Debates of 23 Feb 2006

Order! Order! Correc- tion of Votes and Proceedings, Wednesday, 22nd February, 2006. Page 1…11
Hon. Members, we do not have any
Official Report.
Item 3 - Questions - Minister for

Question No. 219 and it is in the name

Question No. 256, hon. Yaw Effah-

Baafi, Member of Parliament for Kintampo South.

Hon. Minister for Fisheries, thank

First is the issue of dominant players. Mr. Speaker, during the period that the duopoly policy pertained in the Telecom sector in the country, with Ghana Telecom and Westel being the only entities with rights to operate international gateways, most of the SMEs in the industry relied on the business of operating data networks for the provision of mostly internet and virtual private network services.
Mr. Speaker, with the continued expansion of services by the incumbents, and the further liberalization of the sector by expanding the services of the mobile network operators, the market share of the SMEs has been significantly reduced. Mr. Speaker, if I can get data services delivered directly to my mobile device, why would I want to get the service from a different

Mr. Speaker, I would want to congratulate the hon. Member who made the Statement for an indepth analysis of the importance, problems and issues associated with ICT.
Mr. Speaker, ICT is of significant
importance to the socio-economic development of every country. Because of information and communication technology, the whole world has now become a global village where we can reach each other just by pressing the button of a computer or a technological device.
Mr. Speaker, it has necessitated and
also facilitated speedy processing of
information, timeliness of reporting and also accuracy of the nature of the report.
Mr. Speaker, although ICT has
significant advantages, it is worthy to noting that there are a number of problems that should be taken care of so that the development of ICT would not be disastrous to the development of the nation and the socio-economic fabric of the country.
Mr. Speaker, in the financial sector,
computer fraud is much more serious than ordinary fraud without the use of computer.
Mr. Speaker, in this wise, whilst we develop our ICT to higher levels, it is of significant importance that we put in policies and measures that will serve as internal control systems to check fraudsters and fraudulent persons from cheating on people.
Mr. Speaker, one should not lose sight
of the fact that now we have a lot of 419 systems throughout the world, through the use of information and communication technology.
Mr. Speaker, any ICT system or
development process should have or recognize the importance of these fraudsters, the dangers that they can cause to any system, the loss of resources and as such make sure that whatever programme that is being used, whatever ICT system that is being used has an inbuilt and well fortified internal control system to forestall such fraudsters from achieving their sinister aims.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I
wish to congratulate the hon. Member who made the Statement.

Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with this very important and well researched Statement by the hon. Member for Suhum.
It is more so because we all know
that whether one likes it or not, ICT has become quite indispensable in the development of any nation, and I think that we in Ghana should be proud that we are cruising along with this phenomenon progressively.
Mr. Speaker, about five years ago,
around 1997, when mobile phones, for instance, were introduced I happened to own one valued at about ¢2 million, from Scancom, and payment for that one was even staggered. Mr. Speaker can imagine, as at that time, to own a mobile phone was a status symbol. That was when we were very young, about 37 years old, and Mr. Speaker can very well imagine the digressions that came on our way when we owned mobile phones.
Just about 2001, Ghana Telecom also
joined in the mobile phone services, and if you wanted a chip you needed to cough up a whopping ¢1.2 million. Even so, you had to really get well connected before you could get the chips. Then just last year, I bought some telephones for my constituents and wanted some chips. I went and asked for the price of a One- Touch chip and when I was told that it was ¢32,000, I retorted to the seller “Well, I am sorry, I am not buying them for children.” I thought it was too cheap; I thought it was those for toys but the gentleman told me, “Look, it is working; it is really working.” And it was then that it dawned on me that there had been leaps and bounds.
Mr. Speaker, we have progressively gone ahead with this world phenomenon

Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement on the floor.
It is a well-known fact that ICT contributes a lot to the national economy. Job creation is an area in which ICT has done much for Ghanaians. We would rather expect the well established industries to support the development of the ICT industry in this country. It
is sometimes ironical that these well- established industries in this country rather contract foreign ICT companies to come and do jobs that can be done better by our local ICT companies. As I speak now, there is something going on at the Ghana Commercial Bank. A local company wants to do a job with them but then the bank is rather contracting a foreign company to do that job. It is very ironical.
Mr. Speaker, the Government is promoting ICT development across board. Our secondary schools are all getting ICT centres. If we do not support our local ICT companies to provide employment to these potential graduates of ICT, we would be doing ourselves more harm than good.
Mr. Speaker, the dominant ICT well- established companies are also making some fundamental errors. Instead of concentrating on their core business of providing quality, basic voice service, they are rather encroaching on internet service provision which should be left to the other lesser known ICT companies. We expect them to concentrate more on expanding their frontiers to the entire country.
The capital of my constituency, Nyinahini, does not even have Areeba service, so whenever I go there, that is the basic complaint. We expect Areeba and Ghana Telecom to do their best to extend their services to all parts of the country so that Ghanaians in the remote parts of the country can also enjoy the ICT industry.
Mr. Speaker, my last comment is about the complaint we have all been raising about the calls. This complaint is breaking homes; it is breaking marriages because sometimes you would expect your loved ones to respond to a call, you will call and call but there would be no response. It does not go through. It is serious. Sometimes, you may accuse your loved one unnecessarily because the call
did not go through, not knowing that it is simply because of the fact that somebody somewhere is not doing his work well.
Mr. Speaker, we expect our ICT companies to be more competitive because we are paying them, we are buying the units. They should give us value for money. They should do more to improve upon their services so that calls would go through for Ghanaians to have more faith and confidence in the ICT industry.

