Debates of 14 Jun 2006

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
CORRECTION OF VOTES 10 a.m.
AND PROCEEDINGS AND 10 a.m.
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings -- [Pause.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you upstanding?
Mr. Yeboah 10 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to send us back to yesterday's Votes and Proceedings.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
No! You wait . [Interruptions.] Order! Order! Hon. Member, you may resume your seat for the time being. We will deal with it when we come back.

We now move on to item 3 -- Questions. Minister for Education, Science and Sports; is he in the House?
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is outside the country, but the Deputy Minister is here with us, and with your permission and with the indulgence of the House, if you would allow him to stand in for the substantive Minister.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Permission granted.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10 a.m.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 10 a.m.
SCIENCE AND SPORTS 10 a.m.
Mr. Kwao 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. Deputy Minister very much. In his Answer, he has said that it is the policy of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to provide stadia in the regional and district capitals. May I know from him why it has taken his Ministry so long practicalising this policy in the Manya Krobo District?
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, it is a policy and the Ministry is to encourage the District Assemblies to support the Ministry and collaborate with the Ministry to effect this.
Mr. Kwao 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister said in his Answer that the Ministry would collaborate with the District Assembly of Manya Krobo to prepare the park, prepare the walls and fix the gates, and use it for both sporting and other social activities. May I know from him when work on this project would start?
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it will be a collaboration between the Ministry and the district. I am very hopeful that my hon. Colleague is aware of the programme of the Ministry in hosting the CAN 2008.
We therefore want to concentrate our
Mr. Kwao 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it looks as if the hon. Deputy Minister is just giving anything. [Laughter.] I want him to be specific -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Upper Manya Krobo, please you have to withdraw that.
Mr. Kwao 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it looks as if the hon. Minister is being general; I want him to be specific on the date. Does he have any plan on the date as to when the project would start?
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I may not be able to give a date now but I would ensure that I see the District Chief Executive of the district and work this out.
Mr. Kwao 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is a rare collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and the District Assembly. May I know whether the hon. Deputy Minister and his Ministry have sat down with the District Assembly to cost the project as at now?
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we have not costed the project as at now.
Mr. Kwao 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, finally, may I know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether he has collaborated with the District Assembly already, or he is yet to collaborate; and whether in answering the Question he had been to the Assembly to authenticate the Answer.
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
stated in the Answer that we would collaborate. We have not done that yet,
but it is a process that would take place.
Nii Amasah Namoale: Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister said he was going to meet with the District Chief Executive. May we know the time frame that he has given to it, within which he is going to meet the District Chief Executive and then report back to us?
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. Member that I can do this next week.
Dr. Kunbuor 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister whether this Answer is an afterthought or it was part of the plan of his Ministry? The Answer he has presented to the Question -- [Interruption.] But you are not the one I am asking the question of; he is the one. [Laughter.]
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is not an afterthought. It is part of the plan and policy of the Ministry.
Ms. Akua Sena Dansua 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister how much it costs to construct averagely a regional or district sports stadium.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister,
I have to call on you before you rise. All right -- [Pause.] Deputy Minister.
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the cost of any project depends upon the location and what materials would go into it. Until a decision is taken as to where a stadium would be built it would be difficult to tell how much it would cost. [Hear! Hear!]
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, according to the hon. Deputy Minister, his Ministry has a policy to provide stadia in
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Minority Leader, you should not be distracted. [Laughter.]
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I may not be able to give an exact date but the records in the Ministry indicate that over the years, through the years of Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), National Democratic Congress (NDC) to date, that policy has been there.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Question No. 412, hon. Richmond S. Quarm?
Mr. Joe Hackman 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Member is unavoidably absent and has asked me to ask the Question on his behalf with your permission.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
All right, go ahead.
Bus for T. I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School (Potsin)
Q. 412. Mr. Joe Kingsley Hackman (on behalf of Mr. Richmond S. Quarm) asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports when Government would consider providing a bus for the T. I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School at Potsin.
Mr. Twumasi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in collaboration with GES has collected data on the status of vehicles in all senior secondary schools in the country with the view to providing schools with means of transport.
The data which requested schools to indicate types of vehicle, capacity, age, enrolment and status (boarding, day or both) would adequately inform the Ministry and GES to address the vehicular needs of all senior secondary schools.
Mr. Speaker, I have personally visited the school mentioned and can attest to the predicament of the schoold. I therefore want to assure the hon. Member that T.I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School would be considered alongside others which have similar needs when the exercise of allocation is being done.
Mr. Hackman 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Musama Secondary School, also in the Gomoa District, was actually assessed and it was said that they should be provided with a school bus. Would this include what he just said?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Would you please repeat your supplementary question?
Mr. Hackman 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to know from the hon. Deputy Minister if Musama Secondary School which had been promised a school bus long ago for performing very well in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) had been included in such programme?
M r. S p e a k e r : T h i s i s n o t a supplementary question.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister in his Answer failed to be specific on when T. I. Ahmadiyya would be given a vehicle but went further to say that Government is considering a number of schools. I would like to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister from what sources is Government likely to fund the purchase of these vehicles?
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the sources of funding for educational development in this country are many and varied; a part comes from the Consolidated Fund, part also comes from donor and development partners, and part also comes from the
Mr. G. K. B. Gbediame 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Answer to the Question, the hon. Deputy Minister said T. I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School will be considered alongside others which have similar needs when the exercise of the allocation is being done. May we know when this exercise will begin?
M r. Tw u m a s i : M r. S p e a k e r, procurement takes time and having collected the information, the Ministry will be working towards procuring these buses. I may not be able to tell when exactly, but I hope that by the end of the year, maybe, we may be able to provide some of the buses.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is quite intriguing for the hon. Deputy Minister to say that after the collection of data they have not started the supply of vehicles. Could he confirm the number of schools that have benefited so far from the provision of vehicles of late?
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Central Tongu, you would agree with me that this is not a supplementary question. If you want to come, come back properly.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 10:20 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister said that data have been collected, in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service. I want to find out from him, ever since the completion of the collection of the data, if any school in the country has benefited from any such provision; and if so, how many?
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the process is ongoing. I recall that ever since the data were collected, all the 38 teacher training colleges in the country have benefited from the allocation of buses. Apart from
that, a few senior secondary schools have also benefited. I may not be able to give the exact figure now.
Kpedze Secondary School Development Projects
Q. 413. Mr. Francis Aggrey Agbotse asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports why the following development projects urgently needed at Kpedze Secondary School had been abandoned at various stages of completion since 2002:
i. The Library Complex;
ii. The Boys' Dormitory Sanitary Facilities; and
iii. The Semi-detached Masters' Bungalow.
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, infor- mation available at the Ministry indicates that contract was awarded for the construction of a boys' dormitory with sanitary facilities and a housemaster's bungalow. An amount of ¢157,591,089.90 has so far been paid to date out of the contract sum of ¢338,125,615.00. Up to date 52 per cent of works have been completed. In fact, this project was started in 1987 and was supposed to be completed in 1988. However, this has not been realized over the years.
Mr. Speaker, it is worthy to mention that the Ministry has identified through various visits by the Ministers that numerous projects have been abandoned at various pre-tertiary institutions across the country. Consequently, at a meeting on 29th of March this year the Ministry commissioned committees to take inventory of all ongoing and seemingly abandoned projects initiated by Government(s) over the years across the length and breadth of this country. A
Mr. Agbotse 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister who this contractor is, who has delayed the work for so long.
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I may have to ascertain from the books.
Mr. Agbotse 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out whether by the attitude of the contractor this hundred million would go again to the same contractor.
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as already stated, some of these projects have been taken over in the inventory and we will liaise with the Regional Co-ordinating Councils to work on such contractors who cannot perform.
Mr. Agbotse 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out when exactly the hundred million would be disbursed so that the work could start.
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, that will be as soon as we meet with the Regional
Coordinating Councils and commence the determination, reaward or continuation of such projects.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether the contractor is one Smiles Construction Limited which is owned by the Presidential Advisor, Mr. Tommy Amamatekpor -- [Inter- ruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Twumasi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as already indicated, this contract was awarded in 1987. I have also indicated that I may have to refer to the records; so I may not be able to tell who the contractor is and will therefore not know who that contractor is now.
Construction of Stadia for CAN 2008 Tournament
Q. 414. Mr. Felix Twumasi-Appiah asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports what was the status of the construction of the various stadia to be used for the CAN 2008 tournament.
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Ghana secured the right to host CAN 2008 on 8th July, 2004. CAF requires a minimum of four and maximum of six stadia to host the tournament. Two of the stadia should have a seating capacity (all seated) of 40,000 for the Opening Ceremony, Semi-finals and the Final matches while the other two should have 20,000 seating capacity for group matches.
Mr. Speaker, the stadia situation in Ghana required the construction of two new 20,000 seating capacity stadia at Tamale and Sekondi and the refurbishment of the two existing stadia in Kumasi and Accra to provide the 40,000 all seated capacity. A new stadium for Cape Coast has also been approved and site preparation works are underway.

( a ) C o n t r a c t w i t h t h e Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) (Design and Build Turnkey)

The two new stadia were awarded on contract to the Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company of China on 26th October, 2005. The Government has fulfilled its obligation of site preparation and serviced sites with access roads which were handed over to the contractors on 20th December, 2005 as required by the contract.

Actual construction works have started in earnest on both stadia at Tamale and Sekondi-Takoradi.

( b ) C o n t r a c t w i t h Waterville/ Michelletti and Waterville/ Consar (Design, Finance and Build Turnkey)

The rehabilitation works on the Ohene- Djan, El-Wak and Baba Yara stadia have also been awarded to the above-mentioned companies.

Major parts of the Ohene-Djan and Baba Yara stadia are to be demolished and refurbished to seat 40,000 persons. Demolition works have already been carried out on the Ohene-Djan and Baba Yara stadia.

