Debates of 1 Nov 2007

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings -- we shall take Tuesday, 30th October, 2007. Pages 1, 2, 3 . . . 19 and page 20.
Hon. Members, we would now take
rose
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Yes, hon. Member for Tarkwa Nsuaem?
Mrs. Kusi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the correction relates to page 18, but I did not catch your eye.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Please go ahead.
Mrs. Kusi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, page 18, paragraph 2, Attendance, number (xii) -- they have addressed me as “Mr.”
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Member, which Votes and Proceedings are you referring to? Is it the Tuesday's?
Mrs. Kusi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was referring to the Wednesday's Votes and Proceedings.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right.

We are now taking Wednesday, 31st October, 2007, pages 1, 2, 3 …. 18 -
Mrs. Kusi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, page 18, paragraph 2, Attendance, number (xi) and (xii), Mr. Samuel Johnfiah -- Johnfiah is spelt as “Johufiah”; and my own prefix is “Mrs”, and not “Mr.”
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Thanks. The correction would be made.
Page 19?
Alhaji Muntaka M. Mubarak 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on page 19, under “In Atten- dance”, number (i), he is a Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry. He is not a Member of Parliament; he is a Deputy Minister only.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Thank you for that.
Pages 20, 21. . . 25.
Hon. Members, we have the Official Report for Friday, 26th October, 2007.
Item 3 -- Questions -- hon. Minister for Energy. Question number 810 -- hon. Member for Nkwanta South (Mr. G. K. B. Gbediame).
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10 a.m.
MINISTRY OF ENERGY 10 a.m.
Minister for Energy (Mr. J. K Adda) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Odomi, Okeri, Gekrong, Pawa, Kue, Abrewankor, Nyanbong, Kabiti and Agoufie communities all form part of the SHEP-4 programme for which the Ministry has carried out engineering surveys. They, however, do not form part of the ongoing SHEP-4 Phase-1 project. The communities would be considered in the subsequent phases of the SHEP-4 programme in line with the implementation schedule and the availability of funding.
The Bonakye community forms part of the ongoing electrification projects being executed by China International Water and Electric Corporation under a China Exim Bank credit facility. The High Tension (HT), Low Tension (LT) and Transformer Substation works are expected to be completed by end of March 2008 following which the customer service connections will then commence.
Mr. Gbediame 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Answer provided by the hon. Minister, there is an implementations schedule. Can he give us the details of this schedule so that we would be able to appropriately inform the communities involved and also know at what stage they are coming in?
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have men- tioned here a number of times the imple- mentations schedule for the various phases of the SHEP-4 programme. What we are talking about here is the period pertaining to Phase-1 projects of SHEP-4, and this implies that all those communities which are part of the Phase-1 projects of the SHEP-4 programme would be completed within the time-frame stated earlier in this House.
Mr. Gbediame 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, our problem is that we are always confronted with questions as to when this particular
phase or the other phases are going to commence. And that is the more reason why we would want to know from the hon. Minister if he can give us a rough idea about when, for instance, Phase-2 of SHEP-4 would commence and those communities that are involved in the various subsequent phases.
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I said
earlier, I indicated in this House that in the case of Phase-1 of SHEP-4, it commenced in 2004 and it would be completed early 2008. I do not have the details of all the communities here but the total adds up to 193. I can provide my hon. Colleague with the details, if he so desires, after this Meeting.
Mr. Gbediame 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister said that Bonakye Community forms part of the ongoing electrification projects being executed by the China International Water and Electric Corporation. There is also a policy that communities that are about 20 kilometres to these electric lines would be hooked onto the grid. May I know whether he would consider these communities around Bonakye which are within a radius of 20 kilometres to be hooked unto this grid?
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague mentioned one out of three key criteria. If the communities meet the other two criteria and we have available funding, we would consider them.
Alternative Source of Energy (Solar)
Q. 811. Mr. Francis Osei-Sarfo
asked the Minister for Energy what plans the Ministry has to encourage the development and use of solar energy as an alternative source of power supply in the country.
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the use of
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
In 1998-99 the Ministry of Energy secured a US$5.0 million credit facility from the Spanish Government, which was used to provide over 2000 stand-alone solar systems for homes, streetlights, schools, hospitals, communication facilities, battery charging centres and water pumping stations in the selected remote communities in the Eastern, Volta and Upper West Regions. Under the Renewable Energy Services Project (RESPRO) funded by the UNDP and the Government of Ghana, about 2,570 stand- alone solar systems were installed mainly in the northern part of the country.
Government is in the process of finalizing an Agreement for another €5.0 million credit facility from the Spanish Government to provide solar facilities for off-grid locations for public institutions, including schools, hospitals, remote CEPS, Immigration and Police outposts.
I n 2 0 0 5 - 2 0 0 6 t h e J a p a n e s e Government, through JICA, provided Technical Assistance for a Master Plan Study on Rural Electrification in the four northern regions using Renewable Energy Resources, particularly solar energy. Government has initiated the process for the implementation of the initial phase of the programme, as contained in the recommendations of the Study, which include the Standardization of Solar Systems, Training of Technicians for Installation/Maintenance of Solar Systems, and the Establishment of Test Centres for Adherence to Standards.
Due to the importance Government attaches to the development of renewable

energy resources, particularly solar energy, Renewable Energy Directorates have been set up at the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Commission. Government has also put in place a tax- waiver policy on equipment imported for solar systems, as a measure to encourage the use of solar energy.
Mr. Osei-Sarfo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the wake of our energy crisis this year, much was not heard of developing solar energy as an alternative source of power for our industries and the country at large. Mr. Speaker, I would want to know from the hon. Minister, apart from the off-grid areas and the remote communities, does the Government have any plans to really develop solar energy as an alternative source of power?
Mr. Adda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, besides those programmes indicated in my earlier Answer, there are other initiatives of Government to embark on an aggressive use of solar power in the country. Indeed, one of them is the credit facility that we are trying to arrange through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to get the real estate companies to be part of this.
Mr. Speaker, the essence of this would be that, any number of houses that are going to be built by any member of the Ghana Real Estate Development Association (GREDA) would have solar technology installed on them automatically. Therefore, it means that we would have some proliferation of these gadgets that should add on significantly to the amount of power that we have in the country through the solar system. Mr. Speaker, this is just one of the many ideas that we are considering.
Mr. Osei-Sarfo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the 1998, 1999 Ministry of Energy's stand- alone system for homes and streetlights are no longer in use in the Krachi District or constituency because the areas have
now been served with electricity from the national grid. Would the hon. Minister consider transferring these systems to the off-grid and the remote communities in the district?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, this question of yours seems to be specific and it is not supplementary. Your question was very general. You may ask another question.
Mr. Osei-Sarfo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know from the hon. Minister -- the 1998- 99 Ministry of Energy stand-alone systems which were provided in the Krachi West and Krachi East consti-tuencies. At present the systems are not in use because the areas have been connected to the national electricity grid. I want to know if he has any plans of transferring them back to the off-grid areas or the remote communities along the Volta Lake or the Volta islands.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Please, come back pro- perly. It is not a Supplementary question.
Alhaji M. M. Mubarak 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
if you look at the Answer the hon. Minister gave with regard to the number of stand- alone that has been installed -- On the way to Legon we used to have these street lights that were solar, but most of them have broken down. I want to ask the hon. Minister whether locally, any effort has been made to train people who can sustain the technology after they have been installed.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, as
I speak, there are representatives from the Ministry of Energy as well as some selected higher institutions of learning in Germany understudying some pro- grammes to carry out what my hon. Colleague is talking about. There is an

