Debates of 13 Dec 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:03 a.m.
CORRECTION OF VOTES 10:03 a.m.
AND PROCEEDINGS AND 10:03 a.m.
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:03 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:03 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 9th December, 2005 - Pages 1 . . . . . 6 -- [Interruption.]
Mr. E. P. Aidoo 10:03 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want your guidance on the number that we have in the Chamber, whether business can start. I am not sure we form a quorum.. If you look at the number now, we are even less than 60, we are around forty- something or so. So if Mr. Speaker can give directions.
Mr. Speaker 10:03 a.m.
It is all right now. Pages 6 . . . . 12? -- [Pause.] [No correction was made in the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 9th December, 2005.]
Hon. Members, we do not have any Official Report. Item 3 Statements. Hon. Member for North Dayi? - [Pause.] Hon. Member for Akrofuom constituency? [Pause.] At the Commencement of Public Business - Item 5 - Laying of Payers. The following Papers to be laid.
PAPERS 10:03 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:03 a.m.
Item 5 (c), Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Prof. Gyan-Baffour 10:03 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the report is not yet ready. So if we can stand it down, please?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Very well.

By the Chairman of the Committee --

Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
Mr. F. A. Agbotse 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Paper that has just been laid was by a joint committee, Foreign Affairs and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and I think that should be reflected.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, was this referred to the joint committee?
Mr. Agbotse 10:10 a.m.
We jointly worked on the two of them.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
We have taken note of that.
Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure it is not as straight as that. From the brief I am getting, it was referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee but the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee was brought in. That is what I am being told by the Foreign Affairs Committee. But whatever it is, we would check from the records and see whether it was a joint - [Interruption.] Yes, they worked together, in any case, but it was originally referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
By Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs -
Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Motions, item 6?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we can move to either item 9 or 11 so that I try and sort out -- The hon. Minister
was supposed to bring some papers, I think they are not yet in.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Members, item 9 on the Order Paper - Motions -Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee (Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo (on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee): Mr. Speaker, the Report has not yet been circulated, though it has been laid, so I do not think we can take it now. So if you can please -
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
We shall stand item 9 on the Order Paper down. Hon. Majority Leader?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if item 11 is ready.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee on Finance, is item 11 ready? Are you ready with your Report?
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:10 a.m.
Yes. Mr. Speaker, I rise - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
It is not time yet. We take item 11 on the Order Paper - Motions - Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Finance (Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo (on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee): Mr. Speaker, I rise to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund for an amount of UA17,000,000 for

financing the Export Marketing and Quality Awareness Project may be moved today.
Mr. Moses Asaga 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
MOTIONS 10:10 a.m.
Mr. K. Agyei-Addo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund for an amount of UA17,000,000 for financing the Export Marketing and Quality Awareness Project.
Mr. Speaker, in doing so, I wish to present the Report of your Finance Committee.
1.0 Introduction
The above Loan Agreement was laid in the House on Tuesday, 6th December 2005 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
To consider the agreement the Committee met with the Minister for Food and Agriculture, hon. Ernest A. Debrah, Dr. A. Akoto Osei, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Ministry of Food and Agriculture and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has identified an increase in non-traditional exports as a central element of Ghana's strategy to become a middle-income country by the year 2015. While exports of cocoa and gold remain an important source of economic growth and foreign exchange earning export, diversification is necessary to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction and to minimize the country's vulnerability to external price shocks.
Diversification into the horticultural export industry has the potential to provide the required acceleration in economic growth.
During the last ten years, Ghana experienced significant growth in export of tropical fruits and vegetables. In 1993, the horticultural sub-sector contributed US$7.70 million to the country's foreign exchange earnings. Within the period 1993-2003, that is in 2003 the contribution of the sub-sector grew nearly four-fold to US$29.22 million (40 per cent) of total earnings accruing to non-traditional exports.
Following from this, the Government of Ghana has set a target to increase export earnings from horticultural exports to more than 50 per cent of all total non- traditional export earnings by the year 2010. This will result in an increase of horticultural and processed cassava products exports to more than US$200 million per year.
3.0 Cost of the Project
The total cost of the project is UA18.84 million (US$28.63 million equivalent) made up as follows:
ADF Loan
-- UA17.00

million (US$25.85 million equivalent)

Government of Ghana's contribution -- UA1.84 million (US$2.8 million equivalent) representing 10 per cent.

4.0 Terms and Conditions of the Loan

Loan Amount -- U A 1 7 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 ( U S $ 2 5 . 8 5 million equivalent)

Interest Rate -- No interest charge

Service Charge -- 0.75 per cent per annum on the principal amount of the loan disbursed and outstanding from time to time.

Commitment Charge -- 0.50 per cent per annum on undisbursed amount of the loan.

Grace Period -- 10 years

Repayment Period -- 40 years (exclusive of grace period) commencing from the date of this agreement at the rate of 1 per cent of the principal amount per annum from the 11th to 20th year inclusive and the rate of 3 per cent of the principal amount per annum thereafter. Repayment shall be payable semi-annually on 1st May and 1st November each year.

5.0 Observations

The Committee observed that the project is targeted at increasing total revenue accruing to crop farmers and exporters of cassava producers by the anticipated increase in exports of these non-traditional agricultural products:

The Committee again observed as follows:

that Ghana's main horticultural

export products are pineapple, cashew, papaya, banana, mango, yam and vegetables;

that pineapples are mainly marketed in Europe, where consumers preference has shifted from smooth cayenne (Ghana's main export variety) to MD2 variety grown by Latin American countries; that the total non-traditional sector in Ghana is currently estimated at
APPENDIX 10:10 a.m.
ANNEX II 10:10 a.m.
ASSESSMENT OF TAX LIABILITY 10:10 a.m.
FORMAT 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Moses A. Asaga (NDC -- Nabdam) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion on the Report and to say that what the Vice-Chairman has read is a true reflection of what was discussed at the committee level.
Mr. Speaker, we thought that this loan from the African Development Bank (ADB) was very useful for export diversification because we had always depended on the traditional commodities such as gold and cocoa. But we also have proof of results that diversification
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP - Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the problem we face as a nation is balance of trade deficit. Ghana imports more than it exports and therefore every
Insert Table 9
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP - Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa) 10:20 a.m.
Insert Table 10
year when the Government brings its Budget or final accounts one would find that we have incurred deficits, and the way we would be able to overcome this is to increase export. And so if this facility is going to encourage Ghanaian farmers to produce more and export more in order to reduce our balance of trade deficits, then every hon. Member here should support this motion.

Indeed, if you look at the terms, the loan attracts no interest at all and it is going to be repaid over a period of forty years. Only service charge of 0.75 per cent per annum is going to be charged

and a commitment charge of 0.5 per cent. The moratorium period is ten years; I see this as a gift and we should grab it. So I urge everybody to support the approval of this loan.

Question put and motion agreed to.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we can take item 14.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Members, item 14 - Motions. Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo (on behalf of the Chairman) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the request for tax and duty exemptions totalling UA82,278.06 (US$123,417.09 equivalent) on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies in respect of the implementation of the Nerica Rice Dissemination Project (NRDP) may be moved today.
Mr. Moses Asaga 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Item 15 Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Finance Committee on Request for
RE - NERICA RICE DISSEMINATION PROJECT 10:20 a.m.
ASSESSMENT ON VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT AND 10:20 a.m.
MATERIALS 10:20 a.m.
Minister for Public Sector Reform (Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion. But then, Mr. Speaker, yes, it is a new variety but the news of a new variety is not something really new in the agricultural history of this country.
It is all about production, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, production without a market leads to disincentive on the part of the farmers and on the part of the people who are engaged in the productive activity. But then who also makes up the market? It is all of us.
Mr. Speaker, we go to many of our places and what we see is that we are all buying imported rice. So sometimes we fall on the Government and we say Government should bring a new law to put a tax in place to prevent importation. But who is importing the rice into the country?
R 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Kojo Armah (CPP -- Evalue- Gwira) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and to just say a very simple thing. Usually when issues like this, dealing with credit to farmers, to women and the rest for particular sectors are being considered, when it comes to the actual implementation, we only look at the known areas -- Accra, and in the case of rice, possibly Aveyime and all those places.
Mr. Speaker, in the Western Region, in my own district, we have a very important and significant rice-growing population. Indeed, the inland rice farmers project, we have one in Kangbunli, a wholly Moslem community that produces the typically local Ghanaian brown rice.
I would want to draw the attention of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to this fact and that when it comes to disbursement, just like the hon. Member for Ningo/Prampram said, if the women groups are going to be considered, it should not be limited to the known areas. They should explore further afield. If they would want to make sure that Ghanaian rice takes precedence over the imported rice, it is important that we take a close look at what we do here before we look elsewhere.
Mr. Speaker, with this very small intervention, I support the motion.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion for the approval of the US$123,417.09 equivalent for the Nerica Rice Dissemination Project.
Mr. Speaker, if we look at the Report, page 3, we seem to be arguing as if this is a facility which is going to directly
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Republic of Ghana came through the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning to reduce the import threshold on importation of rice. They did so on poultry too against their own pledge in their manifesto agenda for positive change, against their promises that they were going to reduce rice importation when it was a hundred million US dollars as at 2000.
Today, Mr. Speaker, we are spending more than 300 million US dollars on rice importation alone and this has been facilitated more by Government's bad legislation which they brought, which legislation was that they were reducing the import threshold.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Adenta (Mr. Kwadjo Opare-Hammond), do you have a point of order to raise?
Mr. Opare-Hammond 10:30 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend on the other side just quoted a certain figure,
that we are right now importing rice over 300 million dollars.
Mr. Speaker, if he does not have documentary proof to support it -- [Hear! Hear!] -- we would ask that he should withdraw.
Mr. Speaker, I believe very strongly that it is not true and we are asking that he withdraws that; otherwise he should come with evidence to support what he is saying.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, please continue.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I refer you to page two of your Committee's Report and then to quote the opening paragraph --
“promoting the expansion of upland and hydromorphic areas under the cultivation of high yielding and substantially improved rice as an import substitution commodity.”
Mr. Speaker, we all know basic economic theory about import substitution, that we do so to protect our own local or infant industry. So we make the tariffs high for imported commodities with the economic view that prices will be higher than locally-produced goods.
Mr. Speaker, the statistics available in Ghana is that local domestic production falls short of our consumption requirement in this country. Yet, if the Government, through legislation, will come and encourage the importation of rice by reducing the threshold then we are still saying that we should continue to buy from abroad, we should be subsidizing the farmers who live abroad and not our own domestic production.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief Whip (Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu), do you have any point of order to raise?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is making good points about rice production -- protecting rice farmers in the country -- but he seems in the same breath to be confusing himself and this country.
Mr. Speaker, the document that we have before us really is about tax exemptions on vehicles, as he acknowledges. But to the extent that he says that that is not going to inure to the benefit of rice farmers at all - What is he saying? Is he saying then that we should jettison this agreement? He is confusing himself and misleading the entire country.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, I know you are about to wind up. Kindly wind up.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, rightly so; I am winding up. So Mr. Speaker, if we need to expand the production of rice, if we need to succeed in our import substitution efforts, Government must lead the way; and Government must lead the way with prudent legislation that protects the local Ghanaian rice producers and not reduction of import tariffs to encourage mass importation of rice which in effect - I can see the hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning looking at me with interest - [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, do you have any point of order?
Dr. A. A. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he was talking about local producers. I want him
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Order! Hon. Member for Tamale South, please wind up.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in winding up, whether Miss Cotton did local or “abroad” production, what we know is that the Aveyime Rice Production has collapsed. [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Have you wound up?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, finally, I just think that Government, as I have said, must lead the way; and legislation is one obvious way that we can use to protect and encourage local rice production so that we can improve upon our very bad balance of payment deficits that we have consistently witnessed
With this, I support the motion.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP - Suame) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity just to lend my weight to this Report before the House.
Mr. Speaker, I want to take a cue from what my hon. Colleague who just spoke has said. I believe that, yes indeed, Government is implementing measures to boost rice production, but beyond that we should look at the entire trade and put it into perspective.
Mr. Speaker, as we speak today, if we export our unprocessed cocoa, tariff on it is only 3.5 per cent. If we export semi- processed cocoa, tariff on it is 7 per cent. If we export chocolate, processed and manufactured in Ghana, elsewhere, Mr. Speaker, tariff on it is about 50 per cent. That indeed is unacceptable.
We are fortunate that the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations are still going on; the ACP/EU Partnership
Agreements are still going on. Mr. Speaker, but nothing concrete is being done; and it does appear as if we are not involving Parliament in these crucial negotiations. I believe that is the crux of the matter. Yes, what we are doing today is going to be to the benefit of our local farmers but beyond that, Mr. Speaker, we must take bold steps to make sure that our local rice producers are protected.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority Whip, do you have a point of order?
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my good Friend is misleading this House. He has drawn in WTO Agreement which is ongoing, as if it is going to affect positively whatever is on the floor. First of all, what mandate did we give to the delegation which is in Hong Kong today? Why are we that optimistic that something good is going to come out of the negotiations going on, given the past history of these WTO discussions and the aftermath?
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority Whip, that was not a point of order.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with respect, my hon. Colleague was clearly not listening to what I said so he ended up being clearly tangential to the issues that I was raising.
Mr. Speaker, I said precisely what he was saying that we should involve Parliament in these negotiations; and he stands up and gets very discordant. But I will not respond to him because he was not listening.
Mr. Speaker, the issues that he raised are very germane to this House. I am saying that negotiations are going on now in Hong Kong. And what is the involvement
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief Whip, you may wind up.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
I will do so presently - [Interruption.]
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my point is about relevance. The relevance of all that he is talking about, to the issue before us unless he wants us to know that he has sound, good ideas about what is going on in WTO - what have you - Otherwise, it is of no relevance whatsoever to the issue before us.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority Whip, that is not a point of order at all.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, you are a very wise man. [Laughter!] His interventions are irrelevant. Mr. Speaker, I will just wind up by saying that we need greater involvement. Government needs to take bolder initiatives to protect our farmers, whilst at the same time encouraging Ghanaians to consume locally produced rice.
On that note, Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much for your indulgence.
Majority Leader/Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. Felix K. Owusu-Adjapong) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we all agree that this waiver of taxes should be given, which is the import of the exercise. But reading the Report, I

