I do not think that it is good enough. Let us move away. We need money. We should use any avenue at all that we can apply so that we can get money; so I think that there is the need.
We have talked about this HOTCATT.
Mrs. Alice Teni Boon - (NDC - Lambussie) 1:50 p.m.


properly, certainly, if I come to eat bad food here and I go, I will not come back. If I am a Ghanaian and I go to a hotel and I am not properly served, certainly I will not go to that hotel again. So there is the need for us to have this training such that they will be well trained, serve people better in order that the people will appreciate what is being done here so that they can also send it outside to others for people to visit Ghana.

People are prepared to come but certain times they complain a lot about our services. It is an open thing, it is very clear and we know that we are not up to expectation. People are doing better than us and we know that we used to showcase examples for other countries to take but now we are backsliding. I do not think it is good enough for us.

At certain times when I think about it I get so hurt because you are proud that you are a Ghanaian and you have visitors but you cannot openly go out with them because we have garbage here, we have filth there. But if the hon. Minister said he is modernizing the capital city, does he have enough funds to do that? Is he really doing that? What is preventing him from doing it? It all boils down to funding and this Ministry should be looked at again.

Tourism used to be second highest income earner for Ghana but now I do not even know where we are. I am sure tourism is not even fourth -- to be frank -- and I think that we can do better than that.

Mr. Speaker, I know time is not on our side and I want to plead that the list that he has compiled now, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning -- the hon. Minister has a very tall list with good rich tourist centres. He wants to develop them, please, give him the necessary support.

Let him develop these centres and let us

showcase Ghana properly; let people come to patronize the good things that we have here. Let them see our culture, let them see the rich culture we have and at the end of the day culture marries it and, it would be better for us; and we would be doing better than we are doing. I would not like to take more time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Hennric David Yeboah (NPP -- Afigya-Sekyere East) 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion, that the House approves the sum of ¢39,563 million for the services of the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City.
Mr. Speaker, a lot more has been said about this Ministry but with this peanut budgetary allocation, I think the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City will still be where it is. Out of 230 constituencies, there is one tourist centre that wanted to be developed by the Ministry of Tourism but with this peanut they cannot do it.
For example, in my constituency, where Okomfo Anokye who brought the Golden Stool that the Ashantis worship -- Even the British knows that when the Golden Stool was commanded from the sky, they had wanted to take the Golden Stool and we refused and it landed one of our kings to Seychelles Island; he comes from my constituency. He has created a lot of tourist centres but none of them has been developed. For example, at Wiamoase, they have a place called Bonkobuo, where if you go there, during the Akwasidae, you will hear people singing and dancing but nothing has been done to attract tourists.
Mr. Speaker, to me, PANAFEST is not up to international standards because at the end of the year when PANAFEST starts, the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City's allocation is finished, so the promotion of PANAFEST is not big. For example, to me, every PANAFEST, we would have to invite some of the celebrities to come and grace it so that they will make it big to attract a lot of tourists.
Tourists come here and they do not want to visit the zoo because in America or in the United Kingdom there are big, big zoos that have more animals even bigger animals than here; forests they do not have, there are a lot of waterfalls. They would want to see the historical places and events.
Last July, Mr. Speaker, I was in Chicago and three documentaries of Nana Yaa Asantewa were showing while Hotel Rwanda was making, movie for Rwandans.
Mr. Speaker, if we come together to create something like Nana Yaa Asantewa Millennium Award, at least every year, the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs will join with the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City to make a plaque stool to name it Yaa Asantewaa Millennium Award to invite celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Dina Ross to come for it.
Mr. Speaker, it will boost our tourism sector. Women in the army, especially, Mr. Speaker, some of them are Generals and they never led a war even in America. But Nana Yaa Asantewa has been able to lead a war against the British, which is in the British archives. So I think if we try to bring her in the domain of tourism, Ghana will boost its economy in the tourism centre.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. George Kuntu Blankson (NDC -- Mfantsiman East) 2:10 p.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to support the motion on the floor for the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by saying here that if really Ghana, we are serious as a country, and we would want to develop tourism, it will give us a very good standard in this country whereby we can consider the internally-generated funds. Because we cannot depend upon the Government alone to allocate resources for the services of Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City. Because when we look at other nations who have made it, they also resorted to their internal revenue generation.
For example, we cannot separate the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City from the National Commission on Culture. Because when we talk about tourism, then we are talking about culture and when we are able to identify all the historical sites, there and then we can create an environment where the tourists, when they come to the country, they can visit those sites and contribute towards the operation of the Ministry.
Mr. Speaker, we can also not talk about development in tourism negating the environmental situation because when tourists come into the country and they visit areas where there is a lot of filth, where will they be able to rest? Now we can see that when we go to Kumasi, unlike previously you cannot hear anything about cholera in Kumasi. But now we can see cholera outbreak in Kumasi and all parts of this country. And I think it is an eyesore
for foreigners to visit this country and come and contribute towards our tourist development.
So I would urge the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City to take a cue and a serious view of this situation because now we have reached a stage that our cocoa cannot support the economy. So the obvious sector, which can support the economic situation of the country, is the tourism sector. So I would urge the Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City also to make sure that all allied agencies like the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and others are brought on board. Because there is the need for a holistic approach where all allied agencies can come and assist. Other than that we will be where we are because we will only talk about tourism without taking a step and it will not help the country.
With these few words, I thank Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity.
Deputy Attorney-General (Mr. Joe Ghartey): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion for the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City. And in doing so, Mr. Speaker, I would not want to sound like a broken record to say that the allocation is not enough. But we all know that we would prefer bigger allocations for all the sectors, not only the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City.
But we also all know that we can only share what we have. But there are two things in this that caught my eye, which I think I must bring to the attention of this House as well as to the hon. Minister for Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City. He talked about three key areas in which they tend to focus; he talked about cocoa, gold, and kente trades.
Mr. Speaker, within the next two or
Mr. George Kuntu Blankson (NDC -- Mfantsiman East) 2:20 p.m.