elaborate programme by the Government to build sufficient capacity in the country to deal with renewable energy as and when we need any aspect of it -- solar, wind and possibly, even tidal waves. We are working on it aggressively.
Mr. Joseph Y. Chireh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer, he said we have a number of stand-alone facilities. Now, some of them fortunately have been hooked onto the national grid. I want to know whether there is any general policy of relocating the ones that are no longer required from where they are presently.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we have
not considered relocating existing solar facilities to places where they are too far off from the grid. Rather, we are looking at promoting solar energy as far as we can. So we expect that those that are off the grid would be able to benefit from the facilities that we are contracting now.
Electricity to Communities in Atwima Mponua Constituency
(Extension)
Q. 812. Mr. Isaac Kwame Asiamah asked the Minister for Energy what plans the Ministry had to extend electricity to the following communities in my constituency: (i) Tanodumase, (ii) Atwima- Achiase, (iii) Ahyiresu, (iv) Bayerebon No. 5, (v) Sereso Timpom, (vi) Anwiafutu, (vii) Pakyi, (viii) Amadaa, (viii) Anansu and (ix) Kotokuom.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speake r, t he
Tanodumase , A twima-Ach iase , Ahyiresu, Bayerebon No. 5, Sereso Timpom, Anwiafutu, Pakyi, Anansu and Kotokuom communities all form part of the electrification projects to be executed by China International Water and Electric Corporation under a China Exim Bank credit facility. Works in these communities are expected to commence in early 2008 and be completed by December 2008.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Kodibenu, Kodibenu-Nyarko and Kukurantumi communities form part of the ongoing SHEP-4 Phase-1 programme. Works in these communities are expected to be completed by end of March 2008.
The Brafoso and Menuso Tagbotodzi communities form part of the SHEP-4 programme for which the Ministry has carried out engineering surveys. They however do not form part of the ongoing SHEP-4 Phase-1 project. The communities would be considered in the subsequent phases of the SHEP-4 programme in line with the implementation schedule and the availability of funding.
Mr. Gbediame 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of the week we have been asking questions on electricity. It is like the answers that the Ministry is giving are recurring and every community that is asked about, he said it was in SHEP-4. I am wondering how many communities are in the subsequent phases of SHEP-4 which we are talking about.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Come back properly.
Mr. Gbediame 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to put it in another way. I am asking when the subsequent phases of SHEP-4 would commence. Because we are in SHEP-4, Phase-1 and concerning all the other communities we are told they are in subsequent phases of SHEP-4. We want to know when the other phases would commence.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the subsequent phases of SHEP-4 would commence late next year. We are accessing the number of communities on which engineering surveys have been conducted to package them for implementation under Phase-2 of SHEP-4.
Electricity to Communities in the Akan Constituency
(Connection)
Q. 848. Mr. John Kwadwo Gyapong asked the Minister for Energy when the following communities in the Akan Constituency would be connected to the national electricity grid: (i) Kosamba, (ii) Gyamomame, (iii) Ketepii, (iv) Wawaso.
Mr. Adda 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Kosamba, Gyamomame, Ketepii and Wawaso communities form part of the SHEP-4 programme for which the Ministry has carried out engineering surveys. They however do not form part of the ongoing SHEP-4 Phase-1 project. The communities would be considered in the subsequent phases of the SHEP-4 programme in line with the implementation schedule and the availability of funding.
Mr. Sampson Ahi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister when the Phase-1 of SHEP programme is going to end so that other phases can be considered or started.
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, as part of the first Question that I answered, I indicated when it would begin. I think my hon. Colleague was either not here or he was absent -minded. Mr. Speaker, he may refer to the Official Record.

Electricity Supply to Atonsu-Agogo, Atonsu-Bokoro, etc.

(Interruption)
Nana Abu-Bonsra 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Member is not immediately available, and he has requested that I ask leave of you to ask his Question for him.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Where has he gone to?
Nana Abu-Bonsra 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe he has gone to the Ministries -- [Laughter] -- He has been called to the Ministry, so he would like me to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, I am not convinced but go ahead. [Laughter.]
Nana Abu-Bonsra 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
thank you for your leave.
Q. 849. Nana Abu-Bonsra (on behalf of Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah) asked the Minister for Energy why electricity supply to Atonsu-Agogo, Atonsu-Bokoro, Chirapatre and Gyinase was interrupted whenever it rained and what was being done to resolve the problem.
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Atonsu-
Agogo, Atonsu-Bokoro, Chirapatre and Gyinase suburbs fall under the jurisdiction of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Ashanti-West. The source of power supply to these communities is the ECG/

VRA substation at Kaase. The station also serves communities along the long High Tension (HT) line to Bekwai.