also see that it is aimed at increasing our yield, our productivity level. If you look at page 2 of the Report, the four bullet points, and the “Observations”, Mr. Speaker, one of the observations is the enhancement of the technical and managerial capacity of about 31,300 families, 1,000 rice farmer groups and 500 women groups to be able to increase their yields. So even though we are talking about waiver of tax on vehicles, we are also talking about how we are going to increase the know-how, the capacity of our people who are involved in this productivity; and that is where I believe we should look at the advantages we get by approving this motion.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the Government's decision on this matter of poultry and rice production, I think there are certain facts we ignore. Before the Government brought the figure of 35/40 per cent, it was around 15 per cent. When Government reduced it, it did not come to the 15 per cent, so even there, there is an increase in taxation level, as Government met it.

But the most important thing is that it is not at all times that you use taxation as a basis for protecting local production. And therefore we must be able to find out for instance, what the Government is doing with the establishment of the Poultry Board which is aimed at ensuring that our efficiency level is high.

At times one cannot just force the people of Ghana to pay a high price when they have an abundant opportunity to buy it at a lower price. So we may have to look at it. But I was very happy with the contribution made by the hon. Minister for Public Sector Reform. I know that apart from being a consultant, he is heavily involved in hotels and therefore for him to encourage us to consume local rice - I

think he should be the first person to get his people to do that.

I want to be told one day that the hoteliers in Ghana, the tourist people are advertising that when one comes to their hotel - They should be able to guarantee that one can eat Ghanaian rice, Ghanaian maize - They should set the ball rolling.

Currently, it is only the Minister for Education and Sports and the Armed Forces that have been promoting them and we think they should be involved. And with this assurance from him that he is going to spearhead the campaign among the hoteliers that they would now advertise Ghanaian rice, the farmers can be bold in investing more in it. I want to recommend that we all endorse this motion.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for Tax and Duty Exemptions totalling

UA82,278.06 (US$123,417.09

equivalent) on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies in respect of the implementation of the Nerica Rice Dissemination Project.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader, which item is the next one?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Spaaker, with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and his deputies around, I believe this is the right time for us to take item 6.
CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL 10:50 a.m.
ESTIMATES 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢18,011,200,000,000.00 for the services of Statutory Payments and Other Government Obligations for the 2006 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, in doing so I would like to call on Prof. Gyan-Baffour to effect some corrections with regard to the figures as they have just been indicated. Mr. Speaker, I do so move, subject to the corrections to be effected by Prof. Gyan- Baffour, the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for Nabdam?
Mr. Moses Asaga 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the correction has not been made yet so I think he is seconding a motion on wrong documents.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, I am waiting for the corrections to be done.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when the hon. Minister moved the motion, he said it was subject to the correction he wanted the Deputy Minister who worked on the subject matter to make. And if you could ask him to correct that figure we would be very grateful.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Let us be sure of the procedure. There has been a motion on the floor and there has been a seconder to the motion. If there are any other amendments, kindly go ahead with the amendments and let us hear you.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if the amendments are going to affect the motion, usually your leave is sought and the amendments are made before the motion is moved. We do not move the motion and start amending it substantially. So that is what people are insisting, that he should make the amendments with your leave and then he can proceed to move the motion. That is the procedure, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
That is so.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what actually happened was that, as you may be aware, the document was handled by the Deputy Minister but the Minister felt that to show respect, once he himself is here, he should effect the correction. That is why he said that there is some amendment to be made. If you would permit, the Deputy Minister would make the amendment and then end up with moving the motion.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning?
Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Prof. G. Y. Gyan- Baffour): Mr. Speaker, I refer to the report of the Committee and in so doing I make some amendment to the motion, that is, instead of ¢18,011,200,000,000.00, it should read ¢16,644,616,000,000.00. Mr. Speaker, that is the amendment that I want to make to the motion. Mr. Speaker, I beg to move.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.


Agyei-Addo): Mr. Speaker, in seconding the motion I hereby wish to present the Report of your Committee. With your indulgence, I would want to read the introduction and the conclusion and having done so I would wish that you instruct the Hansard Department to capture the whole body of the Report as having been read in this House and in its entirety.

1.0 Introduction

The Expendi ture Est imates of Government Financial Obligations for the 2006 fiscal year was laid in the House on 10th November 2005 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House. This followed the presentation of the Government's Financial Policy by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu.

The Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. A. Akoto Osei and his technical team and reports as follows:

2.0 2006 Estimates

The total amount of ¢16,644,660,- 000,000 has been allocated to be expended on the under listed Government Financial Obligations for the 2006 fiscal year.

The Government Obligations include

the Statutory Payments and Other Government Obligations.

S t a t u t o r y Payments

-- ¢13,993,200,000,000.00

External Debt

-- 4,537,400,000,000

Principal/ --

¢3,473,100,000,000

Interest --

¢1,064,300,000,000

Domestic Interest

-- ¢2,426,800,000,000

District Assemblies Common Fund

-- ¢1,204,300,000,000

Transfer to Households --

¢3,340,600,000,000

Pensions --

¢705,900,000,000

Gratuities --

¢409,400,000,000

Social Security (SSNIT) -- ¢711,600,000,000

National Health Fund (NHF)

-- ¢1,513,700,000,000

Education Trust Fund

-- ¢1,386,300,000,000

Road Fund

-- ¢1,068,900,000,000

Petroleum Related Fund

-- ¢28,900,000,000

TOTAL -- ¢13,993,200,000,000

Other Government Obligations -- ¢2,165,460,000,000

Strategic Oil Stocks -- ¢145,000,000,000

VAT Refunds -- ¢100,000,000,000

Outstanding Commitments -- ¢347,000,000,000

Other Transfers -- ¢350,000,000,000

HIPC Financed Expenditure -- ¢455,560,000,000

Repayment of Domestic Debt -- ¢1,167,700,000,000 Redemption of Deferred Interest Payment on inflation indexed Bonds -- ¢86,200,000,000

TOTAL ¢2,165,460,000,000

GRAND TOTAL -- ¢16,644,660,000,000

3.0 Observations and Recommendations

The Committee observed that the assumptions for 2006 on pensions are based on an annual increase of about fifteen per cent (15 per cent).

Gratuities are also based on 2005 projected outturn with an increase of 15 per cent.

The Committee also observed that the projection for the NHF is based on the expected yields from the National Health Insurance Scheme Levy as in the National Health Insurance Act, 2003 (Act 650) (two and a half per cent (2½%) of total expenditure on goods and services) plus two and a half per cent (2½%) of SSNIT contributions.

The National Health Levy is calculated based on the projections on the CEPS (import) and VAT (domestic).

The Committee further observed that Road Fund projection is based on calculations from the petroleum price-build-up formula from the Ministry of Energy (on the assumption of a levy of ¢600 per litre).

Other Petroleum-related Fund comprises Energy Fund Levy, Exploration levy based on computations from the petroleum price-build-up formula from the Ministry of Energy.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.


Strategic Oil Stocks are based on the provision of one cargo costing about US$15 million.

The Committee observed that Other Transfers include the following:

Safety net for deregulation This is based on the net of the Social Impact Mitigation Levy and the Cross-Subsidy Levy. The amount is about the same as year 2005 level.

Refunds to ECG in respect of lifeline consumers of electricity

R e p e t i t i o n o f y e a r 2005 level

Non-Road Arrears

Comprises:

DAFC arrears clearance of ¢53.9 billion;

GETFund arrears clearance of ¢43.1 billion;

Other MDAs commitments and float/discrepancy (procurement and construction) of ¢150 billion.