three years, a number of events are coming together to converge in Ghana, which will propel Ghana to the limelight. I am talking about -- We know that the qualification of the Black Stars and sports bring our name to everybody's lips; I am talking about the 50th Anniversary of this country; I am talking about the AU Conference and it concerns me a little and I wonder whether this should be something that should be taken by the Ministry or should be seen as a natural project.

But historical tourism, aesthetic tourism -- I do not see it appearing very much here. What I see in Ghana is that there is a lot of emphasis on the slave trade. There is a lot of emphasis there and after that some emphasis on Kwame Nkrumah. So what we have is that we will have Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and we then have the entire slave as if between that period we had no history. There has, in my humble opinion been heritage tourism which is something that will make us proud; and history is not only the slave trade history.

Our history is not only the slave history; our history is more than that. Kwame Nkrumah was a great man but before Kwame Nkrumah there were other great men and after Kwame Nkrumah, there have been other great men. Even in Parliament House, I see kids come around all the time and I know that Mr. Speaker, a young boy came to see you once and said that he wanted a picture taken with you but is there enough material even in Parliament for people who want to come and see our democracy progress?

Why can we not have a picture gallery along the walls by the Osu Cemetery? Why can we not turn the old Parliament House into a House of democracy so that when one visits Kwame Nkrumah, one

goes across the street to the old Parliament House to see the various Speakers of Parliament and have information there?

My hon. Colleague said that her children have visited everywhere; maybe, she is privileged because I think that domestic tourism is rather underutilized. We need to see our own country promoted and I think that this Ministry is in a unique position to take the advice of the Committee which recommends the Minister to pursue alternative financial resources to enable the Ministry to engage in appropriate international market. Not only for Ghana as a whole but for example, this 50th anniversary, we can take it as a national project and try and involve corporate bodies so that everybody here will know that the first country which became independent - the black African country which became independent has arrived at 50 years.