The El-Wak Stadium is also to be refurbished and provided with eight lane running tracks. The entire construction works at all the venues are to be completed by October, 2007 to allow for some test events before the tournament in January

2008.

An inter-ministerial committee approved by Cabinet has been constituted to co-ordinate the construction of all required

stadia and hostels and the provision of security, medical, communication, broadcasting and transportation facilities towards hosting the CAN 2008 tournament.

It has been decided that modern hostels should be constructed in Tamale and Sekondi to accommodate the teams and officials who will be based in the two cities. Construction will start soon to be completed within eighteen months and before the games.

The rationale, for Ghana hosting CAN 2008 is the rationalization that it is more than a football event. It presents a unique opportunity for Ghana to create lasting legacy benefits for the country well before, during and after the event. CAN 2008 presents the opportunity to portray our passion for football and utilize football's ability to act as a catalyst to produce positive social, economic, physical and environmental benefits.

This is a national agenda which requires the commitment of every patriotic citizen in every part of the country.
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer, I read that the two new stadia were awarded on contract to Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company of China on the 26th October 2005. May I therefore know from the hon. Deputy Minister, when was the closing date for the submission of bids and when same were opened for evaluation? [Interruptions.]
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I hope my hon. Colleague is aware that there is a procurement committee. For this information, I would have to contact them and provide same.
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Member, would you be kind enough to repeat your supplementary question; I did not hear you.
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my question is how soon will the hon. Minister make this information available to the House?
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Which information are you referring to?
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the question was this: When was the closing date for tenders and when were same opened for evaluation? The hon. Minister's answer was that he will make the information available to this House and I am asking how soon he will make the information available to the House -- [Interruptions.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
If he has the answer, let him give it.
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think this is in the official publications. If my hon. Colleague wants me to do that, then I would have to contact the procurement committee and give him that information.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. Minister has indicated, the question which was asked now breaches our Standing Orders. Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote Order 67 (1) (h):
“A Question shall not be asked the answer to which is readily available in official publications.”
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. Minister has
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief Whip, he has answered the question. Let us make progress. Hon. Member for Sene, go ahead -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I further wish to know from the hon. Minister what will be the total cost of the projects awarded to Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) including interest rates and other indicators.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Sene, this is not a supplementary question; it is not. Is this a supplementary question?
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he talked about the contract being awarded to SCG, and I am asking how much would Ghana as a State -- What would be the total cost for the same contract he was talking about?
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry I may not be able to give the exact figure now.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister in his Answer on page 15, paragraph 3, if the Order Paper has said:
“It has been decided that modern hostels should be constructed in Tamale and Sekondi to accommodate the teams and officials who will be based in the two cities.” And he goes on to say: “Construction will start soon to be completed within eighteen months and before the Games.”
Mr. Speaker, we are already in June and we have barely nineteen months for the commencement of the tournament. May we know from the hon. Deputy Minister exactly when the construction work is going to start? This is because it cannot go beyond July. Mr. Speaker, I want to

know from the hon. Deputy Minister when exactly the construction work is going to commence.
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my hon. Colleague that work has already started. [Hear! Hear!]
University of Development Studies Medical Campus
Q. 415. Mr. Yaw Effah-Baafi (on behalf of Mr. Stephen Kunsu) asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports when would the Medical Campus of the University of Development Studies become operational in Kintampo.
Mr. Twumasi 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Law establishing the University of Develo- pment Studies (UDS), PNDCL 279 of May 15, 1992 makes references to the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Brong Ahafo Regions in the establishment of the University (Sections 12 (f) and 26 of PNDC Law 279 of 1992). The Emeritus Professor Benneh's Task Force which was set up to prepare a programme of action for the implementation of the decisions of the Government to establish a University in the North of Ghana identified, among others, four (4) sites for the various Faculties of the University.
Mr. Speaker, the four (4) sites which were identified were 10:30 a.m.
i. Nyankpala Agricultural College, Northern Region;
i i . Ins t i tu te of F ie ld Com- munication and Agricultural Training (FCAT), Navrongo, Upper East Region;
iii. Kintampo Rural Health Training School, Kintampo, Brong Ahafo Region; and
iv. A site in Wa, Upper West Region.
Mr. Effah-Baafi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister whether the existing courses at the Kintampo Rural Health Training School (KRHTS) will be upgraded along with the coexistence of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) when it takes off.
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is being considered under the discussions being held among the various stakeholders and I am very hopeful that if the Memorandum of Understanding is signed after the decisions have been concluded, the status and the upgrading will be considered.
Mr. Effah-Baafi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister,
when the Memorandum of Understanding is likely to be signed by the parties involved.
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the discussions involve various stakeholders. I have mentioned the interaction between the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister and the University of Development Studies (UDS) team, the discussions being undertaken between the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and the Ministry of Health. I may not be able to tell offhand what the conclusions have been, but I am very sure that because it is an urgent situation, this would be expedited and the Memorandum of Understanding will be signed as soon as practicable.
Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, given the Answer that the hon. Deputy Minister has given and the indication that discussions are going on, will it not be appropriate for the Ministry to set up a committee made up of the relevant institutions that need to discuss this? This is because, from what he is saying, it will never come to fruition unless a committee is set up -- [Interruptions] -- Yes, in addition to the suggestion I am making, I would want to know whether it would not be appropriate for the Ministry to rather set up a co-ordinating committee to discuss it.
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the suggestion is a feasible one but the groundwork would have to be done first, and I am very sure that eventually a committee to co-ordinate all these bodies would be set up.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether he is aware that the Vice- President's Committee on UDS has made recommendations in respect of the establishment of this institution at
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am aware. It is even part of Prof. Benneh's recommendations, and that is why all these interactions, interfaces and discussions are going on.
Mr. Bagbin 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister has not answered the question. The question is, what are the recommendations of the Vice President's Committee on the establishment of the institute? What are the recommendations?
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I may not be able to tell the recommendations but if it becomes necessary, I can furnish the House with the recommendations later.
Alhaji Alhassan Yakubu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister whether he is aware that the Medical School of the UDS is not functioning well because the Tamale Teaching Hospital is not well equipped. And if he is aware, what is the Ministry doing about it?
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not very clear with the supplementary question; if he could come again.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, will you be kind enough to repeat the supplementary question?
Alhaji Alhassan Yakubu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am asking the hon. Deputy Minister whether he is aware that the Medical School of the UDS is not functioning well because the Tamale Teaching Hospital is not well equipped. And if so, what is the Ministry doing about it?
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I know for a fact that there is a problem at the Tamale Hospital, which is supposed to be
a Teaching Hospital; and the Government is working towards that. That falls under the domain of the Ministry of Health and not the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.
Bongo District Directorate of Education Office Block
Q. 416. Mr. Albert Abongo asked the Minister for Education, Science Sports and the Ministry's plans for the completion of the Office Block of the Bongo District Directorate of Education.
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the above-mentioned project is ongoing. The substructure, floor beams and block works on the ground floor have been completed. In 2005, out of the ¢200,000,000.00 approved for the works, only ¢50,000,000,00 was utilized to provide furniture for the Director's bungalow which was also awarded the same time and an amount of ¢134,266,500.00 was utilized to continue with the civil works on the office block.
Mr. Speaker, in the current year, that is 2006, an amount of ¢200,000,000.00 has again been approved for the works to continue. It is expected that the contractor would be very serious this time to complete the work on schedule.
Mr. Abongo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister mentioned that ¢200 million was allocated for the works. I would like to know whether the ¢200 million was allocated for general works in the district, or specifically, whether that ¢200 million was meant for that project.
Mr. Twumasi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, two projects were being undertaken at the time, namely the District Director's bungalow and its furnishing, and the office block of the district directorate.
Mr. Abongo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister

what the project cost is and when is it scheduled for completion.
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would want to beg to find out.

