Debates of 14 Dec 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! Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 13th December, 2006. We have the Official Reports for Friday, 17th November, Tuesday, 21st November, and Wednesday, 22nd November. [No correction was made in the “Votes and Proceedings” and the Official Reports.]”
At the Commencement of Public Business, item 5 -- Laying of Papers.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we could step it down. None of the Chairmen is present.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right. We will take item 6.
CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL 10 a.m.
ESTIMATES 10 a.m.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs/ and Majority Leader (Mr. F. K. Owusu- Adjapong) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢219,153,000,000 for the services of the Office of Parliament for the 2007 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, Parliament is one of the important institutions in the country and one of the institutions which people look up to whenever they want to talk about good governance.
Unfor tunate ly, jus t l ike o ther organizations, it has never been able to secure the required resources that will make it possible for it to function well. Even though progress is being made we realize that there are a few critical projects that have been undertaken that should have been included in the budget for the year, 2007. Principal among them are the three- storeyed block and the conversion of the GNTC bungalows to committee rooms.
We have however discussed with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning who has seen the need for us, all of us as a country, to search for additional funds for the completion of these very important projects together with the others. We believe that just like it was done during this year in the preparation of the supplementary estimates, it would be taken into account.
Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the need for us also to work on how we can improve the management of the resources that are given to us so that we can maintain an efficient use of the resources.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, this money is far below the amount that we need to work with but considering the fact that the means of the country compels the amount available -- it works up to about 54 per cent -- we believe that for the moment we will all co-operate to make do with what is available. It is for this reason that I urge all hon. Members to approve the sum of ¢219,153,000,000 for the services of the Office of Parliament.
Deputy Majority Leader (Mr.
Abraham Ossei Aidooh): Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion by presenting the Report of the Special Budget Committee. Mr. Speaker, before I do that I want to inform hon. Members that appendix “A” attached to the Report is being withdrawn. A new one has been circulated and that will be the document that we will be using. I will read some portions of the Report and the whole Report should be captured by the Hansard as having been read.
1.0 Introduction
The 2007 Annual Estimates of the Office of Parliament were laid in the House and referred to the Special Budget Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House. This was after the presentation of the 2007 Financial Policy of the Government by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu.
The Committee met with Members of the House Committee, officials from the Office of Parliament and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
2.1 Reference Documents
To discharge its assigned duties, the Committee availed itself of the following documents:
The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
The Standing Orders of the House;
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for preceding years, notably the 2005 and 2006 Financial Years.
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana

for the 2007 Financial Year.

2 . 2 A i m s a n d O b j e c t i v e s o f the Office of Parliament

The Office of Parliament exists to provide support services to Parliament by arranging and facilitating the Sittings of Parliament, assisting the work of Parliament and its Committees, informing the public of daily Proceedings of the House and assisting the Office of the Speaker through advice on procedural matters. The Service seeks to achieve the following objectives:

Providing support services to Parliament and any Committee or agency of Parliament for the purpose of ensuring the full and effective exercise of the powers of Parliament

Advising the Speaker's Office and MPs by providing adequate information as well as arranging and facilitating the Sittings of Parliament

Bringing Parliament closer to the people through public fora and informing the public on daily Parliamentary proceedings

Fostering closer relations with world Parliaments world-wide and Parliaments within the sub-region

Developing the capaci ty of providing efficient services to Parliament.

3.0 2006 in Retrospect

During the year under review, the Committee realizes that some successes were made with regard to the set goals and objectives for 2006. These include the following:

i. Development of Enhanced Strategic

Plan (2006-2009)

Parliament developed an Enhanced Strategic Plan (2006-2009) which is an improvement on the previous Strategic Plan that sought to direct the priority programming of Parliament over a 10-year period (1999 to 2009). The Enhanced Strategic Plan provides a more focused direction to the previous Plan and aligns its strategic direction with the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II).

The Committee was informed that with the successful implementation of this Enhanced Strategic Plan, five key strategic goals will be achieved, namely:

improving the performance and management of Parliament's legislative functions;

enhancing Parliament's represen- tational functions by making it more relevant to the needs of the public;

improving and strengthening Parliament's oversight of the Executive and other branches of Government;

strengthening systems for the delivery of services by Parliament and the Parliamentary Service; and

improving the physical, logistical and information technological assets of Parliament to sustain and transform service delivery.

i i . S i t t i n g o f P a r l i a m e n t a n d Parlia- mentary Committees

In fulfilment of the legislative role of Parliament as mandated by the Constitution, the Committee was also

informed that a total number of 115 Sittings were held and 18 Bills were passed, notably -- the Disability Bill, Millennium Development Authority Bill and Debt Recovery (Tema Oil Refinery Company) Fund Bill. In the course of the year, 31 Parliamentary Committees held a total number of 930 sittings which included public hearings within and outside Ghana.

iii. Parliamentary Relations

In line with the objective of fostering closer ties, mutual support and co- operation for the promotion of democracy and good governance, Parliament hosted the 37th CPA Africa Region Conference and CWP Africa Region Conference on HIV/AIDS and Poverty Education Seminar. The Speaker, the Leadership and MPs participated in Inter-Parliamentary Conferences/Seminars of the Inter- Parliamentary Union, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, African Parliamentary Union, Pan-African Parliament and ECOWAS Parliaments.

iv. Training and Development

Functional training was provided to upgrade knowledge and skills of Parliamentary Service staff in key areas such as Good Governance and Development, ICT, Understanding the Labour Act as well as Modernizing the Human Resource Function, Financial Management and Internal Audit . Internship and attachment programmes were attended by Research and Library staff. The Office of Parliament also facilitated the continuing capacity building of MPs.

v. Infrastructural Development Projects

Significant progress was also realized to have been made in the execution of

works on key development projects aimed at addressing the long-standing problem of inadequate office space and accommodation for MPs and staff. These include:

A refurbished residence for the Speaker which is expected to be completed by mid-December, 2006;

Renova ted MPs res iden t i a l accommodations;

Conversion of GNTC property acquired into halls, secretariat and other uses for Parliamentary Committees;

Ongoing renovation of the chamber block; and

Construction of a permanent office block for Parliament which is expected to be completed this year.

iv. Outreach Programmes

The Committee noted that as part of its agenda to get the public involved in the decision-making process of the country, some outreach programmes were successfully carried out in the three Northern Regions and Eastern Region. Besides, a number of Parliamentary youth clubs were inaugurated.

4.0 The 2007 Budget Estimates of the Office of Parliament

The Office of Parliament has been allocated the sum of ¢219,153,000,000.00 for its activities during the 2007 financial year to be disbursed as follows:

Personal Emoluments -- ¢71,093,000,000.00

Administration Expenses -- ¢51,483,000,000.00

Service Expenses -- ¢51,040,000,000.00

Investment Expenses -- ¢45,537,000,000.00

TOTAL -- ¢219,153,000,000.00

5.0 Observations and Recommendations

5.1 Outlook for 2007

The Committee was informed that the Office of Parliament will continue to deliver on its constitutional mandate, strengthen its institutional capacity and continue the implementation of the Enhanced Strategic Plan by carrying out the following activities:

Development of framework to build capacity for Private Members Bill;

S t reng then the capac i ty o f Committees to exercise oversight responsibility over the Executive and the National Budget;

Participating in International and Regional Parl iamentary Con-ferences and Meetings to foster mutual co-operation in the promotion of parliamentary democracy;

Informing the public about the work

of Parliament, continue the pro- gramme of extending Parliament's reach to the regions and districts and establish regional parlia-mentary information centres; and

Providing training programmes to enhance professional capacity of MPs and staff and thus improve the performance of Parliament.

(Please see Appendix A for the details of the various allocations.)

5.2 Observations

i . S i t u a t i o n a l A n a l y s i s o f Parliament's Legislative Function

The Committee carefully considered the functions of Parliament and realized that even though Parliament has improved over the years, it is still quite weak in its legislative function. This revelation is evidenced in many aspects such as:

Inability of Members of Parliament to introduce and sustain Private Member's Bill;

Inadequate capacity to effectively scrutinize proposed legislation to ensure that they are well-researched and properly structured to meet acceptable standards;

Limited opportunity to engage the public and interest groups sufficiently in the deliberations that inform and enrich proposed legislation; and

Weak mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the effective implemen- tation of legislation.

ii. Projects

The Committee also noted that the Office of Parliament drew up programmes under the 2006 Budget to achieve the following developmental projects:

complete a three-storey building office complex for Parliament;

Renovate and furnish official residence for the Speaker of Parliament;

Convert the acquired GNTC flat, No. 31 Ridge, into Committees rooms; and

Complete the renovation of the Chamber Block of Parliament.

Although significant achievements were made in some of the activities mentioned above, delay in the release of funds resulted in the total abandonment of the GNTC flats project and non- completion of most of the other projects.

iii. Insufficient Funds for Investment

The Committee noted again that the MOFEP was able to give ¢45,537,- 000,000.00 representing only 26.8 per cent of the total Investment draft Estimates (¢169,571,148,000) presented to it by the Office of Parliament and that most of the projects which the office envisages to undertake next year have to be reconsidered. Below are the draft Estimates for some of these projects and what the MOFEP was able to provide:
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Mr. A. K. Agbesi (NDC -- Ashaiman) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we aware that Parliament is one of the organs of the State and for that matter Government. In that wise, it is expected of Parliament to work to the satisfaction of the electorate who put hon. Members of Parliament in Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, I want to note that regrettably that function of Parliament appears not to be in line or performed to the satisfaction of the people who brought us here. Mr. Speaker, this morning I have seen the Order Paper. It gives as many as 47 motions to be taken.
Mr. Speaker, this morning, about 15 Reports were put in our pigeonholes. Mr. Speaker, if we have to debate these reports and pass the Budget for the various departments and Ministry -- Mr. Speaker, as many as 47 motions have been put before us. How can hon. Members debate these motions to the satisfaction of those who brought us here?
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that we have to devise ways and means -- Parliament and for that matter the Office of Parliament must devise means so that business that is brought before us, we can take it in detail to the satisfaction of our electorate.
Mr. Speaker, in this House they have listed committees; committees work in the interest of Parliament and for that matter in the interest of the nation. Mr. Speaker, it is said that projects are ongoing for the benefit of the working of committees. Mr. Speaker, if committees must work satisfactorily, then we also need facilities for the committee meetings.
Mr. Speaker, all along we are scattered over Accra; this committee is sitting here; that committee is sitting there. If you

happen to belong to two committees which are meeting at the same time, then you may not give your very good service to the committee. Mr. Speaker, there is need for Parliament to be resourced. There is need for Parliament to assert itself so that the working of Parliament and the committees would be seen.

Mr. Speaker, our electorate have sent us to Parliament. If we have to reach the people -- How do we reach our people? The work of Parliament does not reach the people for them to understand what we are doing here. Mr. Speaker, I want to suggest to Parliament that as fast as possible, Parliament should be able to get a radio station or television station to transmit directly the work of Parliament to the people so that they will be able to follow what we are doing here.

Mr. Speaker, individually we try to reach our electorate but that is not enough. They keep on asking, what has Parliament done? What law has been passed? We try to explain to them but I believe that to be able to reach them satisfactorily, a television station should be put at the disposal of Parliament. And when we are here then our people would see directly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, I support the motion on the floor and for the amount called for to be approved for the Office of Parliament. But I am saying that all said and done, Parliament must be seen to be asserting itself.

Mr. Speaker, hon. Ministers are brought to this House to answer Questions. Most of the time they say that they will go and supply the information within two weeks. Mr. Speaker, most of them do not come back. If we have to have oversight responsibility over the Ministries and the work of the whole country, then Parliament must assert itself by insisting that hon. Ministers who appear before this
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Please, conclude.
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am saying that there are vital things that are being done in Parliament but our people outside are not being educated enough. It is said that Parliament -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu -- rose
-- 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief Whip, do you have a point of order to raise?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:20 a.m.
That is so, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is making a useful point about Ministers who come to this House and give assurances. But he is aware that this House has a committee purposely for that task and that it is for Parliament, if we want to assert ourselves, to resort to that channel. So if there is a problem faced by the hon. Colleague he should definitely channel it through that committee.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, you may wish to conclude.
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would take it on board. Mr. Speaker, if Ministers come here and give assurances and there is a committee which is tasked with over- seeing that and it is not being done, I am saying that the Office of Parliament has a head. It is his responsibility to make sure that those Ministers come back
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Are you concluding?
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am concluding. The point is that we have something called Urgent Question in this House. They are Questions that we have put down and listed as urgent.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, would you not want to take this matter up with the Leadership?
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are on the issue of Office of Parliament which has a leader and I am saying that Urgent Questions that have been put down take about a year.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when he says that the Office has a head, I am sure that he is referring to the Speaker; but it is not the Speaker's responsibility to follow up -- [Interruption] -- No, the head of Parliament is Mr. Speaker. Is he saying that the Speaker must go and follow up on those Ministers who do not come and answer Questions or what? If he is referring to the Leader, that is another matter, but the head is Mr. Speaker and it is not Mr. Speaker who does those things.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, please conclude.
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion I am saying that Parliament must assert itself and be seen to be the representative of the people. The people must know what Parliament is doing; that all we are doing here must reach our people for them to know what we do.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo Ano South) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute to the motion on floor and in doing so I would like to look at the observations made by your Committee.
Mr. Speaker, the first observation made
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Agbesi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise

[mR. mANU] on a point of order and on a point of information. The hon. Member has said that it is only our present President who successfully put before Parliament a Private Member's Bill. I want to know which Bill that was. What was the Bill? If it is true he should be able to tell us; but I challenge him that is not true.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
You are out of order.
Mr. Manu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he must understand that I am a senior Member of the House and I know the history of this House more than he does -- [Inter- ruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, we do not
have much time, please go on.
Mr. Manu 10:30 a.m.
I have very little time to contribute so he can see me later for that detailed information. Mr. Speaker, I am not at all happy when Members of Parliament have to take a loan and pay out of their meagre salary to buy a car for their own use, to be able to reach their constituents whereas the Executive and the Judiciary, their vehicles are bought for them by the State and fuelled, maintained and chauffeur-driven.
Why is it that the Parliamentarian has to take a loan to buy a car, fuel the car, maintain the car, and hire a driver? Why? Aden? -- [Interruption] -- Please, if we say we want democracy, we must respect and uphold that institution which represents democracy, and which is Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, I am very passionate about this. You come to Parliament and if Members of Parliament want to travel, or committees want to travel, Parliament has to go and rent a car; and we are in a democracy. Please, we must be a little more serious with our democracy. Being serious, I reiterate, should mean being

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was in one of the offices -- the Education Committee travelled. We went round the country, the northern sector; 18 days, we spent. To date, oh! -- [Laughter.] It is not nice. It is just bad; when we go there they tell us that they do not even know the rate to use to calculate our night allowance.

Who constitute Parliament? Is it not us? Why can we not as parliamentarians decide on something for ourselves? Please, if we want to see democracy thrive, we Members of Parliament should speak for Parliament, and those outside must also support Parliament. We are being taken for granted too much and it is time Parliament asserted itself. I think Mr. Speaker will agree with me on this.

Mr. Speaker, another point I want to

talk on and then conclude is the inadequate capacity to effectively scrutinize a proposed legislation to ensure that it is well researched and properly structured to meet acceptable standards. Is it not an indictment on Parliament? If we cannot scrutinize a legislation and come out with something that is of acceptable standard, then what are we doing?

Why is it that we do not have the capacity? A Member of Parliament does not have an office; he or she has to use the car booth as an office. How can one research? We do not have research

assistants. Back in the constituency, the Member of Parliament gets there and there is no office for him, yet we are supposed to be the representatives of the people. If the people want to meet us, where do they locate us? Even in our constituencies, do they have to travel to where we come from? Why should the Member of Parliament not have a statutory office in say the district capital where whoever wants to meet him during recess can have access to him?

I am concluding on the security matter. The Member of Parliament has no security. We stand here, we talk, say a lot of things and we step on people's toes yet we have no form of security. Even where we live, Sakumono, people come and burgle us everyday. When it happens then one would see some cosmetic kind of measures being put in place; two/three weeks, it wanes off. Please, Members of Parliament (MPs) need security.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity and I support the motion on floor. I urge all hon. Members to also support the motion.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/ Ave) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion but in doing so I have one or two observations to make.

Mr. Speaker, the Committee Report states that we have been given 26.8 per cent of what we requested for, in terms of investment budget; and that will be found on page 5 of the Committee's Report. At page 4 we have been given ¢44.5 billion for investment although what we asked for was ¢169.5 billion.

Mr. Speaker, at page 6 of the Report certain things were mentioned as indicating what we provided for. But Mr. Speaker, I am a bit worried. If resources are scarce, if what we have asked for is not being given to us, can we not decide that for this particular year these are our priority areas?

For example, is it that we are going to complete the three-storey building for the next financial year as one of our priorities? In other words, I am asking: the ¢45.5 billion, what are we going to use it for? Because clearly, it cannot do all the things that we have listed at page 6 of the Committee's Report, that is the conversion of Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC) flats into committee rooms, completion and furnishing of the three-storey building, purchase of luxury coach, official vehicle, staff buses and all those things.

Mr. Speaker, what then are we going to use the ¢45.5 billion for? What have we prioritised to use it for? Mr. Speaker, it will be important for us to complete projects that we start, otherwise all that we invest in it become useless. The tower block is there; we have invested so much money into the tower block but there stands the tower block. We have started the three-storey building. We have invested something into it; it is also not completed. As we are talking now, we do not know whether we have fully completed and fully furnished the official residence for Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the question therefore is

that, now that we are being told that we have been given only ¢45.5 billion, what are we going to use the ¢45.5 billion for? I suggest that with what has been given, it should be important for us to say that for this year, at least, with the little that has been allocated to us, we should complete

A, B, C . . .

Then we will know that when we come back next year, some time next year, this time we know that at least for 2007 we have completed the three-storey building or we have converted the GNTC flats into committee rooms, then we are making progress. But where we tend to do a little bit of A, we do a little bit of B, we do a little bit of C, all of which are not put to immediate use, it creates more problems and we do not make progress.

Mr. Speaker, these are my comments

with regard to the investment budget but I support the motion.
Mr. Albert Kwaku Obbin (NPP -- Prestea/Huni Valley) 10:40 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I want to look at the budget of the Select Committees.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Appendix, the Committee on Environ-ment, Science and Technology was given ¢800 million. Mr. Speaker, today when the new Appendix “A” was brought, the budget for the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology has now changed from ¢800 million to ¢400 million. This is a situation which I personally do not understand. This is because we do not have to create the impression that environment and science are not important in this country. Even if there is a realignment and the Committee has been sent into various places, they are still working.
Environment is very important in this country. When you go to our cities, the Metropolitan and District Assemblies, you would see that the major problem of this country is to do with environment. So I do not see why as the Committee -- If you look at the Committees on Education, Defence and the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Energy, they have ¢800 million each. When we come to the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology it is ¢400 million. Mr. Speaker, it is something that I actually do not understand.
Now, coming to science and technology, Mr. Speaker, we also know the role or the importance of science and technology to the development of this country. And if Parliament or a Committee of Parliament having an oversight responsibility over these major agencies has the budget cut down to ¢400 million, then I believe the Leadership should look at this critically and see that we also get at par with almost all the Select Committees.
Mr. Speaker, if nothing is done on this Committee, then it is like trying to create an impression that science and environment are not important in this country. Therefore, I would crave the indulgence of the Leadership -- the hon. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs should look at this critically and see what best he can do to match the Committee's allocated budget with the other Select Committees.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor. But Mr. Speaker, I have two observations to make.
One, it is indeed regrettable that out of an amount of ¢169.5 billion, only ¢45 billion had been made available. And if you look at page 6 of the Committee's Report, even those provisions made, there
is allocation for only one bus.
Mr. Speaker, my former Committee, the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology travelled to Newmont mining sites; on our way back the brakes of our bus failed. We nearly perished at the hon. Member for Ahafo Ano South's homeland; we were just saved by providence. And when we were leaving this House we were told that the bus was not in good condition but we were told to go with it and try it -- we would be all right. So Mr. Speaker, I am very much worried. We sit here and approve all sorts of moneys but we cannot afford to buy just two buses for safe conveyance of Members of Parliament.
Right now, Mr. Speaker, this House has
been without water for a number of weeks. It seems there is no standby generator and at times we have to even suspend parliamentary Sittings when power goes off. If we sit here, Mr. Speaker, and make proposals to the Ministry and we are given such meagre amounts, then there is no need for us to be here to approve any appropriation for any Ministry. Because, after all, those who approve the moneys are of no use.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning should pay attention to our requests because really some of us are taking a decision here that if this is what is going to be the case, next time they bring their request we may have to find it difficult to get them approved. If you look at this Report, they are saying that we shall be considered only during the Supplementary Budget. Why only during the Supplementary Budget and not in the main Budget? It is not fair, Mr. Speaker. And I call on the Leader of the House, together with the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, to do something about Parliament.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP -- Suame) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise to associate myself with the motion on the floor regarding the approval of the estimates of the Office of Parliament. But, Mr. Speaker, a few observations.
The first one relates to the observations of the Committee that considered the estimates, that is the Special Budget Committee; and it relates to the inability of Members of Parliament to introduce and sustain Private Member's Bills. Mr. Speaker, we all know what is occasioning this and yet we have been bemoaning this issue for quite a long time.
Mr. Speaker, the Speaker's Breakfast Forums that you organized, one of them was devoted to this matter, which was delved into extensively. What is the stage now? What is the status of the forum, the considerations that went on at the forum? Mr. Speaker, we all do know what to do, and that is the amendment of the relevant sections of the Constitution and indeed of our own Standing Orders; and yet year in, year out, we are bemoaning the system. Mr. Speaker, the time has come for us, as Parliament, to confront this issue boldly and deal with it. This is because there is no Parliament where Members of Parliament, so to speak, are disabled to come up with Private Member's Bills.
Mr. Speaker, the other observation from the Special Budget Committee is the limited opportunity to engage the public and interest groups sufficiently in the deliberations that inform and enrich

[mR. OCRAN] proposed legislation.