The Committee noted that VAT Refunds computed as 1.4 per cent (1.4%) of total VAT receipts, is based on the trend for past actual refunds and is adjusted for improved refunds.

The Committee observed that the Repayment of Domestic Debt is based on the fiscal policy objective of reducing the stock of domestic to about 8.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2006.

Attached is the detailed assumption of the 2006 budget projections for the

Ghana Government Financial Obligations (Appendix I).

4.0 Conclusion

The Committee, having carefully e x a m i n e d t h e a s s u m p t i o n s f o r the projections of 2006 statutory expenditure for Government Financial Obligations, recommends to the House to adopt its report and approve the sum of ¢16,644,660,000,000 for Government Financial Obligations for the 2006 financial year.
APPENDIX I 10:50 a.m.
G E T F 10:50 a.m.
DACF 10:50 a.m.
Mr. M. A. Asaga (NDC -- Nabdam) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to this motion. I do support that the figure of ¢16,644,616,000,000.00 mentioned is meant for government statutory obligations which are mandatory for Government to commit those estimates to. It is not like a discretionary budget where Government can decide what to do with it. Therefore, since these are statutory, I think that it is incumbent upon this Parliament to approve the amount that has been allocated.
But there are a few comments. For example, when you look at external debts and domestic debt interest, I think we need to be a little bit worried. I know that in 2000 and 2001 government external debt was almost 5.8 billion dollars; this year we are talking of almost 6.2 billion dollars as our external debt.

At the time there was $5.8 billion external debt it almost came to ¢42 trillion which was labelled opi pi pim pim. Today our external debt in cedi terms could be almost about ¢55 trillion, which means that in cedi terms our external debt has increased and that is why I think we should look at our debt overhang and see whether we are doing the right thing.

Secondly, after having a completion

point on HIPC in 2003 we were all gladdened that our external debt situation would be restructured, but as we stand today we are still committing payment of external debts to the tune of $480 million approximately -- ¢4.5 trillion. Therefore the question is, is it that we did not understand the HIPC relief? What is happening that Ghana should still be paying external debts on an annual basis, at least for this year, to the tune of $480 million? I think that this is something that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning must explain to Ghanaians why after getting HIPC relief we are still paying almost $480 million.

Again, after all these hullabaloo at the spring meeting of the World Bank, with the United Kingdom saying that there is debt forgiveness, debt cancellation and we were drumming and partying, we are still paying $480 million as external debts. Just yesterday there was a controversy about even the cut-off date for the debt forgiveness and I think that these are issues that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning must let Ghanaians understand.

If we have benefited from HIPC which is even being translated as HIPC relief and which is being sent to our various districts for development, how come that we are still paying $480 million as external debts payment? I think he needs to explain to Ghanaians.

With these few words, I support the motion and I ask hon. Members to equally support it.

Question proposed.
Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah (NDC - Upper West Akim) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor.
In doing so, Mr. Speaker, there is something in the Committee's report which is not clear to me. Mr. Speaker, on page 4 of the report, where they have non- road arrears, they are saying that non-
road arrears comprise District Assemblies Common Fund arrears clearance of ¢53.9 billion and GETFund arrears clearance of ¢43.1 billion and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) commitments of around ¢150 billion.
Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why non road arrears should be related to Common Fund arrears, GETfund arrears and other MDAs arrears, so if the Committee Chairman will explain that to me before we move ahead.
Alhaji M. M. Mubarak (NDC - Asawase) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the figure that we have for external debts and domestic interest they are huge sums of money. At the committee, of course, there was discrepancy between the donor component in the budget and what the Committee or the Ministry of Health was to use. In the budget it was ¢838 billion whilst the Ministry received ¢545 billion and there was a difference of about ¢300 billion. When we raised the question at that level, the Ministry made us to understand that that component was supposed to be used to defray a debt. In fact, we insisted but they kept mentioning it.
Now I want to ask the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning whether that over ¢300 billion in the budget that did not go to the Ministry of Health is included in this figure that we are seeing. It is not clear if it is paid from the Ministry and now we have another telling us that this is what Government is going to use in defraying its debt. I want to know whether that component of over ¢300 billion that did not go to the Ministry of Health, even though it is stated in the Budget is part of this.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, you may wish to wind up.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, before I come in, I think we need to clear
Dr. A. A. Osei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if I can try to answer a few of the questions. I am not sure if the question related to the fact that the Ministry of Health had a HIPC allocation which is now not shown over there. If you look at the Budget Statement, page 383, you will see the entire listing of the HIPC distribution and that will tell you under the MDAs, Mr. Speaker, certain obligations which the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would take care of. If they are health-related we will put them under Health but the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would take care of that if that is what he was referring to; but the entire distribution should be shown as on appendix 8, page
383.
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of cut- off dates, I do not think there is any controversy. Each of the three agencies for which we are seeking debt relief has its own time. We were reliably informed that for the World Bank the Board has decided that December 2003 would be the cut-off date. For the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we are reliably informed that it is December 2004; and for the Africa Development Bank (ADB) we are informed that it is December 2004. So each Governing Board has the prerogative of defining their own cut-off point. We are hoping that all of them would pick one point, but those are their decisions.
On the issue of external debt, Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague referred to external debts going up. Mr. Speaker, were it not for the HIPC relief the amount my good Friend is seeing would have been almost twice that number, so he should take that in perspective. Moreso the amount we are seeing here is in accrual terms so effective it would be smaller than

we are seeing.

With those clarifications, Mr. Speaker, I take my seat.

Question put and motion agreed to:

That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢16,644,-660,000,000.00 for Statutory Payments and Other Government Obligations for the 2006 fiscal year.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think this is the appropriate time to take item 4.
BILLS - FIRST READING 11:10 a.m.
MOTIONS 11:10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Grace Coleman) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Finance Committee on the Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Association for an amount of SDR 13,900,000 (US$20.0 million equivalent) for the Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP) may be moved today.
Mr. Moses Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Development Credit Agreement between Government of Ghana and
the International Development Association
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Grace Coleman) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That this honourable House adopts the report of the Finance Committee on the Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Association for an amount of SDR 13,900,000 (US$20.0 million equivalent) for the Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP). 1.0 Introduction
Mr. Speaker, this Credit Agreement was laid in the House on Tuesday, 6th
December 2005 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
Mr. Speaker, to consider the Credit Agreement the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. A. Akoto Osei, the Director-General of Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof. S. A. Amoa, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP) is designed to help in reducing the new infection rate among the vulnerable groups and the general population; mitigating the impact of the epidemic on the health and socio-economic systems as well as infected persons; and promoting healthy life-styles, especially in the area of sexual and reproductive health of Ghanaians.
3.0 Project Financing
The financing of the project is as follows:
IDA is providing US$20.0 million
DfiD is to provide a grant of GBP 7.5 million
Government of Ghana's contri- bution is estimated at US$7.0 million.
4.0 Terms and Conditions
The terms and conditions of the IDA credit are as follows:
Loan Amount
-- SDR13,900,000 (US$20.0

million equivalent)

Term of the Credit -- 30 years

Moratorium -- 10 years

Commitment Charge -- commitment charge on the principal amount of the credit not withdrawn from time to time at a rate to be set by the Association as at June 30 of each year, but not exceeding the rate of one-half of one per cent (½ of 1 per cent) per annum;

Service Charge -- three-fourths of one per cent (3/4 of 1 per cent) per annum payable on the principal amount of the credit withdrawn and outstanding from time to time;

Repayment -- repayment of the principal amount of the credit by semi- annual i n s t a l m e n t s s h a l l commence on March 1, 2016 and ending September 1, 2025 shall be one per cent (1 per cent) of such principal amount, and each instalment thereafter shall be two per cent (2 per cent) of such principal amount.

5.0 Observations

The Committee observed that the key target indicators of the project among others include:

HIV prevalence among people aged 15-45 years;

HIV prevalence among young people aged 15-24 years; Ratio of current school attendance among orphans to that among non- orphans aged 10-14 years;

Percentage of men and women who have had higher risk sex in the past

12 months;

Percentage of total national HIV/ AIDS funds spent on prevention activities for selected vulnerable group sex workers, men having sex with men, and prisoners.

The Committee observed that with prevention and care services of the AIDS Commission, nearly 100 per cent of the population of this country are

currently aware of the HIV pandemic. The Commission indicated that currently through Multi-Sectoral AIDS Programme (MAP), over 3,000 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), NGOs, MDAs, Private Sector and academic institutions are being funded for awareness creation activities.

The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission informed the Committee that in 2002, 90 districts and all the 10 regions has a focal person trained in Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) and in 2003, all the 10 regions and the 110 districts also trained their focal persons in Monitoring and Evaluation. With the 28 new districts created in 2005, the focal persons are yet to be trained.

The Director-General further informed the Committee that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is preparing all the regional hospitals by training health officials to be able to administer the Anti- Retroviral Drugs to HIV/AIDS patients by the end of this year.

On the issue of the Ghana AIDS Commission rendering account on the US$25.0 million IDA loan which was approved by this honourable House for the activities of the AIDS Commission four years ago, the Director-General indicated that the Commission has been sending audited accounts to the Auditor- General and the Commissioners regularly. He stated that they are preparing an end of completion report as well as an end of project report which will contain all the details about their financial transactions and audited accounts.

On the contribution of Government of Ghana as matching funds for this loan facility, the Director-General informed the Committee that provision has been made for it in the 2006 Budget.

The Committee observed that in order to address the pandemic in the next five (5) years, preparatory work towards Mutli-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Programme (M-SHAP) are underway:

Developing a follow-up project -- Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP) -- that will strengthen CSOs to undertake activities and to ensure a more rapid multisectoral scaling up of HIV/AIDS activities throughout the country.

Development of National Strategic Framework II 2006-2010.

The Committee further observed that with the current national HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 per cent, our ability to reduce it or maintain the same level will largely depend on:

the extent of knowledge of the populace of factors that promote the spread of the epidemic and the conduct of effective and well- co-ordinated research into those factors;

t h e d e v e l o p m e n t p a r t n e r s ' (particularly the World Bank) willingness to continue to contribute to funding the National Response.

6.0 Conclusion

In view of the importance and the benefit to be derived from the project by combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country, the Committee respectfully recommends to the House to adopt its report and approve by resolution, the Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for an amount of SDR 13,900,000 (US$20.0 million equivalent) for the Mutli-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Grace Coleman) 11:10 a.m.


(M-SHAP).