Bongo Senior Secondary School

Q. 417. Mr. Albert Abongo asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports the extent of upgrading to be carried out on the Bongo Senior Secondary School which has been selected for upgrading.
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, His Excellency the President on the assumption of power, decided that at least one school in each district must be upgraded to bridge the geographical imbalance between the so-called elite schools and the rural schools. District Assemblies and the District Directorates of Education were asked to select a secondary school each in the various districts. In 2004, a first phase of 31 Schools were selected and work commenced on various sites.
Mr. Speaker, a second phase of 25 schools have also been selected and work will commence very soon.
Bongo Senior Secondary School has been selected as one of the first 110 schools to be upgraded. Unfortunately, it is neither in the first nor second phases, but hopefully it is likely to be included in one of the subsequent phases.
Mr. Speaker, facilities on each site include dormitories, classrooms, science laboratories, staff accommodation, home economics centres, computer laboratories, sick-bays, libraries and several other facilities. The extent and content of the upgrading to be carried out in Bongo Senior Secondary School would therefore include the above.
But before that, needs assessment would be done in the school to appreciate
existing facilities, which of them to be rehabilitated or converted and what additional facilities need to be added. This needs assessment which is likely to be done soon will indicate the structures that have to be put up to bring the school to the level of a model school.
Mr. Abongo 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like, know from the Minister why Bongo Secondary School was not considered in the first batch, considering the fact that its geographical location -- and also for the fact that we do not have endowed educational institutions within the districts and within the area. Why was Bongo Secondary School not considered in the first time?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, all the 110 plus the additional 28 districts have similar cases to present, but then, all of these schools cannot be brought on board at the same time and so it is in phases. I will therefore want to plead with my Colleague that maybe he should exercise patience and wait for his turn.
Mr. Abongo 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, out of the 31 schools selected in the first batch, how many of the schools included in this are from the Upper East Region?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, two of the 31 schools are from the Upper East Region.
Alhaji Collins Dauda 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, can the hon. Minister tell the House the criterion used in placing the various schools in the various categories or phases?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
The Ministry in collaboration with Ghana Education Service, has the criterion and they include geographical location, the readiness of the school in relation to the acquisition of site;
Alhaji Dauda 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what I wanted the hon. Minister to tell this House is the elaborate criterion by which the Ministry places schools in the various phases -- [Interruption] -- yes, but the Answer he provided is too skeletal and I think that maybe, he would come back again.
Mr. Speaker, again, the Minister has indicated that he is hopeful that the school will be included in the subsequent phases. What makes him hopeful?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am hopeful because that school has been selected by the District Assembly and the District Directorate of Education; the Ministry cannot change that.
Secondly, because it is the vision of the Government, this will continue and we are also hopeful that there will be phases and that school will be considered.
Dr. K. Ampofo 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister what explains the inequity between the beneficiaries of the first phase and those in the second phase because the infrastructure to be given are different for the two phases. What explains the inequities?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, there would be no inequalities in the provision of the infrastructure in the two phases. As a matter of fact, the support we are getting from ADB restricts its funding to teaching areas, classrooms, science laboratories, books and other facilities that would go directly into teaching. It is the res-ponsibility of the Central Government to give support in the provision of other areas that would facilitate teaching and learning on the compound.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, could the hon. Deputy Minister tell us the state of the works of the first phase of the 31 schools that were selected and work commenced in 2004? What is the state of those works?
Mr. Twumasi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, they have reached various levels of completion and frankly, some of them can be commissioned by the end of September.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions, you are discharged. Item 4, Statements -- Statement by hon. Member for Builsa North.
STATEMENTS 11 a.m.
Mrs. Agnes A. Chigabatia (NPP -- Builsa North) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to share in the one hundred years of Grace in the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province.
The Catholic Church has helped in diverse ways to bring development both in human and infrastructural terms to Ghana in general. Noteworthily, they have done exceptionally well in Northern Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, the founding fathers of the Catholic Church arrived in the northern country with total commitment to evangelism and human rights promotion. They preached the Gospel to all without discrimination, irrespective of tribe, language, sex, class or age. Their aim was to unite the tribe and motivate them to live together in peace.
Mr. Kojo Armah (CPP -- Evalue- Gwira) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to associate myself with this very important Statement made by the hon. Member for Builsa North (Mrs. Agnes Chigabatia).
Mr. Speaker, when one looks back at the work that the Missionaries have done in this country and indeed, permit me to even add, the Missionaries of other faiths, have done in this country and then put it against the backdrop that our own people trained with state resources refuse to accept postings to rural areas to serve our people, then certainly we need to commend these Missionaries who came to this country long ago in very difficult times to put their lives at risk to train our people.
Certainly, the work that the Missionaries, both the Fathers and the Sisters have done in the north is monumental. If you look back and see the schools, the vocational institutions, the seminaries that they established alongside the moral education that they gave, the discipline that they gave, then one can say that the foundations of this country were properly also laid
Mr. Kojo Armah (CPP -- Evalue- Gwira) 11:10 a.m.
But we also believe that this is the time that we need the church most. In very difficult situations in other countries, it is the church, particularly the Catholic Church that has stood up. Some have suffered as martyrs, and some are currently being tried by war crime courts for trying to save people. They put their lives down to lay foundations for nationhood and I believe that in times like this, we must all join in congratulating them and trying to encourage them to do more for our people.

Indeed, it was not out of nothing that His Holiness the Pope recently gave Archbishop Dery the Cardinal status. That actually shows their appreciation of the church itself and the work that the Catholic Church has done in the North. I believe the elevation to a Cardinal is an outstanding tribute to the work of the Catholic Church in the North. We should not always look forward to the church alone. The lay people in the Church, the leadership of the Church should all continue to support our Fathers who are giving their very best to the people of the North.

We congratulate the Catholic Fathers, we congratulate the Catholic Church and we wish to notify them that the country is not completely out of the woods yet. Moral education is something that we need to look at. Other forms of national endeavour are also available to be looked at and we think that with the expertise that they have acquired over the years they can help us as a nation to shape our future to become a very prosperous nation.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I congratulate the Catholic Missionaries on the occasion of their 100th Anniversary in Tamale Ecclesiastical Province. May the Good Lord help them to withstand all the vicissitudes and continue to do their good work for us.
Mr. E. K. Salia (NDC -- Jirapa) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate myself with the very wonderful Statement made by my hon. Colleague and Member of Parliament for Builsa North.
For most of us who are from the North, the truth is that we would have been nowhere but for the Catholic Church. I was not a beneficiary of Catholic education, having gone to a local authority primary school and gone further to attend an Ahmadiyya Moslem Mission School. But I can say that in this House, of the forty-something plus Northerners here, at least, 50 per cent, 60 per cent, have benefited directly from Catholic education.
Mr. Speaker, it is true that we are now celebrating the 100 years of Catholicism in the North. Probably, if when Catholicism arrived in the South, it had gone on to the North, the yawning gap between the North and the South would have by now been closed, but it took several more years for Catholicism to come down from Burkina Faso, to Navrongo and subsequently to the Upper West Region.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague has mentioned quite a number of schools and, indeed, the only girls secondary school that had existed in the North for several years was the Catholic Girls Secondary School in Jirapa which I am very proud of because it is in my constituency. Apart from the fact that it has contributed several very capable wives to a lot of men in the political front, we are proud to have Hajia Alima Mahama, the hon. Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, who
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, please
Mr. Salia 11:10 a.m.
As long as wealth is created in an honest manner, I think that should be one of their other objectives. Poverty can never be encouraged and I believe that in the next century, probably, they would now see their way clear in promoting more wealth creation and de-emphasising the need for perpetual poverty and to wish for life after death.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity.
Dr. K. K. Apraku (NPP -- Offinso North) 11:20 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to associate myself with the Statement made by my hon. Colleague from Builsa North (Mrs. A. A. Chigabatia) and to commend her for the Statement. Mr. Speaker, I think the Statement is quite timely, particularly considering the 100 years of the involvement of the Catholic Church in the northern sector of Ghana, and also their involvement in other sectors of the country, particularly in the southern sector.
We ought to commend them for the good work they have done, the impact they leave on our education and our social development over the years.
Mr. Speaker, while commending them,
we should also take the opportunity to speak to the issue that they could bring to bear, their experience and their own teachings so as to help us make even a better society. Mr. Speaker, our nation faces tremendous moral problems. Today we are faced with tremendous moral decadence, indiscipline, things that have had a negative effect, the contrary or opposite effects where religious institutions had been very much involved in our education.
My hon. Colleague stated that about fifty per cent of those educated, intellectual and perhaps those who are with us here in Parliament are beneficiaries of Catholic education and therefore, beneficiaries of the work of the Catholic Church. It can also be said that perhaps even more of a percentage of the educated people from the South must have benefited not just from the Catholic Church but from other religious institutions' works the Churches and indeed, the Moslem religion.
So we are all products of their efforts. But we also reflect on the days that we were in secondary schools and the discipline that was there, the emphasis on obligation to society, our social responsibility. The Judeo Christian values and indeed other values that were entrenched in us as young men and women and that provided the basis for us to make positive contributions to our nation are very much in need of restoration today.
So my statement in complimenting and commending my hon. Colleague is that we need to see greater collaboration, greater linkage with the churches and the religious organizations that have in the past funded education.
There is a current reform, the educational reform process and I would want to emphasize that the educational reform process should seek to accelerate the decentralization aspect of that reform, decentralization that would give increasing role to communities and, indeed, churches to play a major role in the input not just to curriculum but also decisions that are threat cases and therefore schools in their communities.
Increased parental input will also mean a great deal of concern and attention to the issues that students ought to be concerned about including moral and disciplinary
Mr. D. A. Azumah (NDC -- Garu/ Tempane) 11:30 a.m.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, before I begin I would like to congratulate my hon. Colleague for making this wonderful Statement on the floor today.
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the Catholic Church has done a yeoman's job in the development of the Upper East Region especially. Mr. Speaker, the Catholic Church in the Bolgatanga/ Navrongo Diocese started in a very small way with communities and if you see those communities after 30 years, today they have become virtually small towns.
On the side of education, Mr. Speaker, the Catholic Church was first to establish Notre Dame Secondary School, and that is an institution today which, at the end of every senior secondary school (SSS) examination, you can see among the first 10 schools in the country. And that is the school in a very remote community yet performing quite well in the examina- tions.
Mr. Speaker, somewhere in 1969,
during Prime Minister Busia Regime, a Catholic Priest in the person of Reverend Father Jaques Morin made approaches to the then Government and initiated a water project for the whole of the Upper East Region. This was launched in 1972 by the former Head of State, General Kutu Acheampong in Garu.
This water project was for a small community -- 300 boreholes -- but gradually this water project has spread all over the region; and today, the Upper East Region can boast of water in all sectors
of the community. It is this Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) project that was brought into the country by this Reverend Father Morin of the Navrongo Catholic Church.
Again, Mr. Speaker, this was the same Priest, in his own small way, who took the lead in introducing ambulance services in the Upper East Region. The first four ambulances to be donated to the community was given to Tongo, Wiaga, Bongo and Garu as far back as in 1969. That was the first time we were experiencing ambulance services in our communities even though small as they were.
So there is no doubt, Mr. Speaker, that the Catholic Church has played a major role in the improvement of the lives of the people all over the country but more especially in the Upper East Region. I therefore want to also congratulate them for all the efforts and still suggest that there is more to be done. And like my hon. Colleague said, the church should collaborate effectively with the Government so that the little they can do to improve the lives of the people would be much welcomed.

Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector and PSI (Mrs. Gifty Ohene-Konadu): I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to associate myself with the Statement made by the hon. Member for Builsa North.