The station is susceptible to Earth faults due to the long HT line to Bekwai. The faults, when they occur, result in a system disturbance which affects power supply to the communities in question. ECG has disclosed that they plan to install by March 2008, the equipment needed to minimize the effects of the Earth faults, thereby improving upon the reliability of power supply from the station and to the communities under discussion.
Nana Abu-Bonsra 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker in the hon. Minister's Answer to the Question he indicated that a possible date for the final solution, in the light of that problem, may be in March 2008. And as a nation we all do know that come January 2008, we are going to host a very important tournament in Ghana -- that is, CAN 2008. I would like to find out from the hon. Minister what alternative arrangements ECG intends to put in place in order not to deprive the people the opportunity to watch, especially, when Ghana Black Stars will be playing with other teams.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
[Pause] -- Hm! -- [Laughter]-- Minister for Energy.
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, while bearing in mind the financial constraints that we undergo, we have set up a special task force to go round the country and assess the possibilities of improving supplies for the sake of CAN 2008. I cannot guarantee that it will be completed by January. This is a date to be determined by ECG. If we can solve the problem before January, I think we will all be most happy but that is not a guarantee. That is the only Answer I can give to my hon. colleague.
Alhaji M. M. Mubarak 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this issue is a very important one because the whole of Kumasi suffers from this problem. I want to know from the hon.
Minister -- In his Answer he said a task force has been formed. I want to know whether he could mention the members of the task force or maybe the Chairman of the task force for us to be sure that they are really going round the country finding out this problem.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
You want the member-
Alhaji Mubarak 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in
his Answer he said a task force has been formed to go round, and I was asking if he could be kind enough to the House by mentioning members and possibly even the Chairman of the task force for us to be able to contact them to see how far they are going with the issues on the ground.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Minister, do you have the membership? [Laughter.]
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speake r, t he membership comprise representatives of the Ministry, the Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana -- [Pause] -- I do not remember all the names here. I can provide them to my hon. Colleagues. [Some hon. Members: Chaired by whom?] Mr. Speaker, it is chaired by the Minister. [Laughter.]
Mr. B. D. K. Adu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, since
we are talking of electricity, I would like to know from the hon. Minister, the issue of meters. This is because it becomes so difficult after a house is wired to obtain a meter to the house, especially, the VRA resettlements.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
This is not a Supple-
mentary question at all. Question Number 850 -- hon. Yaw Effah-Baafi.
Mr. Alex-Asum Ahensah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is not available, and he has asked me to seek your permission to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
All right, please, go ahead.
Prepaid Metering System Nationwide (Extension)
Q. 850. Mr. Alex-Asum Ahensah (on behalf of Mr. Yaw Effah-Baafi) asked the Minister for Energy whether the Ministry had plans to extend the prepaid metering system to all parts of the country.
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the two electric utilities, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department (NED) have in place programmes to extend the use of prepaid metering system to all parts of the country. However, in view of the initial heavy investment required for the prepaid metering system, the programme is being implemented in phases. The initial phases of the programme cover the huge load centres and the big cities where the programme is found to be economically viable.
ECG has commenced a project since 2006, which is currently in progress, to install 196,000 prepayment meters in the Western, Central, Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions.
Areas under the Rural Electrification Programme are presently not provided with prepaid metering systems as they are considered not to be economically viable. In the future, as these areas expand and their load sizes grow, the prepaid metering system will be extended to cover such areas.
Mr. Asum-Ahensah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer, he said:
“In the future, as these areas expand
and their load sizes grow, the pre- paid metering system will be extended to cover such areas.”
I would like to ask the hon. Minister about the current load size that an area is expected to have to be qualified for the prepaid metering system.
Mr. Adda 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, there are various forms of criteria that the utility companies use to assess this; and I cannot at this present moment give the figures. It is a combination of industrial and residential facilities that determine the size that they should go to. I can provide them to my hon. Colleague later.
Mr. John Gyetuah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker the hon. Minister said in his Answer that the ECG commenced the prepaid metering system in 2006. I want to find out from the hon. Minister if he could tell the House the number of prepaid meters that have been installed so far.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, please, come back properly. This cannot be a supplementary question. Hon. Minister for Energy, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions; you are discharged.
Item 4 -- Statements. Statement by the hon. Member for Chiana/Paga.
STATEMENTS 10:40 a.m.
Mr. I. K. Asiamah (NPP -- Atwima Mponua) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the floor. Mr. Speaker, I must commend the Ranking Member for bringing this very important issue to the floor. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the hosting by Ghana -- and I must emphasize “Ghana”-- Ghana 2008 presents a unique opportunity for us to showcase the best that we have in this country.
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of sports infrastructure, particularly, sports stadia your Committee on Sports undertook an inspection tour of the various stadia being constructed and being rehabilitated. Mr. Speaker, I must say that at the end of our inspection tour the Committee was highly impressed with the state of constructional works. Mr. Speaker, the contractors gave us completion deadlines. As we speak now, we are told that a handing-over ceremony is taking place in Accra -- the Accra Sports Stadium -- and I commend the contractor for completing the work on schedule.

Mr. Speaker, we were also at Sekondi and the stadium has changed the face of

the Shama/Ahanta Metropolis. That, to me, is significant. Mr. Speaker, we believe that with the training pitches, and with a few months to go, the Ministry will start the process of getting those pitches ready. Those pitches are also adding more beauty to our established secondary schools and other institutions where we are having these new pitches being constructed.

Mr. Speaker, on accommodation facilities, I must be honest with you that apart from the new hostels and hotels being put up by Government and other private individuals, we are also urging tertiary institutions in particular to make their rooms available during the tournament. And we have been assured by the Vice-Chancellors and Principals that those facilities will be made available to the country for the tournament.

Mr. Speaker, your Committee is represented on the LOC. I am a member of the LOC and when we met about three days ago we were assured that the Vice- Chancellors have given the green light that, at least, for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), we are going to get about 4,000 available rooms. We are yet to confirm with the University of Ghana, Legon and other institutions. So, on accommodation, we are on course.

We are also urging individuals to make their houses available because, of course, we are going to pay for it as was done by the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat. They were able to put up individual houses which were able to host our dignitaries. We are also urging individuals to make their houses available for the tournament, and as we speak now, we are compiling a list of available accommodation facilities.

Mr. Speaker, it is important to stress
Mr. I. K. Asiamah (NPP -- Atwima Mponua) 10:50 a.m.


here that whether we like it or not there should be a multi-sectoral approach and because of that very soon your Committee will go round and do our final inspection of the stadia and as soon as we finish we are going to have a stakeholder's forum to invite every Ministry to come with a programme of action for the tournament. We believe that every Ministry has a role to play. Security Ministry, Tourism Ministry, Agriculture Ministry -- all Ministries have a role to play because -- If you talk about agriculture, Mr. Speaker, our food and vegetables --

We need to have fresh quality vegetables and fruits for our visitors. And as I said -- I am thick and tall because of fruits -- [Laughter] -- Mr. Speaker, it is important that every Ministry is brought on board so that the whole nation will be united and have a purposeful programme for the tournament.

Mr. Speaker, another key issue we need to stress -- and that has got to do with morality. Mr. Speaker, whether we like it or not we are going to receive visitors. First of all, our hospitality must be displayed at its highest. We know Ghanaians are very hospitable. Mr. Speaker, but this should not be at the expense of our young ladies in this country. We would expect our parents to be more vigilant during the occasion so that we are able to contain the situation.

Mr. Speaker, I remember in Germany, for example, after the tournament, it was all over the world that many females became pregnant. It was on air. Mr. Speaker, Germany may be able to afford that, but what about Ghana? Should we allow our young ladies to be impregnated? Fatherless children? Mr. Speaker, it is a caution to all Ghanaians that whether we like it or not, people are going to troop in in their thousands. We do not have to expose our vulnerable young ladies to this danger. HIV risks and all these are there

So it is important that we also urge our parents and of course our MPs to be involved. Our authorities, our Municipal Assemblies should all be involved in educating our rural folks that it is football, it is about soccer, it is about fun, and not about immorality. It is important that we stress that point. Mr. Speaker, soccer is the passion of the nation, we all appreciate it, and therefore, we expect all Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies to make sure that they have giant or wide screens in their various localities.

People are complaining of the fees being proposed. Mr. Speaker, I am not here to defend the Local Organizing Committee's (LOC's) decision but Mr. Speaker, this is an international event and people are coming in. We are investing so much in infrastructure. At least we have to get some returns. Yes, as an hon. Member, I am concerned that some Ghanaians would not be able to afford and that is why the Ministry is also organizing the National Supporters Union.