Order!

Mr. Speaker, it is up to our educational authorities to come up with measures that would curtail these things. Then, as part of our own responsibility as parents, we should make sure that if we procure these items for the use of our kids we monitor their usage so that they do not abuse them. This is because it is a threat to our socio-cultural values. We should be able to protect these values over the years. So we expect that the ICT and the Internet do not destroy our rich cultural values that we have cherished so much over the years.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. Member who made the Statement.
10. 30 a.m.
Deputy Attorney-General and

Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement that was made and to congratulate my hon. Member and Friend for his industry.
Mr. Speaker, a few months ago, I
was reading a feature on the growing trend in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. This feature was on India, and the feature stated how the ICT industry had changed India and job employment opportunities, et cetera. But the interesting thing was that the last paragraph of that feature which was in Time Magazine stated that the ICT industry which had hit India, next stop would be Africa. Three countries in Africa were mentioned as potentials of growth Ghana, South Africa and Egypt.
Mr. Speaker, the effect that the ICT
industry has had on the economy cannot be over-emphasized. Indeed, it has gone a long way to resolve some of our unemployment problems. Call centres for example, are an important source of employment in most developing countries. In Ghana, just now, we have three call centres and recently His Excellency the President inaugurated the third call centre in Cape Coast.
Mr. Speaker, we have advantages over the countries in Asia. For example, we are on the Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT), we speak good English, our people are intelligent and we should, as it were, find ways, by legislation or policy of encouraging the growth of this sector. But Mr. Speaker, we are already doing a lot. I am sure we are all aware of the community information centres that are being established throughout the country, through the industry of this Government. What it is doing is that it is bringing ICT to our rural areas. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, if we should continue this policy, very soon computers would be a second nature to most Ghanaian children.

None

Atwima-Nwabiagya): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to the Statement on the floor.

Mr. Speaker, my twin brother over here,

the hon. Member for Atwima-Mponua (Mr. Yaw Asiedu-Mensah), during his contribution made mention of the effects and the advantages of ICT in Ghana here. Just yesterday I happened to be at the Pyramid House in Accra and Mr. Speaker, it was around five o'clock, and there were hoards of women and ladies who were leaving that building. Mr. Speaker, I was really shocked and surprised, so I enquired from one of them what they were doing over there and they told me that they work with a firm in that building and what they

do is data collection. Mr. Speaker, this shows the benefits of ICT and it looks like we have to encourage it the more.

Mr. Speaker, I would also want

to add one thing. I happened to have created my own website and it is called wwwbenitoowusubio.com. Mr. Speaker, surprisingly, ever since I created that website I have been receiving e-mails from people from the Philippines, from Colombia, from Cambodia, from China, from Afghanistan, from the USA. Mr. Speaker, these are constituents of Atwima- Nwabiagya who are domiciled in these places. Mr. Speaker, their concern and message to the MP is that they want the ROPAB passed - [Interruption.] Mr. Speaker, I have been sending replies that, being their Member of Parliament (MP) or being their representative in this honourable House , I am going to make sure that I add my vote to the Bill.