Mr. Speaker, the Catholic Church is one

Church that I admire very much though I am myself an Adventist. Long before the empowerment of women took the centre spot of development agendas both at the national and international levels, and even become a household word in local and also international communities, the Catholic Church had the foresight to empower women. They started with

opening of schools. In Ghana, we can talk about all the OLA schools -- at Ho, Cape Coast and other places and it shows the level of enlightenment that the Catholic Church had. I am told that men in Ghana would even want to take wives from those who attended those schools and it shows the level of discipline that was instilled in those women.

On this occasion, Mr. Speaker, I would

like to commend the Catholic Church highly and wish them to continue their good works to empower women to take their rightful place in society in the country.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I would like to associate myself with the maker of the Statement and to wish the Catholic Church very well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC -- Ningo/

Prampram): Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate myself with the Statement made by the hon. Member for Builsa North and to congratulate the Catholic Church on the occasion of the centenary celebration in the northern sector. The Catholic Church's approach to evangelism is something which needs to be emulated by all churches, especially the churches which are mushrooming these days, whose leaders think about themselves without thinking about the societies where the churches are planted.

Wherever the Catholic Church plants a church, they think about the social wellbeing of the people in the area; they think about schools, they think about health services, which is quite progressive.

The Catholic Church has come a long way and it is one church which believes in positive reforms, that is why it is where it is today. So it is important that
PAPERS 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Item 6, Motion -- Minister for Finance and Economic Planning?
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:30 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, the substantive Minister is unavailable but the hon. Deputy Minister is around and so if he can hold the fort for him --
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
All right, hon. Deputy
Minister.
BILLS -- THIRD READING 11:30 a.m.
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 11:30 a.m.
STAGE 11:30 a.m.
  • [Resumption of Consideration from 13-06-06]
    • Ms. Hilda Addoh 11:30 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I
    beg to move, clause 20, subclause (1), line 3, delete “an appropriate authority” and substitute “the Ministry responsible for Education in collaboration with the Ministries responsible for Health and
    Social Welfare”.
    Mr. Osafo-Maafo 11:30 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the second amendment seeks to vary the first. After consultations with the hon. Chairman of the Committee, and in view of what might happen at the decentralized areas in the districts, I think I would withdraw my amendment and give in to the “collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare”. My fear is that there could have been a problem at the district level if they are not aware that they must collaborate with these two other agencies.
    The prime responsibility would be with education but with “collaboration” I think it is fair enough and therefore I withdraw my amendment.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to, viz:
    Clause 20, subclause (1), line 3 delete “an appropriate authority” and insert “the Ministry responsible for Education in collaboration with the Ministries responsible for Health and Social Welfare.”
    Clause 20 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 21 -- Special education in technical, vocational and teacher training institutions.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Yes, hon. Member for North Tongu -- [Pause.] He is not here.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I have had some discussions with the said hon. Member and he seems to understand that because of the operative words that we have used -- “such as” -- we are not restricting the requirement to sign language and Braille writing and

    reading. So he agreed, subject to the indulgence of the House, to step it down. But if the House does agree, then perhaps we may take it. I think that it does not really do any violence to the provision in clause 21. But he is here and I believe he can speak for himself now.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Hon. Member for
    North Tongu, are you abandoning your amendment to clause 21?
    Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    no. Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 21, paragraph (b), delete and substitute “an appropriate technology”.
    Mr. Speaker, I think we should retain it and instead of “appropriate technology” make it “relevant technology”. Even though the semantics says “such as”, which includes all others, if we were to end it with “et cetera” , I would have liked it that way and dropped it. But since it did not end with “et cetera”, I will retain the amendment and make it “relevant technology”, but at the same time retain the “Braille reading”; I did not say we should delete it.
    The “Braille reading and writing” should still be maintained and the “relevant technology” will be the (c) of that particular clause.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Hon. Chairperson, what
    do say to this?
    Ms. Addoh 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the hon.
    Member has rightly said that there is “such as”; and that expression connotes examples. So I feel deleting the whole thing and also adding “appropriate technology” may be unnecessary.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Do you oppose the amendment?
    Ms. Addoh 11:40 a.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Kojo Armah 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I
    do not seem to see the relevance of the amendment being proposed by the hon. Member from the other side. We are drafting a law and when a law does not exclude, it automatically includes. If the main law is saying “such as other technologies”, I do not see why we should leave that one and talk about “relevant technologies”. Indeed, in his own amendment on the Order Paper he says “appropriate technology”, but now he is talking about “relevant technology”.
    I believe we have to reject his amendment and take the original one in the law.
    Mr. Felix Twumasi-Appiah 11:40 a.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, the hon. Colleague opposite spoke about the fact that “such as” connotes examples, but we should be mindful that we are making laws. If examples would be related to laws, I think it is something that we must look at very carefully. We must just leave the “such as” there if only it connotes examples.
    Question put and amendment negatived.
    Clause 21 ordered to stand part of the
    Bill.
    Clause 25 -- Importation on non-
    conventional vehicles.
    Ms. Addoh 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the
    Committee found the provisions under the clause not sufficient to prevent abuse of the privilege given to persons with disability, in respect of the use of non- conventional vehicles. The amendment is to make it difficult, if not impossible, for ill-motivated persons to cheat the system and in the process rob persons with disability the opportunity of availing themselves of the unique privilege. Mr.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Hon. Member for
    Bawku Central, have you agreed on this amendment?
    Mr. Mahama Ayariga 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    I just came in so if she could repeat what she said.
    Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    All right, let me stand it
    down; you may wish to confer.
    Clauses 26 and 27 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 28 and Ownership of driving
    licence.
    Ms. Addoh 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 28, line 1, delete “who has a hearing” and substitute “with”.
    Question put amendment agreed to.
    Clause 28 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 29 ordered to stand part of the
    Bill.
    Clause 30 -- Reserve seats on vehicles.
    Ms. Addoh 11:40 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30, line 4, delete “not earlier than ten minutes before departure”.
    Mr. Speaker, public transport set off for their journeys as soon as the vehicles get full and may not necessarily wait for ten minutes stipulated in the original clause prior to filling up remaining seats for take-off. The idea is that if we maintain this then it means drivers would have to wait for ten minutes for disabled people to
    board, and that would be a waste of time at every stopping place; so we propose this.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Clause 30 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 31 ordered to stand part of the
    Bill.
    Clause 32 -- Medical treatment.
    Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, I would want to stand down the proposed amendment but at the same time to seek leave of you to move a further amendment. So the originally proposed amendment is being stood down.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 32, line 3, delete “severe” between “with” and “disability”.
    The amendment will now read:
    “The Minis try of Heal th in formula t ing hea l th pol ic ies shall provide for free general and specialist medical care, re- habilitative operation treatment and appropriate assistive devices for persons with disability.”
    I am against the inclusion of the word “severe” since it may be discriminatory.
    Then also, who determines how severe a particular disability may be? We may as well just leave it at the level of disability and leave it to the experts at any point in time to, on the basis of the evaluation of individual cases, determine what is severe. So my amendment now will be to delete “severe” between “with” and
    Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
    Hon. Member for Tamale South, otherwise you are abandoning your original amendment; are you abandoning that?
    Mr. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
    Rightly so.
    Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
    So your point is the
    question of “severe”? Hon. Chairperson, what do you say to that?
    Ms. Addoh 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I understand the hon. Member but we would like to maintain the “severe”. The reason is that there may be so many people claiming to be disabled. I may have, excuse me to say, just a finger off and I can be called a disabled person. That is why we have to maintain that and maybe, as he earlier suggested, we could ask the appropriate people to determine that. But to delete the “severe”, Mr. Speaker, I think, no, we have to maintain it.
    Mr. Ayariga 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I have
    the impression that we have a general definition for disabled persons in this Bill. And so if clause 60 defines a disabled person, it therefore is inappropriate for us again to now categorize between severe, less severe, ordinary disabled; I think it will be very confusing. And so if we just maintain it at the definition that we have in the Bill of “disabled persons”, I think it will be more appropriate.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:50 a.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, if the word “severe” should be eliminated it will mean that we are calling for the provision of free, general and all these facilities to be placed at the doorsteps of every disabled person, notwithstanding the fact that a disabled person may have the means to cater for himself. Mr. Speaker, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) gives a general provision for medical care by categorizing certain
    ailments which would be taken care of by the system.
    Mr. Speaker, we are not in any way
    saying that under any circumstance every ailment of the disabled should be catered for by Government. That is the issue at stake and that is why at the committee level it was thought to continue the construction by adding “upon assessment by a relevant authority”.
    However, capturing the sense became difficult and so it was thought of to leave it and have the word “severe” there. If we are having difficulties, Mr. Speaker, I may want to suggest that we stand this one down for further consultations and move on; otherwise we will get stuck and the same old argument will come back again.
    Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
    I do not think there is
    any need for us to stand this one down. It is only the question of “severe”; we may vote on it.
    Mr. Charles S. Hodogbey 11:50 a.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I think we should retain the “severe disability” in the sense that if we are to take those two words off it would mean that anybody who has a little ear problem will request devices to be provided or will request that we take him or her to hospital for operation; that his or her membrane could be corrected so that he could hear. Therefore, we should reject the amendment and get the clause retained.
    Mr. William Ofori Boafo 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think that the insertion of the word “severe” is trying to deal with a specific situation. There may be in the Bill a general definition of what a disabled person is, but when it comes to dealing with a specific situation, there is nothing harmful in making a specific provision and providing a degree of measurement. So Mr. Speaker, I think that the insertion
    Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    I would suggest that we go the way suggested by the hon. Majority Chief Whip. Mr. Speaker, the introduction of “severe disability” there creates its own problem because if you look at the “Interpretation” column, there is no definition of “severe disability”. Mr. Speaker, if we can defer to do the necessary consultation, as suggested by the hon. Majority Chief Whip, I think that we can come to a compromise on this matter -- something that will be accepted by all of us here.
    Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh 11:50 a.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I believe that the answer will lie in defining “severe disability”. I do agree, as suggested by hon. Ayariga, that deleting it may cause problems. So let us find a definition for “severe disability”.
    Mr. J. K. Adda 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I also
    do appreciate the concern raised by the hon. Member for Tamale South. I think the general definition of disability is all right for this purpose. Introducing severity brings in another level altogether. If we attempt to define in this Bill the level of severity for disability I think it would be too difficult. So perhaps, we might look at the Legislative Instrument to address the types of general and specialist care that should go to different categories of disability.
    I do not know if it is appropriate for us to consider the very legislative instrument for the different forms of specialist care. Mr. Speaker, I think, perhaps, if we stand it down and look at it from that context, it might help.
    Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
    Well, I was going to
    put the Question but let us stand it down.
    Clause 33 -- Training of health
    professionals.
    Ms. Addoh 11:50 a.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 33, line 3, after “provide” insert “general and”.
    Mr. Speaker, the amendment is in
    furtherance of the Committee's belief that health professionals must be available to provide all rehabilitation services, and not only the specialized ones to the neglect of the more general cases which often dominate, hence the amendment.
    Question put and amendment agreed to, viz:
    Clause 33, line 3, after “provide” insert “general and”.
    Clause 33 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 34 -- Health programmes.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    There is a proposed amendment. Hon. Member for Wa West -- [Pause] -- He is not here to propose the amendment. The amendment is abandoned -- [Interruptions.]
    Ms. Addoh noon
    Mr. Speaker, we rather
    accept that amendment. The hon. Member is not here but I think the amendment will enhance that clause.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    Then you must move the
    proposed amendment.
    rose
    Mr. Speaker noon
    Hon. Member for
    Bawku Central, are you moving it?
    Mr. Mahama noon
    Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr.
    Speaker, I beg to move, clause 34, line 2, delete all the words after “programmes”.
    Mr. Speaker, clause 34 reads noon
    “The Ministry of Health shall include education on disability and disability issues in healthcare programmes such as primary health care.”
    Mr. Speaker, the inclusion of “such as primary healthcare”, in our opinion, is unnecessary and if we just limit it to “healthcare programmes” it will suffice to capture whatever we intend to capture under that clause. It is in that respect that we move that all the words after “programmes” be deleted.
    Mr. Haruna Iddrisu noon
    Mr. Speaker, I
    believe that this amendment is just about the construction and the rendition. This is because if you define primary health- care, there is secondary healthcare and we may as well be going further. So it is important that we restrict it to “healthcare programmes” and end it there.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Clause 34 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 35 -- Periodic screening of school children.
    Ms. Addoh noon
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 35, Head Notes, delete “School”.
    Mr. Speaker, periodic screening is
    necessary for all children, for which reason the Committee found the original provision in the Bill to be discriminatory. The heading excludes other children from
    enjoying the facility.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Ms. Addoh noon
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 35, delete and substitute the following:
    “The Minis t ry of Heal th in collaboration with the Ministries responsible for Education and Social Welfare shall provide periodic screening of children to detect and prevent disability.”
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
    Mr.
    Speaker, I think the amendment is quite in order except to add two words; because the purpose is not only for detection and prevention of disability. Certain disabilities cannot be prevented and those of them, which cannot be prevented, will have to be managed. So it is to “detect, prevent and manage disability”. I think the Committee has no problem with the amendment.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    “To detect, prevent and
    manage?”
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
    Mr.
    Speaker, that is so.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    Chairperson, what do
    you say to that?
    Ms. Addoh noon
    Mr. Speaker, it is true that
    that was discussed. It was an omission. I thank the hon. Member for the addition.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    You are agreeable to that?
    Ms. Hilda Addoh noon
    Yes, we should
    add that.
    Mr. Twumasi-Appiah noon
    Mr. Speaker,
    I am at a loss here since it has to do with
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
    Mr.
    Speaker, it is for such purposes that we are inserting “and manage”. So such situations will be managed.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Clause 35 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 36 -- Establishment of assessment centres.
    Ms. Addoh noon
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 36, line 1, after “Assemblies” insert “and Ministry responsible for Social Welfare”.
    Mr. Haruna Iddrisu noon
    Mr. Speaker,
    much as I agree with this amendment, I think that we will have to relook the construction. If we want to include the Ministry responsible for social welfare, we may as well begin by saying that “the Ministries responsible for health and social welfare in collaboration with District Assemblies”; and we can have it go that way.
    Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare noon
    Mr. Speaker, the point here is that there is an authority or a lead Ministry that has the responsibility; then that Ministry will collaborate with the others. It is better that way than to leave it blank. Then nobody knows who to take the initiative. That is why we are making it Ministry of Health in collaboration with the others.
    Mr. Ayariga noon
    Mr. Speaker, whilst I
    agree with them and get a sense of the direction in which they want us to move, I think it will be more appropriate to bring “Ministry responsible for social welfare” before “District Assemblies”. So we can have “Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for social welfare and District Assemblies”.
    Mr. Speaker noon
    Hon. Members, since
    there is no disagreement, I am sure the draftspersons will put it in its proper order.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Clause 36 as amended ordered to stand
    part of the Bill.
    Clause 37 -- Incentive for manu- facturers of technical aides and appliances.
    Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    I will seek leave of you to move the amendment on behalf of hon. Yieleh Chireh. I think it is just a question of typography.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 37,
    line 1, delete “aides” and substitute “aids”.
    Mr. Speaker, this is to distinguish it from the deadly AIDS.
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Hon. Chairperson, what do you say to that?
    Ms. Addoh 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, as it stands here, it is correct but I did not hear what he said. It should be “aids”? Yes.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Clause 37 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, there is some confusion here. The “aids” are assisting devices, supporting equipment or whatever. l left school long ago but I believe that the word should be “aide” as in technical aide. So that is the reason I have because I am not so sure that we should have deleted “aides” and substituted “aid”. But as I said, I left school long ago, so I stand to be corrected.
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Anyway, I have already put the Question; I am sure the draftsmen can always make such corrections.
    Clause 38 -- Derogatory names.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the points being made in 38(1), I believe that we must look at the construction very well. It says -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Which clause are you referring to?
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
    38 (1).
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    But there is no proposed amendment?
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker, but just so that we may not come back. I am proposing an amendment just so that we may not come back; it is an innocuous one.
    Mr. Speaker, what we have there reads
    -- 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Hon. Majority Chief Whip, you recognise that we are not draftsmen so be careful. We are not draftsmen at all.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
    That is so, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted this for the consideration of the House because when we sat down with the draftspersons, they also realised that they did not take a lot of things into consideration, but it is an issue for the consideration of the House.
    Mr. John Ndebugre 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I tend to agree with hon. Majority Chief Whip. It is my view that if we were to remove the word “derogatory” and just say “a person shall not call a person with disability names because of the disability of the person . . .” it solves the problem. Because calling a person names means insulting the person. So if we add “derogatory names” it is just superfluous. If we remove the word “derogatory” then -- [Pause.]
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    I am sure we would have problems with the draftsmen if we persist with this amendment.
    Mr. Ndebugre 12:10 p.m.
    Very well.
    Mr. Doe Adjaho 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I suggest that we continue so that the drafts- people can look at it.
    Clauses 38 and 39 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 40 -- Participation in national activities.