We are trying to raise funds so that we can identify some of these keen supporters to attend in their numbers. But the keypoint is that we want the Assemblies to be on board so that they can mount screens. Members of Parliament too can use their Common Fund. Mr. Speaker, this is a call to everybody and so if I am mentioning Members of Parliament it is in the right direction. Members of Parliament should be involved and we can start doing something to mount wide screens in our respective constituencies.

We can ident i fy two or three communities and mount big ones. We
Mr. I. K. Asiamah (NPP -- Atwima Mponua) 10:50 a.m.


can do that so that the pressure on the various stadia could be eased. That is why I am saying that. Mr. Speaker, some of us were in Germany for the tournament and it was even more fun to watch it on that wide screen. Because it is so open and that kind of congestion is not there, we are going to watch and watch them well. So we urge our municipalities to also get involved.

Last but not least, Mr. Speaker, it is

about the youth of this country. It is a unique opportunity for the youth of Ghana that this country under the able leadership of President John Agyekum Kufuor is organizing such a soccer fiesta on the continent. They should be all involved so that one day we will say that when Ghana organized Ghana 2008 it was all of joy and fun.

Mr. Speaker, I want to make reference to the document that was prepared by hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu on the 50th Year Budget. Mr. Speaker, hon. Baah-Wiredu has envisaged, and I am talking about a visionary leadership, that very soon this country is going to host the World Cup and that to me is significant. That process begins from Ghana 2008. That process of hosting the World Cup in future begins from Ghana 2008 and the success of this tournament will tell the international community that, indeed, this country Ghana is ready for the World Cup.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I commend my Ranking Member for that fantastic Statement.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, although I am not an ardent football fan, when it comes to international football ,well, I like to watch. I like to watch especially when Ghana is playing. But this one -- I am very interested in this tournament which is going to take place in this country because we have borrowed quite a lot of money to be able to put up the infrastructure to host this tournament.
Mr. Speaker, we have to recoup if not all at once, much of the money that we have put into this project. Mr. Speaker, if I look at the gate fees which I read in the papers -- minimum of ¢100,000 for the popular stand, for somebody who is going to stand in the sun -- and some go as high as ¢2,000,000 -- [Interruption] -whether they are going to stand or they are going to sit, it is under the sun; they call it popular stand. Considering the levels of income in the country, let me say I consider the gate fees as expensive and once that will discourage -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, do you have any point of order?
Alhaji Saddique Boniface 10:50 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the Gentleman, my hon. Colleague who is not interested in sports, especially football but only interested in international games is misleading the House, in the first place by mentioning ¢2,000,000. At that time, we were not using Ghana New Cedis. Secondly, the figures that he is mentioning are not conclusive, they have not concluded -- It is alleged that these are the fees that would be charged but they are not conclusive. So that figure he is giving is not true. [Interruption.]
Mr. Ocran 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would ignore him and continue with my contribution. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the level of income in the country, I wonder how many people can afford to go many times because it is not only one football match. Especially when you go to the regions, it is even going to be more disastrous. Sometimes when you watch some of these tournaments on television, you see that matches played in the regions are not well patronized; and I am getting
Mr. Ocran 10:50 a.m.


worried. Well, those who know that the figures are not conclusive will later tell us what it is.

But I believe that it even can be more. Some haphazard efforts have recently been made to clear the cities of containers and kiosks. These containers and kiosks have been demolished and left at the sites. Of course, if you demolish my container or my kiosk I would not go and clear the debris because you have already destroyed my abode or business and to leave them as you are seeing now would be even worse than if they had not demolished them. And I believe those responsible would try to clean up so that the visitors would not come and see such mess in our cities.

Mr. Speaker, we are talking of

accommodation and even roads. We from the Western Region were informed that because of the influx of people from La Cote d'Ivoire and other Francophone countries bordering Cote d'Ivoire, they were going to level up and give you the stretch between Axim and Ankobra. This is a stretch which is very prone to accidents yet those who will drive on the road for the first time are not aware that we have such hazards on it. This has not been done and I wonder whether within the few months left this can be accomplished so that we do not have accidents on our roads during the tournament.

However, be it as it may, I think the tournament will put Ghana on the sports map of the world. People will see us on television, will see how our cities look like and so on. I only hope that foreign television crew who will come will not go as we do always in African countries to screen the worse parts of the cities to exhibit to the world. There are some nice parts of the cities which can also be shown.

Every city has got its bad sites. American cities have got their bad sites. I lived in Boston and Boston has got some

very horrible sites. Nobody ever showed such on television. So those who are responsible -- I am not saying we should police the television crew but at least when they want to go downtown we should take them to proper downtown sites so that they can film those areas for the world to see; and that would be part of selling Ghana for tourism purposes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP -- Suame) 11 a.m.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to also associate myself with the Statement made by the Ranking Member for Youth, Sports and Culture (Mr. Pele Abuga). Mr. Speaker, I believe this Statement could not have come at a better time.
The country is at the moment putting up facilities which to all intents and purposes are excellent facilities. As the maker of the Statement said, it is important to have these facilities completed on time because they need to be test run for the users to assure themselves that they will work effectively.
We are talking about electricity, telephone facilities, water and internet facilities because the sports journalists who would come to cover the events, will need to translate their reports to their various home countries. Even though a significant portion of the facilities have been completed, other portions like parking space, landscaping and providing training facilities have not as yet been completed and they need to be put in shape to be test-run before the compe- tition begins.
In Senegal 1992, when the nations
on the continent assembled there, we
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP -- Suame) 11 a.m.


could see that the very week when the tournament was supposed to open, construction works were still going on. I believe this should not be the potion for Ghanaians.

What is important these days, apart from the provision of the facilities is to ensure that security of the participants is guaranteed. It would be a shame if in a bid to host this tournament, strangers who come to our country suffer matters relating to breaches of security or they themselves are attacked in one way or the other.

We wish to appeal to the Ministries responsible for Interior and Defence to collaborate to protect the visitors who would be coming - the sports men and the athletes who would be coming.

At the same time, I believe, as has been said by my colleague the hon. Member for Jomoro (Mr. Lee Ocran), this is the time to showcase the country. He mentioned one road but there are many roads which ought to be put in shape before the competition begins. Some matches would be played in Sekondi-Takoradi and training facilities have been provided even at Cape Coast. Some matches are going to be played in Kumasi and others in Tamale.

We do know that the Accra-Kumasi

road -- particularly between Nsawam and Apedwa Junction -- has deteriorated quite considerably with the advent of the recent rains. It is important that we put the roads in shape. Beyond Kumasi, that is from Kumasi to Tamale, there are vast portions which have not been put in good shape and not everybody would be flying from Accra to Tamale to watch these matches.