Again, we are told that we have discussed this matter several times over in this House; that perhaps there is the need to involve the Legislature in the formative stages of Bill drafting so that we have maximum input, so that Bills do not come and be returned to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies for more work to be done on them. Mr. Speaker, I believe that, again, we know what we must do and it is time we asserted ourselves and got the right things done so that the effectiveness of Parliament would be registered.

Mr. Speaker, hon. Members have

alluded to the lack of water in the system as we speak. Power outages happen -- and we all thought that we had a standby generator -- but when they happen these days we have to adjourn Parliament for some time before we come back to Sit. Mr. Speaker, that certainly cannot be the best of situations.

The other day when we were debating the estimates of the National Media Commission, we lamented some of these problems that the Commission faced; and they talked about leaking roofs, malfunctioning of toilet facilities and so on, and we felt something ought to be done for the National Media Commission. But we are turning out to be physicians who cannot heal themselves. So it is important that we look into our own affairs and make right whatever has gone wrong.

Mr. Speaker, my own thinking is that

here in this House we have the relevant committee to help us deal with some of these matters. Mr. Speaker, we have the House Committee and our own Standing Orders; Standing Order 168 (3) tells us and with your indulgence I would want to quote:

“It shall be the duty of the Committee

to consider all matters connected with the provision of services to Members of Parliament and staff, including accom-modation, catering, medical care, library, research, working and other facilities.”
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief
Whip, are you concluding?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:50 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I thought I had just begun but the House Committee has become moribund. We need to revive the House Committee and give it the relevant powers to pursue these matters. There is no Parliament anywhere in the world where the affairs of hon. Members of Parliament are administered by other groups outside the corridors of Parliament itself.
Mr. Speaker, we hon. Members
of Parliament should assert ourselves and the affairs of hon. Members of Parliament should be catered for by hon. Members of Parliament and not by, if I should be blunt, the administration -- Parliamentary Service. It should be within the competence of hon. Members of Parliament to manage our own affairs. That is the trend everywhere. There is no Parliament anywhere in this world where the affairs of hon. Members of Parliament are administered by the Service. It is done by Parliament and that is by hon. Members of Parliament; and that is what should happen.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the time has come for us -- We have made the attempt to amend our Standing Orders but we have not succeeded. Let us look at amending the Standing Orders. We have the Standing Orders Committee. That should be taking care of this. And for some time now even though we initiated the process, we have not come round this. Early next year, with the indulgence of this House, the Standing Orders Committee must meet to attempt amending the Standing Orders to make Parliament effective.
Talking about even the Committees, our Committees are not proactive because of the provisions in the Standing Orders. How do we oversight the Executive at the level where we have placed the Committees? It is important that we look at the Standing Orders and let the relevant committee deal with it and let this House approve of amending the Standing Orders to move Parliament forward.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your
indulgence.
Minority Leader (Mr. A. S. K.
Bagbin): Mr. Speaker, I totally agree with the thrust of submission by hon. Members that Parliament is its own enemy.
We were told by Professor Kofi Kumado that we were our own enemies with respect to the interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution. Again, we are being told, and it is true, that we are our own enemies when it comes to the approval of adequate resources to enable us perform our duties. We are being criticized everyday for not living up to our oversight responsibilities; and that is the reality. Parliament seems to be losing steam and it is high time we sat up and made sure that we enabled ourselves to perform.
Mr. Speaker, hon. Members raised the
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Majority Leader, you may wish to wind up.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe hon. Colleagues have spoken frankly; they have made things very clear and it is for all of us to take note of them and take the matters on board. The only additional information is that my own Chief Whip did not complete his sentence when he quoted the Standing Orders. It may be right for me to add those that he missed out, that is, from the Parliamentary Service Act (1993), Act 460 which with your permission I quote:
“The functions of the Service are:
(a) to provide support services to Parliament and any committee or agency of Parliament for the purposes of ensuring the full and effective exercise of the powers of Parliament . . .”

So even though the Standing Order anticipates the House Committee performing the functions as enumerated by it, the Act also expects the Parliamentary Service Board to do the same. Possibly at a closed Sitting, we may have to discuss this and see what sort of interpretation we want to give to it ourselves so that we can make progress. I believe we have been very sincere with ourselves in this matter and those of us who have a role to play should take note of it so that we all help to build a good Parliament for a beautiful Ghana.

Mr. Speaker, I thank all hon. Members

and all those who have sponsored our activities during the year for a good work done and hope that we shall vote massively in support of the money allocated to us, notwithstanding the fact that it is only about 50 per cent of our actual requirement.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢219,153,- 000,000 for the services of the Office of Parliament for the 2007 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11 a.m.
Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations (Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢52,423,000,000 for the services of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations for the 2007 fiscal year.
The Ministry, despite the recent change of name, maintains the same structure and therefore it is made up of the same cost centres, namely:
General Administration (GA)
Ghana Tourist Board (GTB)
Hotel, Catering and Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT)
The goal of the Ministry is to make Ghana a competitive and quality tourism destination within the framework of respect for the country's cultural, historical and environmental heritage.
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that tourism is primarily a private sector propelled industry. In our situation, however, where the private sector is yet to find its feet, it is the responsibility of the Government to go beyond just creating the enabling environment through policies, legislation, provision of basic infrastructure and good incentives.
Furthermore, tourism is a highly competitive industry and therefore marketing of Ghana's tourism potentials is key to a successful tourism industry. It may interest hon. Members to note that Ghana as a tourism destination is little known to potential tourists, because we do not undertake vigorous marketing. If Ghana is to become the preferred tourist destination that my Ministry plans for, then more funds need to be given for marketing and promotion of the country's attractions.
Mr. Speaker, no doubt tourism has a great potential for reducing poverty and creating wealth in terms of foreign exchange earnings to the Government as well as creating employment and income, especially at tourism sites. According to a survey conducted by the Ghana Tourist Board last year, each tourist spent on average US$1,951 during their visit. This amount went directly to organizations and individuals in Ghana. Tourism has the potential to impact instantly on poverty reduction.
Mr. Speaker, at this point, I wish to take the opportunity to inform hon. Members that the Joseph Project would be launched in August 2007. During the launch, we will be expecting over 2,000 participants made up of our brothers and sisters who left our shores as a result of the obnoxious slave trade and also delegations of chiefs and people from the subregion who were also affected by the trade.
Mr. Speaker, at your convenience, the Ministry would sit down with hon. Members to share ideas on the Project, especially on the programme and activities lined up for the launch.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry was initially allocated a total of ¢44.212 billion in the guidelines for the preparation of the 2007-09 Budgets. The Ministry found the ceiling woefully inadequate and protested to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The Ministry came out with draft Estimates of ¢143.0 billion, which we thought would enable us effectively maintain standards in the industry, begin to market Ghana's tourism potentials, create land banks for investment, and embark on effective training programmes to ensure quality service delivery. Despite the initial acceptance by the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning, at a budget hearing, we were finally asked to settle on the new ceiling of ¢52.423 billion, before the House today.
Mr. Speaker, despite the upset of our dreams of getting a reasonable ceiling for the Ministry's programmes and activities for the eventful year, 2007, we are still set on generating growth in the sector. We had very fruitful discussions when we met the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism. We have taken on board the suggestions hon. Members made for the growth of the Industry.
I therefore wish to express my gratitude to the Chairman and all members of the Committee, for their patience, comments, co-operation and understanding of our problems. I therefore accept the recommendations of the Committee.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I wish to move for the acceptance of the ¢52,423 million Estimates for the running of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations for the 2007 fiscal year.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and also to present your Committee's Report on the Estimates for the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations. Mr. Speaker, because of lack of time, I would plead your indulgence to read your Report from page 5 which captures the Observations and Recommendations made by the Committee and to ask the Hansard Office to capture the Report in its entirety.
1. Introduction
In accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on
Thursday, 16th November 2007 presented to the House, the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2007 financial year.
Mr. Speaker subsequently referred the Annual Estimates for the year 2007 of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations to the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism pursuant to Standing Orders 140 (4) and 159 of the House.
2. Terms of Reference
The Committee was requested to critically analyze the Annual Estimates of the Sector Ministry and report.
3. Deliberations
The Committee met and deliberated on the Annual Estimates with the Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, his Deputy hon. Joe Baidoe-Ansah, the Chief Director at the Ministry, Mrs. Bridget Katsriku, and other officials of the Ministry including Directors of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Hotel, Catering and Training Institute (HOTCATT).
Officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning were also present. The Committee is grateful for their useful contributions.
4. Reference Documents
The Committee in its deliberations referred to the following:
1. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
2. Standing Orders of the House.
5. Mission Statement
The Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 11:10 a.m.
March 2007; The World Tourism Market, U.K. -- November 2007; Mediterranean Travel Fair, Cairo -- September 2007 and SITHO, Burkina Faso -- November 2007.
The Ministry will collaborate with the Lands Departments, District Assemblies and Traditional Authorities to continue with the preparation of the 20 cadastral plans for identified sites along the coast.
The Ministry would launch the National Chocolate Day as part of activities marking the 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration with the aim of promoting chocolate as a major dessert in our hotels and restaurants. It will also organize regattas for fisherfolk along the coastline.
On the regeneration of Old Accra,
all the ongoing projects such as GAMA (Greater Accra Metropolitan Area) Plan, the Old Fishing Harbour, the restoration of the Ussher Fort and the Old Fadama relocation scheme would be pursued and completed by December 2007.
8. Observations and Recommendations
The Committee after considering the Annual Estimates reports as follows:
Ghana Tourist Board
The Committee is gratified that the Ghana Tourist Board has acquired land to enable the Board move into its own premises. They have been operating in rented premises. However, the Board needs adequate personnel to undertake inspection of hotels and other tourism establishments and licensing.
It is the expectation of the Committee that the Board would be permitted to take on more personnel to enable it discharge its duties.
Training
The Committee also observed that there is the need to intensify the training of staff of the Industry since tourism is a frontline industry in the marketing of this country as an attractive destination.
The Committee strongly recommends that due to the importance of trained operators in the industry, operators should be compelled by legislation to recruit only staff with some standard training.
In this light, the Committee appreciates that a modern, training/instruction bus has been secured by the Ministry for the HOTCATT to enable the institute to undertake mobile training programmes throughout the country.
Infrastructure
The Committee is of the opinion that if tourism will be successful in this country, then there is the need to establish policy linkages between the various sector Ministries who play complementary roles in tourism development.
In this light, the Committee noted with regret that most tourist sites in the country lack social amenities and infrastructure such as good roads, water and electricity. The Committee strongly recommends that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that deal with the provision of infrastructure (i.e. Roads, Telecommuni- cations, Water Electricity, etc.) should give priority to areas with good tourism potential.
Modernization of Accra
The Committee also noted with satisfaction the Ministry's interest to facelift Accra, especially its plans to relocate squatters of Old Fadama (Sodom and Gomorrah) to a new site acquired at Adzein Kotoku near Amasaman.
The Committee recommends an

appropriate sensitization programme for the affected people to ensure that the relocation programme is successful.

Development Fund

The Committee recognized the need for planned, consistent investment in tourism if the country is to maximize its earnings from Tourism.

The Committee therefore suggests the possibility of setting aside 5 per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund to be given to the Ministry for the development of Tourism in the country, in lieu of a tourism development fund.

9. Conclusion

The Committee after crit ically analyzing the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations and having satisfied itself with the facts and figures recommends that this House approve the sum of ¢52,423,000,000 for the activities of the Ministry for the fiscal year 2007.

Respectfully submitted.

Question proposed.
Mr. H. F. Kamel (NDC -- Buem) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the motion on the floor and in doing so, would want to bring to the consideration of the House some very important issues.
Mr. Speaker, over the years, the budgetary allocation for this Ministry though has increased, is still in my view very insufficient, especially when we look at it against the statement made by
His Excellency the President sometime in 2005, when he described the tourism industry as a gold mine that was yet to be tapped.
Mr. Speaker, we seem not to realise tourism as a very important component of the economy. There will be the need to have the political will to initiate policies and to pump in more resources if we are to realise the full potential of this industry.
Mr. Speaker, all the indicators clearly show that Tourism definitely is an untapped gold mine for this country. In fact, in terms of foreign exchange earnings, you will realise that over the years tourism has been the fourth largest source of foreign exchange to this country.
You will realise that it is also potentially the largest source of employment for a lot of people. The last 15 years has seen significant growth and it is seen as the largest growing sector within the economy as well.
Mr. Speaker, if we have such trends coming from the tourism industry, then one would have expected that we would consider this industry as a national priority like other countries have done -- like Cuba has done, like Spain has done, like Egypt is doing. We should consider this as a national priority and pump in more resources to be able to realise the full potential of the industry, especially since the benefits of the industry have a multiplying effect on the whole country.
It is therefore important that we try to designate this Ministry as a very, very important sector of the economy and have the political will to pump in more resources.
Mr. Speaker, next year, we will be
celebrating the 50th Independence
Mr. Kojo Armah (CPP -- Evalue- Gwira) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise to support the motion on floor and call on hon. Members to massively vote for the motion.
Mr. Speaker, tourism certainly is on the rise in this country and with proper management, we believe tourism can also become one of the nation's biggest foreign exchange earners.
Mr. Speaker, I want to draw attention
to paragraph 3 of the Report, particularly to part 8 of it, which talks about the regeneration of Accra and the movement of squatters from a place called “Sodom and Gomorrah”.
Mr. Speaker, this exercise had been a
pain in our neck for a very long time, not knowing what to do with the thousands of people who stay there. My problem is not even the attempt to move them; my problem is the naming of towns in Accra particularly.

[mR. KAmEL] I do not know by what authority these settlements acquire their names. If any tourist is to come here and he is told that there is place called “Sodom and Gomorrah”, a place in Ashaiman called the Middle East, a place called Lebanon, a place called Alhaji -- I hear there is another one coming up called Killers' Quarters or something of the sort -- [Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker, these are not Ghanaian names. They do not portray the African personality, especially as we are moving to our Jubilee Year, and I hope the hon. Minister would liaise with his counterpart at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to find appropriate names for these areas, names that would reflect our Ghanaian tradition and heritage. It is a little unfortunate; there is a place also called Abuja; it was even in the newspapers recently. I cannot name all of them but I think there is the need for us to look at these names and see whether we cannot effect appropriate changes.

I also endorse the idea of establishing linkages with some infrastructure service providers in those areas outside the big cities where some tourist sites have been discovered, and are already known to the Ministry. The problem for developing them is actually the roads leading to those places. In some places, just electricity to make the place more comfortable for those who would go there is the problem.

I believe one of the problems that some of the districts go through is getting these services provided by headquarters in Accra. If the hon. Minister will also liaise with these service providers it will all help boost the Tourism industry and give us the necessary foreign exchange.

I also would want to urge that the training given to those in the hospitality industry should be decentralized. At least Western Region can also do with an institute to train these young people in the hospitality industry because the Western Region leads to the Central Region and the two together abound with a lot of tourist sites.

Mr. Speaker, as we move into the Golden Jubilee, it is important for me to say that we should look at the central position of our First President in the whole celebration. Something ought to be done by the Minister in the town of Nkroful. A reception centre has already been set up there and it is in use. We appreciate that, but that is not enough. His old birthplace ought to be rehabilitated. The mother's house too ought to be rehabilitated. His only sister alive lives at Half Assini and we need to look at what we can do for her.

Mr. Speaker, there is also the need for us, getting to the Golden Jubilee, to look at the Founding Fathers of this nation. Paa Grant ought to be remembered in this whole arrangement. His house in Axim ought to be looked at. Indeed, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has been there twice and has made a comment about it. I think that the house ought to be looked at and rehabilitated.

That house also housed the first bank in West Africa which has now translated into Barclays Bank. It used to be called Bank of West Africa. That was where the bank was actually located and the Minister ought to make an inventory of these places and make a deal with them.

Mr. Speaker, there is also the need for the Ministry to liaise with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board to make an inventory of all heritage places in this

country so that we can source some funds from UNESCO which also has some funds, for the maintenance of our old premises, for historical reasons. These old premises are not just purely tourism related; they also have educational inputs for the younger generations of our country.

Mr. Speaker, with these few comments, I support the motion.
Mrs. Alice Teni Boon (NDC -- Lambussie) 11:20 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to support the motion on floor, and I would like to urge all hon. Members to support this motion so that we will be able to pass the amount due them to enable them do their activities planned for the fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, I see the Tourism Ministry as the poorest in this country and I sympathise with them a lot. Mr. Speaker, if we could all recollect what the President once said, that the Tourism Ministry was like a gold mine then one is bound to ask what prevents us from mining what we have? I think we have a lot there and that is why the President said it was like a gold mine.
I think that we are not doing what we are supposed to do, and I think it is not maybe the Minister in charge who is to be blamed because I heard him talk about it. He talked about a lot of what he is doing. But I think it is lack of money. I think it is about time we started thinking about what we should do to mine this gold so that we can all benefit from its proceeds.
Mr. Speaker, let me compare that to the farmer. The farmer plants maize and reaps maize and whosoever plants cassava reaps cassava. So I think the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and his able deputies should plant money and reap money; and I know they can do so. Hon. Baah-Wiredu who is the Minister for

Finance and Economic Planning, can do better with his two lieutenants. So I call on them to look at it carefully and re- direct their attention to tourism.

Mr. Speaker, I say this because we used to have the Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City. Now it is Ministry for Tourism and Diasporan Relations and I think that because they changed the name, very little is being done in the beautification of the city. I was hoping that after developing the city, they will go down and develop the districts, and my district will be developed. But it has been stopped. Yes, I am not that much worried about it. But now that it is encompassing Diasporan relations, let us give them more money to develop our good tourist sites so that more people from the diaspora will come in and see the good tourist sites that we have.

Mr. Speaker, I always get worried when I think about tourism because we have Nigeria which is just a big brother of ours having a lot of good tourist sites. Mr. Speaker, my worry is that if we do not sit up, if we do not put on our tourist lenses to see through and make sure that we develop these tourist sites, if we leave this good opportunity for Nigeria to take off and start developing their tourist sites, we will be in a big problem.

Mr. Speaker, I want to call on the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning to look at these issues seriously because I have seen most areas in Nigeria and I know that if they take off, nobody will come to Ghana to look at our rich tourist sites and the rich culture that we have, let alone talk about visiting Ghana.