Respectfully submitted.
Mr. Moses A. Asaga (NDC - Nabdam) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the Report that has just been read on the programme for the HIV/AIDS project which is being supported with an amount of US$20 million equivalent. I think this same House previously had approved similar loans for the AIDS Commission and we think that the AIDS Commission is working very well.
Mr. Speaker, Members of Parliament, seen as the representatives of the people, were also involved in this programme to the extent that we were supposed to be advocates; and in being advocates, Members of Parliament were given support. Reports from Members of Parliament have been quite adequate and we hope that Members of Parliament would be given a second opportunity to be able to be advocates for the AID programmes.
I hope that this time, the Commissioner
would raise the amount involved for the Members of Parliament because they did a lot of work; others even had to spend their own money to cover the deficit that was involved.
With these comments, I urge hon. Members to support the motion.
Deputy Minister for Finance and
Economic Planning (Dr. A. Akoto Osei): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion currently being debated on the floor. Mr. Speaker, with your permission, first, I would want to bring the Committee's attention to the last paragraph on page 3 which I believe is incorrect. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is not the one preparing the regional hospitals. I believe it is the Ministry of Health, so if
the Committee will take note and make that correction.
Mr. Speaker, even though one was not
in Parliament the last time, we are reliably informed that our senior hon. Colleagues who were in the last Parliament dutifully were involved in this programme. Mr. Speaker, there are stories being told that condoms that were put in the pigeonholes of Members of Parliament suddenly started disappearing and the extra ones that were brought also started disappearing. It all goes to show that our Members of Parliament are really involved in this - [Interruption] -- To distribute to their constituents -- [Laughter.]
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on
a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend is misleading this House. The condoms were put in the pigeonholes to be collected by the respective Members of Parliament; so they did not disappear, they were collected by them. So he cannot say that they disappeared. Hon. Members collected them so they did not disappear.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I stand corrected. But there is a very serious matter here that we need to ask the Leadership to look up for us. The Director-General informed us that out of the 184 hon. Members who got financial resources to monitor this programme only 16 as at the last time had filed their reports and the non-filing of the reports may lead to a possibility of the loan not being granted to Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I want to crave the indulgence of the Leadership to encourage all the 185 hon. Members, particularly those who were in the last Parliament -- Because it may affect some new hon. Members if the
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:20 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I think my hon. Colleague on floor is misleading this House. He says that some people in his constituency migrate, particularly males -- like any other place, anyway. And he says that the men who go out have to do one or two things. Mr. Speaker, the operative word is “have”. They “have” to do that, as if they are obliged to do that. They are not. They may do it, but they are not under any obligation to do that. So he is misleading this country.
Mr. Chireh 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this group
of people - Indeed, the urge I want to make is for statistics to be collected on them and for particular attention to be focused on them so that the spread of the disease would be less.
I am saying so because, as I was indicating, when anybody who migrates to another point gets the diseases, for whatever reason that the person might want to migrate, he goes back and for one reason or the other if he is married already to several women, he becomes a point of infection for several other people. And unfortunately in some of our communities, nationwide, we have spouse inheritance and that alone is also another source of problem.
I think that the Commission, when they get this money, must make extra efforts to target those people who migrate because of economic reasons and who are not permanent migrants. We should gather information about them and create more awareness for people to desist from what is going on now.
The border towns that are particularly mentioned, are near to where we have this problem, in la Cote d'Ivoire. And the big vehicles and trucks that pass through our borders -- Of course, the border towns in general have bigger problems. So I would urge the Commission to focus on the migrant worker; migrant people and the border towns so that the awareness creation there can reduce the rate of infection.
Question put and motion agreed to:
That this honourable House adopts the report of the Finance Committee on the Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the In t e r na t i o na l D ev e lo pmen t Association for an amount of SDR 13,900,000 (US$20.0 million
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I thought that we could take item 9, but I want the Chief Whip to find out from the Vice-Chairperson for the Finance Committee who handled this matter whether he is ready with the report now.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the report is not yet ready.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:20 a.m.
All right, Mr.
Speaker, then if we can take some of the Resolutions, because we seem to have the numbers to take them.
RESOLUTIONS 11:20 a.m.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the International Development
Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group
Prof. Gyan-Baffour (on behalf of the
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana AND the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group, for an amount of SDR 31.0 million (US$45.0 million equivalent) in support of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Project.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11:20 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11:20 a.m.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Exemption of Payment of Taxes and Duties - Nerica Rice Dissemination
Project
Prof. Gyan-Baffour (on behalf of the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 174 (2) of the Constitution, Parliament is empowered to confer power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by an Act of Parliament;
THE ExERCISE of any power conferred on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax in favour of any person or authority is by the said provisions made subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution;
BY THE combined operation of the provisions of section 26 (2) of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 330), the Export and Import Act, 1995 (Act 503), the Export Development and Investment Fund Act, 2000 (Act 582), the Value Added Tax Act, 1998 (Act 546), the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act 579) and other existing Laws and Regulations applicable to the collection of customs duties and other taxes on the importation of goods into Ghana, the Minister for

Finance may exempt any statutory corporation, institution or individual from the payment of duties and taxes otherwise payable under the said Laws and Regulations or waive or vary the requirement of such statutory corporation, institution or individual to pay such duties and taxes;

IN ACCORDANCE with the provisions of the Constitution and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament a request by the Minister for Finance for the prior approval of Parliament to the exercise by him of his power under the Laws and Regulations relating to the importation of vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies amounting to UA 82,278.06 (US$123,417.09 equivalent) in respect of the implementation of the Nerica Rice Dissemination Project

(NRDP).

N O W T H E R E F O R E , t h i s honourable House hereby approves the exercise by the Minister responsible for Finance of the power granted to him by Parliament by Statute to waive such taxes and duties or to exempt the payment of such taxes and duties on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies amounting to UA 82,278.06 (US$123,417.09 equivalent) in respect of the implementation of the Nerica Rice Dissemination Project

(NRDP).
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana
and International Development Association for the Multi-Sectoral
HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP)
Prof. Gyan-Baffour (on behalf of the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Development Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana AND the International Development Asso- ciation for an amount of SDR 13,900,000 (US$20.0 million equivalent) for the Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (M-SHAP).
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11:20 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, there is the need for the Finance Committee to do some corrections on the report to cover item 9. Again, the Finance Committee is expected to meet and see whether we can take the Appropriation Bill under a certificate of urgency so that we can move to the Second Reading. Mr. Speaker, the Chairman for Foreign Affairs Committee tells me that the two reports, which we are supposed to handle on the Convention Against Corruption are not quite ready. So I believe the best approach is to suspend Sitting to allow the Finance Committee to look at the Appropriation Bill and come back to report as to whether it can be taken under a certificate of urgency together with the other items so that we can move on, unless you want to exercise your right to call the Member of Parliament for Nkroful to make his Statement. Otherwise, that is the only thing we can do now. So if you could suspend Sitting for maybe two and a half hours - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
For how many hours?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:30 a.m.
For two and
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:30 a.m.


a half hours.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Minority Deputy Whip, do you have any observation on this?
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am tempted to go with the hon. Majority Leader.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
That we suspend Sitting until two o'clock?
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:30 a.m.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Speaker 3:30 p.m.
Hon. Members, we would suspend Sitting and resume at two o'clock this afternoon.
The Sitting was suspended at 11.33 a.m.

Sitting resumed.
MR. SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:30 p.m.
Order! Order!
Hon. Members, laying of Papers. I assume that the Addendum that has been prepared has been circulated; you all have copies. So we are going by the Addendum, and item (a) of the Addendum is a Paper to be laid by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.
PAPERS 3:30 p.m.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:30 p.m.
Hon. Members, it appears the Finance Committee has not yet completed the consideration of the Appropriation Bill. Shall we, in the meantime, proceed to the Consideration Stage of the Minerals and Mining Bill; whenever the Report of the Finance Committee on the Appropriation Bill comes in, we shall defer to it.
BILLS - CONSIDERATION STAGE 3:30 p.m.
Mrs. Gifty Eugenia Kusi 3:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I beg to move, clause 13, subclause (1), line 1, after “days” insert “on receipt of recommendtion from the Commission.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 13 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 14 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 15 - Amendment of mineral right to add other minerals.
Mrs. Kusi 3:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 15, subclause (6), paragraph (a) delete “to be mined” and insert “applied for”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 15 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 16 and 17 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 18 - Forestry and Environmental protection.
Mrs. Kusi 3:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 18, subclause (1), line 3 after “from” insert “the Forestry Commission and”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 18 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 19 - 24 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 25 - Royalties.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 3:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 25, line 3, delete “more than 6 per cent or less than 3 per cent” and insert “less than 5 per cent or more than 7 per cent”.
Mr. Speaker, I am urging hon. Members to support this important amendment. Mr. Speaker, we need to protect our national interest and to realize optimum benefit from the mining of our mineral resources. I have done a cursory evaluation of the audited accounts of many of our mining companies and even though the existing law provides that not less than 30 per cent - None of them had ever gone beyond the 3 per cent requirement even though the law briefly says that they may not go more than 6 per cent. So it goes with at least not less than 3 per cent but all the mining companies stay within 2 per cent to 3 per cent; they do not go up to the 6 per cent.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 3:40 p.m.


I think that if we want optimum benefit for our country, especially to protect our environment and to support mining communities to undertake developments to compensate for the consequence of much of these mineral activities, we should increase the threshold from 3 per cent to not less than 5 per cent. So that all mining companies are obliged to make at least not less than 5 per cent of their gross revenue to be paid as royalties to the State; but it shall not exceed 7 per cent.