First of all, there would be peril in the lives of the fans who would be travelling by road to the places and supporting. It would be good that we put these roads in good shape so that we do not imperil the lives of these sportsmen and the fans who would be travelling on the roads.

The cleanliness of our cities is also a paramount concern because as we have said, Ghana would be in the limelight and we have said that we want to make this one of the best tournaments organized on the continent. So we want the Metro- politan Assemblies to be sensitized to ensure that our cities are at least made clean. Certainly, it may not be possible to face-lift all the playing centres between now and the time but as much as possible, the ceremonial roads in these towns ought to be put in very good shape and the buildings along these roads ought also to be given new painting if possible.

Finally, let me talk about the preparation of the team because the object of the Organizing Committee is to host and win. I believe that it is not by any means. I believe it should be fair and if it should be fair and Ghana should host and win, then the preparation of the team is also very paramount.

The periods of the 1970s and the 1980s are far behind us. We cannot revisit the period when we need to camp the players for six months and sometimes even one year. These days of pro-fessionalism, it is not possible to camp the players beyond two and three weeks.

Nobody wants to interfere in the selection of the players but we believe and hope that the best in the nation would be assembled, given that they have been camped and given sufficient training, nutrition and everything to ensure that at the end of the day, they are able to put up their best and win the tournament for the country.

Mr. Speaker, let all of us cooperate and

collaborate and give utmost support to our Black Stars and I believe with unity of purpose, the ultimate would come to Ghana.
Alhaji Seidu Amadu (NDC-- Yapei- Kusawgu) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Ghana had the opportunity of hosting this African Cup of Nations from previous occasions and on these occasions, Ghana won the cup. It is the wish and hope of all of us that this time around that Ghana has had the opportunity to organize the competition again we are going to win the cup.
But Mr. Speaker, having said this, I want to touch briefly on the level of accommodation, particularly in Tamale, in fact, I must say that in all the other centres. I say so because, listening to the views of residents, they are very very worried because the accommodation facilities are not up to scratch; they are not up to standards and we are going to play host to international guests.

Alhaj i Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member who just spoke is misleading the House by saying that Tamale does not have the facilities to accommodate the people who are coming. I am privileged to tell him that a very nice Three Star Hotel has just been completed and it is on the campus of the University of Development Studies and that is one of the best you can get in town as I speak today.

Again, we have many hotels in Tamale which have upgraded their facilities and
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon. Member for Yapei- Kusawgu, you may continue.
Alhaji Amadu 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what
I was saying was that, a highly indus- trialized country such as France which recently hosted the Rugby World Cup had problems with accommodation because most of the hotel accommodation were booked in advance, and what did they do? The Government had to intervene by arranging camping sites to take care of the numerous supporters and other guests who were coming to witness these games.
I am aware that Government has put together a very big hostel at UDS campus as was earlier mentioned by one of the contributors. But what I am saying is that, is that alone going to be enough to host the many supporters we are likely to receive in the Tamale Municipality? What we are told is that that three-star hotel that the hon. Deputy Minister has alluded to is going to serve as accommodation for the officials but we are not talking about the officials in this particular instance.
Remember we have four teams that are going to be camped there and they are going to camp the FIFA officials, CAF officials and so on and so forth. But I am talking about the rank and file - those who would come merely as supporters to support the teams.

I want to suggest that, probably, what the Government can do in addition is to create the opportunity for the building of camping sites to create accommodation for those who might not be fortunate to
Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations (Mr. Stephen Asamoah- Boateng) 11:10 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to lend my support and also contribute to the Statement made by my good friend, the hon. Member for Chiana-
Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations (Mr. Stephen Asamoah- Boateng) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am also told that the necessary atmosphere or euphoria has not been created. It is a relative term, if you say, it is not being created. This is because with such a big event, what you need is short, medium, long-term programmes and you need to come to the peak at the right time. We do not want to create the euphoria so early and people get turned off. They know what you are going to say; anyway, they see it all before and there is a turn-off.
So there is a programme that will build up to the height around November, December. All the communication materials are almost ready. I have started doing my work to make sure that the sensitisation is on the ground.
Mr. Speaker, for instance, yesterday and in the past week I have been touring the hotels and restaurants, the chop bars, the omu tuo places, the night clubs and others. These are all part and parcel of the footfall festival. It is a multi-sectoral festival and every Ghanaian is part and parcel of it. It is our approach to these events and how optimistic and how positive we sound and look that people feel that there is something going on.
If we begin to question and begin to doubt things, then we begin to be pessimistic and things begin to fall apart. For instance, yesterday I happened to be at the City Hotel in Kumasi. A couple of weeks ago, I had some information that some people were refused entry and that the hotel will not be ready and of course, as the Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, I was alarmed. So I went there personally with the media and they will bear me out.
I hope the report will come out tomorrow or the next day, that they are on schedule. They had always said that they would finish and the completion date is the 18th of December. So I am surprised to hear people say that the City Hotel will not be ready. It would be ready.
I was assured yesterday by the consultant on site and I saw it myself that most of the things that needed to come into the country are already here, especially the air-conditioners which are huge equipment sitting there. And they already have the networks and the distribution systems all in place. It is just left with the carpeting and the wall tiles which, with proper supervision will be finished to meet the deadline. We gave them the middle of December and by the 20th hopefully, City Hotel should be available for us.

But it is not just even the cities hosting the event. Mr. Speaker, let all Ghanaians know that we are all involved. We are hosting it, especially the cities and towns around it. Bolgatanga should be coming in and we have been sending them emissaries and talking to the Assembly there to make sure -- From Bolgatanga to Tamale, it would not take one more than one and a half hours' drive time and so we are not expecting fans to stay at the metropolis.

Fans move -- and I am told by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports that when they went to the Egypt tournament two years back, the Ghana team and the supporters did not stay where the football team played; they stayed, in fact, about two hours drive away and they always made their way to the sports stadium and later went back to sleep. So we expect that the whole country would provide the opportunity.

For instance, in Sekondi, Cape Coast should be ready, Winneba should be ready. In Kumasi, Sunyani should be ready. The other surroundings - Berekum, et cetera, should all be ready because they would be spillovers for everybody to contribute.

Then Mr. Speaker, we should also as hosts of this tournament not describe people coming as strangers. I have heard this word - we have foreigners and strangers. It sounds like we are apprehensive and we are not welcoming them. They are our visitors. We are hosting people with open arms. But of course, we should be cautious in being too open in terms of our personal security which I have also mentioned. We are open, we welcome people but they are not strangers. They are here to enjoy the game of football and fun and also visit.