What do we have? If we allow Nigeria to start developing their sites, I think we cannot match them. I think it is high time
Mr. H. H. Bayirga (PNC -- Sissala West) 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the debate on the budget for the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations. I want to make just a very short comment.
We all know that tourism opens up the country and it makes people, both in and out, know much about what is happening in the country -- the past, the present and the future. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations has started constructing a lot of reception centres at tourist sites across the country. As our 50th Anniversary is just drawing nearer, Mr. Speaker, I want to appeal to the hon. Minister to make sure that these tourist reception centres are completed on time.
During our 50th Anniversary, a lot of people would visit the country and they would want to know about our history. They would visit the tourist reception centres and if those centres are not completed, it will not be very attractive. There is one in my district, Gwollu; it is under construction and I hope the hon. Minister would take a serious note of that one and complete it. In fact, the reception centre is just in front of the tomb of Dr. Hilla Limann, a former President of this country. People would want to have a look at that and look at the tomb too.
Mr. Speaker, I am so glad and satisfied with the type of technology they are using. Mr. Speaker, they are using a traditionally improved modern technology -- compressed bricks. In fact, it looks very, very beautiful and it is by the Department of Rural Development.
Talking of the Department of Rural Development, they have an improved technology that can help Ghana move ahead -- an improved technology that can even provide houses to our teachers, our nurses and even parliamentarians, of course, including the hon. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, when you travel the world over, you will see that they have their traditional ways of putting up structures. In the United States of America, in London, in Germany it is there -- the big houses. But in Ghana here, even those who are educated and are supposed to know this, if we want to put up structures in our rural areas we talk of the conventional type of building and forget completely about the traditional building.
I want the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations to try and promote it -- not to call it rural development housing but traditional housing -- by adding some attractiveness to it so that in future, if parliamentarians are going to put up houses in their rural areas, they would think of traditional buildings -- and of course, the hon. Speaker too.
Mr. Speaker, on this note, I wish to urge all hon. Members to support the Budget. I also appeal to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning that if their money gets finished, they should add more to it.
Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey 11:30 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to thank the House and hon. Members for their support and also their understanding of what tourism can actually do in alleviating poverty and generating wealth in this country.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Majority Leader, which is the next item to be taken?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, item 10.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Item 10 -- Motion -- Minister for Finance and Economic Planning --
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may we have your indulgence to allow the hon. Deputy Minister to act for the hon. Minister. [Pause.]
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the major activities to be implemented in 2007 include the following 11:30 a.m.
1. Conducting a full evaluation of GPRS I; and
2. Implementing the GPRS II commu- nication strategy,
3. conducting studies on poverty and social impact assessment on GPRS
II;
4. conducting studies on best pra- ctices of special pro-poor, pro- growth projects;
5. mainstreaming gender vulnerability and sustainability development principles into the planning process;
6. continuing the formulation of a long-term national plan, including a national special development policy framework to ensure balance and equitable development of the country.
It also includes collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to ensure that the financing of development programmes implemented by the MDAs is in line with priorities outlined in the National Development Framework for accelerated growth and poverty reduction.
Mr. Speaker, for the implementation of the activities of the NDPC, an amount of ¢22,715,000,000 is being requested.
Chairman of the Finance Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion. In so doing
I crave your indulgence to present the Report of your Committee.
1.0 Introduction
The 2007 Annual Estimates of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was laid in the House on Thursday, 16TH November, 2006 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House.
This followed the presentation of the 2007 Financial Policy of the Government by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, for the year ending 31st December, 2007.
The Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Prof. G. Y. Gyan-Baffour, the Director-General of NDPC, Dr. Regina O. Adutwum, officials from Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and NDPC and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
The National Development Planning Commission has the mandate to advise the President (and Parliament upon request) on National Development Planning Policy and Strategy to ensure accelerated and sustainable development in the living standards of all Ghanaians.
3.0 Objectives
The objectives of the Commission are as follows among others:
To institutionalize and internalize planning, policy formulation and monitoring and evaluation systems at all levels;
To promote development communi- cation;
To institutionalize the main- streaming of sustainable develop- ment prin-ciples;
To develop and retain Human Resource capacity at National, Regional and District levels;
To co-ordinate and facilitate implementation of Specific National programmes and projects for National development.
4.0 2007 Budget Estimates of the National Development Planning Commission
For the pursuance of the above-stated objectives, the sum of ¢22,715 million has been allocated to the Commission for the 2007 financial year. The breakdown is presented below:
Personal Emoluments -- ¢1,565
Administration -- ¢2,699
Service -- ¢8,093
Investment -- ¢10,358
TOTAL -- 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Majority
Leader, what is the next item?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may we go back to item 5.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Item 5 -- Laying of
Papers. The following papers to be laid. Chairman of the Finance Committee.
PAPERS 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Majority Leader, what is the situation?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may we take motion number 7.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Item 7, Motion -- Minister for Energy.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I seek permission for the hon. Deputy Minister to act.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Deputy Minister for Energy?
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the breakdown of the figure is as follows 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Vision of the Ministry is to provide adequate and reliable energy supply to all sectors of the economy to support growth and poverty reduction and become a net exporter of fuel and power.
Mr. Speaker, some of the key short- term policy objectives of the Ministry include 11:50 a.m.
Regularising the power supply situation in the country;
Modernizing and expanding energy infrastructure to assure the long-term operation of the sector;
Improve the overall management, the regulatory environment and operation of the energy sector;
Increase access to electricity and other forms of energy (kerosene, solar, etc.) and its productive use, especially in the rural areas to support the Government's poverty reduction and growth agenda; and
Minimise the environmental impact of energy supply and consumption.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry has oversight responsibility over a number of Sector

TABLE P. 80

Institutions in the implementation of sector policies. These are:

The Volta River Authority (VRA);

Electricity Company of Ghana

(ECG);

Energy Commission;

Ghana Na t iona l Pe t ro l eum Corporation (GNPC);

Tema Oil Refinery (TOR);

Energy Foundation;

Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation

(BOST);

Ghana Oil Company Limited

(GOIL);

National Petroleum Authority

(NPA);

Bui Development Committee; and

Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC).

Challenges in 2006

Mr. Speaker, this year has been a rather challenging one for the energy sector.

Power Sector

Owing to inadequate rainfall and some technical difficulties with our generating equipment at the Aboadze thermal power station, we have had to embark on a nationwide load management programme throughout the country since August 2006.

Mr. Speaker, even though the level of the Volta Lake increased by almost 10 ft during the just-ended raining season, we did not reach the optimal operating level for reliable power supply. We are therefore working assiduously to ensure that power supply is restored to normalcy in the shortest possible time.

The Government's commitment to this objective is clearly shown in the support provided to the energy sector in the 2007 Budget. We intend to use these resources to fast track the procurement of adequate generating and other power infrastructure to augment the existing sources. We plan to expand our generation system by over 300 MW in 2007. The 125 MW Osagyefo power barge will become operational during the year.

Petroleum Sector

Mr. Speaker, in the Petroleum sector, global consumption affected the prices of crude oil and petroleum products on the world market. Local prices of petroleum products were therefore adjusted upwards or downwards in line with world market price trends.

Performance in 2006 and Outlook for 2007

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the challenges in 2006, there were significant achievements in both the power and petroleum sub sectors in the year.

Self-Help Electrification Programme

(SHEP)

Mr. Speaker, under the Rural Electrification Programme, a total of 229 communities had been completed as at the end of November 2006. We expect to complete more towns by the end of the year.

Mr. Speaker, we intend to complete by the end of the 1st quarter of year 2007, work on the electrification projects in the three northern regions, namely Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, which have been delayed owing to the inability of the beneficiary communities to provide the required low voltage poles as their contribution to the project.

Mr. Speaker, we also intend to complete ongoing work on other electrification projects in the country during 2007.

Mr. Speaker, however a major and critical challenge in the execution of the project is inadequate funding and even though we have been given resources in the 2007 Budget, we would have preferred a substantial increase in the allocation to enable us meet our targets.

Petroleum

In the petroleum sector, we continue with our exploration activities in the various basins in the country. We were

able to attract a number of international oil companies to initiate exploration in our oil fields.

Projects for 2007 and Beyond

Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)

Mr. Speaker, as part of our efforts to resolve the current energy shortage, we intend to fast track the procurement of additional generating capacity in 2007. As stated earlier, we plan to add about 300 MW during the year.

In order to support this objective, an amount of ¢1.598 trillion (US$171 million) has been provided in the budget to support the procurement of power plants to augment existing VRA sources. This will meet the costs of relocating the Osagyefo barge in Tema, the procurement of a 126 MW gas turbine power plant and also emergency generators. All these activities are to be completed in 2007.

Mr. Speaker, we also intend to improve the distribution system operated by the ECG in order to ensure the delivery of power to consumers, particularly, industry. The budgetary allocation of ¢300 billion will be used to upgrade, rehabilitate and strengthen the ECG distribution network. The allocation will also be used to support the deployment of prepayment meters and also the construction of a 3rd Bulk Supply Station in Accra which will ensure reliable power delivery in Accra.

Self-Help Electrification Programme

(SHEP)

We in tend to commence two significant electrification projects in 2007 to complement our own project under the 4th phase of the Self-Help Electrification Programme. These projects are the Japanese Government grant-funded project in the West Akim District and the US$81 million facility from the Chinese Government.

[mR. HAmmOND] Under the Japanese-funded project,

31 communities will be connected to the national electricity grid. The project is planned to be completed within the-year. The Government's contribution under this project is US$2.9 million.

The projects under the Chinese Government facility will involve about 580 communities throughout the country and will be completed over a three year period. The Government's contribution is US$9 million.

Mr. Speaker, in total the project will provide access to electricity for over three per cent of our population.

In addition to the aforementioned projects, we shall continue with our on- going projects and connect an additional 200 communities to the national grid. These projects will utilize materials to be provided under US$30 million Indian Government facility to Ghana.

Electrification of Newly-Created District Capitals

Mr. Speaker, seven newly-created District Capitals, namely, Bunkpurugu, Nsuaem-Kyekyewere, Assam-Dadieso, Tongo, Garu-Tampane, Funsi and Wechiau would be considered for connection to the national grid.

Street Lighting Project for Regional Capitals

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Energy intends to embark upon an intensive Regional Capitals Street Lighting Project to increase security and safety on major roads in our Regional Capitals.

Mr. Speaker, the project, which is estimated at US$30 million, would be implemented over a period of 2 to 3 years.

Bui Hydro Electric Project

Mr. Speaker, we shall also commence the preparatory activities for the 400 MW Bui hydroelectric power project which is estimated to cost US$600 million. This includes the finalization of the details of the Chinese Government funding and other technical work related to the

final designs and environmental impact assessment of the project.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Energy in

collaboration with the Energy Foundation will continue its public education on energy conservation and efficiency. Further, the Ghana Standards Board and the Energy Commission will enforce the implementation of the Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards and Labelling Programme within the law.

Renewable Energy

Mr. Speaker, we also intend to continue with the promotion of renewable energy. Specifically, the Ministry of Energy would continue with the solar electrification project in remote areas of the country which cannot be served with grid electricity. The projects will target the education, health, and security sectors. This will enable schools in the beneficiary communities benefit from the President's Special Initiative on Distance Learning programme.

Further, health centres will have solar power for the refrigeration of vaccines and other health requirements. The project will be financed under a €5 million facility provided by the Spanish Government.

West African Power Pool

Under the West Africa Power Pool arrangement, we shall commence construction works on 330 kV Aboadze- Tema transmission line in 2007. In addition to facilitating the trading of energy between Ghana and its neighbours, this transmission line will ensure the reliable supply of power from the Aboadze power station to Accra and Tema.

Natural Gas Secondary Market

Mr. Speaker, in order to ensure the use of natural gas in industries in Ghana, the Ministry of Energy is keenly promoting the rapid development of the secondary natural gas market.

Mr. Speaker, we shall complete the regulatory, legal, institutional and infrastructural arrangements for the operation of the natural gas market in

2007.

Petroleum Exploration and Production

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Ghana and GNPC have executed four (4) new Petroleum Agreements with International Oil Companies this year. The agreements were expected to generate a new focus on well drilling activity in Ghana. The ratification of these agreements brings the number of existing agreements to eight (8).

Mr. Speaker, we are collaborating with the mining sector to assess critical data on the largely unexplored onshore Voltarian Basin to unearth its hydrocarbon potential.

Conclusion

Mr. Speaker, I have summarized our activities to give the House an appreciation of the programmes which we intend to execute with the resources provided in the budget. I accordingly move that the House approves the sum of ¢2.525,139 trillion for the services of the Ministry of Energy for the 2007 fiscal year.
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Gifty E. Kusi) noon
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in doing so present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2007 Financial Year was presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on the authority of H.E. the President of the Republic on Thursday, 16th November 2006. The Estimates of the Ministry of Energy was accordingly referred by the Speaker to the Committee on Mines and Energy for consideration and report, pursuant to article 103 of the Constitution
of Ghana, 1992 and Order 187 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
2.0 References
2.1 In the course of its deliberation, the Committee made reference to the following documents:
i. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
iii. The Budget Statement and Economic Po l i cy o f the Government of Ghana for 2007.
3.0 Mission Statement
3.1 The Mission of the Ministry of Energy is to develop and ensure reliable supply of high quality energy services at minimum cost to all sectors of the economy through the formulation, implementation, monitoring and eva-luation of policies.
4.0 Objectives
4.1 The objectives set out by the Ministry to achieve the above Mission include the following:
i. Consolidate and improve existing energy supply systems;
ii. Increase access of modern energy services, especially to the rural and poor communities;
iii. Ensure productive and efficient use of energy particularly in the rural communities so as to stimulate economic growth and development;
iv. Strengthen institutional and human resource capacity in

[mR. HAmmOND] energy development;

v. Secure future energy supplies including hydrocarbon de- posits;

vi.Encourage private sector par- ticipation in energy infras- tructure development; and

vii . Minimise environmental impacts of energy supplies and consumption through in-creased Renewable Energy/Energy efficiency technologies.

5.0 Performance in 2006

5.1 The table below is the summary of estimates and actual expenditure of the Ministry of Energy for the period January to September 2006.

6.0 Activities for 2007

6.1 The Ministry intends to embark on the underlisted activities during the 2007 fiscal year.

6.2 Power Sub-Sector

6.2.1 The Committee was informed that in order to arrest the current energy crisis, the Ministry intends to acquire and install emergency power plants at Tema to meet the needs of industry and the mining companies and also continue its energy efficiency and conservation programme.

6.2.2 The Commit tee was a lso informed by the Ministry that three power generation plants with a total output of about 330 kW is expected to be commissioned. This is to augment the current supply capacity of Volta River

Authority (VRA). These projects are to be funded from the MDBS of ¢1,589 billion allocated to the Ministry of Energy. These projects are to be made operational by the

third quarter of 2007.

6.2.3 The Ministry also intends to commence the development of the Bui Hydro-Electric Power project within the third quarter of 2007.

6.2.4 The Committee was further informed that under the SHEP-4 programme, 200 communities are to be connected to the national grid.

6.2.5 The Electricity Corporation of Ghana (ECG) has projected to complete the upgrading of its distribution system by end December 2007 in order improve the reliability of power supply in some urban areas. 6.3 Renewable Energy

6.3.1 The Committee was informed that the Ministry will mainstream renewable energy into the national energy mix. These include solar energy, windmills and waste- to-power generation. The Ministry would also pursue the development of bio-fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

6.4 Petroleum Sub-Sector

6.4.1 The Committee was informed that activities to be pursued by this sub- sector include the expansion works at TOR and preparatory works for the divestiture of the company.

6.4.2 In pursuit of the development of the natural gas secondary market, a site has been identified at the Tema Industrial Enclave and the construction of pipelines to the site would be undertaken during the year.

6.4.3 Your Committee was informed that fol lowing complaints about adulteration of fuel by some fuel stations, National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and Ghana Standards Board (GSB) have conducted a number of random tests at some filling stations. Results of these tests had indicated that most of the underground tanks are old and rusty and some amount of water was present which could be due to condensation. Fuel Stations that were found to have foreign substances as proof of contamination have been closed down until their tanks are cleaned.

6.4.4 Your Committee was further informed that the NPA has intensified the monitoring of the supply and marketing of petroleum products in order to ensure the products supplied to the market are of the required standards and that they are free of foreign materials as has been agreed upon at earlier meetings with stake-holders.

6.4.5 Your Committee was informed that among the measures taken are:

i. Cleaning of storage tanks identified to have sediments.

ii. Fixing of filtering system be- yond pump to sieve sediments.

7.0 Provision for 2007

7.1 An amount of ¢2,524,554 million has been allocated to meet the above activities of the Ministry and the breakdown is as follows:

8.0 Observations

8.1 Your Committee observed that a total amount of ¢1,598,650 million was allocated to the Ministry of Energy under paragraph 1,246 on page 284 and page 322 of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government and captured as part of the total fiscal ceiling for the year

2007.

8.2 This latter figure however did not reflect in the total allocation to the Ministry of Energy as captured in appendix 5 of page 324 of the Budget Statement.

8.3 Mr. Speaker, your Committee was informed that the above-mentioned figure, entirely sourced from the Multilateral Dept Relief Initiative (MDRI), is to be used to support the funding of the proposed short-term solution to the energy crisis in the country. Your Committee therefore in

TABLE P. 90 & P. 91

consultation with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy corrected the anomaly to reflect the real allocation to the Ministry of Energy.

National Strategic Stocks

8.4 The Committee noted that the

Customs and Excise (Petroleum Taxes and Petroleum Related Levies) (No.2) Act, 1998 (Act 544), which imposed stock levy to finance the reserve stocks of petroleum, was repealed by the Customs and Excise (Petroleum Taxes and Petroleum Related Levies) Act, 2005 (Act 655). As a result the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning promised to make some allocations from the National Budget to enable BOST finance its activities under

the decision on the divestiture would take cognizance of the expansion works.

8.9 The Committee observed that an amount of ¢594.5 billion was paid as under-recoveries although no provision was made in the Appropriation Act of 2006. The Committee therefore needs further explanation on the challenges of the deregulation that warranted the payment of such an amount.

8.10 The Committee also observed that the Ministry's HIPC allocation for 2007 was ¢350 billion. The Committee was informed that ¢300 billion of the amounts have been allocated to ECG for the improvement of the company's distribution system within some urban areas. The amount is earmarked for works on three principal stations in Accra and Kumasi and the procurement of prepayment meters.

8.11 Your Committee urges ECG to ensure that the disbursement of the amount and the completion of the projects would translate into efficient service delivery to consumers. The remaining ¢50 billion is earmarked for rural electrification under the SHEP-4 programme.

9.0 Recommendations

9.1 Your Committee wishes to urge the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to abide by the understanding reached at the time of the abolition of the strategic reserve levy and make adequate funds available to BOST to finance the strategic reserve.

9 .2 The Commit tee wishes to recommend that the NPA should do more to monitoring of petroleum products supply and marketing within the country than they are doing now. It is the view of the Committee that the above is quite re- assurance in the light of recent findings

of adulteration and contamination of fuel products within the system.

9.3 The Committee however wishes to recommend that NPA should strictly enforce the provisions pertaining to adulteration and contamination of fuel products as stated in sections 18, 78 and 79 of the National Petroleum Authority Act 2005 (Act 691).

9.4 The Committee wishes to appeal to MOFEP to ensure the timely release of funds for the SHEP-4 programme in order that rural communities benefit from power supply.

9.5 The Committee further recommends that the Ministry should speed up its efforts to curtail the rampant power outages, which is causing lots of problem for industry and consumers.

10.0 Conclusion

10.1 In conclusion, the Committee recommends that an amount of ¢2,525,139 million be approved by the House for the Ministry of Energy for the 2007 fiscal year and also urge MOFEP to ensure that funds are released on time to enable the Ministry meet its objectives.

Respectfully submitted.

Question proposed.
Mr. Moses A. Asaga (NDC -- Nabdam) noon
Mr. Speaker, the budget for the Ministry of Energy, it has taken a long time for reconciliation to be made because of the way its investment budget was captured in the main Estimates brought to this House. Mr. Speaker, probably if we had been following the procedure, we could have asked for an amendment even
PAGE 94
the national strategic reserves.
8.5 The Committee observed that no allocations have since been made after the repeal of Act 544. This situation has impacted negatively on the financial position of BOST thereby culminating into its inability to keep strategic stock levels beyond a period of two weeks.
8.6 Your Committee further observed
that even though Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has been slated for divestiture yet provision has been made for the company's expansion programme.
8.7 The Committee was informed that
the Government is yet to take a decision on what percentage share of the company would be divested and how it will be done. According to the Ministry, the evaluation of TOR's physical assets has been completed and the financial evaluation would soon commence. It is after the completion of the financial evaluation that a decision on the divestiture would be finalized.
8.8 The Ministry, however, indicated that TOR's current capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream day (b.p.s.d.) is below the required demand. It was therefore important, according to the Ministry, that the expansion works are continued alongside the programme for divestiture;
before we took the budget of the Ministry of Energy. But because we want work to go on smoothly and because of insufficient time, we are giving the hon. Ministers for Energy and Finance and Economic Planning a leeway. But they should not repeat it. Mr. Speaker, next time they are coming with a budget for the Ministry of Energy, we want them to do their homework very well before coming here.
Mr. Speaker, having said this, there is a very important issue that we must look at, and that is the petroleum sector of the Ministry of Energy. We are all aware that this House is always bombarded with several petroleum agreements, trying to give hope to Ghanaians that one day we shall also be producing our own crude oil and gas.
Mr. Speaker, in the year 2004, this august House approved a production agreement among the Government of Ghana, GNPC and Lushann Eternit Energy Limited to produce oil on the Saltpond field. After we had done that, currently the GNPC is producing an average of 500 to 700 barrels of oil a day in Ghana but this production has been shrouded in mystery; there is no transparency. And this august House has not been informed about the progress of the production.
I think that this is quite an unfortunate situation. I am saying this because we know the problems that we have in Nigeria when it comes to oil revenue. So no matter the quantities that we are producing, we Ghanaians should begin to be more transparent so that when we hit the commercial quantity, we will not have problems with it.
Mr. Speaker, in one of the documents presented to us by the Ministry of Energy,
there was a sentence which said that GNPC was producing 700 barrels of crude oil a day; and this was quite shocking. Even though I had gotten this information about six months ago, I thought it was not true. I think that the hon. Minister for Energy and the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning should be called upon to account for the revenues accruing from this small production.
Mr. Speaker, by the document that I have, that is the contract agreemen, it is stated that all moneys accruing to the State under this article should be paid into a Government account designated by the Minister. The title of the document is “Petroleum Agreement Among the Republic of Ghana, Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) and Lushann Eternit Energy Limited”, dated July, 2004.
Mr. Speaker, an investigation by the
Committee on Energy shows that the hon. Minister for Energy was not aware of such a production; he was unaware of an account -- A discussion with the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, yesterday, indicated that he did not know about that oil account. He did not know about the revenues and he did not also know how the revenue was being used. Mr. Speaker, it is on account of this that I am bringing this issue up.
Prof. G. Y. Gyan-Baffour noon
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Member on the other side is confusing everybody. Actually, if he had a private discussion with the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and he is not here, why does he have to come here and start talking about it? This could have been a private discussion; he should have let him come here and he could talk to him about it. He just should not discuss with him in private and come back here and openly say
things that he is not here to defend himself on. So he better make sure that he does not actually say things that the hon. Minister never told him about.
Mr. Asaga noon
Mr. Speaker -- [Inter- ruptions.]
Mrs. Gifty Eugenia Kusi noon
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the hon. Ranking Member that the hon. Minister did not say he did not know anything about it. He said he would get back to us later.
Mr. Asaga noon
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister talked about private conversations. These were not private conversations. These were conversations we held here when we were trying to reconcile the budget. And it was not just me alone-- and I have his document where he had circled the 700 barrels per day with a red pen in my copy of the budget document, telling me that he would investigate it. So it was not private -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Go on. Hon. Deputy Minister, you have time to wind up -- [Interruptions.] Order!
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
Mr. Speaker, I believe my hon. Colleague on the other side, the hon. Ranking Member is making useful points. The issues that he is raising are grave and I think that it is important he addresses them correctly. What the hon. Minister said officially, he has said those officially.
Mr. Speaker, I am not doubting the hon. Ranking Member, but if he has any discussions with the hon. Minister outside the Chamber, or even if it is in the Chamber and it is a private discussion, he cannot import same into the official debate
of the House. That is the point that was being made to him. But I agree that the issues that he is raising are grave and he must address them. But if there are private discussions, they are private discussions to the extent that the hon. Minister has not said so in this House.
Mr. Asaga noon
Mr. Speaker, on the average, with very high crude oil prices, we could be talking about thirty to forty- two barrels a day. Then if just in a cursory manner we compute figures for about 365 days, we are talking about $10.9 million in a year. And Mr. Speaker, I am saying this not because I think all these moneys must come to Ghana; there is also production cost to be covered.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the hon.
Mr. Speaker noon
Order!
Mr. Asaga noon
But he is not serious; he cannot be laughing. These are very serious issues.
rose
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Deputy Minister, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Hammond noon
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend is developing this habit of always

casting insinuation, particularly when he is misleading the House and misleading the country.