    [H. IDDRISU] Mr. Ayariga: Mr. Speaker, with your leave, I beg to move, clause 40 -- line 2, delete “Provision is made”.
    Mr. Speaker, it will now read 12:10 p.m.
    “A person or institution which organises a national, regional or district activity, shall as far as practicable ensure that facilities are made available for the participation in the activity by persons with disability.”
    Mr. Speaker, the addition of “provision is made”, in my opinion, is superfluous and unnecessary; facilities being made available will take care of that. So that is a proposal, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Hon. Member, you are therefore including the word “and'. Hon. Chairperson, do you have any objection to this?
    Ms. Addoh 12:10 p.m.
    No, Mr. Speaker.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Clause 40 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 41 -- Law enforcement and persons with disability.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I do so on behalf of hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 41, add a new subclause as follows 12:10 p.m.
    “A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months or both.”
    Mr. Speaker, if you look at the preceding clause that we just dealt with, we have made provision for some punitive
    measures against persons who do things against the interest of disabled persons.
    Now, regarding law enforcement agencies, Mr. Speaker, it is constitutional that whenever a person is arrested or detained, he is entitled to certain treatment by the Police Service, and we think that persons with disability may as well benefit from this; that the Police Service or any individual who stands in the way of disabled persons ought to pay a price by way of sanctions for that. It is in this regard that we move this amendment.
    Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
    Chairperson, what do you say to that?
    Ms. Addoh 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I respect what the hon. Member is proposing, but the Committee believes that we cannot criminalise that clause. So we will have to reject that.
    Mr. J. K. Gidisu 12:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I stand to reject the amendment on the grounds that the moment we accept this amendment, it means any disabled person can rise up to say he has been manhandled by a law enforcement agent and therefore take that person to court. The way it stands now, at least, it is better than bringing in any punitive measures to punish any law enforcement person. Therefore, the amendment should be rejected.
    Mr. Ayariga 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I stand to oppose the amendment. It would be very difficult for us to criminalise institutions for the training of law enforcement officers or personnel on account of the non- inclusion of disability-related courses in their curricula. So Mr. Speaker, I oppose the amendment.
    Question put and amendment negatived.