Mr. Speaker, big, big buses are being arranged. Transportation would be available, I am assured of that and everything is being done.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, in my own submission, I said that we should be prepared to welcome strangers coming from other countries. My hon. Colleague is saying that they are not strangers and that they are visitors. Mr. Speaker, may he be generous enough to give us the distinction in this context between a stranger and a visitor? Mr. Speaker, this clearly is a distinction without difference. I do not know where he is getting this interpretation from.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Deputy Leader, no point of order, at all.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will ignore him. I do not have my dictionary here and I am not an English tutor. Those are things he can go and research himself. But let us begin to know that we are hosting everybody and with open arms.
Mr. Speaker, on sanitation, we have done everything possible. I know it would take a long while for us to get our sanitation back to what we all expect. But we are coming a long way. Refuse was all over the place, and we were all part and parcel of them. Everybody throw things away, nobody takes care of any rubbish; we think that we can just dump anything anywhere.
But Mr. Speaker, it is also important for us to know that when we create a good environment, people would not drop things around. If we create a proper street with well-covered drains then people would be careful not to drop things anywhere. So it is a combination of public policy plus individual attention and contribution.
Mr. Speaker, there are other things that I would have talked about but time would not permit me. But I would urge all of us to realise that we are all part and parcel of this atmosphere. The euphoria would come, the materials are available but we would want to pick the right time. People who want information should seek it but all of them would not be available.
Finally, let us all support our Black Stars because one hosts these events because one hopes to win, and we think we can win. We have a very good team, we have very dedicated players who are going to give their all and we believe the coach is up to the job. But we must also be
part of the winning team. Playing at home can be a bonus or can be a negative. If the population begins to be apprehensive and so tight, it reflects in players' performance. So let us all relax, let us know we have the ability to conquer Africa.
It is a world tournament; everyone is looking at Ghana 2008 and let us begin to use the words “Ghana 2008”. I have heard of “CAN 2008”. Even some of the media people whom we talk to and everybody else still use “CAN 2008”. We can use the “CAN” but we should let the “Ghana” come in because it is a privilege we are having and we should make use of it for the brand image that we are trying to build. I believe that with the support of all of us, the Black Stars led by able Captain Stephen Appiah would lift the Cup on the 10th of February.
I thank you Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to speak on this Statement.
Mr. Eric Opoku (NDC -- Asunafo South) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement on the floor of the House. Mr. Speaker, I think that my hon. Colleagues including the Ministers have told this House how they have improved the infrastructure for the tournament. But I believe that -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Opoku 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have seen some of the developments but there are others that I have not seen. I have heard from the Ministers -- [Interruption] -- That is why I am saying that I have heard from them. But Mr. Speaker, the important thing is that putting up infrastructural facilities alone cannot give us the happiness that we want for our people. What is important is that we have to give the necessary resources to the team so that at the end of the day, the Black Stars can win.
Mr. Asiamah 11:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. Colleague is misleading this House. Mr. Speaker, what kind of resources should Government provide to players that would enable them to score goals? Resources to score goals? Mr. Speaker, what kind of resources can score goals? I just cannot understand. He should come again and explain the kind of resources that would enable the players to score more goals.
Mr. Opoku 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think he was not listening. I said resources for them to be trained so that they will be able to put the ball in the net for all of us to be happy. That is the point. Mr. Speaker, the cost of hosting this tournament has been very, very expensive for this country and the best thing that we have to do now is to make sure that the Black Stars participate and win the trophy for this country.
We do not want to go into the competition and then after the competition, we come out to say that it was due to the fault of the coach, the Minister did not release the money on time, this and that thing happened. Let us start today and resource them to make sure that we win the elections. [Uproar.] We win the tournament -- [Laughter.] --
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Opoku 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
that as a politician and getting close to elections one cannot speak without mentioning elections, especially when our hon. Colleagues on the other side are campaigning for their flagbearership. But I said we have to resource the team to make sure we win the tournament.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, this is the confusion that has been created with the numerous presidential candidates.They have filled the air and because of that people instead of focusing on Ghana CAN 2008 are talking about elections -- [Laughter.] The timing of the campaign and the numbers have really affected us so if an hon. Member is talking about elections instead of the tournament then it is serious. [Laughter.]
Mr. Opoku 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was saying
that all of us should support the Ghana Black Stars. We have to pray seriously for them to win the tournament. We have to get them the needed resources to boost their morale, to sacrifice and then win the cup for us so that all of us will be happy. What is important is that whoever has the duty to ensure that they are given the resources should do so now. We want them to have enough resources so that at the end of the day, all of us will be happy after the tournament.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity.
Minister for Education, Science and
Sports (Prof. D. K. Fobih): Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to express my appreciation to the House and particularly my Colleague, the hon. Member for Chiana-Paga who made the Statement, for making the House aware of the progress made so far with the organisation of the

Ghana CAN 2008 Tournament.

I believe after this Statement has been commented upon in the House, the radio, the press, the media and all media houses that have something to do with communi- cation will take this matter up for general discussion and for sensitization as well.

Mr. Speaker, there are certain issues

to which I will like to address my contri- bution. This is because I know hon. Members who have spoken have said so much about this Statement. First, I will like to address the issue of the completion of the infrastructure. Ghana's ability to host the tournament was totally dependent on the completion of these infrastructural facilities as regards the stadia as well as the other supporting facilities like training pitches, evacuation areas, the access roads and other sanitation facilities like toilets and others.

Mr. Speaker, as I am talking now, Ghana

has passed the test and the comments of our assessment are such that Ghana is ranked as best to none in Africa in terms of the stadia that we have now for the tournament. In fact, it has never been the case in any African country to have such stadia for hosting this Ghana CAN 2008 Tournament. It is even said by the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that Ghana can be ranked among the best in terms of the stadia provision so far here. This is a com- mendable statement but something that I think we have worked hard to deserve.

Mr. Speaker, all the four stadia have been completed and we are taking over from the contractors on the 1st of November, 2007, which is today, except the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium which will be taken over on the 15th November, 2007 because of some works which are yet to be completed.

So far, all the access roads and the

evacuation area works have also almost been completed. The training pitches which were posing a lot of difficulties

for us during the previous visits of the CAF inspection team have also been successfully completed. What we are waiting for is the grass to mature before they are used for the tournament. So we can commend ourselves for having worked so hard to meet this high standard we have set for ourselves.

The second issue is about awareness

creation. Yes, I believe we are expressing our enthusiasm and concern for the tournament because we think we have not been sensitized well enough. The background to this is that this sensitiza- tion is a private-public partnership enterprise. The Government has its role to play but the private sector also has a role to play, particularly, the sponsors. And the information that we have from the sponsors is that it is a commercial enterprise and it has to be worked to the point where they maximise their gains; and therefore, there is no point for them to start the awareness campaign earlier than what they consider to be timely.

Therefore, they have planned it for the beginning of this month, which is today; they are going to begin intensively campaigning or sensitizing the public, advertising and giving all the necessary information that the public has to know about the tournament and work it out to a climax just when the tournament is about to start so that they can cash in as much as possible for their sponsorship.

I am aware that this plan is on the ground and even that Stanbic has already launched its campaign. I understand on Saturday Pepsi is also going to launch its campaign and this would be followed by MTN and all the others. So it is not as if everything is going to be quiet as it is. A lot of things are going to begin right from today, 1st November, 2007.