Mr. Speaker, I have taken the trouble to bring the document -- [Interruptions] -- which gave that oilfield away for free, for nothing. We came in here and we signed the agreement through which royalty is accruing to the Government. What is he talking about? Mr. Speaker, he does not know what he is talking about.
Mr. Speaker noon
Order!
Mr. Asaga 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, all the information he claims he is having, that is the information I am holding. I am not talking of an old document of NDC or GNPC; no. This document I am holding was signed in 2004, ratified in this Parliament under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government. This is a reviewed version of the 2000 one; and I agree with the hon. Member. If the 2000 Agreement was not good for Ghana and you have reviewed it and it is now good, all that I am talking of is accountability of oil revenue.
So Mr. Speaker, I hope after this the Energy Committee would probably be sitting with the Ministry of Energy and GNPC so that we would see how we can manage this oil account and oil revenue properly.
Mr. Speaker, having talked about the Petroleum Sector, which is very important, I would want to urge this House to approve the ¢2.525 trillion for the Ministry. We know that right now, after six years, we have come back to the same problem of energy crisis and I believe that this is going to be a turning point for Ghana; that between 2007 and 2009 energy crisis problems should be solved once and for all.
Also, every government that comes in should liaise with VRA and know the demand and the annual capacity installation. That would prevent the kind of situation that we are in. I believe that for the past six years, we glossed over the fact that the economy had expanded and there was more demand; we glossed over the fact that population had also increased and therefore there would be more demand.
Therefore, planning was not properly done; investment was erratic and that is why we are in this present situation. Like the hon. Senior Minister said, this is a problem of Ghana and we must make sure that we tackle it appropriately.
I hope that this amount being allocated to the Ministry of Energy would be used judiciously, and we expect that by next year, November 2007, they should come and give us a progress report as to how the moneys have been used for investment, and the results that we have achieved.
With these words, Mr. Speaker, I support the motion for the approval of the Budget for the Ministry of Energy.
Mr. J. Y. Labik (IND 12:10 p.m.
None

Yunyoo): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me this great opportunity to contribute to the motion to approve the amount of ¢2.525 trillion for the Ministry of Energy.

Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's

submission, I did hear him talk about connection of Bunkpurugu, the district capital of Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo, to the national grid. But I am a little bit saddened when I look at the total investment allocated to the Ministry of Energy.

Under Investments, the Ministry is allocated ¢2,509,190,000,000 and one looks at it as too small for the extension of electricity to most of the communities he has just mentioned. I believe if we even take the district capital of Bunkpurugu- Yunyoo, that is Bunkpurugu, yet to be connected to the national grid, the amount to be used to connect this district capital is more than this particular amount being allocated.

I am therefore pleading that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning should look at the possibility of looking for loans and grants for the Ministry of Energy to be able to carry out this extension programme.

Mr. Speaker, people talk about the world being a global village now, but we the people of Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo do not even see Ghana as a global village. There is no internet service in Bunkpurugu; there is no telephone service in Bunkpurugu.

When they talk about distance education, our people do not have even light. They do not have power to even view television, let alone talk about the distance education programme being run by the President's Special Initiative. That is why I was so happy that my district capital, Bunkpurugu, is being mentioned as one of the district capitals to be connected to the national grid next year.

Out of the total number of districts

in the Northern Region, Bunkpurugu is the only district capital currently not connected to the national grid. And this has really made we the people of Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo to not yet see Ghana as a global village. I hope when this amount is approved for the Ministry of Energy, Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo would be connected by next year so that we can also see Ghana as a global village and see the whole world as a global village; when we can also go onto the internet and access the information we need.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the motion for the approval of ¢2,525,139,000,000 to support the activities of the Ministry of Energy. In doing so, I would like to recognize that one of the major ills or crisis that the Budget of this year sought to cure was the existing energy crisis resulting in the blackout in many areas which is affecting the performance of industry and even affecting the performance of individuals in the country.
Mr. Speaker, in supporting this motion,
I would just like to draw attention to two significant issues, one within the power sector and the other within the petroleum industry. It is with regret that in the last six years, we have not been able to add even a single kilowatt of power to our energy resources, even though we have consistently called for a review of policy direction, not to be relying heavily on hydro but on thermal generation.
Mr. Speaker, if you look over the
years, this Parliament, I remember, approved a loan of US$30 million which was an Indian facility, for rural electrification. We subsequently approved another US$90 million all for purposes of rural electrification. If you take your
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 12:10 p.m.


Committee's Report, we are being told that some 2,000 communities are to benefit and in particular 127 communities.

We would want the hon. Minister for Energy to brief this august House on the regional and district distribution, community by community; which community should expect to benefit from rural electrification projects, especially for the 2007 fiscal year. That is important.

We need to know because in some literature of the Ministry of Energy, there are times that they designate a particular community that was ‘energised', meaning that they have benefited or are benefitting from rural electrification. Yet when you visit the community, only a portion or a section is being covered and many other related communities, even within the same area, do not benefit from this facility.

If you travel across the country to many rural areas, there exist electric poles in many areas. In some areas you even see wires still lying down. We are told that for the three Northern Regions because of their inability to provide low voltage poles, there is difficulty extending electricity to them.

I think we are justified in saying that with these huge resources going to the Ministry, a substantial amount, in addition to the loans, must be made available to cater for them. Districts such as Bunkpurugu would benefit if we were to review our policy that those communities must provide those poles. It simply means that they do not have the ability; they do not have the financial capacity to do it and the Ministry must begin to take responsibility to provide those low voltage poles for those communities to be able to benefit.

Mr. Speaker, my other concern has to do with the provision of electricity. Even as we speak we are told that VALCO
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 12:20 p.m.


alone, just to be able to operate two pot- line operations, require 1,240 gigawatts per hour of electric power. VALCO is charged only three cents yet the Ghanaian consumer pays eight cents for the same facility; and much of this power crisis can be attributed to us giving emphasis to VALCO getting power more than making it available to the consuming Ghanaian public who pay more in terms of value for money, for it. Indeed, we pay even twice what VALCO pays.

I remember that sometime in 2001, there was a committee appointed by Government to review the tariff regime with VALCO. We do not know what agreement was finally reached with VALCO but we think that they must pay economic rates. I want to believe that the exit of Kaiser Aluminium was due partly to their inability to cope with rising prices for it.

Mr. Speaker, may I also refer you to page 6 of your Committee's Report, in particular paragraph 6.4.3. Mr. Speaker, recently, we were told about the adulteration of fuel in the country, and I am told that it even affected the movement of the President's entourage at some point in time. Many other persons have suffered. Some of them had breakdowns of their engines and machines as a result of the fuel adulteration.

The Ministry must do a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of the matter in order to protect our automobiles from this attempt by some people to profit from either contamination or adulteration of fuel products. Whether it is traceable to the Tema Oil Refinery, oil marketing companies or other retail dealers or transporters, we need to get to the bottom of that particular matter.

Mr. Speaker, like the Chairperson said, originally, the Bulk Oil Storage facility benefited from some of the tax regime under the petroleum thing and that, we were told, supported their ability to be able to raise resources. We need to have strategic fuel reserves at all times and we need to adequately resource that particular entity in order for them to be able to deliver.

We have one in Kumasi, we have one in Buipe, the Yapei area. We saw to the construction of those facilities. I think that the Minister must reconsider what can be done so that Bulk Oil Storage facilities can benefit from some review in terms of funding that would be made available to them.

Mr. Speaker, finally, I support the motion and would like to re-echo the position of our Ranking Member, that we need to get results by the end of 2007; they are getting huge sums of investment. Whether it is coming from HIPC or Multi- Donor Relief Services, they need to show results by way of an increase in the volume of electricity that is generated; and we would need more communities to benefit from rural water.

My final comment has to do with this proposed $50 million for the movement of the Osagyefo Barge. From Efasu, we were told that it was moving, and now it is going to cost US$50 million, because we need to reconstruct the port. What informed the decision earlier not to put it at Tema but to take it far away only to decide now to move it again at a cost to the State? We would need to get all these details.

Mr. Speaker, with these few comments, I support the motion and hope that the Ministry would make judicious use of these resources.
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo (NPP -- Akim Oda) 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, listening to my
hon. Colleagues on the allocation to the Ministry of Energy, it is very clear that we have a problem. Indeed, everybody has been talking about rural electrification. There is a major problem arising out of urbanization. Now, if you take towns like Kpando, Agona Swedru, Nkawkaw, Akim Oda and the rest of them, they are expanding very fast and they are not getting their equivalent supply of electricity.
In fact, this applies even to Greater Accra. So how do you feel if you are living in Greater Accra and there is no power to where you are? Therefore, we need to have a very organized programme to salvage these urbanized areas because that is what is creating the problem and even adding to armed robbery. If you live in Accra, a very big city, and you have no power, then we are dealing with a very big social problem.
So in addition to rural electrification, urban expansion programmes must be taken on as a project; and we should look for external resources to handle it. Perhaps, it is even a bigger problem because this applies to virtually all towns with populations in excess of 25,000. I think we need to resolve it and it would reduce all the social tensions we have.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member who last spoke talked about what informed the location of the Osagyefo Barge at Efasu. I happen to have some knowledge of it. Mr. Speaker, in the original loan, there was a very detailed study report on this in 1998; and in that report, the location was Efasu. It had been assumed that we were going to have gas between Ghana and la Cote d'Ivoire. This was a fact. A study was done and it was announced that it was the Tano fields and therefore, there was going to be an advantage locating this at Efasu.

So a study was done the National Democratic Congress (NDC) era and Efasu was selected. There was no reason to change it, until later it was found out that there was gas there but the gas in that particular location was trapped in rocks and the technicality of accessing that particular gas made it, at that moment, not feasible.

Therefore, it is true that a study was done but that study was not detailed enough to note that the gas that was located in that area was not like the gas located all over the world; that it was trapped in rocks and we could not use it. So now there is a problem and we have to relocate.

Let us pray that we do a study that would make sure that the relocation would resolve the problem once and for all.

Alhaji A. B. Sorogho (NDC --

Abokobi-Madina): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and in so doing make just one or two quick points.

Mr. Speaker, I think for the past one week, we as Parliamentarians have sat here and we have gone through a lot of budgets for various Ministries. Mr. Speaker, I can say that for any of the Ministry's work to be successful, it would depend to a large extent on how successfully the Ministry of Energy conducts itself.

Mr. Speaker, as we are here conducting our business now, if the light goes off, you would be forced to go into your chamber and all hon. Members would be forced to go out. Mr. Speaker, for this reason, the Ministry of Energy plays a very important role in the transformation of the economy of Ghana. It is not therefore surprising that the total amount of $171 million from the Multi-Donor Relief Initiative (MDRI) is being given fully to the Ministry to assist

it in its service.

Mr. Speaker, earlier contributors have

already spoken and so I do not want to go back, but there is one thing that the Committee observed and that has to do with an amount of ¢594.5 billion being paid to TOR as under-recovery for the year 2006. Mr. Speaker, I think we are all aware that in Ghana now we no longer subsidize fuel; that we now have full-recovery and for that matter whatever differences that are brought to bear are passed on to the consumer.

Mr. Speaker, it is therefore surprising that at a time that resources are so scarce and we are trying to do all that we can to get money to rehabilitate certain vital industries and institutions, an amount of ¢594.5 billion can be used to pay under recovery. Mr. Speaker, some of us wanted to know why this happened and the information that we got is what I want to share with the House.

Mr. Speaker, we were told that sometime in March or April this year, TOR advised the Government, through the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), that there was the need for upward adjustment of fuel prices. Mr. Speaker, NPA told TOR that it was not politically prudent to increase petroleum prices to reflect the world market prices. Mr. Speaker, as a result, TOR had to, in one way or the other, subsidize the fuel to that extent.

Mr. Speaker, the question that I want to ask is, are Ghanaians being told the truth? The very charge that was levelled against the NDC was that, it did not have the political will to increase petroleum prices and that it was for that reason that we had a lot of debt incurred by TOR. Are we revisiting the same problem? Mr. Speaker, is the NPA, which is supposed to be an autonomous authority still working under the instructions of the Government?

Mr. Speaker, we need to know this.

Mr. Speaker, apart from this, we were also told that TOR is being slated for divestiture. Mr. Speaker, this means that TOR will also be sold out. We are not saying that TOR cannot be sold out. But Mr. Speaker, at a time that all these are being considered, TOR is being asked to do some expansion. At the same time that TOR is being put on the divestiture list, Ghana Government is being asked to use the taxpayer's money to expand it. Mr. Speaker, I will advise that we tread very, very cautiously in the divestiture of TOR.

Mr. Speaker, apart from these two points, all the other points were touched on by my Colleagues. But one thing that I also want to say before I conclude is that if one sees the investment grant, ¢1,598,650,000,000, one may think that it is big. But Mr. Speaker, the whole of this amount is to be used to fight the emergency energy crisis that we have now.

For that matter, Mr. Speaker, I think that there is still more to be done for the Ministry. Especially, Mr. Speaker, just recently, we were all slapped with the issue of adulteration, and the President's convoy had to stop on its way. It had a lot of security implications, but God being so good to us, nothing happened. Mr. Speaker, I do not think that we want to revisit this issue.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of hon. Members here bought their new cars with their hard-earned money only to ground them because of the problem of adulteration. Mr. Speaker, when your Committee met the stakeholders, it became clear that adulteration was taking place.

Mr. Speaker, even though TOR produces one of the finest quality fuels, a lot of things take place when it leaves

the shores of TOR; between TOR and the stations, Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons why we are not able to track this is that the Ghana Standards Board which is supposed to be doing its work by testing it, is under-equipped. A simple machine that is to test the octane level, the Ghana Standards Board has not got it.

Mr. Speaker, it is for this reason that I am calling on the Government, and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, to do all that they can to build the capacity of the institutions that have to take care of these areas so that we do not visit the issue of adulteration again. A lot of us have incurred big debts and we are now fighting to pay them.

With these few comments, Mr. Speaker, I support the motion and urge all my Colleagues to vote 100 per cent for the motion.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo Ano South) 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise to support the motion on floor and in doing so, I would like to look at your Committees' Report, specifically page 12. Mr. Speaker, on that page there is a paragraph numbered 9.4. Before I do that let us look at “OBJECTIVES”, paragraph 4.1 (ii); and with your indulgence I quote:
“Increase access of modern energy services, especially to the rural and poor communities.”
Mr. Speaker, this is a very laudable objective of the Ministry, yet as canvassed ably by hon. Osafo-Maafo, MP for Akim Oda -- he has talked about urban cities -- the district capitals and even some communities in the districts have been expanding and when electricity is sent there, they just wire and energise the towns without considering expanding the energy to the fringes of the towns where the towns would be expanding to.
Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo Ano South) 12:40 p.m.
This has resulted in half of my district capital Mankranso, living without electricity though there is electricity in the town. If you go to Adujaman, the same problem exists.
I would therefore urge the hon. Minister to ensure that when they are sending electricity to communities, they should go a little outside the main communities so that when the towns expand, this problem would not arise.
I would also like to talk about the expansion of electricity to communities under SHEP 4. Under SHEP 4, we are told that a number of communities will be connected to the national grid; in fact, 200 communities to be precise, according to the Report. Mr. Speaker, I would like to urge the Ministry, as has been suggested by your Committee, to get in touch with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning so that money is made available to the Ministry of Energy to enable it carry out this mandate of theirs.
Mr. Speaker, when you are travelling from Kumasi to Sunyani, my constituency is the only ‘dark' constituency along the road. Though the communities have planted their low-tension poles, they have not been connected to the grid yet. I am very much aware that contracts have been awarded and work is going on. However, there is the complaint that the contractors do not have materials and money to be able to finish this job for my constituents.
I would therefore urge the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to approve the estimates to enable the Ministry of Energy carry out this exercise in my constituency. I thank them for that any way.
There is another problem facing the use of electricity in this country and that has
to do with pre-paid meters. Mr. Speaker, I really find it difficult to understand why people clamour for pre-paid meters, yet they cannot get them. Consumers of electricity have been calling on radio for these meters to be made available. In fact, it solves a lot of problems but they complain that these meters are not available. I will urge the Ministry to make available these pre-paid meters and at affordable cost to the consumers because if these pre-paid meters are there, people will be mindful of the usage of their power.
In my House for instance, I make sure that I put off all the lights during the day, because I know that if I do not do that, and the lights go off, I will have to go and buy. Automatically it will go off and you will run to the electricity people to go and buy; you will not need anybody to come after you. So if they have pre-paid meters for us, it will even save them the trouble of having to go after people to collect their tariffs.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to make an appeal -- a serious one. In fact, I have filed an Urgent Question but for the Budget proceedings, I think that Question would have been taken. I had a call from my District Chief Executive that people have been travelling from Ahafo Ano South Constituency to Sunyani to purchase kerosene.

In fact, it is a very serious problem facing that part of Ashanti Region and I would like the Ministry to study the case and if it is true -- I know the District Chief Executive will not lie to me but I just want the Ministry to make sure -- kerosene should be sent to my constituency, Ahafo Ano South, so that the people -- [Interruptions] -- I am not being selfish. You know they are the people I represent first and foremost; so
Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo Ano South) 12:40 p.m.


when I mention Ahafo Ano South, I am not precluding the others. If there are any other communities which are suffering the same fate, kerosene should be sent to them so that they will be relieved of this problem.

Mr. Speaker, electricity to rural communities is an essential issue and should be taken seriously, because it will help alleviate poverty in the rural areas, and it will also stem the tide of rural/urban migration by the youth. Some of these youth who come to towns and cities, come there because of the modern amenities like potable water, electricity, health.

So if they have these things in their rural areas they will stay there and make use of the electricity there to earn some income. If the person has a deep freezer he can sell some water and use the proceeds to sponsor the child in school and though the capitation grant is there, they will still implement what Government is giving.

With these few words, Mr. Speaker, I want to end and urge hon. Members to vote for the acceptance of this budget allocated to the Ministry of Energy. Lastly, I want to remind them that our people need kerosene at Ahafo Ano South.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/ Ave) 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion. Already, we all know that this sector is in crisis and as responsible Members of this House, we ought to help the sector come out of the crisis. Mr. Speaker, that does not mean that the policy direction contained in the Budget Statement has been accepted by all of us.
Mr. Speaker, I was a bit surprised when the hon. Member for Nabdam raised the issue of disclosing revenue from the Saltpond field and he created a problem from the hon. Deputy Minister's end. Mr. Speaker, Ghana is part of the Extractive Industries Transparent Initiative and as part of that initiative, the

mining companies are supposed to make disclosures of the revenue that they pay to Government; and Government is also under an obligation to disclose revenues that it receives from the companies.