    Clause 42 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 43 -- Object and functions of

    the Council.
    Ms. Addoh 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (a), delete “implement”. Mr. Speaker, the Council is only a regulatory institution, so we cannot maintain this, hence the proposed amendment.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if we are going to delete “implement” then I guess it should go with the word “and” -- “and implements”, not only the word “implement”.
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    I am sure the last
    amendment would take account of that.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Ms. Addoh 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (e), line 1, delete “Government” and substitute “Ministry”.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    There is a further
    amendment , that i s , (x ix) . Hon. Chairperson, p lease , move your amendment.
    Ms. Addoh 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (f) delete “through fund raising activities”. Mr. Speaker, this is to allow other funds to come in. It is a limitation and we would like to delete that.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Ms. Addoh 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (g), delete the whole clause.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to
    oppose the whole amendment proposed by the Vice Chairperson of the Committee and to plead with hon. Members to allow paragraph (g) to stay as part of the objects of the Council. This is because if you look at the proposed Bill, we already have proposed for the establishment of resources centres and many other institutions of counselling.
    The Council can have a small outfit which would be responsible for counselling. In terms of employment, if a disabled person came to say that he lost his job and he needed placement services, he should be able to get some small counselling -- facilitate the provision of counselling services. Mr. Speaker, I may now support it with an additional amendment which may read:
    “The Council may facilitate the provision of counselling services for persons with disability.”
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    Hon. Member for Tamale South, what do you say to this amendment? Are you now withdrawing your position?
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
    No, Mr. Speaker, I
    am against the deletion of (g).
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    You want it to stay?
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
    Yes, but amended.
    It should now be: “The Council shall facilitate the provision of counselling for persons with disability.” It should be maintained with this rendition instead of just outright deletion of it.
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    It seems you are
    changing it altogether.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
    Rightly so, Mr.
    Mr. Kofi Adda 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, to all
    intents and purposes the recommendation made by the hon. Member for Tamale South is quite reasonable but, indeed, the entire law and certain provisions of it already have accommodated the idea of facilitating counselling. The Departments of Social Welfare, Health and other such agencies have that responsibility to provide counselling services.
    I do not think the Council will be doing anything extra by facilitating. This is already being facilitated and therefore I think it is not necessary. So we should oppose the modified amendment that he is moving and go with what the Chairperson is recommending for this House; which is to delete the clause, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:20 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, the National Council on Persons With Disability is supposed to be the umbrella body which would evolve policies for the good of persons with disability. Elsewhere in this Bill, we have made provision for counselling. Now, who is to evolve the policy leading to this? The onus is to lie on the National Council on Persons With Disability. I think that how it has been stated here, “providing counselling for persons with disability”, is made to appear as though the Council is going to implement that. That was what I thought was wrong with it.
    But if we are only to provide the facilitation, I do not think it is wrong and I do not think that we have to delete that, for which reason I will go along with the amendment proposed -- facilitation of the process, not actually doing it. For that reason, I guess there is some reasoning in the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Tamale South.
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, we
    need to be clear as to what the Council does; and we have stated it and we have
    refined it. There is adequate provision for the counselling services to be done by trained establishments like the Department of Social Welfare. We should not put in things that would create duplication, confusion and overlaps, stepping on people's toes and so on. I think the Council has a defined role and we must stick to it and let the Department of Social Welfare do its job.
    I think provisions in the Bill have given that mandate to it and we should just maintain that. I think facilitating and so on would just bring about duplication and stepping on toes; it just does not really add much.
    rose
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    Yes, hon. Deputy
    Minority Leader?
    Mr. Adjaho 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I am lost,
    I am completely lost.
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    Clause 43.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if we are
    amending the whole of clause 43, all the amendments in clause 43 --
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    We are not amending
    everything.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I am sorry,
    I need your guidance.
    Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
    We are dealing with
    (xx), clause 43.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:30 p.m.
    So it means that we have done (xvii) already?
    Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
    Oh yes, we have dealt
    with that already.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, at the end
    Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
    We have dealt with that
    Mr. Adjaho 12:30 p.m.
    Yes, but one would see

    Question put and amendment agreed

    to.
    Ms. Addoh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (i). delete “sponsor studies” and substitute “promote research work and studies on issues of disability”.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the proposed amendment but with a modification. I cannot see how the words “work and studies” could accompany the word “research”. Research itself is work and studies and so the amendment could stand but it should read as follows: “promote research on issues of disability”. And so let us delete “work and studies” in the proposed amendment.
    Ms Addoh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think that does not change the import of the whole thing and so it is accepted.
    M r . S p e a k e r : A r e y o u
    agreeable?
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    I am sorry I did not consult with the Chair. It just occurred to me that not all studies are research oriented and so we can, for instance, promote an exchange programme for people to go and visit a place and then learn. That strictly cannot be termed “research”. So I think it is better to keep the words “promote research and
    studies”.
    I think that would rather broaden the scope of support that they can give in terms of the acquisition of knowledge.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:30 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I believe the concern of the hon. Member for Tamale South (Mr. Haruna Iddrisu) is that the construction here makes it appear as though the “research” is qualifying “studies” and so it reads as follows: “promote research work and research studies”. That is why the hon. Member came in with the amendments. But going by what the hon. Deputy Minister is saying, we rather should bring the word “studies” forward. It should read as follows:
    “promote studies and research”.
    That would be better. But the construction in the amendment makes it appear as though the research is qualifying the studies. And he is saying that research work and studies are the same things. That is the difference that the hon. Member was trying to establish. So if we can get that one, I think it would be on the same course.
    Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
    I would suggest that if
    we are agreeable to this, let us leave it to the draftspersons to put it in the right way.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Ms. Addoh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 43, subclause (2), paragraph (j), delete “register” and substitute “maintain a register of”.
    Mr. Speaker, they are not going to go round to register people; it is the work of the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.

    Clause 43 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 44 -- Governing body of the

    Council.
    Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I beg to move, clause 44, subclause (1), line 1, delete and substitute “The membership of the Council shall consist of”.
    Mr. Speaker, I am making this amendment because if you look at our traditions and practices, any time we have a Council, we talk about the membership of the council to be the governing body. I have a number of examples that I can give -- Pharmacy Council, et cetera. But when you have a council created, then you would say the board is a governing body -- And I really think that we should be consistent with what we are talking about. You cannot create a council and at the same time have a board -- the practice is not like that. And I am saying that, if we have agreed to this amendment, wherever “the board” appears in the rest of the Bill it should be changed to “council” to conform to the practice.
    The second issue is that, if we are
    talking about creating a legal entity and then including that legal entity in a different subsidiary body under that legal entity with powers to act, I think that -- we can decide to choose any name for the governing body but not with the council which is already a body.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    oppose the proposed amendment because if you come back to clause 42, we have already established and defined a national council on persons with disability. What clause 44 seeks to do is to define the composition of that council as established
    in clause 42. Therefore, I do not think that this amendment should stand.
    Ms. Addoh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the original
    amendment must be rejected because the board is an implementing agency and the Council is a regulatory institution. It must be rejected.
    Mr. Yieleh Chireh 12:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, they
    seem to miss the point I made. Normally, you create a council and normally when you create a council, then you mention the membership of the council, and after you have created the council, you come to say that “governing body” is a “board”? I am saying that the practice in this country is not like that, unless they have changed the laws. Many councils that I know of do not have a board. You cannot say you are a board member of a council.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think hon. Yieleh Chireh is making a point and we should look at it seriously and look at his rendition. I think that the way they put the drafting here is not -- Normally, we have board members so it is a board. It can also be a council. But where you have a council and then you have a board meaning the same thing, Mr. Speaker, I think there is some problem here. I think we either adopt the “board” or we adopt the “council”; we cannot adopt both at the same time. The original rendition here is not correct.
    Deputy Minister for Education,
    Science and Sports (Mrs. Angelina Baiden-Amissah): Mr. Speaker, I support what the hon. Member for Wa West said with regard to “board” and “council”. Some establishments have councils; others have boards. So you either use the Board or a Council. For example, in Ghana Education Service (GES) we do not have a board but we have a council, GES Council

    which is doing the work of a board, but its rendition is “Council”.