We are still at one place, we are not fighting each other, we are democratic, we are a peaceful country. We disagree, we shout at each other but we are one country. It makes all black people proud. I am told that at the time of independence, and at that time I was not born, that every African who was in the United Kingdom at that time said he or she was a Ghanaian. I am told that every African in the United Kingdom at the time of independence said he was a Ghanaian.

It is about time that we used our 50th anniversary once again to become the black star of Africa. All the things are moving in our favour and it is important that we take advantage of it and I wonder the budget of one Ministry can take advantage of that and whether it should not be a national project, with the Ministry playing its role which is to facilitate tourism.

With those few words, Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much for your kind opportunity to contribute to the motion.
Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank hon. Members very much for their contributions. The contributions have been very wise and useful and we are taking them all on board and hope that we shall be able to live long and see what it will come to. Mr. Speaker, I will also like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to move the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢39,563 million for the services of the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City for the 2006 fiscal year.
MOTIONS 2:20 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Francis A. Agbotse) 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical and Operational) Rules, 2005 L.I. 1816.
1. Introduction
Mr. Speaker, the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical and Operational) Rules, 2005 L.I. 1816, was laid in Parliament on Friday, 27th November 2005 and subsequently referred to the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation for consideration and report pursuant to article 11 (7) of the 1992 Constitution
and Standing Order 166 (2) and (3) of Parliament.
2. Deliberations
The Committee was assisted in its deliberations by Mr. Alfred K. Ofosu Ahenkorah, the Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Mr. Andrew Lawson, Acting Director of the Energy Foundation and technical teams from their organizations. Representatives from the Public Utilities Regulation Commission (PURC), Ghana Union of Trade Associations (GUTA) and the Ghana Standards Board were also present. The Committee is grateful for their assistance.
3. Reference Documents
In considering the Instrument, the Committee had recourse to the under- listed documents:
i. The 1992 Constitution;
ii. The Standing Orders of Parliament;
iii. The Energy Commission Act, 1997, Act 541.
4.0 Background
The Energy Commission Act, 1997, Act 541 in section 28 empowers the Energy Commission to prescribe the technical and operational rules of practice for electricity and natural gas public utilities licensed under the Act and to enforce them uniformly throughout the country. It is in light of this that the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical and Operational) Rules, 2005 L.I. 1816 has been prepared and laid before the House.
The main objective of this Instrument
Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh (NDC - Wa West) 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion and to urge this House to allow it to take effect as had already been explained. Indeed, in doing so too, I would like to say a few words, and the few words are that, this was looked at not only to conform to the law but also to look at how it affects the consumer and the supplier and an interaction by the Committee with these people was exhaustive and all the nitty-gritties were ironed out.
I think that it is a good thing for us to
Mr. K. A. Okerchiri (NPP - Nkawkaw) 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Chairman of the Committee and the earlier contributors, have said it all. The Chairman has succinctly put the matter and it is meant to as it were, straighten up and smoothen the relationship between the producers and the consumers and it does not conflict with the parent legislation and it has also registered the effluxion of time and therefore, I would want to identify with the motion and urge hon. Members to vote for it.
Mr. E. K. Bandua (NDC Biakoye) 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in associating myself with the motion, I only wish to appeal that in fact the law should be enforced because most of the time when these laws are made they are not rigidly enforced, especially in connection with illegal connections. Most of the time the staff of the corporation connive with consumers to do these illegal connections and I will appeal that when such people are identified, they should be disciplined so that people would come to appreciate that there is the need to obey
the laws of the country.
With these few words, I wish to associate myself with the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
we can now adjourn.
Mr. Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Thank you very much.
Hon. Members, the House will now adjourn until tomorrow morning at 10.00 a.m.
Hon. Members, in about two hours time, there will be the Carols Service and I invite as many hon. Members as possible to join me in the celebration.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow at 9.00 a.m. we shall have a meeting of the Business Committee.
ADJOURNMENT 2:20 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 2.30 p.m. till 8th December, 2005 at 10.00 a.m.
    • DO NOT 2:30 p.m.
    ASK FOR 2:30 p.m.
    CREDIT 2:30 p.m.