On this note, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for this opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the survival of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the ICT industry that has been made by my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Suhum (Mr. Opare-Ansah).
Mr. Speaker, it is true that the ICT
industry has grown very significantly in recent times, and the statistics are there to prove it. After about one hundred and ten years of telephony in the country, the total number of telephone subscribers in the country at the end of the year 2000,
Mr. Speaker, was only two hundred and eighteen thousand. That was after one hundred and ten years of telephony in this country. In the five years that we have been in power, we have seen this number rising

Mr. Speaker, I do agree with my hon.
Friend that most of the improvements, the expansion that we have seen in this sector has come largely from the private sector, and the SMEs have to be commended for the tremendous support that they have given to the sector.
In particular, Mr. Speaker, we want to pay tribute to the Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA). They have been instrumental in providing internet service to this country. Mr. Speaker, having the facilities available is one thing, carrying it to the people is another thing; and internet services have been carried to the people of Ghana largely through the GISPA; and I want to commend them for what they have done.
It is also true, Mr. Speaker, that in
recent times there have been liberalization and more competition. Most members of the association have felt threatened because most of the major telephone companies are now trying to enter into areas that normally were being served by members of the GISPA.
Mr. Speaker it is very, very difficult to stand in the way of competition. We have liberalized and we probably need to allow the forces in the market to provide the necessary directions. But I would also want to agree with my hon. Friend that some amount of intervention is needed to make sure that the indigenous Ghanaians who have invested so much in this sector, are able to survive and are not just kicked out of their operations.
This morning, my attention was drawn to a problem that one of them has got. Internet Ghana, I am told, is virtually being asked to close down because they have not been able to undertake some obligations

that are needed to be undertaken by them under a service agreement that they have with Ghana Telecom, and I have spent part of my morning today trying to resolve the matter.

At the end of the day, the question that GISPA, seems to be posing is that should we limit the telephone operators only to providing telephone services, and not venturing into areas such as internet service provision? And as I have said, under normal circumstances, one would say that we want competition in the sector and therefore, the stronger should survive. But that will mean that we will be pushing out the indigenous service providers. This I agree is something important that should be discussed. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my hon. Friend that, as he himself is aware, we have been giving a lot attention to this particular problem and we are trying to see how best we can solve it.

Mr. Speaker, let me also comment on

the quality of service which is a normal complaint that we hear anywhere that we go. We do have telephone in abundance in the country, but the quality of service is simply not good enough.

Mr. Speaker, when most of these telephone companies entered the market, they were not given any licence, per se; they were given what was referred to as authorization letters. These authorization letters did not specify the quality level that they were supposed to operate at. Therefore, you could not hold a particular telephone company accountable if the service was not at a quality that was expected of them.

Mr. Speaker, last year we went a step further and issued licenses to all the telephone companies and, in these licenses, we have specified level of quality that is expected of all of them. We have

given them targets that they are supposed to reach. And anytime that you made a call, which dropped, it is noted and at the end of the year, we would sit down with them. We know how many calls they have dropped, how many calls could not go through, all the inefficiencies that they visited on their clients and as result of that, a penalty would be determined.

For its operations last, Mr. Speaker, I know that the National Communication Authority (NCA), is now in consultation with the telephone companies and we are hoping that by the end of this month they would have come up with the level of inefficiencies displayed by the various telephone companies during last year and therefore, the penalties that they are going to pay. What this means, Mr. Speaker, is that whenever there is inefficiency, the telephone companies would not just go free, they are going to pay heavily for that.

Mr. Speaker, if it is any assurance, as I have said, we hope that by the end of the month, we would have been able to determine the level of efficiency of the various telephone companies and the appropriate penalties that are going to be paid by these companies.

Mr. Speaker, another matter that was raised by an hon. Member is this question of people using the internet for various fraudulent activities. It is true, Mr. Speaker, that this going on, not only in Ghana, it is going on everywhere in the world. But Mr. Speaker, we should not say that because it happens everywhere in the world, it is all right for it to happen in Ghana. We at the Ministry are doing everything possible to discourage this practice.

Today, the laws that we have in the country are not sufficient enough to

respond to the challenges that are coming out of this unfortunate incidence of internet fraud. We are in the process of developing various cyber laws, which we hope would be able to discourage people who have been indulging in this unfortunate practice. So I want to assure my hon. Friend who raised it, that, yes, we are aware of this potential danger and we are doing everything possible to ensure that this incidence of internet fraud is also controlled in the country.

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with hon. Colleagues who have said that the future of the country, probably, depends upon the extent to which we can take advantage of this new information age and information society. Mr. Speaker, our ability, as a nation, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals will simply depend upon the extent to which we are able to mainstream Information Communication Technology (ICT) into our developmental efforts; and this remains one of the major primary objectives of the Ministry. We believe that we should be able to use ICT, Mr. Speaker, not only to grow the economy by increasing export growth, by providing jobs to our people, by growing the economy generally, but we believe we should be able to use the internet and the ICT to improve upon the delivery of Government services.

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the frustrations that one goes through when one tries to register his piece of land in this country. This is largely because of the manual nature of the record keeping in some of the institutions responsible for land administration in this country. We believe that if we introduced ICT into these areas we would be able to improve the delivery of Government service into these areas.