Mr. Speaker, this accommodates even the original contemplation that it shall not be more than 6 per cent. So I still propose and urge hon. Members to support this amendment.
Mr. Albert Obbin 3:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I stand to oppose the amendment proposed by the hon. Member on the other side.
Mr. Speaker, the Mining and the Minerals Law, which was enacted in 1987, at least, stated 3 per cent and 12 per cent, and in the new law we tried to make it in such a way as to attract investors. Now, even from the 3 per cent to 12 per cent, for all those periods, it was not increased to 3.0001 per cent; it was still 3 per cent. If it comes out that we have to increase it from 3 per cent to any point, there is an opportunity there; that is, 3 per cent to 6 per cent. So I think if we do it in this way, it will also make the whole document very nice since we are also competing with other countries for investment.
It is actually true that we would also want to protect our national interest and we would want more royalties, but even if we make it that way, we would also be competing with other countries. And since we are competing with countries like Tanzania, Guinea, Mali and other areas where they also have the same document, I think it would be proper if we maintain
not more than 6 per cent or less than 3 per cent. And if the need arises that we increase it to 4 per cent or 5 per cent, there is an opportunity for us to increase it; so I oppose the amendment.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:50 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I listened to the argument put forth by my hon. Colleague from Tamale South (Mr. Haruna Iddrisu) and I thought he said that he had conducted a research into the annual payments. I want to believe that it was not just a cursory look at it but an in-depth research that he had done. If that is so and he has observed that because we put the floor at 3 per cent, every one of them is paying 3 per cent then it stands to reason that if this is pushed a little bit up they could pay.
Besides, as we have said, the percentage at the Minerals Commission is between 3 per cent and 12 per cent and all of them seem to be doing 3 per cent. So it does appear that if we up it a little bit they could accommodate it. Mr. Speaker, I believe that, ultimately, what we are looking at is the interest of our nationals and the interest of our nation. And so I would agree with the hon. Member for Tamale South (Mr. Haruna Iddrisu), particularly if it does not offend any law and the Minerals Commission themselves are not opposed to it.
I believe that to According to the Chairman of the Committee, when they contacted the Minerals Commission they had no problem with the proposals coming from the hon. Member. And so if it is going to relate to some difficulty, then perhaps we could say that, yes, let us look at the floor.
He is talking about 5 per cent, can we from 3 per cent then move to 4 per cent or let us say between 4 and 5 per cent?
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
Order!
Order!
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:50 p.m.
So Mr. Speaker, I would want to in principle support the amendment by my hon. Colleague from Tamale South except that we may have to bring the floor down a little bit to about 4 per cent; so we could say between 4 and 5 per cent.
Minister for Lands and Forestry (Prof. Dominic Fobih) 3:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to suggest that accepting the 6 per cent and 7 per cent, as proposed by my hon. Colleague Member of Parliament, is going to be injurious to the Mining Industry.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
He says 5 per cent and 7 per cent and not 6 and 7 per cent.
Prof. Fobih 3:50 p.m.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker, the 5
per cent and 7 per cent would be injurious to the Mining Industry. Because we looked at practices in other countries as mining in Ghana cannot be done in isolation; it has to conform to international best practices and investment climate as a whole. We saw that in South Africa the rate is 3 per cent for gold, in Mali it is 3 per cent, in Guinea it is 3 per cent, and in Tanzania it is 5 per cent.
So we have put the range between 3 per cent and 5 per cent and we think this is a comfortable range that we must maintain to make our mining industry competitive with our sister countries in the region. So I reject the amendment that is being proposed.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
Very
well.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
Yes,
hon. Member, do you want to react to the further amendment to your figure by the hon. Majority Chief Whip?
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 3:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I think, as a compromise, I will accept a negotiated percentage of 4 or 5. I have also done a review of the best practices. In many of the countries the hon. Minister has mentioned, they do it on profit basis. but in Ghana it is done on revenue basis. I have further done an evaluation and money which is paid to the Government of Ghana as royalties, a certain percentage is supposed to go to the community - 10 per cent.
There is another 10 per cent which is supposed to be used for special projects. Mr. Speaker, evidence abounds that nothing is done and nothing is given to the communities for the purpose of these special projects because we are not generating enough. So as a compromise, I will yield to 4 per cent, not less than 4 per cent and not more than -- If the original 6 per cent will stay, I will be comfortable, because as I said, there is evidence that in all situations mining companies have paid just at 3 per cent and below. And we are saying that they are mining our mineral resources for good, we will not get those resources back, so let us maximize the best that we can get from them by just one percentage increase from not less than 3 per cent or 4 per cent. And so I urge hon. Members to support it.
The best practices that the hon. Minister has referred to, in many of those countries, they do not use gross revenue, they use gross profit for the calculation and specifically they deal - The hon. Minister has mentioned gold but we are talking
about all mineral rights - including gold and other minerals -- and so I think 4 per cent will be reasonable.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
Hon.
Minister, it appears that the hon. Member for Tamale South is agreeing with the proposals by the hon. Majority Chief Whip. He is even prepared to take your 6 per cent and what is left now is the 4 per cent as opposed to the 3 per cent, are you comfortable with that?
Prof. Fobih 3:50 p.m.
No, Mr. Speaker. Mr.
Speaker, from the examples I cited, 3 per cent is the minimum; the range can be 5 per cent which will incorporate the 4 per cent he is craving for -- Indeed, the gross profit as the basis for calculation is not correct. In any case, most of the mining companies do not even declare profits because they always pile up their expenditures in such a way that there is never a declared profit and so it means that if we use that as the base then there would be misconstruction of the whole structure that we are putting in place.
So I would still insist that we keep
the 3 per cent, which at least satisfies the bare minimum for other countries, and still gain more by putting the upper limit at 5 per cent.
Alhaji Amadu Sorogho 3:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I think we have had time to look at the Bill and just today we also sat down and went through some of the proposed amendments. But Mr. Speaker, listening to what the hon. Member who just spoke said, I think it will be better if we agree to inch it up a little.
I am saying this because if it is only for the sake of paper work, because from what the hon. Minister is saying, then there is no need to even give the upper limit at all because everybody will go in for the minimum. And for that reason if we agree that we want a certain range -- The reason why we have decided for the range is that
Alhaji Amadu Sorogho 4 p.m.


we thought some people may go a little over the minimum, but the real practice is that none of them - All the mineral companies are paying the minimum.

So I think that in order that we can also raise revenue - Already most of the various memoranda that we have had from various complainants had to do with the state of affairs in the mining communities and it therefore suggests that we need more money to help them sustain some of these - to build more social amenities and to help build these communities. I therefore think that bringing the figure up to 4 per cent is something that we should all accept because it is in the best interest of all of us.

I do not think that there is the need for us to argue too much because if we accept this by saying that let us accept what is happening in the various countries -- At least, from the hon. Minister's point of view, I think Tanzania is demanding about 5 per cent. In Ghana, we are saying that minerals, which nature has given us freely, is what we can boast of.

So, Mr. Speaker, I am saying that we should not argue at all. All of us should accept and inch it up to 4 per cent. I do not agree with the 5 per cent because I think it may be on the higher side knowing very well that none of the companies will go beyond the 4 per cent. And so the 7 per cent or 6 per cent to me does not make it. And I will even propose that instead of saying between 4 per cent and 7 per cent, we should still maintain the 6 per cent as the upper limit and boost up the lower limit to 4 per cent. So it should be between 4 per cent and 6 per cent, for we all know that none of them will go beyond the 4 per cent.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

(Mr. A. Osei-Adjei): Mr. Speaker, I want to oppose the amendment because Ghana is not in isolation. We must look at what is being practised in other countries so that

we can use it as a barometer not to price ourselves out of the market. Mr. Speaker, one cannot just get up and say he or she wants it to be here; it must be based on statistics. It must be based on whether it is the cost of promotion or it is not the cost of production.

Already, ours is the total revenue which is more than the gross profit. Therefore, if we put it there, we are certainly going to price ourselves out of the market. I believe that we should take that into consideration and so I oppose the amendment.

Deputy Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines (Mr. A. Adjei-Yeboah): Mr. Speaker, I also rise to oppose the amendment proposed by my friend and I will take it from the point that the hon. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs mentioned. There is this difference between 5 per cent on profit and 5 per cent on total revenue or on turnover. So even in Tanzania the 5 per cent is being taxed on profit. It may be and it ought to be lower than 3 per cent on turnover as it were. So Mr. Speaker, in considering these percentages, we are in the industry and we are marketing our country, we ought not to come out with a figure that will disadvantage our country and therefore I strongly oppose the amendment as proposed by my good friend.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu 4 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise to vehemently oppose the amendment. Mr. Speaker, as has been canvassed by earlier hon. Members who spoke, we are in a world of competition and these days investors tend to go to where they will maximise their profit. So if others are taking three per cent and we want to take four per cent, what will be the point of the investor not going to a country where he will pay three per cent instead of coming to pay four per cent in Ghana?

So in order that we may attract more mining companies into our country to mine and give employment to the youth, as it is happening in Asutifi North, where Newmont has come and the youth around the area are trooping to get employed and in fact they are being employed there, I think we should - I was even going to suggest that we go two per cent -- [Interruptions] - But since that will be too low, we can maintain what others are doing, three per cent. I therefore find the proposed amendment to be frivolous, impotent and menopausal and therefore should be voted against. I thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh 4 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
that the argument that is being advanced for raising the threshold to four per cent and the counter-proposal that people are making - seem to suggest to me that that is the only thing, the only criteria for coming to invest in mining in this country. That cannot be true. There are other incentives that they are given. If we think that it is not necessary to go beyond three, I would even further say that we should not charge anything at all, we should let them have it free. If not so, why do we have to bank on four or three per cent? It is because you know that they can do it and once they say something they do it. If we did not intend that they should go beyond three per cent, why did we put it in the law? Why is it there? I think that the stronger argument is really for us to inch it up to four per cent and it should be between four per cent and six per cent.
After all, that is what we expected them to do if they were willing to do so. Having shown the willingness to do so, nobody has complained that because of just one aspect of investment that we are talking about, they will not come to this
country. If they do not come, fine, but I do not think that is the argument. The reality is that they can pay and they have not complained; I do not know why you are complaining.
Deputy Attorney-General (Mr. E.

So Mr. Speaker, I think that the threshold of three per cent as proposed by the hon. Minister and as agreed by the Committee, is about the best and we must go according to it.

Question put and amendment negatived.

Clause 25 ordered to stand part of the

Bill.