    So if you are talking about membership, it is membership because if you read through, looking at the sub- clauses, you realize that it is talking about membership, so why do we not come straight with “membership of the council” instead of saying that the council is a board? No, it does not hold well. Thank you.
    Mr. William Ofori Boafo 12:40 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I think I would side with the hon. Member for Wa West. Mr. Speaker, if you look at paragraph 42, where the council is established, the composition of the council is not spelt out. As an entity, it is not spelt out. When you come to paragraph 44, an attempt is made to bring out the composition of the council but instead of saying that that is the composition of the council, we find under that particular paragraph a composition of another body, a board of that council which we do not know the composition of.
    So I quite agree with the hon. Deputy Minority Leader that there is some problem about the couching of the provisions in paragraph 44, and with your permission, if it could be, “the composition of the council shall comprise . . .”
    We have under paragraph 42, “establishments”, then we have under paragraph 43, “functions”, then under paragraph 44, one would expect “the composition of the council”. So Mr. Speaker, I quite see that there is a problem here.
    Mr. Adda 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, it is indeed true that in the case of GES we have the Council, that is separating the State from the entire Ghana Education Service. In this case, the Ghana Education Service is an agency, an institution delivering educational services.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I believe the confusion is whether the “council” is different from the “board”. If the “board” is different from the council, then definitely there cannot be anything wrong with what obtains in the Bill. If on the other hand, it is the same thing, then of course, some confusion does arise.
    My understanding is that the board is to be the governing body of the bigger council. If on the other hand, the council is the same as the board, then of course, there is no need for hair splitting in saying that there is a council and there is a board.
    Mr. Speaker, I guess we will be getting to 46 but if you look at 46, we are talking about “meetings of the council” which is now being made “meetings of the board”. But if you go to 49, we are talking about members of the council and allowances for members when we thought that it should be allowances for members of the board and that injects more confusion into it.
    Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    Hon. Members, I suggest
    we do further consultation and also with the draftsperson as well. We would stand down (xxiii) and also (xxiv), they go together and then we will continue from (xxv), clause 44. Chairman of the Committee.
    Ms. Addoh 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 44, subclause (1), paragraph (b) to (d), and (f) and (g), insert “deputy” before “director”.
    Mr. Speaker, the Committee has the belief that there are very good deputies in so many Ministries and there are a good number of them who are capable and experienced but we all know that there can be only one person in that position and the deputy cannot be there.
    So if such a person has all the experience and can take the place of the Director, knowing the tight schedules of directors, I think it would do us good if we take it down to the deputy level so that the Director can delegate for the Deputy Director to operate when he is tight, hence the change.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the amendment and maybe to suggest to the committee to add “Director” to the interpretation clause and define director there to include a “deputy director” instead of us wanting to put “deputy director” at every level.
    Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    Hon. Member for
    Tamale South, you are talking about the elegants in the drafting.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I listened
    Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    I see the point you are making. Hon. Minister for Energy?
    Mr. Adda 12:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I speak in
    favour of the amendment because of the experience that we are having in the Ministries today. If you go through nearly all the Ministries, you will find in some departments no director at all. There are deputy directors who are acting. In other cases, you will find some deputy directors who have more specific knowledge and expertise in certain areas and they will be better representatives of the agency on the Board than the Director.
    Therefore, I think that if we vote for this amendment, we will be creating some latitude to enable the Minister to be able to pick the person who is suited for the job, adding on another level of choice, and not limiting him to “director” where one is confused as to whether you should send an acting Deputy Director to go and represent the agency on the Board or just leave your position on the Board vacant because you do not have somebody of the rank of Director.
    Therefore, I think this amendment is in order and we should support it.
    Mr. Osafo-Maafo 12:50 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr.
    Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some Ministries are getting into very serious problems with this “not below the position of director”. There are a couple of Ministries which have only one director -- substantively one director. Therefore, all these laws that we are passing and we are talking about not below the position of director, they attend all the meetings and that is not helping the Ministries. Within the Ministries, we have experts. For instance, when you come to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, we have basic education, secondary education, and all the experts in these satellites are not at directorate levels, necessarily. And therefore if we are talking about something and there is an expert there, he could be there.
    So I am saying that it is better to make it a little flexible and go lower to enable many more people to qualify to be nominated. If I had my way, I would be talking about a senior staff member in the Ministry who is suitable because this whole idea of restricting everything to “not below the position of a director” would be all right if you had many directors in every Ministry.
    But we know as a matter of fact that we do not. So we should just make it flexible; let us accept “not below the position of a deputy director” and perhaps be thinking through this whole idea of restricting the choice of persons to serve on the board, bearing in mind that we have experts in the system who better serve in some of these positions. So for the moment, I think the deputy director matter is all right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
    Question put and amendment agreed
    to.
    Ms. Addoh 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to
    move, clause 44, subclause (1), paragraph
    (e), delete and substitute the following:
    “one representative of employers' associations nominated by the Minister on the advice of the National Tripartite Committee.”
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this amendment and also to draw attention to a further amendment I am seeking. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Vice- Chairperson is aware that the National Tripartite Committee includes three actors: government, organized labour and employers' associations. If you look at the original composition where we are given the title of “Director”, whether from employment and social welfare, manpower, they are all coming from government.
    So if we are creating an opportunity for employers, let the employers nominate their representatives. I do not see why it should be done on the advice of the Minister because you already have two loaded representatives who can secure government's interests. You have one -- Director of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports rank of director, Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment; you have director, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; I think that employers' association should be given the responsibility to nominate their representatives to serve on this council instead of the Government wanting to play a role again.
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, this issue has been discussed at length at the committee level. The labour Law allows for more than one employers association. In resolving this issue, we found that we cannot unlimitedly have every possible employer's association serving on a committee; that in the future might be unmanageable.

    Therefore, we looked at the provisions in the labour Act in the establishment of the National Tripartite Committee and we found that it makes provision for at least five representatives of employers' associations. What this provides for is that at that tripartite level, if there are more than one employer's association, they will be sitting at that level and therefore, have the opportunity then to nominate those representatives from the employers' association to the council for persons with disability.

    This will avoid a situation whereby if we have about ten employers' associations or six or seven -- On what basis are you going to select that seven because we cannot have an unlimited number? So we believe that the Minister becomes the umpire but having a body that is constituted by law -- the Tripartite Committee to be the consulting body so that the persons we nominate from among the employers' associations would have come through a process that I will say actually represents the employers' association because they have nominated those people to be on the Tripartite Committee.

    It was a way of creating a voice for the employers' associations to nominate but at the same time avoiding a situation whereby we cannot accommodate every employers association that might spring up. At the moment, there is only one but the law provides for more -- and we could have more. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Adjaho 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think
    the hon. Deputy Minister is misleading this House but because she has finished, let me make my point. Mr. Speaker, if you look at article 166, establishing the National Media Commission, there is a way of doing it. In any case, if you want to nominate a representative, you do not force -- the Government does not come in, it is the representatives that choose who
    they want to represent them.
    If you have Parliament, they say a representative of Parliament, and when we have more than one group -- For example, if you look at article 166, the Christian group, and they put in bracket “The National Catholic Secretariat, The Christian Council and the Ghana Pentecostal Council”, that is article 166 (a) (iv); they put the Christian group there. So Mr. Speaker, the point being made is that you give it to them; they decide who to represent them.
    That is the formular. You do not come back again to say that, look, on the advice of the Minister -- Mr. Speaker, I believe that we should just give it to the employers and they should decide who should represent them on the council. And I think that it is better, it is their representative and they should tell us who they want to represent them and their interest.
    Therefore, the amendment dealing with the nomination by the Minister on the advice of the National Tripartite Committee should be rejected.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, in discussing the amendment proposed by the Committee, one ought to look at what obtains in the Bill. The current rendition is that we should have one representative of employers' associations nominated by the Minister. That is what is in the Bill, that the Minister should nominate one representative of the employers' associations.
    Mr. Speaker, that, we believe, could be capricious. The Minister, just looking at the employers' associations and saying that he is nominating one person to represent the employers' associations is
    bad enough. So we are saying that the Minister can only do this upon the advice of the National Tripartite Committee which is the forum --
    Several hon. Members -- rose --
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I do not see why my hon. Colleagues are up. I have not finished, unless they can tell me that I am out of order.
    Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    You continue, you go on.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the issue is that if it is left to the employers' associations and there are several -- In fact, what obtains here is “employers' association”; Mr. Speaker, “employers association”, what has even been proposed by my Colleague, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, “Employers' Association”, comes with a capital “E”,“A”. It means you are categorically referring to one association and that is wrong.
    So to allow for all the associations, it should be a small “e” and a small “a” to capture all employers associations. Mr. Speaker, how do they come together to nominate one representative? If we are not careful, the nomination of a representative from all the employers' associations may bog down the constitution of this council or board.
    Mr. Speaker, so the Minister is, to all practical purposes, not the person going to do the nomination, he is only going to be the conduit. The nomination itself is going to be done by the conglomeration of the employers' associations at the National Tripartite Committee level. So I think it makes the process simpler and easier for all of us.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1 p.m.


    Instead of just saying that the employers' associations, the thousand and one, should come up with their -- How do they meet? The proper forum is at the National Tripartite Committee and that is the idea that is being canvassed by the hon. Deputy Minister. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Daniel Abodakpi 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    I think the object here is to get the private sector to be involved in this endeavour. If we fear that there will be a plethora of employers' associations, we have, as a country, nurtured an umbrella body for the private sector group in this country -- the Private Enterprise Foundation. And that body is the body in which all the private sector groupings -- the employers' associations, et cetera -- are made of. Let us assign that responsibility to them, let them nominate the people; it should not be the duty of the hon. Minister to nominate for the private sector. I do not think that is right.
    Mr. Adda 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, indeed, I think there is a simpler way to deal with this amendment. The National Tripartite Committee has the Minister responsible for Social Welfare chairing it. So the hon. Minister is, in effect, a member of the National Tripartite Committee. Therefore, it is redundant for us to have the nomination by the Minister here. I think it is better for us to just delete “nominated by the Minister” and insert “nominated by the National Tripartite Committee”.
    I think it will be an easier way to deal with that, the reason being that there are many employers' associations but they often come to an agreement on who should sit on the National Tripartite Committee. Therefore, those on the National Tripartite Committee have the voice of all the employers' associations. So it is easier
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I ordinarily would have supported the former Minister for Employment and Social Welfare. But Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister is aware that of the several meetings they have had negotiating minimum wage, it is not every employer who comes to attend. You have a specific body you deal with -- like the Employers' Association of Ghana. That is the very group we are referring to, that they be given the mandate to meet because it is defined; he knows that -- [Interruption] -- no, let me make my point. The hon. Minister -- [Interruption.] --
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    Order, order! Go ahead.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if you say “National Tripartite Committee”, indeed, even Employers' Association, we can have problems. Government is the major employer in this country but do we regard Government as part of the Employers' Association of Ghana?
    No, at Tripartite Committees, you sit at a different level, you leave organized labour at another level, and the Ghana Employers' Association chaired by Mrs. Rose Karikari-Anang is what is recognized in Ghana as employers' representative -- So we do know the body we want to have representation on this Council. So I ordinarily would have supported “National Tripartite Committee” which is chaired by the hon. Minister being -- Why do you want the hon. Minister to play a role while you want the private sector person to be
    involved in determining issues that affect persons with disability?
    Mr. William O. Boafo 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I believe that the essence of this particular amendment is to ensure representation of the Employers' Association on the board. Mr. Speaker, it appears that by bringing in the National Tripartite Committee, we are trying to be a bit more restrictive in the sense that the National Tripartite Committee is limited in number as at now. And it has been conceded that there is the likelihood of having multiple employers associations.
    Apart from Ghana Employers' Association, the Constitution will allow some other association to emerge. So Mr. Speaker, I believe that if the amendment is rather couched in a way whereby the hon. Minister will be given the power to nominate a representative in consultation with the Employers Association --
    Mr. Speaker, the intervention of the
    hon. Minister is necessary in the sense that if we have multiple employers associations, the hon. Minister will serve as a moderating instrument where there is conflict or disagreement among the various employers' associations; he can resolve it and get one nomination for the various employers' associations. So Mr. Speaker, I think that the Minister's intervention in this case is necessary.
    Mr. Adjaho 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I have consulted the hon. Majority Chief Whip and we have agreed that it should be employers association spelt with small “e” and small “a” -- that is a compromised position, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    One representative of employers' association nominated by?
    Ms Addoh 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I would like it to be on record that the Employers' Association should be small “e” and small “a”.
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    All right. That is the point, “e” and “a”. Right.
    Mr. H. Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, before you put the Question, I was on my feet to draw your attention to Order 109 of our Standing Orders. Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence -- [Interruption.] Mr. Speaker, this is an important Bill that hon. Members of this House must attach importance to. How can we have ten hon. Members on the other side -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    Hon. Member for Tamale South, I have not stopped you from making your contribution.
    Mr. Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I am being harassed to -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    All right, then you