I believe that based on this initiative alone, the Minister has a duty to disclose this information, at least to this House. I think that at the appropriate time, when we come back, the Ministry would find time to make that information available to us.

Mr. Speaker, the second point that I want to make is with regard to rural electrification. The hon. Deputy Minister in moving the motion referred to 229 communities that have been connected to the national grid, for 2006 alone. Mr. Speaker, I want to report that none of those communities is in my district, and I want to know what the mechanism is. Even the ones that were awarded in 2002/2003 have not been done. If you ask the contractors, they tell you that they have not been given material.

I want to find out which are those

communities and what criterion is being used to connect certain communities while certain communities are not being included on that list. Mr. Speaker, it is very serious because the national cake must be shared equitably and fairly.

Mr. Speaker, the Committee rightly touched on subsidies to Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) at page 10 of its Report. Mr. Speaker, in view of the general policy on petroleum deregulation, one would have thought that the issue of subsidy would be a thing of the past. Mr. Speaker, we raised this during the debate on the financial policy and different answers have been given by different public officials, from the Ministry to NPA, et cetera.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we need to understand why in spite of the fact that we are doing deregulation of the petroleum sector, we are supposed to be paying for

the full cost of petroleum products, yet we are still subsidizing TOR. I think that this should be explained to us.

If there are challenges, as the Committee noted in its Report in the de-regulation of the sector, then they should tell us, so that we can all see how we can address this matter. But they cannot just take ¢594.5 billion, almost ¢600 billion, and give to TOR, especially when there is no provision made in the Appropriation Act of 2006 for that money. And nobody is being given the proper explanation.

The explanation given by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is different; the Deputy Minister's explanation is different from hon. Dr. Akoto's explanation referring to the TOR debt recovery; the NPA's explanation that was referred to by the Deputy Ranking Member in his submission to the effect that the Government said it was not prudent to increase the price of fuel at that particular time is also different. I think that if there is a problem with policy, they should let us know so that we know how we can fine-tune the policy.

Mr. Speaker, I am totally opposed to the decision of the Government to commit US$50 million to moving the Osagyefo Barge from Efasu to Tema. Mr. Speaker, we are being told that there are rocks at Efasu and therefore they cannot get to it but we would be very grateful if things are made available to all of us. But Mr. Speaker, of the ¢1.5 trillion that is being given to the VRA, $50 million is supposed to cover the movement from Efasu to Tema and all other expenses.

Mr. Speaker, $60 million of that money is also to be used to construct a 126 megawatts combustion plant at Tema. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the cost difference, it is only $10 million. If we can take
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/ Ave) 12:40 p.m.


US$60 million to build 126 megawatts plant, why do we not look for another $10 million to add to the $50 million that is going to be involved in that movement, to build another 126 megawatts plant at Tema? Mr. Speaker, that makes a lot of economic sense.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the movement of the barge is seasonal. Mr. Speaker, I learnt that it has to be moved between November and February, and if that period is passed, then there will be difficulty in moving this barge. I have been reliably informed that the barge has no warranty and that the Ministry wants to move this barge by road. That means that they have to dismantle the barge.

Mr. Speaker, as we are talking now, you do not have to move the barge because moving it involves a whole lot of things. At the committee level, the VRA gave us what is supposed to be done. They are now telling us that they are not going to use all of the money to do the assessment and inspection of the condition of the barge; part of the $50 million is to be used to construct a pond at Tema. Part of the money will also be used for transportation and then the rehabilitation and commissioning of the generating facilities. Part of it will also be used in the construction of transmission intercon- nection gas supply pipeline.

Mr. Speaker, the inspection of the barge's condition has not been done. They are waiting for the $50 million to be given to them before even this assessment of the condition of the barge is done. Mr. Speaker, there are serious challenges in the energy sector and I believe sincerely that the Government should not panic in addressing the problem.

We are told that they are moving this barge to connect it to the West African Gas Pipeline. Mr. Speaker, that may be well

and good. But Mr. Speaker, the original policy of sending the barge to Efasu is to try and develop our own resources there. We all know what happens at times in Nigeria.

In case something happens in Nigeria at least we would have the 125 megawatts barge and our own natural gas and whatever we can take from la Cote d'Ivoire to rely on. I believe therefore that it will be in the strategic interest of this country to keep the barge at Efasu whilst we add $10 million to the US$50 million to build another 126 megawatts plant which will even be of higher capacity than the Efasu Barge at Tema. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Government must seriously look at this proposal. It is not in the national interest at all to move this barge to Tema.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that at the appropriate time, we may have to debate the whole energy sector. I believe it is very important. A lot of issues have to be raised but because of lack of time, I want to rest my case here. In supporting the motion I hope that by the end of 2007, we would get results from the Energy sector. I hope also that the energy problem will be addressed, and then we will do appropriate debate next year on the whole energy sector.
Mr. J. H. Mensah (NPP -- Sunyani East) 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the first point that I would like to bring to your attention is that about three years ago, this House passed a Bill which became an Act to reorganize the power sector but that Act has not yet been implemented. It is necessary for us to proceed with that because if anybody wants to invest in the power sector in Ghana, even if they want to lend money to the Government for the power sector, they will have to be sure of the institutional framework within which their investment

is going to be placed.

Mr. Speaker, our intention in passing that Act, among other things, for instance, was to create in place of the present omnibus Volta River Authority (VRA), specialized companies to deal with hydro generation, to deal with thermal generation, to deal with transmission of power around the country, apart from the Electricity Company of Ghana being the end-seller to the consumer. That would represent a new structure of the industry. VRA would be a producer of hydro power and competitor to other producers of power, instead of presently being the sole off-taker of power in the country from its competitors.

Mr. Speaker, the power sector is a sector that would require a lot of money. The ticket for everything you want to do in the power sector runs into hundreds of millions. Therefore, the investment conditions ought to be particularly clear. Mr. Speaker, today, the crisis in the power sector means -- and this is the kind of factor that we do not see on the surface, but it is very important -- that people who are contemplating investing in Ghana are facing a situation of uncertainty, which inhibits investments.

Mr. Speaker, I happen to know something about the mining sector, for instance, and what the present power crisis is doing to investment prospects in the mining sector.

Mr. Speaker, there is another aspect of this which the House must confront and offer leadership to the country in resolving. It is easy to treat energy cost as a ‘political football'. Whether it is the price of petrol, the electricity tariffs in our
Mr. J. H. Mensah (NPP -- Sunyani East) 1 p.m.
houses, TOR, premix fuel, there are many, many aspects of this sector where we can play political football.
But the sector is also one that requires long-term planning and investment. Therefore, we must, as a House, offer leadership in arriving at a long-term plan for the sector which people can have confidence in. Mr. Speaker, it is easier for me, as a politician, to say you do not need to pay the full cost of your electricity. It is popular. But by the same token, if we send that kind of signal, there will be no investment in electricity.
I hope the hon. Deputy Minority Leader and the rest of the Leadership will give us an opportunity, in the new year, to discuss this matter so that we can take a long-term view and agree by consensus on what we are going to do. If the principle is full-cost recovery, let us stick to that principle and everybody assumes that this is a matter that has been resolved by consensus and not subject to political manipulation of a sort.
Mr. Speaker, there is one other sensitive issue which we must confront. Rural electrification, of course, is a big social programme for all of us. But when we give the rural people power, that power must help them to make more money so that they can pay for it. Today, a lot of the power we are allocating to the rural sector is only for people to look at their wives' faces in the night -- [Laughter] -- it is not generating economic activity. In some places they give you one-phase power which cannot even turn a cornmill. So by the way we are operating that, and by the surrounding programmes on the rural sector, we are not getting full benefit.
Mr. Speaker, finally, one of the other
issues we may have to confront as a House is that, today, inefficient electric light bulbs take up a huge proportion of the total generating capacity. If we are short of power for industry, we should not be wasting it on inefficient lighting, especially domestic lighting. Mr. Speaker, if we all agreed and said that all inefficient domestic bulbs would be abolished as of June 2007, we could do so.
It will cost the public a little bit of money but it will save the industry. It will save the generating industry and it will save the rest of the industry which needs power in order to expand and grow. So these are some of the matters that I would like us to flag and discuss in some detail when we come back.
Deputy Minister for Energy (Mr. K. T. Hammond): Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to hon. Members, for the very useful contributions which have been made. I promise hon. Members that the Ministry would take them into consideration.
On the point of coming back to the House to explain to what use we have put the money that this House is kindly going to approve for our utilization, we will certainly do that. Mr. Speaker, particularly, communities that hon. Members have also spoken about that need to be connected to the national grid, we would consider the possibility.
Mr. Speaker, at the same time there are matters that must be answered. They do not pass for truth, even though they are plain falsehoods. Mr. Speaker, the first one is the issue that I took, as a point of order, with my very good friend, hon. Asaga. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that the hon. Minister for Energy did say that he did not know that anything like that was going on.

Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister possibly may have said that he may not recall the total number of barrels that have been reported to the Ministry. But we know at the Ministry of Energy that in the last few months the work programme that has been undertaken by Lushan has led to an enhancement in the production of crude oil at the place. It is not exactly 700. As he said, it is between 600 and 700. Everybody is aware of that.

Mr. Speaker, secondly, I am also not sure that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning would have said that no money had been paid to the Government by way of royalties. Mr. Speaker, as the hon. Member himself rightly indicated, we are talking about -- I think in the scheme of things for the period under consideration, maybe about 10 million or so -- 3 per cent of that. In the scheme that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning runs at the Ministry, he may not remember. So possibly he said “okay we will check”; but that is not to say that these moneys have not been paid.

Mr. Speaker, I say it as a matter of fact that these moneys have been paid from Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) source, through the Lushan company, to the appropriate department. Also, Mr. Speaker, the Ministry knows that this number of barrels of oil is produced in Ghana, and that there is no secrecy about this matter.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member, he is winding up; what is it?
Mr. Asaga 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, he is winding
up but if he is also making an erroneous statement, I need to get up because I made the presentation that no account has been established. We do not know of that account and so he should just mention the name of the account and in which bank the account is. Where is it? He cannot say that something has been done; what has been done?
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Let him go on.
Mr. Hammond 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the cheque is sent to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning but I do not know which account he is talking about.
rose
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member for Nabdam, if you go on along this line we shall never finish this debate.
Mr. Asaga 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, please, we are dealing with oil revenue; this is very important. We should not allow a Deputy Minister for Energy to come and tell us that he knows that a cheque has been sent -- to where? The Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is sitting there -- Prof. Gyan-Baffour. Would he confirm that he has received the cheque?
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member for Nabdam, I would advise you to come back properly; ask questions and then answers would be given.
Mr. Asaga 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, but if he does not know it properly -- I have read it. The
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member for Nabdam, I have directed you to come properly to ask questions later.
Mr. Hammond 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was on the point about the fact that not a kilowatt -- [Interruption] -- not a kilowatt of power has been added to the national electricity grid. Mr. Speaker, I said again that is not true. We have indeed added about 108 megawatts of generation at a cost of $126 million at Akosombo -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker, the original installed capacity of the Akosombo turbines was 916 megawatts. We have increased that, Mr. Speaker, to 1020 megawatts, an increase of 108 megawatts to the existing system, at the cost of $126 million. So it is not true that the Government has not added anything to it.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, are you winding up? Wind up. You can come back properly later but wind up and let us go on.
Mr. Hammond 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in that case, if we cannot explain the points, maybe I just have to indicate that I am grateful for the points that have been made but at the appropriate time some of the matters that have been raised, most of which are not true, would have to be
-- [Interruption] -- they do not want to know the truth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢2,525,139,- 000,000 for the services of the Ministry of Energy for the 2007 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Which is the next item?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 1 p.m.
We have motion number 9.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 1 p.m.
Minister for Public Sector Reforms (Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢977,448,000,000 for the services of the Millennium Develop- ment Authority for the 2007 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, we are taking this extraordinary step to bring the budget of the Millennium Development Authority to this honourable House and also with the promise to the Committee that during the course of the year, we would go to the Committee to review progress on the implementation of the contract signed between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr.
Paul Okoh): Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in doing so present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
In pursuance of article 179 (1), (2) and
(10) of the Constitution of the Republic and Standing Order 140 (1), the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2007 Financial Year was presented to the House on Thursday, 16th November 2006 by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu.
In compliance with Standing Orders 140 (4) and 184, the 2007 Draft Estimates of the Millennium Development Authority were referred to the Select Committee for consideration and report, and the Committee having held a meeting to so consider the Estimates reports as follows:
1.1 Acknowledgement
The Committee is grateful to the Minister for Public Sector Reforms, the Chief Executive and Officials of the Authority who attended the Committee Budget hearing session to assist the Committee to deliberate on the Estimates.
2.0 Reference Documents
In considering the Estimates, the underlisted documents were referred to:
i) The 1992 Constitution of the Republic;
ii) The Budget Statement and
Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2006 Financial Year;
iii) The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2007 Financial Year;
iv) The Annual Estimates of the Millennium Development Authority;
v) The Standing Orders of the
Parliament of Ghana.
3 .0 Mis s ion S ta tement o f the Millennium Development Authority
The Mil lennium Development Authority exists to oversee and manage the implementation of the Ghana Country Programme under the Millennium Challenge Account of the United States of America and other national development programmes of similar nature, funded by the Government of Ghana and/or development partners for the sustainable reduction of poverty through growth. 4.0 Objectives
In order to realize its mission, the Millennium Development Authority has tasked itself with the following objectives:
To enhance the competitiveness of high value cash crops in local and international markets;
To increase the production and productivity of high value cash and food crops in intervention zones in Ghana;
To strengthen the contribution of other agricultural sub-sectors to the growth of the economy and to reduce through diversification, risks of not achieving consistently strong agricultural performance through three intervention projects, namely:
Agricultural projects
Transportation project
Rural Development projects
5 . 0 R e v i e w o f t h e 2 0 0 6 Performance of the Millennium Development Authority
In order to achieve the objectives set for the period under review, the Millennium Development Authority was allocated an amount of three hundred and ten billion, nine hundred and sixty-four million cedis (¢310,964,000,000.00) under Heads 185 for its operationalization in the 2006 Financial Year.
A tabular representation of the allocation

with respect to various expenditure items are as follows: Achievements

The Authority which was established with the passage of the Millennium Development Authority Act, Act 702 utilised the allocation of the 2006 Budget for the Authority's pre-entry into force, activities which included Data gathering and preparation of Terms of Reference (ToRs), discussions, consultations, sensitization, et cetera. The National, Zonal and District launches, Workshops and Seminars were held to disseminate contents of the compact, et cetera.

Most of these activities were performed by personnel seconded from the various identified implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), whose emoluments were borne by their mother organisations. This accounted for the absence of the allocation for PE in the 2006 Budget.

Challenges

In spite of the achievements made by the Authority, it also faced some challenges which included lack of adequate office accommodation, limited GOG funding support, increased expectation from Private Sector Operatives, inadequate staff, increased enthusiasm from beneficiaries and stakeholders.

5.2 2007 Budgetary Allocation for the Millennium Development Authority

In order to achieve the set objectives for the 2007 Financial Year, the Millennium Development Authority has been allocated with an amount of nine hundred and seventy-seven billion, four hundred and forty-eight million cedis (¢977,448,000,000) from GOG and Donor sources under Head 185 for its operation.

The table below presents the allocation with respect to the various expenditure items as follows:

On PE, the amount of twenty billion, two hundred million cedis (¢20,200,- 000,000) is required to meet the personal emolument, allowances tax and social security contributions for established posts as well as to make provision for new recruitments in 2007.

No provision has been made for administration. This is because, by the agreement, the Millennium Challenge Account Project (Compact) would be responsible for all the administrative requirements of the project.

On Service, the Authority's main objective is to enhance the competitiveness of high value cash and food crops in local and international markets and increase the production and productivity of high value cash and food crops in intervention zones in Ghana as well as strengthen the contribution of other agricultural sub- sectors to the growth of the economy and to reduce, through diversification, risks of not achieving consistently, strong agricultural performance.

The Authority has initiated plans to establish Client Service Units (CSUs) in 24 Agencies in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). CSUs will be established in three Revenue Mobilisation Agencies namely, IRS, CEPS and VAT Service as well as Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

On Investment, the Authority is faced with challenges of office space, equipment and accommodation. The amount will be used to support the improvement in the office space and equipment as well as provide functionary cross-country vehicles, computers, et cetera, for the monitoring of activities under the Millennium Challenge Account Programme in 2007 and thereafter.

5.3 The 2007 Budget Estimates are primarily to procure and initiate all the contracts for goods, works and services required for the following three

programmes: Agricultural, Transportation and Rural Development Projects.

The detailed activities include:

The Feasibility Study and Strategic Environment Assessment on EMP (Environmental Management Plan) and RAP (Resettlement Action Plan) in connection with the Feeder Roads, N1( Tetteh Quarshie/Mallam Highway ) Trunk Roads and Ferry Activities.

The Final design in connection with the above

The Rehabilitation of 950 kilometres of Feeder Roads in 8 districts

The upgrade sectors of N1 between Tetteh Quarshie and Mallam Highway

The improvement of Volta Lake

Ferry services to facilitate growth in agric in Afram Plains

To support community services to complement agric projects

The strengthening of rural financial services by automation and interconnectivity.

6.0 Observations/Recommendations

6.1 Accountability
TABLE 1 p.m.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 1 p.m.
Minister for Information and National Orientation (Mr. Kwamena Bartels) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢370,459,000,000 for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO) to enable it carry out its programmes for the 2007 fiscal year.
The breakdown of the budgetary allocation to the Cost Centres under the Ministry for the year 2007 is as follows:
General Administration (Head Office) -- ¢92,818,000,000
Ghana Broadcasting C o r p o r a t i o n ( G B C ) - -
¢221,958,000,000
National Film and Television

Inst. (NAFTI) -- ¢18,329,000,000

Information Services Department (ISD) -- ¢25,742,000,000

Ghana News Agency (GNA) -- ¢11,232,000,000

Internal Audit Unit -- ¢380,000,000

TOTAL -- ¢370,459,000,000

Mr. Speaker, hon. Members will notice that the figure in the Budget Statement presented by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on 16th November, 2006 and approved by this House was however quoted as ¢380,265,000,000.00 at page 239 which included ¢9,806,000,000.00 for the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) but Mr. Speaker, in view of Act 717 (2006) upgrading the GIJ to a tertiary institution and transferring GIJ from MINO to Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS), its budget of ¢9,806,000,000 should be transferred to the MOESS, effective January, 2007.

For the Ministry, the breakdown is as follows:

Personal Emoluments -- ¢59,237,000,000

Administration -- ¢122,661,000,000

Service -- ¢97,306,000,000

Investment -- ¢91,255,000,000

Total -- ¢370,459,000,000

The components of the Budget are as follows:

GOG -- ¢100,189,000,000

IGF -- ¢189,114,000,000

Donor -- ¢81,156,000,000

Total -- ¢370,459,000,000

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry's Mission, among others, is to facilitate a free united, knowledge-based and prosperous society with good governance through Strategic Development Communication.

The Ministry is also to help create a knowledge-based society to enhance participatory decision-making and promote good governance.

The Ministry is also to facilitate the participation of the people in making development-choices as well as marketing the achievements and challenges of government.

In view of the fact that Government's major policy thrust towards development is the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II), the MINO's Sector Strategic Plan for 2007 is GPRS II-tailored.

The Ministry has also been assigned

additional responsibility of national orientation to facilitate positive attitudinal change for national development.

The Minis t ry re l ies on act ive col laborat ion wi th a l l MDAs to communicate government policies, programmes, activities and challenges.

In 2006, the Ministry organized:

The People's Assembly in Cape Coast which afforded the opportunity to Ghanaians to interact with His Excellency the President and his Ministers, thereby demonstrating

the tenets of good governance through accountability, transparency and participatory governance.

Publicity and Education Campaigns were mounted on the Policy issues in 2006/7 Budget, deregulation of the petroleum sector, National Health Insurance Scheme; Capitation Grant, HIV/AIDS, Avian Flu, Micro Credit and small credit scheme among others.

Organization of weekly “Meet-the- Press” series for MDAs to explain their policies and programmes.

Regional “Meet-the-Press” tours have been conducted in the Western, Central, Eastern and Volta Regions.

The Ministry participated in TV/ Radio programmes to explain various government programmes. A journal, “Ghana Today” was published and distributed locally and to Ghana's Missions abroad.

The official website, GoGPortal provided reliable one-stop infor- mation on Ghana.

The Ghana News Agency continued with its District computerization p rog ramme by l i nk ing t he Headquarters with key district offices such as Hohoe, Akim Oda, Winneba, Techiman, Aflao, Bawku and Tarkwa.

The Ministry has concluded processes to provide one hundred and forty-six (146) Cinema Vans, four (4) Public Address Vans and ten (10) Pick-up vehicles for the ISD and ten (10) Pick-up vehicles

for GNA to facilitate the operation of the Agencies.