Clause 26 - Recovery of debts.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 4 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, my hon. Colleague is a young Member of this House and time and again we have had the occasion to caution him to
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4 p.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, it is an ingredient of democracy that when you move an amendment either it goes through or it falls, and to accept it promotes democracy. There is objection taken to your description of the loss of your amendment. You consider withdrawing the words you used.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, my comments are not on that amendment; that amendment has been voted on and it has been defeated. There is a further amendment I proposed but I do not seem to see the future in that amendment because I believe that we are being driven by “majoritarian” rule. It is the majority that have their way. Mob rule is the same thing as majority rule - [Interruptions.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
Order!
Order!
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4:10 p.m.
I want to add my
voice to that of my hon. Colleagues for our hon. Colleague to withdraw. The statement he has made is most insulting to us; we do not want to descend to where he has gotten, but we have the capacity to descend there. For now, I want him to withdraw the statement. There is a difference between mob rule and a rule by a majority -- a reasoning majority. He should withdraw those words or we would take him on.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Tamale South, I have not called you yet - [Interruptions.] Order! Order! Hon. Member for Tamale South?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
concerned that there were people even from the majority who supported the amendment I tabled. Mr. Speaker, if the “mob rule” is invoking certain passions I substitute it with “a reasoning majority rule”.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Tamale South, just make it neat; withdraw.
Mr. Iddrisu 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw
the “mob rule” and substitute it with “a reasoning majority rule”.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
Well,
he has withdrawn that portion; he has done it - [Laughter.] Clause 26 (2) - [Interruptions] - Order! Order! Clause 26 (2) - Chairman of the Committee?
Mrs. Kusi 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
move, clause 26, subclause 2, delete.
The Committee is of the view that holders of mining rights should meet all their financial obligations.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 26 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 27 to 29 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 30 - Transferability of capital.
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I beg to move, clause 30, subclause (1), line 1, after the word “lease” insert “for gold, diamond, manganese, bauxite and any other mineral”.
Mr. Speaker, section 10 of the Exchange
Control Act 1961 states that all export proceeds of anything exported from Ghana must be repatriated to Ghana hundred per cent. However, with the advent of the PNDC, exports were categorized into two - traditional exports and non-traditional exports.
The proceeds of the non-traditional exports were not even supposed to be brought to Ghana. And in the mineral world manganese, bauxite and diamond were categorized as non-traditional exports leaving only gold as traditional export. Therefore, the holders of leases for diamond, manganese and bauxite have been exporting these products and bringing virtually nothing back home.
Mr. Speaker, sometime early this year,
the Roads and Transport Committee of which I am a member had a workshop in Swedru and officials of the Railway Corporation came to brief us about their activities. It was stated that from 1998 to the year 2004 bauxite exported from this country totalled 3,391.11 metric tonnes. But if you go into the Auditor-General's report on receipts and payments of foreign exchange you would see that not a penny came to Ghana.
In the same way 5,552.56 tonnes of manganese were exported, and once again, in the Auditor-General's report there is no evidence that a dollar was repatriated to Ghana. The position now is that God has given us these natural resources; foreigners come here to mine them, take the money away and leave us poor.
So the purpose of this amendment is to make the remaining minerals traditional exports so that the holders of the mining lease would be compelled to bring part of the proceeds to Ghana to enable us manage our economy. I expect every Member to support this amendment.
Prof. Dominic Fobih 4:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the amendment on the grounds that the phrase in the clause, “a holder of a mining lease” covers all types of mining and it goes on to say “who earns foreign exchange from mining operations. . .” So by mentioning specific mining and specific minerals and then concluding with any other mineral means it is a redundant statement. I think we should maintain the position of the original clause.
Question put and amendment negatived.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30, subcluase (2), line 2, after “Commission” delete “may” and insert “shall”.
Mr. Speaker, this particular clause was lifted from PNDC Law 153 word by word and in that the word “shall” was used so that it does not give any discretion to anybody to play any tricks. It is for this reason I am saying that the word “shall” which was used in the previous Act must be retained so that we can safeguard our assets.
Mr. Obbin 4:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support
the mover of the amendment, hon. P. C. Appiah-Ofori because when you say “may” then you have a leeway because we want the law to be compelling and in the previous law they used “shall” so I do not see why at this time we are going to use “may” where they will have a lot of ways to operates, so I am also in support of hon. Appiah-Ofori that “shall” should be used.
Prof. Fobih 4:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have no
problem with the change.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
I have
not heard you.
Prof. Fobih 4:20 p.m.
I have no problem with it.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
Can
you speak loudly. Hon. Minister, what is your position?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:20 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I really do not see the essence of this amendment. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Colleague who moved the amendment, in the first amendment that he moved; appeared to be very much concerned with retaining a very great percentage of earnings from the operations of mining concerns and not impoverishing our people. Then in another breath he is compelling the industry to retain a certain percentage of their earnings outside; and I believe it is very incongruous to the argument that he himself submitted in the first amendment because Mr. Speaker, if you read the construction there --
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:20 p.m.
On a point of
order. As a matter of fact I do not know what the Chief Whip is all about. There are three amendments in that clause -- I have moved one and this has been won -- I should be allowed to move the second; if I lose I move the third one but what he is talking about I do not know what he wants to arrive at.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
Well,
hon. Member, he is contributing.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:20 p.m.
Contributing
to what -- [Interruption] -- the “may” and the “shall”? Ah! I now understand. [Laughter.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
Chief
Whip, go on.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:20 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, the point that I am making, the kernel of the argument that I am submitting is that we seem to be compelling the retention of some moneys in an account to carry out certain operations: acquiring spare parts, debt servicing, remittance and so on and so forth; what if the company does not need it then we are saying that they should be compelled to do that. That is the essence of his amendment and I am saying that it is not necessary.
So it is better we retain the original rendition which rather talks about the use of the word “may” and not “shall” as he is canvassing; and that is why I am saying that this amendment as contrasted with the first one that he moved appears very inconsistent and very incongruous. Mr. Speaker, that was the language I used for it and I believe you understand what I am meaning.
Question put and amendment negatived.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
30 (3),
hon. Appiah-Ofori?
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was
repeating it here so with the loss of clause 30 (1) I did not want to move this one.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause
30, subclause (2), line 3, after “holder's” insert “gold, diamond, manganese and bauxite”.
As I have already said, Mr. Speaker,
since 1986 only proceeds from gold has been accounted for in the books of Bank of Ghana, so in this amendment I want these four minerals to be specifically inserted so that never again will this country export these minerals and then lose the resources back home.
Mr. Akwasi Osei-Adjei 4:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
think that I should oppose this amendment. Mr. Speaker, already we have rejected the first clause which my hon. Friend put and I do not see the reason why we should put gold, diamond, manganese there. Mr. Speaker, again I am not very sure that manganese and other minerals are not considered as a traditional export. I am not very sure unless we look at the Ghana Export Act and be sure that they are not included then of course we will have a way to do it. But at this stage as we are speaking I do not think it will be important to put these minerals because I believe that they are part of the traditional exports so I oppose the amendment.
Mr. Kojo Armah 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise to oppose the amendment. Indeed, I am not too sure whether the amendment is grounded on facts that the other minerals he mentioned, apart from gold, are not captured in any of our books. He mentioned Bank of Ghana specifically; I am not too sure because I know that there are foreign exchange receipts which have always reflected the export of these as part of our net foreign exchange receipts. Therefore, to bring this one into a law based upon speculation, I believe it is not too good. At least, on that score, I think this amendment should be lost so that we can get a clean sheet.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
want to oppose the amendment but on a different ground. The mining operations are broader and can capture any other mining operation involving other minerals in future. So rather than confine ourselves only to the mention of minerals -- I think it is inappropriate so we should reject the amendment on that ground.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it has already been advanced by my hon. Colleagues -- The hon. Member moved the amendment in 30 (1) and he lost the amendment. When he got up, he said that in view of that he was going to withdraw, then quickly he changed his mind and has come to canvass this amendment. I believe if we agree to this, it will be a very disingenuous way of smuggling through the back door, an amendment which has been lost to enable him come back to reinstate the lost amendment. And for this reason, Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge that we must lose this other proposed amendment and go back and say no more.
Deputy Minister for defence (Mr. W. O. Boafo): Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the amendment. Mr. Speaker, if you refer to the interpretation section of the Bill on page 49, the top post, there you will find the definition of mining list. It says, “mining list means a mining list granted under section 39 or 44.” Mr. Speaker, if you go to section 39(1), there in brief, you will find out that the holder applies in the prescribed form for one or more mining lists in respect of all or any of the minerals; the subject of the licence.
So Mr. Speaker, if you take the whole Bill into consideration, you will see that the definition of what the mining list constitutes is captured so there is no need for us to have any expansion in definition to specify the particulars. It is already in the Bill because the amendment is frivolous.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that in line 4 of clause 30 -[Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:30 p.m.
Hon. Member, you should make this thing clear. When you say line 4, which part of clause 30 are you referring to?
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30 subclause (2) delete “not less than twenty-five” and insert “not more than forty”. Mr. Speaker, because the phrase “not less than twenty-five per cent” was not there, exporters of gold in particular have been retaining up to even 100 per cent of gold export.
Mr. Kojo Armah 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I need further explanation or clarification. He said the 12 million ounces that were exported fetched Ghana some 4 billion. He did not tell us whether it is in cedis, dollars, euros or CFA.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. Member. Mr. Speaker, it fetched Ghana 4,081,959,906 US dollars; and out of these, Mr. Speaker, only 1,065, 831,507 US dollars was brought to Ghana. The exporters retained over $3 billion. The minerals, the gold deposit are ours and they came to mine it and took as much as over $3 billion away. This is because of the phrase “not less than”.
If you look into the Auditor-General's Report, some of the exporters retained as much as 60 per cent, some 75 per cent, some 80 per cent and some even 100 per cent. Even if you retain 100 per cent it is still not less than 25 per cent so they were right. So I am saying that we cannot have these resources and allow people to come and take it away. So we should peg it and we should say that “not more than” instead of “not less than” which gives them latitude to take everything away and leave us in poverty.
With this particular amendment, I am praying that everybody supports it. [Laughter.] This particular one, everybody should support it so that we can safeguard our natural resources.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu 4:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the amendment. What He feels He should give, He gave gold to Ghana and oil to Nigeria. When oil is mined in Nigeria they get their retention and that is what makes Nigeria, “Nigeria”. When we have gold and we say they can retain “not less than 25 per cent”, as he stated, then the miner can take 90 per cent because it is still not less than 25 per cent.
Please, I think we must also make maximum use and get benefits from our mineral deposits in the country. If we do not and these people mine out the gold, like Newmont is doing at Asutifi North and the gold gets finished, how do we replenish it? Now that the gold is there we must make laws that would make us benefit to the maximum.
So I support the amendment that we should not say “less than…” But rather “not more than 25 per cent” should be retained - [An hon. Member: 40.] - Not more than 40 per cent should be retained so that we can also have something back home to do the roads we need.
The Domeabra road - the road leading
to my place - is too bad. If we retain much here we can do roads, give water to Ghanaians and they would know that God has actually given us something that is helping us to live like Ghanaians.
I therefore support and urge all hon. Members to support the amendment.
Mr. John Ndebugre 4:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think I am not exactly opposing the amendment, but I think that we should reach some compromise. What the Bill seeks to do is to set a lower limit - “not less than 25 per cent” - which can be 90 per cent, or even 100 per cent, as has already been argued. What hon. P. C. Appiah-Ofori seeks to do is to set an upper limit, which can also include zero per cent, incidentally. So everything is in the discretion of the Minister. So as a compromise, I think that we should set a lower limit as well as an upper limit so that if we want to maintain the 25 per cent we should say “not less than 25 per cent and not more than 40 per cent”, Or, if the lower limit is too high for some people we can think of a much lower limit; but there must be a lower limit to limit the discretionary power being conferred on the Minister. So I would propose that we should say: “not less than 25 per cent, but not more than 40 per cent”, so that we have a bracket.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the principle underlying the amendment is worth considering. However, Mr. Speaker, one must be mindful of the purpose for the retention. As stated in sub-clause (2) (a), (b), (c) and (d), it is meant to acquire spareparts, raw materials, machinery and equipment, debt servicing and dividend payments. It is also remittance in respect of quotas for expatriate personnel, and so on and so forth.
Mr. Speaker, after dialoguing with the people in the industry and as per the account given by my hon. Colleague,
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori, the people in the industry, some of them have been retaining as much as - in some cases even 100 per cent of their net earnings. In this case we are talking about net earnings.
Mr. Speaker, after dialoguing with them many of them would be content with a cut, a ceiling of about 60 per cent; and they agree that, yes, what pertained previously was not the best; we should have a cut; we should have a ceiling. Certainly, they believe that 40 per cent is too much on the down side. As he himself indicated, most of them have been retaining between 60 per cent and 100 per cent. So I believe that if we should place the ceiling at 60 per cent it would be all right with the people in the industry. So let us agree with the hon. Colleague, but I believe we could cut the ceiling a little bit to 60 per cent and the people in the industry would be happy. Because, Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that we are in intense competition with countries in the subregion which are equally endowed with some natural resources that Ghana is also endowed with.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:40 p.m.
I think it is necessary that you come to a compromise. In principle, it is agreed that the way it stands is too liberal. Now, if the mover of the motion and the Committee Chairman and maybe the hon. Member for Bawku West, Mr. Ndebugre can agree on something, to have a floor and ceiling level, then we can take the amendment.
Mr. Osei-Adjei 4:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think I have a different view because I do not see the reason why we should have a restriction on this amount that they can retain. Mr. Speaker, is it not an incentive? One would say it is maybe an incentive. If it is an incentive, then I think it is too much because many countries have come to realize that incentives alone do not attract investments. There are some added
Mr. Osei-Adjei 4:40 p.m.


things which attract investors to invest in a country.