    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Mr. Adjaho 1 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think
    flowing from the debate from both sides we have combined them. So you may now put the Question on clause 44.
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    We have not finished
    with clause 44 yet.
    Mr. Adjaho 1 p.m.
    Sorry, the (xxvii) has
    been taken care of by virtue of the compromised amendment.
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    So that is abandoned?
    Mr. Adjaho 1 p.m.
    That is so. So we move
    to the next item on clause 44.
    Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
    Then (xxviii) -- clause
    44. Hon. Member for Wa West, have you abandoned that?
    Mr. J. Y. Chireh 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 44, subclause (1), paragraph (i), delete and substitute the following:
    “One representative not below the rank of deputy director from the Ministry responsible for Women and Children's Affairs. Two other persons, one of whom is a woman.”
    Mr. Speaker, if you see the original Bill, it ends with “three people”, but the amendment being proposed -- and in fact the Chairman of the Committee agrees with me -- is that we should have one representative not below the rank of deputy director from the Ministry responsible for Women and Children's Affairs and another paragraph saying “two other persons, one of whom is a woman”.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Chairperson, do you agree to this amendment?
    Ms Addoh 1:10 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Ms Addoh 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 44, subclause (1), paragraph (h), line 1, delete “organizations for persons” and substitute “organizations of persons”.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Member, I am sure you may wish to stand down clause 44, subclause (2), line 1, so that we deal with the two earlier clauses as to whether there is a council or board. We may have to stand it down or defer it.
    Mr. Ayariga 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, are we taking (xxx)?
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Yes, (xxx). That is what I say we have to stand it down so that we will know whether there is a board or there is a council before we determine anything else.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, subject to the indulgence of the House, we may proceed and end at clause 51. Apart from clause 44, we do not have many amendments. So we could proceed to clause 51.
    Clause 45 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 46 -- Meetings of the Council.
    Ms Addoh 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 46, Head Notes, delete “Council” and substitute “Board”.
    Mr. Adjaho 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think that it is part of the problem. We are trying to step it down but I think I have tried virtually to resolve this matter with the former Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment and then the hon. Majority Chief Whip. After looking at the whole
    rendition, there are no separate functions for the board in the Bill and therefore in this instance, there is no difference between the “council” and the “board” and therefore it should be “council”. But Mr. Speaker, in order not to go back we can take it tomorrow morning. So we should step down those areas where we have “board” and “council” for tomorrow and go to the other clauses.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    All right.
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I would like to share some information for your consideration. I agree that we can come back to it, but we consulted with the Attorney-General and they explained that the “council” is the legal entity and the “board” is the human element and that from now -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Deputy Minister, this is a matter I wish you to discuss further -- [Interruption.]
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I agree. I just wanted them to consult with the Attorney-General because this is a new trend that they are seeking to introduce.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Then we are deferring clause 46.
    Clauses 47 and 48 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 49 -- Allowances of Members.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, clause 49 talks about members of the council and they are talking about allowances. I think it goes to the pith of the matter that you just raised. Indeed, if we are not careful, the truth is, if it is going to be a council, the President then will not have any business in making the appointments. If it is a board, the President will have business. So we should step it down -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Majority Chief Whip, that is clause 49. I am not putting the Question on this clause now.
    Mr. Chireh 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the point I would want to make is that the moment we make this clause part of the Bill then the whole issue of clause 44 is out and we are mentioning “council” or “board” there, in any of this. So I would suggest that we deal with those that are clear but wherever we have a “board” or “council” we stand it down until we resolve the other problem.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Member for Wa West, please save your breath. Anywhere we have “board” or “council” we will have to defer until such time that we resolve the whole matter as to whether we have a “board” or “council”.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, with respect, since we do not have any problem with the appointment of the committee, allowances of members, the district offices and so on, we could go on and put the Question. Except, of course, if we go back to clause 44 and whatever we do there will then have consequential effect on whatever we might have done. So we can go on up to clause 51 but whatever we go to do at clause 44 will have consequential effect on whatever we might have done.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Do you agree that I put the Question on clause 49?
    Mr. Adjaho 1:10 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker, based on the suggestion, which is quite
    appropriate, so that we can make some progress and also that when we resolve the issue of “council” and “board” then the amendment becomes consequential. So you can put the Question because the amendment there itself does not touch on any major substance.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Chairperson, do you agree to that?
    Ms Addoh 1:10 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    Clause 49 ordered to stand part of the -- Bill.
    Clause 50 -- Regional and district offices of the Council.
    Mr. Mahama Ayariga (on behalf of Mr. Haruna Iddrisu) Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 50, subclause (3), line 2, after “district” delete all the words.
    Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon. Chairperson, what do you say to that?
    Ms. Addoh 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, the amendment should be rejected; the Board is the implementing institution and will have to delegate to the Council's offices in the districts.
    Mr. Ayariga 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I fail to
    understand the argument that the hon. Vice Chairperson is making. Mr. Speaker, if the Council is the main body and the Board is the governing body of the Council, I find it difficult to see how the Council would now be the implementing agency, taking directives from the Board. That is my
    Mrs. Osei-Opare 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, there
    was a bit of confusion here and we agreed that should not be the case. But what we are saying is that, the amendment being proposed says that after “district” delete -- Yes, we felt that well, it could be accepted; that is determined by the Board; it could be accepted. All we want is that they may establish regional and district offices in each regional capital and in each district. It is more of a practical issue as to when they would be ready.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    In other words, you do
    not oppose the amendment.
    Mr. Chireh 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think this
    amendment is straightforward; it is the rest of the words that follow, “that the Board may direct” -- Once we have branches of the institution, we do not need any direction; they are just the offices of the Board. Why must it direct them, at every occasion, in the law? I think that it should just stop at the district and everything else they do would be assumed to be part of the mandate of the Board or Council.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:20 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I believe this goes to the root of the issue that we have raised once again. Because in deed and in truth, in the Bill there are no prescribed functions for the Board. So if we say that the regional or district offices of the Council shall perform the functions of the Board, what are the functions of the Board? There are no functions of the Board stipulated in the Bill, so I guess we may peacefully rest this one and come back to it later, because that would muddy the waters, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Chireh 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, it does not go the substance of the matter. What the hon. Member is seeking to do is to just say that, we should stop at district; because if we read the whole subclause (3) --
    “ A regional or district office of the
    Council shall perform the functions of the Board in the region or district that the Board may direct”.
    We are just adding unnecessary words, that is what we are saying. If you are performing the functions of the Council or the Board, then you do not need the directions of same in the law.
    Mr. Adda 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I am indeed
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    You are suggesting we
    defer it?
    Mr. Adda 1:20 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    All right, we will defer
    clause 50.
    Clause 51 -- Registration of persons with disability
    Ms. Addoh 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 51, Head Notes, delete and insert “Register of persons with disability and Institutions of persons with disability”.
    Mr. Speaker, because we have not been able to resolve the problem of Council and Board, some of the explanations that I will give would border on the Council and the Board. So I suggest that till we solve this problem we may have to stop here.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    You want us to defer this matter?
    Ms Addoh 1:20 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Speaker.
    Mr. Adjaho 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I need your
    guidance, because strictly speaking, head notes and marginal notes are not part of the Bill. I do not know why we are -- This is basically a drafting problem; so Mr. Speaker, I need your guidance.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    In order not to prolong
    the argument we may have to defer it. What about clause 51; do you want it deferred as well?
    Ms Addoh 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I am saying
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    All right, we will defer
    clause 51.
    Ms. Addoh 1:20 p.m.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Do you have any
    problem with clause 56? -- [Pause.] This is what happens.
    rose
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    You have no amendment
    here.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:20 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, there is no amendment, but with regard to clause 55, if what we are discussing relates to a Board, certainly the President has a place; but if it is with constituting a Council, then there is no obligation on the President to intervene to appoint the chairperson or even the other members. I think that is the pivotal matter raised by hon. Yieleh Chireh. So clause 55 talks about the President as per article 195 (2)
    of the Constitution delegating the power of appointment under this Act. I am not too sure whether we would not be going back to the same issue. I thought we could end at clause 54 and avoid the other road blocks.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Hon. Majority Chief
    Whip, are you saying that if it is otherwise, then what happens? Who makes these appointments?
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:20 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, that is the issue that I raised.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Whether it is the Board
    or Council, who makes the appointments? This is the question.
    Mr. Adjaho 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I believe
    that the Constitution is clear on this matter. The appointment of public officers is vested in His Excellency the President. So whether it is Board or Council, in my view, it does not matter. In my view, article 195 of the Constitution deals with that matter. So whether it is Board or Council, it does not matter. He may however delegate that power to somebody.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    So that is the point.
    Clauses 52 to 55 ordered to stand part
    of the Bill.
    Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Leadership, maybe at
    this stage you may move.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, at this stage, I beg to move, with the indulgence of the House, that the House do now adjourn until tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
    Mr. Adjaho 1:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I second the
    motion for adjournment.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    ADJOURNMENT 1:20 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 1.30 p.m. till 15th June, 2006 at 10.00 a.m.