Mr. Speaker, on the public side, there

has been a roadshow and we are marching on with other similar events within this month. Indeed, on the 11th of this month, that is, a week from this Saturday we are going to test the use of the facilities at the

Ohene Djan Sports Stadium and the Ghana Under 17 team will play their counterparts from the Republic of Togo. This is part of the awareness creation that we have planned to sensitize people.

Then on the 16th of November, 2007 the Ghana Under 23 team will also play their Olympic qualifying match with Nigeria there, again, creating the same awareness. And we believe that from the 17th November, 2007 to the 21st November, 2007 the four-nation tournament will be played there to test the facilities to ensure that similar awareness is created and that the Ghana Black Stars are in a good shape for the tournament.

So Mr. Speaker, we have outlined a

number of activities beginning this month, to really sensitise the Ghanaian public so that people will maximise the benefit that is to be gained from it, especially the vendors, those who have merchandise to sell, food items and even to play host to most of the visitors that we may not even have direct contact with because they may come on their own.

Mr. Speaker, we are also aware that

there would be influx of people we probably do not anticipate. For instance, la Cote d'Ivoire is just a next-door neighbour to the stadium in the Western Region and since we have the la Cote d'Ivoire team playing there, then it is just a walking distance to many of the sports enthusiasts. So we expect influx of more people and we are taking care that the security authorities will also ensure that the peace will be maintained and the visitors will be welcomed by the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council as well as the people there.

Similarly, we have taken measures to sensitize the Northern Regional Co- ordinating Council and to also sensitize the public there that, as has been said already, the Upper East Region's population can
Mr. Opoku 11:40 a.m.
We are indeed even talking to private individuals to open up and play host and provide accommodation facilities where necessary. We are talking about organised accommodation facilities which will be cheaper for the ordinary person who is a visitor here to also take advantage so that they have guided kind of search for accommodation facilities instead of just privately looking for accommodation for which they are likely to be exploited and so on. Mr. Speaker, all these arrangements have been considered in our scheme of things.
We have also considered the fact that
because of the large number of people who will flood these stadia, the issue of sanitation is going to be a critical factor and we have already put in place a plan to get this done, especially when we have Zoom Lion Company which has been acclaimed as doing so well also to support us during those critical times.
Mr. Speaker, we have earmarked
the Independence Square as one of our parking lots because we do not expect people to drive their cars to the stadium. So we have made provision for large buses to convey people to the stadium and for cars to be parked outside the official premises of the stadium so that there will be no unnecessary congestion and so on.

Security matters have already been taken care of. And as I said, all the security agencies are doing their own thing, having

meetings and discussing their plans to make sure that the whole games -- whether it is being played in the Tamale stadium or in the Western Region, or in Accra or in Kumasi -- security is quite adequate for them.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I would like

also to mention the kind of collaboration that has been going on because we see it not as a Ministry of Education's work alone as there are other interests which we have to consider. So my hon. Colleague Ministers in the various stakeholder Ministries -- I can particularly mention a few of them because they are all important.

But particularly, the Minister for Tourism who is just right to my left, as well as the Ministries of Transportation, Mines, Energy, Water Resources, Works and Housing -- They are all part of this oversight ministerial team, sub-Cabinet Committee, which has been looking at every aspect of the planning so far; and I think I must acknowledge their unflinching support and contribution which has made us so far successful with some of the things we have achieved.

We are continuing to still look into some of the programmes that are being prepared, and as I leave this House today, I am going to have a serious meeting with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) to look at their roadmap plan for the entire organization of the games so that I can always monitor as a check-list what they are supposed to be doing, what they are not doing on time and so on, just as we have done for the infrastructure so that we can all be there at the right time when the January games start.

But Mr. Speaker, some people have

expressed concern about the fees. I must
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 11:40 a.m.
STAGE 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Kojo Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move, clause 39, subclause (4), delete “The Court may” and insert the following:
“The order lapses after three months except that before the expiration of the three months an application may be made to the Court to.”
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move, clause 40, subclause (1), after paragraph (c) insert a new paragraph as follows:
“(d) fails to comply with section
28 (2)”.
And we think the draftsmen will do the proper arrangement. But this is a new paragraph we are adding.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Is it replacing the old
(d)?
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
No, Mr. Speaker, it is not
replacing it; it is adding to it. But we think that the proper place for it to be is the old (d) so that (d) becomes (e). But we are leaving that arrangement to the draftsmen; we are only adding that new clause.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
A new clause, (e) or
what?
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
So the present (d) might
possibly become (e).
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
(e)?
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Chireh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
the amendment is in order except that the advertised (d) is the one causing the confusion. If you look at the original it has serially numbered the various sections of the Bill that will affect the offences generally. So after (27) -- In fact, if you see (c), (c) relates to section 27. Then this one they are proposing follows immediately, which is section 28, and so it should naturally follow the (c ). But since it is a new proposition we cannot give it a number, the paragraph should just be there. I think it is in order.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 40 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Mr. J. B. Aidoo 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
When the proper time
Mr. J. B. Aidoo 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker --
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
No, not now, when the
proper time comes, when we get to the Third Reading.
Clause 47 -
11. 50 a.m.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to
seek your indulgence and permission to withdraw the amendment proposed so that we go back to the original clause in the Bill.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
You want to abandon the
amendment?
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
We want to abandon the
amendment proposed so that we retain the original rendition in the Bill.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
All right, it is abandoned.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
with your indulgence, if he is abandoning it and going back to the original, our earlier submission was that the entire clause should be deleted. If you look at clause 43(1) defining jurisdiction for High and Circuit Courts, those are matters already determined by law. Once the sentencing regime is known and once the offence is defined, we know which court can try such an offence.
The jurisdiction of the High Court and Circuit Courts are known so I do not know whether he is abandoning it and still maintaining the 47(1) where they are saying that the High Court and Circuit Court shall have jurisdiction to try offences under this Act. So if he can clarify his position - But I would wish that the entire clause is deleted from this Bill and not substituted with anything. We do not need to say that this court has jurisdiction and that court has no jurisdiction.
Mr. Chireh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I
could go along with my hon. Colleague but given the fact that this is a new and a special Bill that we are passing, we need to specify in this case how the trials are to be conducted and the jurisdictional issues too should be raised. So I think we should keep it.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Tamale South, have you had second thoughts? Do you want to abandon that?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we can
go ahead but I thought that this is not a matter we should define in a law, that the High Court and the Circuit Court have jurisdiction because we are dealing with

the specific issue of money laundering. I personally would wish that we did not state that; but that notwithstanding, if they insist we can go ahead.

Question put and amendment agreed

to. Clause 47 as amended ordered to stand

part of the Bill.