So Mr. Speaker, I think “not less than” here, should even be off. They should keep all the moneys here to do their transactions and then at the end of the year the money can be repatriated according to the profits they have. I do not see why there should be restrictions. It is too old, it is archaic and I think we must be positive in our thinking. Why do we have to give a restriction for them to keep some money here? All the money should be here; we should not be giving a ceiling, so that after their expenses, after payments of all these then, of course, tax and then they repatriate whatever money that they have. I think that is the correct way; but to have a ceiling, I do not think it is right, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:40 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, the argument was made that as it stands as now, less than 25 per cent could mean 100 per cent. At the same time, you need to encourage them to invest in terms of capital equipment. So you should have some guidelines, ceiling, beyond which they cannot go. [Pause.] Have you come out with something, hon. P. C. Appiah-Ofori?
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, after consultation with the Chief Whip and hon. Ndebugre, we have agreed that the rate should be 50 per cent because he is advancing an argument that it might not be enough. For me, I would have confined myself to 40 per cent but if you and others say so, then I am ready to, probably, suggest 50 per cent. So for this particular one, I am not prepared to move an inch, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. J. D. Mahama 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
some of us are a bit confused. What is the purpose of this particular clause? It is a means to compel the mining companies to retain a certain proportion of their foreign exchange in Ghana. [An hon. Member: Outside.] Then it is not clear from the clause where they should retain the amount. It just says -- with a trustee approved by the Bank of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, if the intention is to
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Hon. Member, look at the purpose of the sub- clauses - a, b, c, and so on. That should guide you.
Mr. Mahama 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it says,
“(a) for acquiring spare parts and raw materials;
(b) for debt servicing and dividend payment;
(c) remittance in respect of quotas for expatriate personnel;
(d) transfer of capital in the event of a sale or the liquidation of the mining operations.”
So what I am saying is, my understanding is that they must maintain an account that is approved by the Bank of Ghana but it does not say where that account should be. It says,
“with the trustee who is consented to by the Bank”.
Mr. Speaker, if that is the case, and
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Hon.
Member, that is not the point he is making. He is saying that the situate of the foreign account could be Ghana or outside.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:50 p.m.
Outside.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
I am
saying that that is the way he understands it.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is
outside.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Bole/Bamboi, you may continue.
Mr. Mahama 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, nothing
in this clause says where that account should be. There is nothing here that says whether it should be abroad or in Ghana. That is why I find it difficult to understand the purpose of that particular clause. If it is to be retained in Ghana, then the purpose might be that some of that foreign exchange remains here in this country.
Mr. Speaker, it just says that, “with
the consent of the Bank of Ghana”. So it can be an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. If the Bank of Ghana consents, they must keep not less than 25 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings in that account. So I do not see the purpose of a
ceiling. If you say, “not less than 25 per cent”, and the man decides to put 100 per cent of his earnings in that account for the purpose, it is not our duty to dictate an upper ceiling to him. I would have thought that we would tie down that foreign exchange requirement.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Hon.
Member, I hope you have taken account of the fact that precisely for what you are saying, it could either be in Ghana or outside and that it is possible for the miner to retain 100 per cent of the earnings outside, in which case the interest of Ghana is not served. That is the point that is being made, and so you do not want to give him a leeway where almost all the earnings from mining are put in a foreign account, away from Ghana.
Mr. Mahama 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if that
is the point, then we should put an amendment there that indicates where the account should be held - locally or abroad. But I want to say that that issue of retention was introduced when we had a strict foreign exchange regime where we were not allowed to hold foreign accounts in the local banks. That regime has changed so this issue about retention is no longer necessary.
Mr. Speaker, I fail to see the essence of that particular clause. Unless we want

a part of that money to remain here to increase the capitalisation of our local banks then we can say that a certain portion of that money should be kept in a foreign account in a local bank approved by the Bank of Ghana. I think that would even help boost the capitalisation of our banks.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Yes, hon. Majority Leader, I thought the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
it looks like it may be better to step this one down because there is need to do some consultations here and there. Therefore, we will continue with the others and then we come back to this later on.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
I
entirely agree. I think that this is a very, very important part of the Bill and it should be thoroughly examined, even the question of specifying where that account should be and the limitations. So this would be stood down and the necessary consultations should be made. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning should be interested in this aspect of it. It is stood down.
Mr. Osei-Adjei 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in this
situation, would you accept an amend- ment on the floor?
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
No, it
is stood down for further consultations to be made.
Mr. Osei-Adjei 4:50 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, but what I am saying is, after the consultation would you accept an amendment on the
floor of the House?
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
No,
it would not allow for the thorough consultation we are talking about.
Hon. Members, is the Report on the
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 4:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I wanted to find out whether you have got copies of the Report. Then, let us take the next item; we are now bringing them for distribution.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:50 p.m.
Very well, we will continue with the Consideration Stage of the Minerals and Mining Bill. So further consideration of clause 30 is stood down.
Clause 31 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 32 -- Rights of holder of reconnaissance licence
Mrs. Kusi 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
move, clause 32, subclause (3), line 2, delete “unless the operations are authorized by prior written consent of the Minister”
Mr. Speaker, the Committee is of the view that the holder of a reconnaissance licence applying for prospecting licence should apply for a prospecting licence before undertaking any drilling exercise.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 32 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 33 to 48 ordered to stand part
of the Bill.

Clause 49 - Development agreement
Mrs. Kusi 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 49 subclause (1), line 1, delete “on behalf of the President” and insert “on the advice of the Commission”.
Mr. Mahama 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have a
contrary opinion. I think that that clause is absolutely unnecessary and it should be deleted completely. We have a clause for Stability Agreement, which is subject to ratification by Parliament. Mr. Speaker, if Government decides to enter into a Stability Agreement with any mining concern, it will come up with clauses under the Stability Agreement; it will bring it to this House and this House will ratify it.
Mr. Speaker, there is no need to set a discriminating amount of investment of five hundred million where mining companies will be treated differently because of the amount of money invested, and on that basis enter into a separate development agreement with those mining companies and bring that development agreement to be ratified by Parliament again.
So Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that clause 49 be deleted completely as it serves no purpose in this Bill.
Mr. Yieleh Chireh 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the amendment that this clause 49 be deleted completely from the Bill -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5 p.m.
Who is raising a point of order? Yes, hon. Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice?
Mr. E. Asamoa Owusu-Ansah 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know under what Standing Order of the House the hon. John Mahama is coming. He has not been given leave by Mr. Speaker to table an amendment on the floor, and there is no amendment also on the Order Paper. So I do not see how he can ask that the whole clause should be deleted.
Mr. Mahama 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker - [Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5 p.m.
I have not called you. Hon. Member, you may resume your seat. All right, before I rule, let me hear the hon. Minister.
Prof. Dominic Fobih 5 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I propose that with the deletion of the phrase “on behalf of the President” and the insertion of “on the advice of the Commission”, the whole clause should be Retained, because in the mining sector investment is always heavy and unless it is made attractive, investors will not venture into that area. We think five hundred million US dollars is quite a substantial sum that should be considered as special to merit the concession that is given to companies that are qualified for Development Agreement. So I would support the motion for the retention of the clause as it is.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5 p.m.
Without amending it?
Prof. Fobih 5 p.m.
Except the amendment which has been proposed on the Order Paper.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, the hon. Member for Bole/ Bamboi (Mr. John D. Mahama) has expressed his view that instead of just amending it as was proposed, the whole
clause should go. Of course, this could be subject to a separate amendment altogether. Nevertheless, since it is so well tied to this, I would allow that counter- amendment but the whole thing is under consideration at the moment.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 5:10 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I am also not too clear with the intendment of clause 49.
Mr. Speaker, I am of the view that the
combination of the Stability Agreement and the Development Agreement is a kind of social responsibility agreement. The only thing that has been left out, Mr. Speaker, is with respect to 49 (2) (d), and if I may quote:
“(2) A development agreement may contain provisions,
(d) relating to environmental issues and obligations of the holder to safeguard the environment in accordance with this Act or other enactments …”
And (e) talks about dealing with settlement of disputes.
Mr. Speaker, those are the only two provisions which are not captured in clause 48, so I thought that if we included them in the Stability Agreement then we would not need clause 49. That is why I believe that we should rather add (2) (d) and (e) to clause 48, include them in the Stability Agreement and we would definitely then not need clause 49, the Development Agreement. Because it is not inconsistent with the Stability Agreement except that it attempts to add these other provisions.
So the hon. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines may want to take what I have said on board and if indeed it is agreeable to him, then we would rather position (d) and (e) in clause 48 and delete clause 49 as being propounded by the hon. Member for Bole/Bamboi.
Mr. Mahama 5:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just
would want to canvass my position further. What happens is that if we look under the Stability Agreement, it gives the hon. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines certain rights to enter into some specific agreements with specific companies. And it says that the hon. Minister can enter into those agreements for fifteen years; so once he has entered into those agreements, even if we subsequently change our enactment, those companies will not be affected by the new enactments in respect of various things.
Now Mr. Speaker, it goes a step further
to give the hon. Minister even more discretion and says that he can further enter into a Development Agreement; and what this Development Agreement does is that it increases the discretion of the hon. Minister to override this whole Minerals and Mining Bill that we are passing.
With regard to, for instance, the environment, if the Bill restricts mining companies to certain strict environmental safeguards, the hon. Minister by virtue of clause 49, can enter into an agreement with those companies which override the provisions under environment in this Bill. That is why I am saying that the latitude, the additional development agreement allowed the hon. Minister is far too wide. And it defeats the basis of us passing this enactment in any manner.
It means that any company that comes and flashes a proposal of 500 million in front of the hon. Minister's nose could make him enter into agreement that overrides the enactments that we are passing in this particular Bill. That is why I am saying that let us delete that clause; it has the ability, within the Stability Agreement to enter into certain agreements that give the mining companies a certain surety that over a certain period of time, of not more than fifteen years, they are assured of a predictable investment environment. And
I think that it is sufficient.
Mr. Yaw Ntow-Ababio 5:10 p.m.
On a point
of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member for Bole/Bamboi has made a very serious statement to the effect that any investor, by flashing five hundred thousand dollars at the door of the hon. Minister, can have his way by this amendment.
Mr. Speaker, I think that if we leave
this statement to go on the floor of the House, it will mean that hon. Ministers of State are not to be trusted - [Interruption.] So I think that the hon. Member should withdraw this statement.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:10 p.m.
Hon. Member, the Bill proposes the amount of money an investor can bring, which will qualify for an agreement. When he talks of flying it before the hon. Minister, it means to attract that agreement and not as a personal benefit of the hon. Minister. I do not think that was intended and I did not get it that way.
Now, hon. Members, we have three situations, the amendment by the Chairman of the Committee - [Interruptions.] Order! That in place of “on behalf of the President”, make it “on the advice of the Commission”. There is also the view that the entire clause 49 (1) -- In fact, it is being argued that clause 49 as a whole should be deleted except with the proviso given by the hon. Majority Chief Whip (Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) that some essential elements therein can be transferred to clause 48. Now, it will be good that we have a neat position and I believe the hon. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines would want to give us a clean-up of the situation.
Minister for Lands, Forestry and
Mines (Prof. Dominic K. Fobih): Mr. Speaker, it looks like the hon. Minister acts in a vacuum without reference to the law. But I think an hon. Minister does things within the context of the law, so giving discretionary power to the hon. Minister means he will still have to go by
what the law suggests in terms of either environmental management or physical regime in the country.
Therefore, even after that when we come to clause 49 (3), the hon. Minister's power is controlled by Parliament because whatever Stability Agreement or development agreement that is raised has to come to this House for final approval. So I think the two are separate entities.
The Stability Agreement deals with the physical arrangement that normally takes place with all mining companies, and then the Development Agreement is the incentive packages that go with substantial investments in the mining sector. And therefore, the two are separate things and subject to the approval of Parliament, as (3) indicates here. So I would want to support the idea of maintaining the two as separate entities within the law.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:10 p.m.
Hon.
Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, if you are taking 49 (3) to argue that it is subject to ratification by Parliament, that is tied to clause 49 (3), but not necessarily the other provisions. I think that we should sort out this thing and then we can neatly stop there.
Majority Leader (Mr. Felix Owusu-
Adjapong): Mr. Speaker, it looks like we seem not to be getting an answer and I think that when things happen that way, that is the time we step an item down; and we can then move to item 27 and come back.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:10 p.m.
Hon.
Majority Leader, I will accept that. It appears that that one, just like clause 30 which was stood down, is part of the two clauses of the Bill that need further consultation on. So the Chairman of the Committee together with those who have
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 5:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
item 26.