Programmes for 2007

The challenge in 2007 will be to ensure more effective delivery of timely information towards national development goals. Towards this end, the Ministry will carry out the following activities in 2007:

Develop effective compre- hensive messages for use by ISD vans throughout the country.

Roll out national orientation programmes in the form of documentaries, cartoons and drama with a view to creating awareness on the need to shift from negative to positive change of attitude -- our attitude to work, to time, to the environment, to our nation, a belief in ourselves as a people and a belief in our ability to achieve the best for our nation and ourselves, among others.

Implement effective information feedback system from all parts of the country.

Organise regular orientation programmes for ISD officers throughout the country to ensure that they are kept abreast with current issues.

I n i t i a t e m a s s c i r c u i t r y programmes and nat ional public education campaigns in collaboration with all MDAs and other institutions in respect of their programmes and projects.

Collaborate with the Ministry of Communications in the operations of the Community Information Centres (CICs) and the Public Relations Units of the

various MDAs to publicise the achievements and challenges of the various MDAs.

Mr. Speaker, in order for the Ministry to undertake the above activities and others for 2007, I beg to move that this House approves the sum of ¢370,459,000,000 for the Ministry.

Vice Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Frederick Opare-Ansah): Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion on the floor of the House, that this honourable House, approves the sum of ¢370,459,000,000 for the services of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation for the 2007 fiscal year. In doing so I wish to present your Committee's Report, in the absence of the substantive Chairman whose sad death was communicated to us yesterday. On behalf of the other members of the Committee, I wish to express our condolences to the bereaved family, and may the soul of Mr. Akwasi Afrifa rest in perfect peace.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 In accordance with Orders 140 (1) and 182 of the Standing Orders of the House and article 179 of the Constitution, the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Kwadwo Baah- Wiredu (MP) presented to Parliament the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2007 financial year on 16th November 2006. The Annual Estimates for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO) were then referred to the Select Committee on Communications for consideration and report in accordance with Standing Order 140 (4).

1.2 The Committee held two sittings to examine the Estimates. The sector Minister, hon. Kwamena Bartels led a

team of officials from the Ministry and its agencies to attend the first sitting. The second sitting was attended by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and a team of officials from his Ministry.

The Committee is grateful to the two hon. Ministers and all the officials for their very warm co-operation.

2.0 Reference Documents

i. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.

iii. The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2007 Financial Year.

iv. Report of the Select Committee on Communications on the 2006 Annual Estimates for the Ministry of Information.

3.0 Mission Statement and Medium Term Objectives

The Ministry of Information exists to ensure an effective two-way commu- nication flow between Government and the public, through the formulation, co- ordination, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and activities towards socio-economic development.

In pursuit of this mission, the Ministry has the following objectives under its medium-term plan:

a. To strengthen institutional capacity for effective policy formulation and execution.
Minister for Information and National Orientation (Mr. Kwamena Bartels) 1 p.m.


b. To ensure free flow of public information in pursuance of the open government policy.

c. To effectively and efficiently monitor and evaluate public responses to government policies, programmes and activities and provide timely feedback to Government.

d. To provide human resource development programmes to facilitate increased efficiency in the media.

e. To project the image of the country in collaboration with other government agencies, to attract foreign investment in consonance with government policy of Golden Age of Business.

f. To facilitate the strengthening of various patriotic and disciplined attitudes for increased pro- ductivity towards growth.

4.0 Agencies Under the Ministry

The Ministry has responsibility for the

following agencies and institutions:

a. Information Services Depar- tment (ISD)

b. Ghana News Agency (GNA)

c. Ghana Broadcasting Cor- poration (GBC)

d. National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI)

The Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) which is currently under the Ministry is expected to be transferred to the

Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS) following the passage of Act 717 of 2006 by this House in July. Consequently, the budget estimates for the Institute has been captured under the mOESS.

5.0 Performance in 2006

A sum of one hundred and sixty-two billion, nine hundred and thirty-three million cedis (¢162,933,000,000) was approved by this House for the services of the Ministry this year. With this vote, the Ministry has carried out the following activities, among others:

The People's Assembly was organized in Cape Coast and afforded the opportunity to Ghanaians to interact with His Excellency the President and his Ministers, thereby demonstrating the tenets of good governance through accountability, trans-parency and participatory governance;

The Ministry organized a weekly Tuesday “meet-the-press” series, supplemented with weekly “matters arising” from the “meet-the-press sessions” to explain issues which arose from the presentations of Ministerial plans and action programme;

Routine information dissemination on government activities and coverage of public functions at the Regional and District levels by Regional Ministers and Metro/ Municipal/District Chief Executives were intensified;

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) cont inued wi th i t s Dis t r ic t Computerization Programme by linking the headquarters with key district offices such as Hohoe, Akim Oda, Winneba, Techiman, Aflao,

Bawku and Tarkwa;

P r o c u r e m e n t p r o c e s s w a s commenced for the acquisition of 146 Cinema vans and four Public Address Vans for the Information Services Department to facilitate their field operations. Forty-six out of these had been delivered so far.

6.0 Expected Outputs for 2007

The Ministry has planned, among others, to execute the following activities in 2007:

In pursuit of Cabinet approval, 683 new staff of various grades will be recruited by the Information Services Department;

An e-management system will be established for ISD's fleet of cinema vans and public address vans to be spread throughout the country;

Harmonize the operat ion of the Community Information Centres (CIC) of the Ministry of Communications (MOC), the Information Centres of the Ministry and Public Relations Units of the MMDAs to sustain visible public relations on government's business to showcase its achievements.

7.0 Budget Estimates for 2007

The Ministry has been allocated an

amount of three hundred and seventy billion, four hundred and fifty-nine million cedis (¢370,459,000,000). This in made up of the following components:

a) Government of Ghana (GOG)
-- 1 p.m.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the motion and to urge hon. Members to support the approval of the release of ¢370,459,000,000 for the services of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is in our collective interest that the Ghanaian public is well educated on the policy decision and policy direction of the Government. Even as the Minority, we appreciate that because it is only then that the electorate
can appreciate how bad or good or well- intended a particular policy decision of the Government may be. In that direction, we support the allocation of some additional resources for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
But Mr. Speaker, in doing so, I would like to draw attention to just one major issue, that is about the fact that no HIPC allocation was made to this particular Ministry. And we are relying only on some assurances that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning will deal with it on the basis of their contingency provision.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to state that where they have a specific item, they should spend on it and not rely on the contingency provision. They could expressly say that the Ministry of Information and National Orientation is being allocated so and so amount for the purpose of carrying out the decisions that they even take as a Ministry. I think it is important that specific allocation was voted for the purpose of supporting the activities of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
If you look at one of its major handicaps, it is the lack of staff or the weak numerical strength of the Information Services Department. That can only be cured if additional resources were made available to them to be able to execute more recruitment processes and then deal with the personal emoluments of those affected.
Mr. Speaker, my additional comment has to do with the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). And I want to make a strong recommendation to the hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports and for that matter the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic

Planning to consider making additional allocation from the GETFund to support the Institute's activities, and also to recommend to the hon. Minister, in the foreseeable future, to consider relocating NAFTI under his Ministry properly to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, specifically under the National Council for Tertiary Education. This is because they are providing a tertiary educational service and they do not benefit like other institutions when it comes to the allocation of the GETFund, because of the restricted nature of the beneficiaries of that fund. So I would like to make a recommendation for some money from GETFund to be made available to NAFTI.

Mr. Speaker, the other agency, if you refer to page 10, paragraph 7.4 of your Committee's Report, is the Ghana News Agency. Mr. Speaker, you would have noticed that for much of the media, the concentration is on what happens within the urban centres, in particular the national capital and many other regional capitals. It is only the GNA which is able to bring us news from across the country -- what pertains in the hinterlands and the rural areas. Yet, they are also under- resourced in terms of even vehicles and other things.

They are privileged to have adequate office accommodation but in terms of vehicles and other logistics, there are major constraints and I think that it is worthwhile that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning considers giving them some support because a well- informed society, in my view, is very supportive of our process.

Mr. Speaker, my other concern, which

is major -- and I hope that we can have some national debate on the issue, and take a critical decision on the matter -- is about the status and fate of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). We seem to be
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 1:30 p.m.
demanding more from GBC, yet we do very little to support the activities of GBC. In my view, GBC is suffering an identity crisis. Is it a state broadcaster, a public broadcaster or a commercial broadcaster? My own view is that, we need to fine- tune GBC to deliver on its mandate and mission to keep us well informed and educated on national policy. Even in the era of competition they are still performing some national obligations; and we need to resource them adequately.
But I also admit that GBC must begin to accept some reforms that will make it self-sustaining. They should be able to do that if they improve on the revenue from their advertisements and others, improve on their revenue generation generally, to be able to support themselves.
But Mr. Speaker, we need to take a decision. I have heard many arguments, even on the floor of Parliament, that Parliament must get a radio station of its own, or Parliament needs a television station of its own. Mr. Speaker, that can be cured easily if GBC is adequately resourced. What we need is a dedicated service. If GBC is well resourced, we can ask them to dedicate a particular service to cover the activities of Parliament and they would gladly do so, whether live on television or on radio. It is a matter of choice, whether one wants to listen to their normal programme or have access to parliamentary proceedings.
Mr. Speaker, even the External Service
of GBC today is not functional. So it means that people outside the country may not even have the advantage of knowing much of what is being done if we compare their activities to that of British Broadcasting Corporation or even South African Broadcasting Corporation. I am
aware that the Government facilitated a 17.2 million euro loan for the acquisition of some equipment. But we still need to re-equip GBC. I am told that the money was inadequate and for that matter many of the equipment are still sitting idle and need to be fixed. I think that we need to take a decision to resource GBC in order for it to be able to deliver on its mandate.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the hon. Minister for Information and National Orientation has stated his case. My final comment is for us to take a decision whether or not it is not time -- My view is that it is time to review the television licence fee. If you take a TV licence fee of ¢3,000, even the cost of getting the ¢3,000 may exceed the amount of money that they are generating from TV licences.

I think that it has become a disincentive for many of us to want to pay our TV Licence fee. People have said that once we have private television stations, why would you burden Ghanaians to pay TV licence? GBC is a unique television provider; it is our national state broadcaster, in my view, and I think that we must review the TV licence regime. We should enhance it up to ¢30,000 or ¢50,000 so that GBC can properly function and effectively play its role.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, when my hon. Colleague on the floor was talking about the External Service of GBC being defunct, I thought he was only talking about radio; but now that he is also talking about television as well,
my hon. Colleague, Francis Agbotse, would bear me out that the last time we visited Kaduna, they were receiving GBC clearly; it was very, very clear and so he is misinforming us.
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, you may wish to conclude.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member may have had the benefit in Kaduna but I am not sure if he could say so if he were away in London or the United States of America and therefore that cannot be a reasonable justification why we should not review the External Service. I am aware that one can view them on the Internet but I am saying that if we compare them to BBC or South Africa broadcasters, they do have a facility for External Service.
Mr. Speaker, finally, I am joining the
Chairman of the Committee and my hon. Colleagues in paying our respects. I am sure we would have the opportunity to pay tribute to our departed Colleague and the Chairman of the Committee, hon. Akwasi Afrifa whose presence at the Committee was greatly missed. I am sure in due course, we would have an opportunity to pay our last respects. I join hon. Members in expressing our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved family.
Mr. David Oppon 1:40 p.m.
None

Ofoase/Ayirebi): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor. In referring to the Report on the Ministry of Information and National Orientation -- unfortunately there is no paragraph on their Objectives and Missions as contained in other reports. However, the name itself speaks volumes for the Ministry.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy that we have “National Orientation” attached to the

Ministry and I would like to dwell on this issue of national orientation. Mr. Speaker, reorientation of our attitudes and values is critical, more than ever before, for our development.

Mr. Speaker, our development in the years to come would not only be driven by our physical and financial resources but also by our attitudes and values which we need to properly align in order to achieve our visions and aspirations. Next year, we are welcoming a host of visitors into this country and I think that the Ministry should embark on a proper education for the people who would be meeting our visitors so that our name, as a friendly nation, would become embossed in gold.

Mr. Speaker, when visitors arrive at Kotoka International Airport, they are not likely to meet any member of the Executive or the Legislature or any other high officials; the people they meet are the Immigration officers and Customs officers who sometimes look very bored and non- inspiring; and when they come out, they meet porters and taxi drivers. These are the people who are going to interact with our visitors, come next year.

Mr. Speaker, I think that the Ministry has a duty to start training, talking to and educating these people who are going to meet and interact with our visitors. There are certain areas we might overlook but when visitors come, when they have gone through their normal or official functions, they may want to go out to town; they may want to go out and shop; they may want to go out to sit and have a drink at one place or another and this is where they would meet the real Ghanaian hospitality, that is if it is still available.

Mr. Speaker, the level of our services

still leaves a lot to be desired. When you go to some of our drinking bars, which I hope a lot of our visitors would be visiting,

you would find out that the level of our service needs to be improved. I think some of these things have to do with our own attitudes.

Sometimes, it is frustrating when you go to a drinking bar or some other places; you wait for hours for your change, either because the person does not want to bring the change to you or he wants to take advantage of you for a service provided, asking you to bring ¢2,000 before your change would be given to you.

Mr. Speaker, this attitude must change; a lot of visitors may not be familiar with this kind of attitude because in their various countries it is the duty of the person offering the services to provide change. These are minor things but I believe they can add to or subtract from our image.

There is a lot to be done in terms of the way we receive visitors and treat other people, especially concerning our taxi drivers. A lot of people are going to patronize the services of taxis. What kind of taxis are we going to use? What kind of attitude are the drivers going to exhibit? What kind of image are they going to show? We must not assume that because they are taxi drivers or because they are service providers they would provide the services we are looking for. Some people take advantage of visitors and I know this is nothing new.

We need to educate our people; we need

to make sure that those people that our visitors would be coming into contact with are people who have been trained and who would project the image of the country for the visitors to understand that we are a friendly nation. Our attitudes and the way we treat our customers should be such that when the visitors leave, they might want

to come back. Because, Mr. Speaker, after the 50 years celebration, we want people to leave with a lot of good impression so that they would come back as visitors, as tourists, and they would have memories that Ghanaians are a friendly people.

The people that we should target are chop bar operators, market women, those who operate shops, drinking bars; these are the people that these visitors would meet. So I would urge the Ministry to make a lot of resources available to actually reorient our people so that when these visitors come, they would go back and say that Ghana is really a friendly nation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.

Mr. John D. Mahama (NDC -- Bole/

Bamboi): Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee I would like to add my voice in support of the motion to approve the money appropriated for the Ministry.

Mr. Speaker, just briefly, there was a programme under the National Renewal Programme to make GBC a self-financing institution, that is, to wean it off from government subvention. If you look at the budget of the Ministry, you would find that GBC virtually takes the largest chunk of the budget of that Ministry. I noticed that the Minister for Public Sector Reforms was here but unfortunately he appears to have left the Chamber.

But I think that this restructuring exercise must continue; GBC must be reformed into a public broadcaster. The media arena is a very profitable one and private stations, both radio stations and other media organizations, are making very good profit from this area. And so if GBC were restructured it should be not only to look after itself but maybe in future they could call on the Minister for Finance

and Economic Planning and present a dividend/cheque towards Government's Budget. So I urge the Minister to pursue this issue.

Mr. Speaker, in the year 2000 we sent to Cabinet a recommendation for an increase of the TV licence fee to ¢10,000. Unfortunately, the review did not come to Parliament before the elections. I think after the new Government took over, in settling down they must have lost track of that decision that was taken but I certainly indicated so in my handing-over notes and I think that the Cabinet document approving the fee to ¢10,000 is available.

I think that even ¢10,000 today is below what is necessary. So Mr. Speaker, I think that it is necessary to take a look at the TV licence fee and review it upward so that there can be more money available for this private broadcaster.

Mr. Speaker, I also urge, like the Ranking Member mentioned, that the amendment of the GETFund Act should be done as early as possible to allow higher institutions that are not necessarily under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to benefit from the GETFund. Mr. Speaker, there are specialized institutions and we cannot say that every educational institution must be aggregated under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.

We have the Nat ional Labour Commission, which gives diplomas in labour matters. We have the Maritime Academy, we have NAFTI, we have several specialised institutions that are under different sectors, other than education. We cannot say that all those institutions must be aggregated under the Ministry

of Education, Science and Sports before they can benefit from the GETFund. And so this House must call on the Executive to bring whatever amendments needed to be made to the GETFund Act in order that these institutions can benefit.

NAFTI has studios that have been standing for the last 20 years. We normally apply a little money; they do a little work, and the studios have been standing. Meanwhile, they need these facilities urgently to improve training.

Mr. Speaker, Ghana News Agency (GNA) is the poorest cousin of the whole lot. Mr. Speaker, the situation of GNA is abysmal. GNA, I am told, is one day older than Ghana. President Nkrumah commissioned GNA a day before he declared the independence of Ghana. But Mr. Speaker, if you look at the state of GNA after 50 years, I guess that it is nothing to write home about. Of course, as a result of improvement in technology, most wire institutions are suffering.

But they still have very important roles to play. GNA is the institution that covers rural news -- the best in Ghana. Most of the newspapers and media houses rely on GNA for news from the rural areas and I think that we must restructure GNA and give it every support that we can to be able to play its role.

Mr. Speaker, to talk about the Ministry

itself, we suddenly got information that the Ministry had been redesignated as Ministry of Information and National Orientation. Mr. Speaker, up to now we do not have any proper briefing about what the remix of “National Orientation” is supposed to stand for. Various interviews held with the Minister have come up with various answers. Well, maybe, one of the duties is to change the attitude of Ghanaians.
Mr. David Oppon 1:40 p.m.


But I think that even though it sounds very communist, I was very surprised when the property-owning democracy Government named it the Ministry of Information and National Orientation. It is a bit communist in sound. But Mr. Speaker, we can work with the name and I think that there are various benefits that we could derive if we actually issue exactly what that National Orientation should entail. It must certainly not be national propaganda; it must be something that orients the Ghanaian, to face the challenges of the 21st Century.

Mr. Speaker, I think that there has been no allocation for that duty of “national orientation” -- No specialised allocation for “national orientation”. I think some budgetary allocation must be made. But when those budgetary allocations are made, the Minister should be careful about how he spends them. He should not connect broadband lines to the homes of party officials and journalists, Mr. Speaker, and to the homes of party apparatchiks and other such people. He must utilise the money judiciously and frugally in the interest of the people of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports; after her, the Minister would wind up.
Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports (Mrs. Angelina Baiden-Amissah): Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion on floor to approve the amount stipulated on the Order Paper for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Mr. Speaker, this Ministry looks small, but it is performing greater work than its size. This is because the agencies under the Ministry are actually crying for help. Mr. Speaker, they are crying for help because of monetary issues. The budget

is not enough, which is actually crippling the work of the agencies.

Mr. Speaker, talking about GNA, in

Takoradi, the GNA office is located in the Metropolitan Directorate of Education; and it is just one room. Mr. Speaker, the room looks so small and miserable and the workers there look as miserable as church mice. For this reason, when they are called upon to capture news, it is only an old man who normally comes; because the young men would not want to come only to incur unnecessary debt.

It is for this reason that the GNA must be revamped, especially in the areas they operate. They actually need to be adequately resourced so that they can perform well, since they carry information to almost all the FM stations in the region.

Mr. Speaker, talking about the Information Services Department, when we were young, we often saw mobile vans; and we referred to them in our local parlance as Aban sini. Now, where do we find them? The civic education that they provided is no more and we are always talking about NCCE -- but NCCE could actually use the Information Services Department to perform its work.

Issues affecting the nation, issues affecting the society could be highlighted by the Information Services Department. You want them to go and capture something for you or to perform something for you and you are told that they have only one vehicle and that vehicle is performing an operation somewhere. It is for this reason that this agency also needs a lot of mobile vans so that they can carry out their programmes.

Mr. Speaker, the GBC has just installed modern equipment in Kumasi which is going to enhance its operations in the metropolitan area of Kumasi. The Western Region actually needs help. We have the

GBC in the twin-city of Sekondi-Takoradi, but if you move to the interior parts of the Western Region, they can easily get TV signals from la Cote d'Ivoire and it becomes a problem getting the signal from Ghana.

How can we stay in Ghana and easily get signals from the neighbouring countries whilst we continue to suffer? I am using this platform to appeal to the Ministry, that if the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is able to top up through the Supplementary Budget, the interior parts of the Western Region could also be helped. These new equipment could be located at Tarkwa; that will be the centre, so that the other areas that are close to la Cote d'Ivoire can also get their share of the national cake.

Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Institute of

Journalism is also a tertiary institution just as all the others. But this Institute is also crippled in a way because of its financial standing. It is for this reason that we are appealing to this House to amend the GETFund Act so that this Institute can also benefit, as a tertiary institution, to carry out its operations.

Mr. Speaker, talking about storage facility, they actually need adequate storage facilities so that the agencies under the Ministry could carry out their operations as expected.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion and urge all hon. Members to support it so that we can have something huge for the Ministry.