Mr. Speaker, we have the excellent example of GCNet to demonstrate what

ICT can, in fact, do. The GCNet, which has been introduced, has impacted tremendously in improving upon the delivery of services at our ports. People who have been going to our ports to take delivery of items that they have shipped into the country are confirming that it is now much easier to get their goods out of the ports than used to be the case. Mr. Speaker, the Customs and Exercise Preventive Service (CEPS) is also saying that they have seen much improvement in the collection of custom duties as a result of the introduction of the GC Net. Mr. Speaker, this is just another example to illustrate how easy it will be to improve upon the delivery of Government services if we are to use ICT.

This week, we are hoping to commence serious discussions with a company called Intel. Mr. Speaker, if ICT is to become widespread, people should be able to afford the cost of purchasing a computer. Today, you need something probably more than $1,500 to purchase a computer. This makes it impossible for most people to be able to purchase computers, which they need to drive to this information age and information society.

We, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Sports have recently signed an agreement with Intel and, before the end of this month, we are hoping that we would be able to show to Ghanaians and launch a new computer that we are trying to produce in the country, which will measure up to all the specifications that one expects from any good computer and which we hope to sell for three hundred dollars a piece. We believe that from about the existing thousand five hundred to three hundred dollars, many Ghanaians would be able to afford, to own computers and therefore, become active players in the knowledge economy.

Mr. Speaker, another exciting thing that we are trying to do with ICT is in the area of the emerging distance education. Mr. Speaker, last week we had discussions with the Minister for Education and Sports to explore ways and means of using ICT in the delivery of education in this country. In countries like Malaysia and many others, today, one teacher is able provide tuition to a number of institutions by operating from one central studio having lecture beamed to so many secondary schools across the country -

Hajia Alima Mahama - rose -

Minister for Women and
Children's Affairs, do you have any point of order to raise?
Hajia Mahama: Yes, Mr. Speaker, point of clarification. The Minister for Communication has been talking about networking schools, which is very important for my constituency. Every time I go back as an MP they have been asking me about the programme and when it is going to be networked. Today, he is telling us that it would be networked before the end of the month. Mr. Speaker, today is 23rd February and I want to know whether he is talking about 28th February - [Interruptions] - Is he talking about five days from now or he is talking about end of March - 31st March, 2006? I want a clarification.

Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, you are out of order. [Laughter.] Let him continue.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for ruling her out of order. Mr. Speaker, for the records, the pint that I made was that we appreciate with the Ministry of Education and Sports that if ICT and the use of internet will become widespread in the country then the cost

Mr. Speaker, this is only an appeal to the Joint Committee on Finance and Road Transport to expedite action and submit the report so that we can look at it next week.

Item 6, Attorney- General and Minister for Justice?

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee of the Whole

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Mr. Speaker, the Formula was
thoroughly debated by the House and agreed to, so the Report reflects fully the consensus of the House.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Finance Committee Report on Request for Exemption on income and corporate taxes In Respect of
Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Expansion
Works

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for exemption on income and corporate taxes totalling ¢7,002,648,-347.00 in respect of the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Expansion Works in the Central Region.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
The above exemption was laid in the House on Tuesday, 7th February 2006 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second
the motion on the floor.
Question put and motion agreed to.

Mr. Speaker,
I beg to move that honourable House adopts the following Resolution.
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
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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 exemption on income and corporate taxes totaling ¢7,002,648,347.00 in respect of the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and

Expansion Works in the Central Region.

N O W T H E R E F O R E , t h i s H o n o u r a b l e H o u s e h e r e b y 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 income and corporate taxes totaling ¢7,002,648,347.00 in respect of the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Expansion Works in the Central Region.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

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)

Page 46

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 specified machines, equipment, plant and ancillary items amounting to US $443,372.00 in respect of Financing the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP).

NOW THEREFORE, this 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 specified machines, equipment, plant and ancillary items

amounting to US$443,372.00 in respect of Financing the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP).

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.

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 specified goods and services amounting to US $765,839.00 in respect of Financing the Export Marketing and Quality Awareness Project.
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 specified goods and services amounting to US$765,839.00 in respect of Financing the Export Marketing and Quality Awareness Project.

Mr. Speaker, I beg
to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Item 16 Committee
sittings, hon. Majority Leader?
Majority Leader (Mr. Owusu-
Adjapong): Mr. Speaker, on page 8 of the Order Paper there is a Committee on Subsidiary Legislation meeting which
was scheduled for 11.00 a.m. I would suggest that we defer it and make it after the adjournment to enable all of us be available for the Committee of the Whole to discuss the proposed formula for sharing the District Assemblies Common Fund for the year 2006. With this information I beg to move that this House do adjourn till tomorrow, 10.00 o'clock in the morning.

Mr. Speaker, I
beg to second the motion.