Suspension of Standing Order 80(1)

Minister for Finance and Economic

P lanning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah- Wiredu): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill, 2006 may be moved today.
Mrs. Grace Coleman (NPP - Effiduase/Asokore) 5:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
BILLS - SECOND READING 5:20 p.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 5:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That the Appropriation Bill, 2006 be read a Second time.
Question proposed.
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Grace Coleman) 5:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and in doing so to present the Report of the Finance Committee on the Appropriation Bill for the financial year ending 31st December,
2006.
1.0 Introduction
The 2006 Appropriation Bill was laid in the House on Tuesday, 13 th December, 2005 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House. This followed the presentation by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu of the Government's Financial Statement for the 2006 fiscal year.
The Committee met with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, two Deputy Ministers for Finance and Economic Planning, Prof. G. Y. Gyan-Baffour, Dr. A. Akoto Osei and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
2.0 References
The Committee referred to the following:
The 1992 Constitution.
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2005 financial year.
The Reports of Parliamentary Committees on the 2006 Annual Estimates of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
3.0 Background Information
Pursuant to art icle 179 of the
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Grace Coleman) 5:20 p.m.


iii) Contingency
TOTAL 5:20 p.m.
-- 5:20 p.m.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor/ Ave) 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support the motion in principle but there are some errors and I thought the Chairperson of the Committee was going to correct them. I suspect that it is because we are rushing the Bill through, that is why she did not look at them.
Mr. Speaker, the figure for the Members of Parliament at page 3, item 4 District Assemblies - ¢227.7 billion of which Members, of Parliament share should read ¢57.5 billion and not 57 billion. So it should be corrected to ¢57.5 billion and that will add up to ¢250 million for the constituency.
Mr. Speaker, it is true that the Committee commends the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning for bringing the HIPC component of the Appropriation Bill on board for the first time. But Mr. Speaker, there were two promises that he gave. One was the HIPC but he did not deliver on the Internally- Generated Funds (IGF).
Mr. Speaker, as the Committee captured, some of the IGF of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) do not have legislation backing them to retain those monies and use them; and clearly there is a serious constitutional problem there. The agreement was that in the course of this financial year they would bring, concerning the MDAs, the necessary legislations.

P. 137
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we
thank hon. Members for the Committee's report. As we have been doing, whatever improvement we have to give to our financial reporting system, I think it helps the whole nation. So suggestions and ideas that come are normally incorporated and I believe that we have already submitted a Bill to Cabinet with regard to the IGF, because I believe we need to work under article 176 of the Constitution.
So the Ministry has already acted and
I believe that the report of the Committee reflects the true proceedings and whatever we have to do next year to improve upon the reporting, I think we shall do so. So on that note, we thank hon. Members for supporting the Bill.
Question put and motion agreed to.
The Appropriation Bill was accor-
dingly read a Second time.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:30 p.m.
Hon.
Majority Leader, in view of the remarks made by the hon. Deputy Majority Leader, what do we do with 28?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 5:30 p.m.
I think
hon. Osei-Prempeh and the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning seem to have contrary view of what was being said, so if we can hear from them before we look at item 28. Because I was not a member of the Committee and therefore I want to be fair to the two hon. Members to see whether the explanation they will give will satisfy the point raised by hon. Doe Adjaho. [Interruption.] you can be patient and let us hear from him.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:30 p.m.
Hon.
Deputy Minority Leader, it appears your mind was engaged somewhere when he indicated that the issues you raised are in fact already in the process. The hon. Minister indicated that a Bill is before Cabinet, so if you can put your heads together so that you can agree on that we can go ahead with the Consideration Stage.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:30 p.m.
Are
you on your feet?
Mr. Osei-Prempeh 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
a little explanation. Mr. Speaker, what happened at the Finance Committee was that Members felt uneasy that the IDF component goes without recourse to Act 176. So for this year, we said that the Ministry provide us with a Schedule of all departments and agencies which are going
Mr. Adjaho 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the point
I made is the same point being made by the hon. Osei-Prempeh. Indeed, that was a compromised position because the real thing was to say that let us get the proper legislation before we allow IGF - Those departments which do not have the law authorising them to retain their IGF, we should pass the law before we authorise them, or we approve those components in the Appropriation Bill.
But if as a compromise and to facilitate business of the House, we say that all right, let us use certain part of the Budget Statement which is the appendix - But we cannot call it appendix; it has to come as a Schedule to this Bill, then that gives us a certain parliamentary -- Then it becomes part of this legislation.
Then it becomes an Act of Parliament where Government takes time in the next financial year to come out with appropriate legislation which we were told that the Committee had submitted to the Attorney- General's Department as a compromised position . And the point is that, as we are sitting down here, no amendment has been filed to this effect. So we have to come and file the necessary amendment to capture that sense so that hon. Members will know exactly the final Bill which is being passed. And this can be taken tomorrow morning -- the first thing -- without any problem beause we had agreed in principle to pass the Appropriation Bill.
Mr. Osei-Prempeh 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
already, there is a Schedule 1 attached to the report of the Committee which shows the projected ideas and the retention
Respectfully submitted.
which is being sought. That is attached. Perhaps what is left is just the reference to be made to the Appropriation Bill itself -- reference to the same Schedule - [Interruption] - Yes, attached to the Bill so that it becomes part of the Act. But now it is attached to the report, that is the only difference. It is attached to the report as Schedule 1 which will be passed by the House.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:30 p.m.
How has it been described?
Mr. Osei-Prempeh 5:30 p.m.
It is attached to the report as Schedule 1. It should be attached to the Bill so that it becomes part of the Act which will be passed by the House.
Mr. Adjaho 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, that is the point I have been making all along. But I am saying that we have not found any amendment to the Bill so we can do this first thing tomorrow morning so that we get the amendment and we get the proper Schedule to the Bill. That is the point we are making. We have to amend the Bill through the Consideration Stage. Nothing has been filed. Mr. Speaker, nothing has been filed so that at the Consideration Stage we introduce a Schedule to the Bill and then move it accordingly as Schedule
1.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 5:30 p.m.
What I wanted the committee members and those handling this to tell us is whether it is possible that -- Because at the Consideration Stage you can move amendment on the floor, that is allowed. So if it is not something extraordinary, and it is a question of somebody saying when we go to Consideration Stage, after clause 5, for example, insert this new clause and say that this is it, then I thought that we could do it. I was not a member of the Committee so if it is, then why do they not help us so that at least we move to the Consideration Stage?
When we reach that area and we think
that there is the need to do something which means proper drafting, then like we stood down certain consideration today -- So I want to suggest that we go through those. We can finish the Consideration and then move on. So I want us to go that way, that we take the Consideration Stage and if we get into any difficulty, we stand that area down and then look at it tomorrow, rather than leave the whole thing like that. That is the suggestion I want to make.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:30 p.m.
Hon. Members, this is being taken through like Certificate of Urgency. Hon. Members, it appears that essentially, you agreed at the Finance Committee meeting as to the position of the internally-generated funds. Your concern has been that it is not captured in the Bill, which could be rectified. [Interruptions.] If you do not listen we may not be able to get it. So that if we get to the Consideration Stage then the Chair would allow amendment to be made accordingly so that it would be reflected in the Bill. Is that all right by you?
Mr. Adjaho 5:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not have any objection to the proposal. But Mr. Speaker, let us be a little bit professional with our work. In fact, the extract that we took from the Budget Statement is virtually giving us figures on 2005 collection, 2006 collection. If one wants to do a collection work attached to the Bill then it is only the 2006 collection that one would extract and put there; then we would be very clear with what we are doing. So that when we close we can work at it and have it done tomorrow morning.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 5:40 p.m.
Listening to all sides - [Interruption] - I think we can come to a compromise that anybody with an amendment, including the Committee's, should be able to make
it ready so that it is filed for all of us to look at it tomorrow, then we take the Consideration Stage tomorrow.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:40 p.m.
Very well. So the necessary amendment should be filed for consideration tomorrow. I believe at this stage - [Interruption.]
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 5:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, Leadership has consulted and we have agreed that there would be the need for a caucus meeting to look at item 9 - respective party caucus meeting. So that would be referred to tomorrow.
Again, we would want to end the further consideration of the Minerals and Mining Bill because the whole caucus is expected to have an emergency meeting immediately we adjourn. So since it is after 2 o'clock you can decide whatever you are entitled to do.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 5:40 p.m.
The House is adjourned till tomorrow at 10 o'clock.
ADJOURNMENT 5:40 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 4.43 p.m. till 14th December 2005 at 10.00 a.m.