I thank you for permitting me to make this intervention.
Minister for Information and National Orientation (Mr. Kwamena Bartels) 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful
to all hon. Colleagues for the various suggestions that have been made. There are only two or three points that I would like to react to. In respect of NAFTI, we have spoken to the GETFund administrators and they believe that NAFTI should be able to access some of the funds for its infrastructural development.
In respect of GNA, we have made a start with ten pickups which we have given to them. So for the first time, each regional office is going to have a pickup. We believe in addition to that, fax machines and broadbands would be provided and we believe that if the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning honours its commitments to give us the part of the HIPC resources, we should be able to improve situations at GNA.

I believe hon. Members raised a very important issue about settling the status of GBC and I hope that in the course of the year, both sides, together with the general populace, stakeholders, would take a decision on the future of GBC.

With respect to national orientation, Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of next year, His Excellency the President will launch the National Orientation mandate and I believe we will get the entire nation solidly behind the vision for national orientation.

With these words, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank hon. Members and to ask that all Members vote for the approval of the sum of ¢370,459,000,000. I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question put and motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢370,459,-

000,000 for the services of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation for the year

2007.

Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)

Vice-Chairman of the Committee (Mr. K. Agyei-Addo): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for tax and duty exemptions totalling US$92,975.75 on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies in respect of the loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund for the implementation of the Community Forestry Management Project (CFMP) may be moved today.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item 15, Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee.
MOTIONS 1:50 p.m.
PROCESSING FEE 1:50 p.m.
INSPECTION FEE 1:50 p.m.
TOTAL TAX LIABILITY 1:50 p.m.
ACCRA 1:50 p.m.
PROJECT IN GHANA 1:50 p.m.
SEE 1:50 p.m.
APPENDIX 1:50 p.m.
BELOW 1:50 p.m.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Nemine contradicente.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item 16 -- Minister for

Finance and Economic Planning?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, may you permit the Deputy Minister to move for the adoption of the Resolution.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Very well.
RESOLUTION 1:50 p.m.
Prof. G. Y. Gyan-Baffour 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 174 (2) of the Constitution, Parliament is empowered to confer power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by an Act of Parliament;
THE ExERCISE of any power conferred on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax in favour of any person or authority is by the said provisions made subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution;
BY THE combined operation of the provisions of section 26 (2) of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 330), the Export and Import Act, 1995 (Act 503), the Export Development and Investment Fund Act, 2000 (Act 582), the Value Added Tax Act, 1998 (Act 546), the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act 579) and other existing Laws and Regulations applicable to the collection of customs duties and other taxes on the importation of goods into Ghana, the Minister for Finance may exempt any statutory corporation, institution or individual from the payment of duties and taxes otherwise payable under the said Laws and Regulations or waive or vary the requirement of such statutory corporation, institution or individual to pay such duties and
taxes;
IN ACCORDANCE with the provisions of the Constitution and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance and Economic Planning, there has been laid before Parliament a request by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning for the prior approval of Parliament to the exercise by him of his power under the Laws and Regulations relating to tax and duty exemptions totalling US$92,975.75 on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies in respect of the loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund for the implementation of the Community Forestry Management Project (CFMP).
NOW THEREFORE, this honour- able House hereby approves the exercise by the Minister responsible for Finance of the power granted to him by Parliament by Statute to waive such taxes and duties or to exempt the payment of such taxes and duties on vehicles, field and office equipment and supplies in respect of the loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund for the implementation of the Community Forestry Management Project (CFMP).
Mr. K. Agyei-Addo 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item -- 17, Vice- Chairman of the Finance Committee?
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Request for Tax Exemption on
Equipment and Materials
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
TABLE P. 193

TABLE P. 194

TABLE P. 195
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.


TABLE P. 196 TABLE P. 197
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.


Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee (Mr. K. Agyei-Addo): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for Tax Exemption on Equipment and Materials amounting to €771,450.15 in respect of the Supply of District Dental Facilities may be moved today.
Mr. Kyei-Menah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item 18 - Chairman of the Committee?
Request for Tax Exemption on Equipment and Materials
Vice-Chairman of the Committee (Mr. K. Agyei-Addo): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the request for tax exemption on equipment and materials amounting to €771,450.15 in respect of the supply of district dental facilities.
Mr. Speaker, in doing so, I wish to present the Report of your Committee. I crave your indulgence to read the Justification and Conclusion, while the Hansard captures the entire Report.
1.0 Introduction
The above request for tax waiver
was laid in the House on Tuesday, 5th December 2006 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
To consider the request, the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. A. Akoto Osei and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
One of the basic objectives of the Ministry of Health's 5-year Programme of Works (POW) is to employ strategies and objectives that would result in increased access to healthcare throughout the country. However, the coverage of oral health services in the rural areas is very low.
In order to meet the dental health needs of the rural population, the Government of Ghana with the help of the Government of The Netherlands is financing a district dental facility project which involved the provision of dental facilities to twenty-one (21) selected District Hospitals throughout the country.
3.0 Financing Scenario
The project is being financed as follows:
Grant (Dutch Government)
-- €2,514,251
Commercial Loan (Fortis Bank)
TABLE P. 198
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.


-- €3,828,409

4.0 Justification

According to article 7 of the Grant Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Nederlandse Investeringsbank voor Ontwikke l ing laden N.V. o f The Netherlands, all taxes, import duties and other levies of Ghana related to activities financed by the grant and the loan, will be borne by the Government of Ghana and shall under no circumstance be disbursed out of the loan and or grant. It also states that expatriate personnel employed by ENRAF are to be waived off all taxes and other charges imposed by Ghana in respect of remunerations.

4.1 Total Tax Liability

The total amount of taxes to be waived is €771,450.15. The breakdown is as follows:

Import Duty

-- €357,449.90

VAT (12.5 per cent)

-- €285,667.16

NHIL (2.5 per cent)

-- € 57,132.94

ECOWAS LEVY (0.5 per cent)

-- € 17,798.09

EDIF (0.5 per cent)

-- € 17,798.09
INSPECTION FEE 1:50 p.m.
TOTAL TAX LIABILITY 1:50 p.m.
ASSESSMENT OF TAX LIABILITY 1:50 p.m.
SUPPLY OF DENTAL FACILITIES 1:50 p.m.
--- DISTRICT DENTAL FACILITIES 1:50 p.m.
Mr. R. S. Quarm 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise
to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Nemine contradicente.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item 19 -- Deputy

Minister for Finance and Economic Planning?
RESOLUTION 1:50 p.m.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 174 (2) of the Constitution, Parliament is empowered to confer power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by an Act of Parliament;
THE ExERCISE of any power conferred on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax in favour of any person or authority is by the said provisions made subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution;
BY THE combined operation of the provisions of section 26 (2) of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 330), the Export and Import Act, 1995 (Act 503), the Export Development and Investment Fund Act, 2000 (Act 582), the Value Added Tax Act, 1998 (Act 546), the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act 579) and other existing Laws and Regulations applicable to the collection of customs duties and other taxes on the importation of goods into Ghana, the Minister for Finance may exempt any statutory corporation, institution or individual from the payment of duties and taxes otherwise payable under the said Laws and Regulations or waive or vary the requirement of such
statutory corporation, institution or individual to pay such duties and taxes;
IN ACCORDANCE with the provisions of the Constitution and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament a request by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning for the prior approval of Parliament to the exercise by him of his power under the Laws and Regulations relating to the importation of equipment and other materials into Ghana amounting to €771,450.15 in respect of the Supply of District Dental Facilities.
NOW THEREFORE, this honoura- ble House hereby approves the exercise by the Minister responsible for Finance and Economic Planning of the power granted to him by Parliament by Statute to waive such taxes and duties or to exempt the payment of such taxes and duties on equipment and other materials amounting to €771,450.15 in respect of the Supply of District Dental Facilities.
Mr. R. S. Quarm 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Item 20 - motion. Chairman of the Finance Committee? Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Tax Exemption on Equipment, Materials, Corporate and Expatriate
Incomes
Vice Chairman of the Committee
ASSESSMENT OF TAX LIABILITY 1:50 p.m.
TABLE 1:50 p.m.
TABLE 1:50 p.m.
Mr. R. S. Quarm 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 2 p.m.
Chairman of the Finance Committee?

Request for Tax Exemptions on Equipment, Materials, Corporate and

Expatriate Incomes

Vi c e - C h a i r m a n o f F i n a n c e Committee (Mr. K. Agyei-Addo): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the request for tax exemption on equipment, materials, corporate and expatriate incomes amounting to €7,478,064.06 in respect of Baifikrom (Mankessim) Water Supply Expansion Project in the Central Region.

Mr. Speaker, in so doing, I wish to present the Report of your Committee on this request. Mr. Speaker, the Report was circulated yesterday and I believe hon. Members have already had enough time to go through it. Therefore, I will read only the conclusion while requesting that the Hansard Department be instructed to capture the whole Report.

1.0 Introduction

The above waiver request was laid in the House on Tuesday, 5th December 2006 in accordance with article 174(2) of the Constitution, and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report pursuant to the Standing Orders of the House.

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

2.0 Background

The Baifikrom water supply system which serves Mankessim and i ts surrounding areas was established more than two decades ago. This plant also serves other major communities such as Anomabo and Saltpond.

Unfortunately the treatment plant has not seen any major rehabilitation since its construction. On the contrary, the population of Mankessim and its environs has grown from about 110,000 to over 500,000 people.

As a result there is a supply - demand gap which has necessitated the need for a major rehabilitation and capacity expansion of the water system.

The project seeks to construct a

new treatment plant with a capacity of 11,400m3/day to supply water for the area. Additionally, construction works would be undertaken which will also include the construction of a new weir & intake pumping station, supply & installation of mechanical & electrical equipment and replacement & extension of transmission and distribution pipelines.

Furthermore a sanitation study would be conducted in the supply area and technical assistance would be provided to ensure the sustainability of the project.
  • [The list of equipment and materials (Imports) are attached as Appendices 1 and 2.]
    • VAT 2 p.m.
    NHIL 2 p.m.
    ECOWAS LEVY 2 p.m.
    EDIF 2 p.m.
    PROCESSING FEE 2 p.m.
    -- 2 p.m.
    ASSESSMENT OF TAX LIABILITY 2 p.m.
    TABLE 2 p.m.
    COMPUTATIONS 2 p.m.
    REVENUE 2 p.m.
    RESOLUTIONS 2 p.m.
    TABLE 2 p.m.
    TEMPORARY IMPORT CONTRACTORS MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, 2 p.m.
    TOOLS AND OFFICE EQUIPMENT 2 p.m.
    TABLE 2 p.m.
    Mr. R.S. Quarm 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Suspension of Standing Order
    80 (1)
    Mr. R.S. Quarm 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    TABLE 2 p.m.
    TABLE -- HALF 2 p.m.
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Germany for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income including capital gains.
    Mr. Speaker, in so doing, I wish to present the Report of the Finance Committee. With your indulgence, I would like to read only the ‘Conclusion' while the Hansard Department captures the entire Report.
    1.0 Introduction
    The above Convention was laid in the House on Thursday, 7th December, 2007 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House.
    To consider the Convention, the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. A. Akoto Osei and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and report as follows:
    2.0 Background
    Cabinet at its meeting on 23rd December 2003 approved the Convention for ratification by Parliament. The Convention was however delayed in its submission to Parliament due to the fact that the Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany discovered discrepancies in the German language version of the Convention which needed to be rectified.
    Currently, there is no Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of
    Germany to avoid situations where income from one of the countries will be taxed twice. This agreement is therefore being considered to correct the situation.
    3.0 Taxes Covered
    The agreement applies to taxes on income, capital and capital gains imposed on behalf of either Ghana or Germany (a Contracting State) or of their political subdivisions or local authorities thereof, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
    Specifically, the Agreement applies to the following existing taxes:
    a) in the Federal Republic of Germany
    the income tax (Einkommensteuer),
    the corporation tax (Korper- schaftsteuer),
    the trade tax (Gewerbesteuer), and
    the capital tax (Vermogensteuer),
    including the supplements levied thereon.
    b) in the Republic of Ghana
    the income tax and
    the capital gains tax.
    The Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantially similar taxes that would be imposed after the coming into force of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of the existing taxes.
    4.0 Observations
    The Committee observed that profits of an enterprise of either State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein.
    The Committee further observed
    TABLE -- HALF 2 p.m.
    TABLE 2 p.m.
    Mr. R. S. Quarm 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Nemine contradicente.
    RESOLUTION 2 p.m.
    Prof. Gyan-Baffour 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
    WHEREAS by the provisions of article 75 of the Constitution any
    treaty, agreement, or convention executed by or under the authority of the President in the name of Ghana is made subject to ratification either by an Act of Parliament or by a Resolution of Parliament supported by the votes of more than one-half of all the Members of Parliament. IN ACCORDANCE with the said article 75 of the Constitution the President has caused to be laid before Parliament through the Minister responsible for Finance and Economic Planning the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Germany for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income including Capital Gains. N O W T H E R E F O R E , t h i s honourable House hereby resolves to ratify the said Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Germany for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income including Capital Gains.
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80(1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for Waiver of Stamp Duty on Offshore Syndicated Trade Finance
    Facility of US$810,000,000 for Cocoa purchases by Ghana Cocoa Board.
    Mr. R. S. Quarm 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Request for Waiver of Stamp Duty on Offshore Syndicated Trade
    Finance Facility
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for Waiver of Stamp Duty on Offshore Syndicated Trade Finance Facility of US$810,000,000 for Cocoa purchases by Ghana Cocoa Board.
    Mr. Speaker, I would want to present the report of the Committee and crave your indulgence to read the Background and the Conclusion while the Hansard captures the entire Report.
    1.0 Introduction
    The above request for stamp duty waiver was laid in the House on Tuesday, 12th December 2006 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 174 (2) of the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House.
    In its deliberation on the request, the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, honourable Prof. Gyan-Baffour, officials
    from the Ghana Cocoa Board and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
    2.0 Background
    The Ghana Cocoa Board contracts offshore syndicated trade finance facility annually to finance cocoa purchases and other payments to stakeholders, which normally commence in October each year. This arrangement has been in place since 1994. This year, over twenty-five (25) international financial institutions and three (3) local banks were involved in arranging the facility amounting to US$810,000,000.00. The agreement on the facility was signed on 19th September 2006 in Paris.
    3.0 Stamp Duty
    Section 32(6) of the Stamp Duty Act, 2005 (Act 689), mandates that for documents to be executable, valid and enforceable in Ghana, such documents would have to be stamped. However, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is empowered under sections 158 (2) and 113(4) of the Internal Revenue Act 2000 (Act 591) to waive Stamp Duty subject to approval by Parliament.
    4.0 Total Waiver
    The total Stamp Duty to be waived on all the documents covering the facility is eight million, one hundred thousand dollars (US$8,100,000), thus 1 per cent of US$810,000,000.
  • [Attachment: Please find attached two letters from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue providing the computation of the
    • HEAD OFFICE 2 p.m.
    PLANNING 2 p.m.
    ACCRA 2 p.m.
    - GHANA COCOA BOARD 2 p.m.
    WAIVER OF STAMP DUTY 2 p.m.
    Mr. R. S. Quarm 2 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Nemine contradicente.
    RESOLUTION 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Suspension of Standing Order 80(1)
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the African Development Fund for an amount of nineteen million, nine hundred and seventy thousand Units of Account (UA19,970,000) (US$29 million equivalent) for the Afram Plains District Agricultural Development Project, may be moved today.
    Mr. R. S. Quarm 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the African
    Development Fund
    Mr. K. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the report of the Finance Committee on the loan agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the African Development Fund for an amount of nineteen million, nine hundred and seventy thousand Units of Account (UA19,970,000) (US$29 million equivalent) for the Afram Plains District Agricultural Development Project.
    Mr. Speaker, I would like to present the Report of your Committee. With your indulgence, I would like to read the ‘Conclusion', while the Hansard captures the entire Report.
    1.0 Introduction
    The above loan agreement and the request for tax waiver were laid in the House on Monday, 4th December 2006 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
    To discuss the two documents, the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. A. Akoto Osei, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
    2.0 Background
    Afram Plains District has a tremendous potential to contribute significantly to the improvement of the well-being of its inhabitants. Unfortunately, the district is cut off from the rest of the country due to limited physical access. The district is virtually a peninsula cut off on three sides by the Volta Lake and on the fourth by lack of a connecting road to other regions in Ghana. The only way the people can get to the district is through ferry service. Current productivity levels for major crops are 11 t/ ha for cassava, 13 t/ha for yam, 1.6 t/ha for maize and 0.8 t/ha for cashew. The climate and soil fertility conditions are favourable to support increased production. With improved technologies and improved extension service delivery there is potential to increase the productivity levels to 20 t/ ha for cassava, 28 t/ha for yam, 5 t/ha for maize and 1.8 t/ha for cashew.
    Furthermore, the lack of physical access constrains the marketability of agricultural products from the district. This state of affairs poses a disincentive to increased agricultural production which in turn affects the income levels of the inhabitants of the district.
    The Government of Ghana is also striving to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and a policy of balanced regional growth. It is in this context that the Government requested the Bank to finance the project.
    Following the appraisal of the project, the African Development Bank has provided a concessionary loan of UA 19.97 million for the project.
    3.0 Project Objectives
    The overall goal of the project is aimed at reducing rural poverty and ensuring food security. The specific objective of the project is to increase the agricultural output and household incomes of the project beneficiaries.
    4.0 Project Cost
    The total project cost is estimated at UA22.45 million which is made up of ADF and GOG contributions. The ADF contribution is UA19.97 million (nineteen million, nine hundred and seventy thousand units of account) representing 89 per cent whilst GOG would contribute UA2.46 million which is 11per cent of the total project cost. 5.0 Terms and Conditions of the Loan
    The Terms of the loan facility are as follows:
    Loan Amount:
    -- UA 19,970 (US$29
    million
    equivalent)
    Interest Rate: -- 0 per cent
    Service Charge: -- 0.75 per cent per annum on the
    principal amount of the loan
    disbursed and outstanding from time to time.
    Commitment Charge: -- 0.50 per cent per annum on undisbursed amount of the loan.
    Grace Period:
    Mr. K. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.


    -- 10 years

    Repayment Period: -- Repayment of the principal shall

    be over a period of forty (40) years after a ten (10) year grace period at t h e rate of 1per cent per annum

    from the 11th to 20th year inclusive

    and the rate of 3 per cent per annum thereafter.

    Repayment shall be payable

    semi-annually on 1st May and 1st November each year.

    Concessionality Rate: 75.0 per cent

    5.1 Tax Exemption

    In accordance with the Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Fund (ADF), goods, services and other items imported for the use of the project shall be exempt from all taxes and duties.

    5.2 Total Tax Liability

    The total amount of taxes to be waived is $2,225,092.69. The breakdown is as follows:

    Import Duty -- $1,078,301.50

    VAT (12.5 per cent) -- $857,357.13

    NHIL (2.5per cent ) -- $171,471.17

    ECOWAS LEVY (0.5 per cent)

    -- $29,461.88

    EDIF (0.5 per cent) -- $29,461.88

    INSPECTION FEE -- $57,923.76

    ExAmINATION FEE (1 per cent) -- $1,116.00
    TOTAL TAX 2:10 p.m.
    PLANNING 2:10 p.m.
    ACCRA 2:10 p.m.
    AFRAM PLAINS DISTRICT 2:10 p.m.
    AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 2:10 p.m.
    PROJECT 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. R. S. Quarm 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question proposed.
    Mr. E. A. Agyepong (NPP -- Abetifi) 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor. Mr. Speaker, I think this is one of the easier ways of financing, which the country can have. When one looks at the concessionality of the loan, it is about 75 per cent which is very, very high; normally, you get 35 per cent or below. Again, the interest rate is zero per cent, with a ten-year grace period. Therefore, the loan is really very good for the country.
    Mr. Speaker, it is meant for the Afram Plains area and when you talk about the Afram Plains, it does not cover only the Kwahu area; it covers the Kumawu area and other places. If these areas are assisted properly, they would be able to feed the whole country and this food security problem would be solved once and for all.
    I would therefore urge all hon. Members to support the loan agreement and vote massively for it because it is in the right direction and the terms are very, very favourable.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    RESOLUTIONS 2:10 p.m.
    Prof. Gyan-Baffour 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
    WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution
    supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament; PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the African Development Fund for an amount of nineteen million, nine hundred and seventy thousand Units of Account (UA19,970,000) (US$29 million equivalent) for the Afram Plains District Agricultural Development Project.
    THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 2:10 p.m.
    HEREBY RESOLVES AS 2:10 p.m.
    TABLE 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    ITEM 2
    P. 167
    Mr. Speaker 2:10 p.m.
    Chairman of the Committee, item 35?
    Deputy Minority Leader: Mr. Speaker, item 38 rather.
    Waiver of Taxes in Respect of Afram Plains District Agricultural
    Development Project
    Prof. Gyan-Baffour 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
    WHEREAS by the provisions of article 174 (2) of the Constitution, Parliament is empowered to confer power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by an Act of Parliament;
    THE ExERCISE of any power conferred on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax in favour of any person or authority is by the said provisions made subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution.
    BY THE combined operation of the provisions of section 26(2) of the Customs, Excise and Preventive
    Service (Management) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 330), the Export and Import Act, 1995 (Act 503), the Export Development and Investment Fund Act, 2000 (Act 582), the Value Added Tax Act, 1998 (Act 546), the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act 579) and other existing Laws and Regulations applicable to the collection of customs duties and other taxes on the importation of goods into Ghana, the Minister for
    TABLE 2:10 p.m.
    TABLE 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Mr. Speaker 2:10 p.m.
    Chief Whip, which is the next item?
    Mr. A.O. Aidooh 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, we should take item 39 but the hon. Chairman is not in the Chamber so we may have to suspend Sitting for sometime. And the other reports are not ready so I propose that we suspend Sitting for sometime.
    Mr. Speaker 2:10 p.m.
    For how many minutes?
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 2:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, not more than one hour.
    Mr. Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Hon. Members, the Sitting of the House is suspended till

    The Sitting was suspended at 2.20 p.m.

