Debates of 6 Jul 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.
We move on to item 3 -- Questions -- [Pause.] Before then, Majority Leader, you may speak. Report in Daily Graphic of 6/7/06 -- MPs asked to do self-examination.
Daily Graphic Report
Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a small information. On page 12 of the Daily Graphic of today, there is an item headlined, “MPs asked to do self-examination”; and it is attributed to me. But Mr. Speaker, when this matter was being discussed, I was having another meeting down there so I could not have spoken.
Again, I hold a contrary view to what is indicated in this newspaper and I thought I should make it clear so that the appropriate correction is done. I still stand by my view that when we come here and we do business, but are not taking decisions, hon. Members can go to committee meetings and others, and it should not be taken that the House is empty or there is dereliction of duty. Therefore, I wanted that to be noted.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
You are saying that this
is attributed to you?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is indicated that:
“The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong, has asked Members of Parliament (MPs) to critically examine their attitude towards proceedings in the House before they point accusing fingers at workers in the public and civil services and the society at large for indulging in acts of indiscipline.”
I have not made any such statement. I never contributed to that particular debate and so I could not have said anything like that.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Was it in connection
with the Statement that was made in the House? Is it referring to the Statement that was made in the House?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
I believe so,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
I am sure the correction
will be done.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
remember well that when that issue was being discussed yesterday it was rather the Minority Leader who made that statement. Maybe, it was an error on the part of the reporter.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Yes, I remember that the Majority Leader himself did not take part in that part of the programme.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I have not read what they are talking about but I remember my contribution to the Statement was saying that we should ourselves show leadership by example. I do not know whether it is that one they summarized and attributed to him; I did
make remarks to that effect.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
I am sure the Daily
Graphic will make the necessary correction. We now move to item 3 -- Questions. Question No. 289, hon. George Kofi Arthur, Member for Amenfi Central.
Mr. Eric Opoku 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Member is indisposed and has asked me to ask the Question.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
What has happened
to him?
Mr. Opoku 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said he
is indisposed.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right, please go
ahead.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10 a.m.
MINISTRY OF MANPOWER 10 a.m.
DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND 10 a.m.
EMPLOYMENT 10 a.m.
Mr. Opoku 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon.
Minister's Answer, he has indicated that an amount of ¢25.6 million has been provided for the construction of classrooms for the centre. I would like to know from the hon. Minister what type of classroom he is talking about, looking at the amount of money that they have allocated for the construction of classrooms -- ¢25.6 million. Is it a bamboo structure?
Mr. Boniface 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want my hon. Colleague to understand that when you are undertaking construction and an estimate is given or a budget is drawn, you do not get the amount straightaway. We are constrained with funds. Therefore, I would feel very stupid to say that I have gone for a loan from a bank. In fact, NVTI is seriously constrained. We get funds from NGOs, District Assemblies and I would not mind if my hon. Colleague, the honourable Member of Parliament would also supplement by giving part of his District Assemblies Common Fund to support the construction.
Meanwhile, the ¢25.6 million that has been given is a start-up capital, just to start the construction because that institute is run under bamboo trees, it is not under any serious roof. So we are deciding to provide a proper training centre, and this is the construction period.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
You should not be distracted; you have answered the question. You may proceed.
Mr. Boniface 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, therefore, the ¢25.6 million is just a start-up capital. In the subsequent budget, we would ensure that we get enough capital to complete the classrooms.
Mr. Opoku 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the construction of the classrooms has been awarded to a contractor and we need to know the contract sum of this particular project. So I would like to know from the hon. Minister what the true cost of this project is.
Mr. Boniface 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague wants to know the exact amount for the construction. I will consult the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the architects and then give him the exact sum. As far as I am concerned, the initial capital is ¢25.6 million, but I will give him the total sum as and when I am called upon.
Mr. Opoku 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Minister is trying to say that he does not know the -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
No; you ask your question.
Mr. Opoku 10:10 a.m.
I would like to know from the hon. Minister, when they are going to start working on the construction of these classrooms. When exactly, now that he has ¢25.6 million?
Mr. Boniface 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Gentleman should be grateful to our Government for adopting the place under the NVTI. It had been totally dilapidated and abandoned. The whole structure was a bamboo structure -- [Interruption]-- Am I not making an effort to answer the question? What is happening is that the Ministry was constrained, but in order to show the commitment of the Ministry and the Government, we decided to part with this amount. We are making efforts to ensure that in our subsequent budgets,
we have a substantial amount to take care of the construction of the whole project.
Mr. Bandua 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister has listed very laudable plans for the institution, but he has indicated that the execution of these plans will depend on resources from Government. I want to find out from the hon. Minister, if he is going to depend solely on Government for the execution of these plans or he has plans to explore other alternative avenues to raise funds for these projects that he has listed.
Mr. Boniface 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to tell my hon. Colleague that we are not going to depend on Government alone; we would want to attract support from non-governmental organisations and, of course, the District Assemblies. And I even mentioned that if possible, the hon. Member of Parliament should also contribute his quota to show that he has been part and parcel of the construction of the place. I am sure that we would be doing everything possible to have support from various agencies and not the Government alone.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Minister for Manpower Development, Youth and Employment, thank you for appearing to answer these Questions.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD?
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 10:20 a.m.
REGIONAL INTEGRATION 10:20 a.m.
AND NEPAD 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Mahama 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. Minister whether there is a policy that governs the extension of such aid in the event of natural disasters.
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if he is referring to some written laid-down procedures, I am not aware of any. But I think that there are three considerations that guide the Government. First of all, the nature of our relations with the country that suffered the disaster, the extent of the disaster and our capacity to respond to it. Those would be the three main considerations that would guide Government in such cases.
Mr. Mahama 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister in his last Answer to this Question said that he thinks that issues that would govern extension of such assistance would include the relationship between Ghana and the country affected. Mr. Speaker, I want to find out if Ghana has extended any similar assistance to African countries that have been affected by natural disasters such as famine, floods, et cetera, including ECOWAS countries; and if not, why?
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:20 a.m.
These are very hypothetical questions, and if we were given concrete examples like what
disaster, for instance, he has in mind, it will make my answer easier; because there are occasions when there is a collective response. For instance for Niger, at the time of locust invasion, ECOWAS itself made an intervention. It did so by levying to some extent the individual states, and we made the contribution. But on disasters in African countries I think that if I am given more specifics, I will be in the best position to respond to the Ranking Member.
Mr. Mahama 10:20 a.m.
Well, I think that the answer covers the question but certainly I was referring to natural disasters like the famine in Niger that has continued for two consecutive years resulting in the loss of a few hundreds of thousands of lives. I was talking about famine in East Africa; I was talking about famine in Ethiopia; I was talking about refugees displaced by wars and other such disasters.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister whether he will consider putting in an appropriate policy so that such extensions of assistance are guided by an effective policy rather than carried out on ad hoc basis.
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the suggestion is well taken. I think there ought to be such. But I would like the Ranking Member to note that we responded to America for a good reason. You know many of the people affected by Katrina in Lousiana are our own kith and kin over there. So it is not a bad idea that we should express solidarity with our people when they are in trouble.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we would want to know from the Minister what contribution we made to the three- year drought that hit Kenya with a lot of deaths in that country.
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my previous answer to the
hon. Member for Bole-Bamboi, on these matters, there is a collective response from the institutions to which we belong -- The African Union, ECOWAS. The response of African countries to things like that is done on a collective basis through these institutions. And as the Minority Leader well knows, we are very good citizens and a very good member, on good standing, on all of these bodies.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Question Number 515, hon. John A. Ndebugre, Member of Parliament for Zebilla?
Legislation on ECOWAS
Q. 515. Mr. John A. Ndebugre asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD what the compendium of Legislation was in force relating to the establishment and operation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation in force relating to the establishment and operation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the ECOWAS Treaty which was signed in Lagos on 28th May, 1975. This Treaty was revised in 1993, and it guides the Authority of Heads of State and Government to encourage, foster and accelerate the economic and social development of their States. There are 48 Conventions and Protocols which are instruments for the implementation of the Treaty but with the same legal force. The Conventions and Protocols are:

2. Protocol on Non-Aggression, signed in Lagos on 22nd April

1978;

3. Protocol A/P/5/79 relating to free

movement of persons, residence and establishment, signed in Dakar on 29th May, 1979;

4. Supplementary Protocol A/ SP1/5/79 amending the French text of the Protocol relating to the definition of the concept of products originating from member states (Article 1), signed in Dakar on 29th May

1979;

5. Supplementary Protocol A/SP 2/5/79 amending the definition of the concept of products originating from member states (Article 2), signed in Dakar on 29th May 1979.

6. Supplementary Protocol A/SP 3/5/80 amending Article 8 of the French text of the Protocol relating to the Definition of concept of originating Products from Member States/Treatment of Mixtures signed in Freetown on 29th May 1980;

7. Supplementary Protocol A/ SP 1/5/81 amending Article 2 of the Protocol relating to the concept of originating products (Handi-craft products), signed in Freetown on May 1981;

8. Supplementary Protocol A/ SP2/5/81 amending Article 4 of the ECOWAS Treaty relating to community institutions, signed in Freetown on 29th May 1981;

9. Protocol A/SP3/5/81 relating to Mutual Assistance on Defence, signed in Freetown on 29th May

1981;

10. Protocol A/P1/5/82 on the establishment of an ECOWAS Brown Card relating to Motor