    Sitting resumed.
    mR. SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Hon. Deputy Majority Leader?
    Mr. A.O. Aidooh 3:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, we can continue with motion No. 12. Mr. Speaker, if we will have your permission we would invite the Deputy Attorney- General to act for the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Yes, Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.
    TABLE 3:30 p.m.
    CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL 3:30 p.m.
    ESTIMATES 3:30 p.m.
    Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Yaw Baah) 3:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in doing so submit the Report of your Committee.
    1.0 Introduction
    1.1 The hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on the authority of His Excellency the President, presented to Parliament the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2007 Fiscal Year on Thursday, 16th November, 2006 in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.
    1.2 Pursuant to article 179 (4) of the 1992 Constitution, the Estimates of the Judicial Service together with the corresponding recommended estimates from H.E. the President were referred to the Judiciary Committee for consideration and report.
    2.0 Acknowledgement
    The Committee held a meeting on 12th December 2007 and discussed the Budget Estimates with officials from the Judicial Service led by Dr. Justice Seth Twum.
    The Committee wishes to express sincere thanks and gratitude to the officials of the Judicial Service particularly His Lordship Dr. Justice Seth Twum, Mrs. Regina Apotsi and Mr. Roger Beckley of MOFEP for their invaluable contributions during the discussions. 3.0 Reference Documents
    The Committee in its deliberations referred to the following:
    i. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic
    Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 3:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion but I wish to register my disappointment that among the court complexes to be renovated, Cape Coast court complex is not one of them. This is a court complex which has so deteriorated that it is not fit for human habitation. Its location near the beach and the apparent neglect over a couple of years has rendered the building very hazardous to be in, and I thought that it would be added to the list of court houses to be refurbished.
    Be that as it may, I hope that in the course of the year, if there is any supplementary budget and the Judicial Service is included, all efforts would be made to do something about the Cape Coast court complex.
    With these few words, I support the motion.
    Mr. Pele Abuga (NDC -- Chiana- Paga) 3:30 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I have just one observation to make about the Report of the Committee; and it is on page 6. Mr. Speaker, it reads:
    “With regard to the Budget Estimates for Administration, the Committee observed that H.E. the President's recommendation of an amount of ¢77 billion as against ¢72
    billion . . .”
    With Investment, there was a shortfall of ¢73 billion. Mr. Speaker, why would the President give ¢77 billion when they requested for ¢72 billion? I thought the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning would have rather done something about the shortfall in the investment. If they were requesting for ¢72 billion, what was the basis for giving them ¢77 billion? Maybe the hon. Minister would explain. Maybe, there is an intention to appoint another Supreme Court Judge in the course of the year.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Hon. Member, you are assuming that in adding his comments the President will not raise the budget of the Judiciary.
    Mr. Pele Abuga 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, what I am saying is that the investment component of the allocation should rather be looked at and increased. If with administration, they themselves requested for ¢72 billion and the President is giving them -- [Interruption.]
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:40 p.m.
    Very well, I believe the hon. Deputy Minister would respond to it when he comes to wind up. The hon. Deputy Minister, if you would like to react to this issue raised, so that I can put the Question.
    Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh 3:40 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I would just want to thank hon. Members for their concerns. Mr. Speaker, we have taken note. We believe that it is with good intention that His Excellency the President decided to increase the amount of money required to meet their administrative expenses which ensure the proper running of the Judicial Service. That is where the problem is hence His Excellency giving them more. We have the assurance that the investment section would be taken care of in later
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker,
    motion numbered 13.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:40 p.m.
    Hon.
    Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, motion numbered 13. I saw the hon. Minister in the Chamber a short while ago.
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if you would allow the hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning --
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:40 p.m.
    Very well, hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.
    ANNUAL ESTIMATES 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP -- Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa) 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, some time last week, a mistake was made when we approved the budget estimates for the Office of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund. Mr. Speaker, instead of approving items 1, 2, 3 and 4 for that office, the District Assemblies Common Fund, which is a statutory obligation amounting to ¢1,626,700,000,000 was included in the estimates of the Administrator's Office.
    Mr. Speaker, if this is allowed to stay there, the Appropriation Act would not balance because this figure has been taken up in the Government Obligations account while at the same time it has also been taken up in the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator's Office. The figure would be debited twice. So I want to draw attention to this so that this particular mistake we made by approving that budget estimate be expunged from the records and should be excluded from the estimates approved for the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund's Office.
    I also want to draw attention to one thing. We have set aside a total sum of ¢2.5 trillion to pay domestic interest. The opportunity cost to the nation is very huge. We keep on borrowing money locally and the money which would have gone into development projects rather goes into servicing the debt, whilst we have the capacity to collect more than enough for the country. I would like us to take notice of this.
    It is not in the best interest of this country for us to allow the private sector to dupe this nation of large sums of money. If we do not take any action to stop this and the money which should have gone into the construction of roads is now going to be used to pay interest that we contracted locally, it would not be in the best interest of the country.
    TABLE 3:40 p.m.
    Mr. J. Y. Chireh (NDC -- Wa West) 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I support this motion subject to the observation that the hon. Member has made because the day we were approving the money for the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) Administrator, I talked about the money that was required for him to be able to undertake his normal duties under the law and not money that he is to distribute to others. That is the money that is voted for him and he brings the Formula for us to approve for the distribution to be made.
    So I think that this would reflect twice if we approve this and go and approve that one as well. But the way my hon. Brother has come, I do not know whether he has come properly because this was a resolution that we passed. So he may need to bring a “rescission” motion first for us to undo what we did and then do the proper thing.
    But if you look at page 3, paragraph 4 of the Report, the Committee further noted that the total non-road arrears comprises the following: DACF arrears clearance of ¢53.9 billion. The whole of this year, I have not seen the DACF Administrator giving any of the moneys that are in arrears to us. I do not know whether the whole of the year they have not paid. So if they have not paid, I am urging the hon. Minister to go and release the money that was supposed to be paid this year, for us to be given for our District Assemblies Common Fund to develop.
    rose
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    Hon. Appiah-Ofori, I thought you had contributed already. What are you rising for?
    Mr. Appiah-Ofori 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, because the hon. Member who last spoke was talking about arrears; I want to tell him how the arrears came about -- [Interruptions.]
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    Order! I think the hon. Minister will do that.
    Mr. Appiah-Ofori 3:50 p.m.
    All right.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    Hon. Deputy Minister, you want to react to the observation made by hon. Appiah-Ofori and hon. Yileh Chireh?
    Prof. Gyan-Baffour 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, yes, I think what the hon. Member on the other side and on our side are saying is right. The vote for the Administrator of the DACF usually comes from the discretionary component of the Budget; and in fact it was about ¢1.6 billion cedis. That was what was captured in the Report but in fact the Order Paper had actually captured that one in addition to the statutory payment which is also about ¢1.6 trillion.
    So the two of them were actually what were voted on the last time around. What is actually due to the Administrator is ¢1.610 billion and then what is actually for the Fund, which is statutory, is ¢1,626.7 billion. That is to go to the fund and that is what is under what we are passing right now. So I agree with both parties that the initial one that was voted on yesterday or the day before was actually a combination of the two; that should not have been the case.
    In terms of the domestic interest, yes, I agree with hon. Appiah-Ofori that we do not have to be spending too much on that when we really need resources for other things. And that is why, in fact, the fiscal anchor for this Government is the domestic debt-GDP ratio. So we are trying very hard and when you look at the historical trend from 2001 till this time that anchor is actually on the decline, which means that we are not borrowing from the domestic market as had been done in the past, so that we can actually reduce our indebtedness in terms of domestic borrowing. So yes, we are trying to reduce that.
    In fact, in terms of the arrears, I agree with my hon. Colleague, I also want to get it for my constituency. So I share with the hon. Member that should the arrears come -- and I would inform the DACF Administrator about that.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    How are you going to deal with the double counting of the amount that has been indicated for the District Assemblies Common Fund -- appearing both here and there?
    rose
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    You want to assist?
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think we can move another motion to have the decision to approve that sum rescinded; then we substitute what the hon. Colleagues are saying. So if you would allow me, I would move.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    Yes.
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that the decision of this House on Monday, 11th December, 2006 to approve the sum of ¢1,458,001,000,000 for the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator for the 2007 fiscal year be rescinded and to approve the sum of ¢1, 611,000,000 for the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 3:50 p.m.
    Hon. Members, I hope you are following the issue closely. An observation was made that if the House, in considering the Administrator of the DACF's report in approving an amount of ¢1.6 billion and it also appears here, we are double counting and that it was necessary to rescind the earlier decision so that you have only one figure appearing in the Budget. A motion has been moved for the rescission of the House's decision when the DACF Administrator was here for approval of his Formula. Any seconder to the motion?
    Mr. Appiah-Ofori 3:50 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and I urge every hon. Member to support it.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Decision accordingly rescinded.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved:
    That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢14,818.1 billion for Statutory Payments and Other Government Obligations for the 2007 fiscal year.
    BILLS -- FIRST READING 4 p.m.
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if
    you would allow us, we may go to item 5 (a) (viii).
    PAPERS 4 p.m.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4 p.m.
    Hon.
    Deputy Majority Leader, what is next?
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, we
    should take the addendum.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4 p.m.
    Hon.
    Members, we shall take item 1 on the addendum. Chairman of the Committee?
    Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
    Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Kofi Osei-Ameyaw) 4 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition)(Volumes 1-7), may be moved today.
    Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh 4 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) (Volumes 1-7)
    Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Kofi Osei-Ameyaw) 4 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition)(Volumes 1 - 7).
    Mr. Speaker, in so doing, I beg to crave your indulgence to allow the Hansard to capture the Report of the Committee whilst I read only the “Observations” and “Conclusion” of the Report. 1.0 Introduction
    In accordance with the provisions of section 8 (1) of the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) Act 1998, Act 562, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, hon. Joe Ghartey laid before the House on Thursday, 7th December 2006 a Set in Bound Books ( Volumes 1-7) of the Revised Edition of the Laws of Ghana. The House subsequently referred the documents to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report pursuant to Standing Order 179 of the House.
    2.0 Deliberations
    The Committee met with the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, hon. Kwame Osei-Prempeh to deliberate on the referral. After such deliberation the Committee has also proposed a text of a resolution for approval of the Revised Laws for consideration by the House, which is set out in appendix 1 to this
    report. The Committee is grateful to the hon. Deputy Minister for his attendance and input on the subject matter.
    3.0 Reference Documents
    The Committee made reference to the underlisted documents during discus-sions on the Revised Edition of the Laws:
    a. The 1992 Constitution
    b. Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) Act 1998, Act 562
    c. Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) (Amendment) Act 2006, Act 711
    d. The S tanding Orders of Parliament.
    4.0 Background
    By virtue of sections 1 and 2 of the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) Act 1998, Act 562, as amended by section 1 of the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition) (Amendment) Act 2006, Act 711 the President is empowered to appoint a Statue Law Revision Commissioner to prepare a revised edition of all Acts and Subsidiary Legislations in force as at 1st January 2005. The Commissioner is enjoined by section 8 (1) of the Act 562 to submit the set of revised laws in bound volumes to the Minister for Justice for laying before Parliament and approval by resolution.
    5.0 Observations
    The Committee noted with satisfaction that the Commissioner had worked diligently by revising all the statute laws and subsidiary legislations from 1852 to 2004 in accordance with the Act 562 as amended by Act 711 and in conformity with modern trend and usage. Secondly, the organization of the laws in bound volumes would also allow for quick and easy reference and thus facilitate legal research. This, the Committee believes,
    would ultimately enhance efficiency in all legally-related transactions and the administration of justice.
    6.0 Recommendations and Conclusion
    The Committee has examined the referral and is of the view that the Commissioner has successfully dis- charged the responsibility imposed on him by Act 562 as amended. The Committee accordingly recommends that this House approves by resolution pursuant to section 8 (2) of Act 562 the Bound Books (Volumes 1-7) of the Revised Edition of the Laws of Ghana 2004 in accordance with section 8 (2) of Act 562.
    APPENDIX 4 p.m.
    RESOLUTION 4 p.m.
    H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 4 p.m.
    Mr. J. Y. Chireh (NDC -- Wa West) 4 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I think that this Report, as indicated, is very good. I think the whole idea, as we can see, was a very good decision taken at that time to have these laws revised. Now, what I would urge is that at our library here and all other places in this Parliament building where we
    should have copies of this bound volumes, they should be made available. Apart from my own copies that I am going to get I want to assure you -- because I cannot be carrying them about.
    But sometimes, you may wish to go down to the library for a copy of a statute or enactment and you cannot find it. It is good that these are bound volumes and they should be kept properly. I recommend that the Research Department also keeps copies so that when one is in hurry to make some reference, it would be quicker for all of us.
    Mr. Speaker, I think that this is a very good thing, that we can easily find a law where we need to find it. And it would be good even for general practice in the whole country, because those lawyers who would have the money to buy it, would not need to be sending for photocopies of the laws that are sometimes difficult to trace.
    So it is a very good thing and I would
    urge all hon. Members to let us adopt this Report.
    Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo
    Ano South): Mr. Speaker, I also endorse the idea because that would also give some of us, who are not lawyers but who are interested in law, access to such documents. As law-makers, though not lawyers, we need to be familiar with the law. So I think it is a good idea and I urge all hon. Members to vote massively for the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    RESOLUTION 4:10 p.m.
    THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 4:10 p.m.
    HEREBY RESOLVES AS 4:10 p.m.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
    Hon.
    Members, the copies are voluminous and they are available at the Table Office. So hon. Members may go and sign and pick their copies.
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, we can move to motion No. 35.
    Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
    Vice Chairman of Finance Committee
    (Mr. K. Agyei-Addo) (on behalf of the
    Chairman): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for an amount of euro 75 million for the West African Gas Pipeline Project may be moved today.
    Mr. M. K. Jumah (NPP -- Asokwa) 4:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Loan Agreement between GOG and EIB on the West African Gas Pipeline
    Project
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 4:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg
    to move, that this honourable House adopts
    Mr. Agyei-Addo 4:10 p.m.
    The Committee was informed that Ghana's shareholding in the West African Gas Pipeline project is 16.8 per cent as contained in the Shareholder's Agreement dated May 19, 2003, which amounted to about US$90.0 million.
    The Committee further noted that the loan will be disbursed in three tranches:
    The first tranche shall be used to repay all amounts outstanding under the Nigerian Short-Term Loan.
    The second tranche will be used by GoG to on-lend to Takoradi Power Company (TAPCo) under an On-Lending Agreement to enable TAPCo to finance outstanding contributions due to West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo).
    The third tranche is to be used for making the HIPC Trust Fund Deposit.
    The Committee observed that the Terms of the On-Lending Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Takoradi Power Company Ltd. (TAPCo) shall be as follows:
    That TAPCo shall pay an interest rate of 1.8 per cent.
    That a repayment schedule which has the same terms and conditions for the repayment terms (save that payment shall be made 15 days earlier).
    That TAPCo shall use the proceeds of the subloan solely for the financing of the Project, and shall use best efforts to ensure that the

    Project is carried out by WAPCo in accordance with the Loan Agreement.

    That upon breach by TAPCo of any obligation imposed by the On- Lending Agreement, the Govern- ment of Ghana shall be entitled to demand repayment of any sum advanced.

    That the Government of Ghana and TAPCo shall not abrogate, revoke or materially vary, amend or waive the Onlending Agreement or any terms thereof without the prior written consent of the Bank.

    The Committee was informed that the Government of Ghana is obliged to inform the Bank as soon as the Government becomes aware of any default by TAPCo under the On-Lending Agreement and to inform the Bank of any action it proposes to take in relation to default.

    The technical team informed the Committee that all taxes, duties, licence fees, stamps fees and other applicable charges related to the execution of the project will be borne by the borrower.

    7.0 Conclusion

    In view of the urgency attached to the execution of the project and its immense importance to the country, the Committee respectfully recommends to the House to adopt its report and approve by resolution the loan agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for an amount of euro 75 million for the West African Gas Pipeline project in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and sections 3 and 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335).

    Respectfully submitted.

    [mR. AGYEI-ADDO] Mr. R. S. Quarm (NPP -- Gomoa

    East): Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.

    Question proposed.
    Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 4:10 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion, and in doing so, I would like to raise one or two issues.
    The West African Gas Pipeline idea came about in the 1990s and there were those who ridiculed the idea then. In fact, as the saying goes, any new idea is a joke until the first man accomplishes it. Now, it is becoming a reality and you must pay tribute to those who had the idea.
    My worry, however, is that the gas
    pipeline was not extended to Efasu as the information coming out now shows. It is going to be more expensive moving the Osagyefo Barge to Tema and I thought they could look for more finances to be able to extend the gas pipeline to Efasu to let the Osagyefo Barge work there.
    When I looked at page four, Mr. Speaker, I saw the name of a company -- TAPCo. So far as I know, Tarkoradi Independence Power Company is called TICO and not TAPCo. I do not know where this TAPCo is from. Maybe, the Minister will be able to explain, other than that, Mr. Speaker, I have nothing against this loan. It is a good project and we should all support it.
    Mr. S. K. B. Manu (NPP -- Ahafo
    Ano South) Mr. Speaker, this motion is a well- thought-out motion, and while I urge hon. Members to support it, I would like to say that the gas pipeline, when it comes to fruition is going to help this country a lot to solve its energy problems.
    As we speak today, gas in this country is a problem. You see cars lined up and it
    is even said that taxis which are powered by gas cannot get it. I am carrying a cylinder in my car now looking for gas to buy for my domestic use but I cannot get any. Wherever you go, they have written and put in front of the station, “No gas”. I therefore feel that it is a good idea; if we have the gas pipeline it will help us.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:10 p.m.
    On a
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
    Order!
    Hon. Member, please resume your seat; he is on a point of order.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:10 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, he is misleading the entire country. He is out of order, completely misleading this country.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:10 p.m.
    Hon.
    Member, were you talking of carrying a cylinder in the booth of your car, looking for gas?
    Mr. Manu 4:10 p.m.
    He has forgotten that I was
    in charge of the gas pipeline business in the ECOWAS Parliament. Mr. Speaker, this gas we use domestically is a bye- product of the industrial gas. If he does not know, he must learn from me who was the rapporteur of the Committee on Energy and Industry at the ECOWAS Parliament.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    Chairman of the Committee, do you have any response, or the Deputy Minister will do that for you?
    Chairman of the Committee 4:20 p.m.
    Mr.
    Speaker, I believe the hon. Minister himself is here.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    Hon. Minister, the point that was raised by the hon. Deputy Minority Leader was that the amount shown as Government investment into the project is deceptive; that Government has invested more into it. Your reaction to that.
    Prof. Gyan-Baffour 4:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I believe I would not be able to tell exactly, at this point, how much the total amount is, but at the appropriate time I will be able to tell how much the amount is. I cannot give you the figures offhand at this point.
    Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 4:20 p.m.
    I believe he believes in my statement that there is more, beyond the US$40 million that he has stated.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    That is the implication -- [Interruptions] -- Order! Order!
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    Item 37. I presume, hon. Deputy Majority Leader, that it is meant for the Minister to move, not the Chairman of the Committee.
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I quite agree with you.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    Very well, move the motion.
    RESOLUTION 4:20 p.m.
    T H I S H O N O U R A B L E 4:20 p.m.
    HOUSE HEREBY RESOLVES 4:20 p.m.
    Chairman of the Committee 4:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 4:20 p.m.
    Deputy Majority Leader, what item is next?
    Mr. A. O. Aidooh 4:20 p.m.
    Mr. Speaker, if we can move to item 48 -- Committee of the Whole.
    Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 6:08 p.m.
    Hon. Members, the House now moves into Committee of the Whole. So can you have the galleries cleared?
    The House moved into Committee of the Whole at 4.25 p.m.

    Sitting resumed.
    ADJOURNMENT 6:08 p.m.