Clause 53 - Collaboration with Public

Agencies.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday
there was a little confusion about the word “corporation” and “cooperate” in the Bill. The drafters would take care of that. Having accepted that one, I beg to move, clause 53, subclause (1), line 2, delete “discharging of the duties” and insert “performance of the functions”.
Mr. Speaker, so the new rendition to clause 53, subclause (1) would read 11:40 a.m.
“An officer of a public agency shall cooperate with officers of the centre in the performance of the functions of the officers of the centre under this Act.” The consistency in the words “cooperate” and “collaborate” would be dealt with by the drafters.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to second the amendment but with your indulgence to seek a further amendment. If his rendition would go then the words “of the officers” must also be deleted. So it would read: “An officer of a public agency shall collaborate with officers of the centre in the discharge of the functions of the centre under this Act.” You do not need to repeat “of the officers of the centre”. So I would just seek an amendment that, “of the officers” be further deleted.
Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, this
matter he is referring to, we can resolve it here. The headnote says “collaborate”; let it be consistent with the first line. We should delete “corporate” and substitute it
for “collaborate”.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, technically
the headnote is actually not subject to amendment and things like that. We have discussed it with them and they say they would do the alignment properly so if we are using “collaborate” then they would have to change the subject in the main clause to “collaborate”. So that one does not create any problem.
The only thing we are trying to amend is the performance of the functions substituting that one for the discharge of the duties. So in subclause (1) the amendment would read:
“An officer of a public agency shall co-operate with the officers of the centre in the performance of the functions of the officers of the centre.”
Mr. Chireh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the
further amendment being sought by hon. Haruna Iddrisu is in order. So if the hon. Chairman would not mind; the rendition should read: “An officer of a public agency shall cooperate with officers of the centre in the performance of the functions of the centre.” So we would leave out “of the officers”.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
we are dealing with the functions being performed by the officers of the Centre and not the functions of the Centre as such -- the performance of the functions of the officer. So officers of the public agency and officers of the Centre would collaborate in the performance of their duties.
Mr. Chireh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not
understand why the hon. Chairman is opposing this. The functions of the Centre are performed by whom? The officers. So we do not need to repeat “the officers” there but just say they should co-operate in the performance of the duties of the
Mr. Chireh 11:40 a.m.


Centre, but not the officers. Are the officers' functions different from the Centre?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe this is solved by clauses 5 and 6. Clause 5 talks about the officers of the Centre and clause 6 talks about functions of the Centre. So I do not see why we should be disputing this. So we can say “in the performance of the functions of the Centre”; that is what is captured in the Bill.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we would
agree with the suggestion and leave the rest to the drafters.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Go through the whole
clause for us, please.
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
“An officer of a public
agency shall co-operate with officers of the centre in the performance of the functions of the Centre”.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
What about “under this
Act”?
Mr. Armah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is part of
it, I just did not read it -- “performance of the centre under this Act”, that is the full sentence.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Clause 53 as amended ordered to stand
part of the Bill.
Mr. Okerchiri 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
sorry if I want to block the progress but clause 52 (c) -- Mr. Speaker, we flagged 52 (c). I remember the hon. Minority Leader was arguing that in clause 52 (1) (c) that it is not all the functions that we
need to get the one who is performing it to swear an oath to. Therefore, it was decided that we would want to amend it by qualifying it as authorized to perform a sensitive function.
Mr. Speaker noon
Majority Chief Whip,
are you resuming your seat?
Mr. Okerchiri noon
Mr. Speaker, in
respect of that, I would want to propose an amendment.
Mr. Speaker noon
Go ahead.
Mr. Okerchiri noon
Mr. Speaker, I propose
Mr. Speaker noon
Which clause are you
seeking to amend?
Mr. Okerchiri noon
Mr. Speaker, clause 52
Mr. Speaker noon
Majority Chief Whip, are you resuming your seat or what?
Mr. Okerchiri noon
Mr. Speaker, I rest
my case. We did agree on that when we met. I am surprised that it has escaped the hon. Chairman. When we met we did agree on this one.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the initial remarks of the Majority Chief Whip that we should have considered clause 52 (1) (c). Regrettably, it did not appear in the advertised amendments. It was one of the issues you deferred for us to resolve. Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, I would further seek an amendment that we delete 52 (1) (c) entirely.
Mr. Speaker, if you would recall, what the hon. Minority Leader argued yesterday was that, if we got somebody to play the role of a consultant at any point in time to aid the work of this Centre, would he be required to swear an oath of office and under what circumstance? And that was to strengthen an earlier argument I had raised that if you take clause 52 (1) (c), the second line which begins with “shall swear the oath of secrecy set out in the Schedule before assuming office” -- I believe that it must end there and then we delete the rest of the words, “or before performing a function under this Act”.
That becomes necessary if (c) is maintained; then, we would have to go beyond assuming office. But if we delete (c), which I am proposing, then we can maintain it. And I shall read, with your permission, Mr. Speaker. Clause 52 (1) would read:
“A person
(a) appointed to an office
(b) appointed to act in an office . . .”
Then we delete all together with (c).
It would continue, “A person appointed to an office, a person appointed to act in an office shall swear the oath of secrecy set out in the second Schedule before assuming office.” And then we would leave it at that level. I am sure that is a more elegant rendition, so that any
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon


person who is appointed to work at the Centre would be required to take an oath of secrecy. But if we extend it to a performance of a function and at any point in time the Centre has to appoint anybody to do a job, by this provision it would be mandatory for the person to swear an oath of secrecy, which we do not think would be a better thing to do. This is the argument we advanced yesterday.

So we agree that we should maintain clause 52 (1) (a) and (b), delete (c) and then correct the words in the second line to end at “assumption of office”.

I so move, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker noon
Chairman, what is your
view on this?
Mr. Armah noon
Mr. Speaker, I think we
would maintain (c) as it is -- “authorized to perform a function of a sensitive nature”. That was the argument advanced by hon. Bagbin yesterday and the broad understanding was that we should make some distinction as to the ordinary functions that the person is asked to perform and then a function that is deemed to be sensitive or of a confidential nature.
So the understanding was to add that little point that the hon. Majority Chief Whip has brought up. But I think the words “under this Act” that appeared twice in the clause does not make it too elegant. So I would propose that we delete “under this Act”, that is, the last one, so that we can maintain “performing a function”.
Mr. Speaker noon
Chairman, what you are
saying is that anybody who is called up to perform such a function must take the oath. Is that what you are saying?
Mr. Armah noon
Mr. Speaker, it should read “authorized to perform a function under this Act” - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Must take the oath of secrecy?
Mr. Armah noon
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I
think that the Chairman should guide us properly. Who defines what is sensitive? Money laundering itself is a sensitive matter and therefore we cannot make a distinction between sensitive and non- sensitive, ordinary and super-ordinary. Anything that has to do with money laundering, by the definition we have given, is a sensitive matter.
We agree with him that any person appointed must take an oath of secrecy but for persons who may perform delegated functions -- For instance, if the Centre appoints a consultant, we are by this provision saying that he must necessarily swear an oath of office. Mr. Speaker, we do not think that that is right.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh noon
Mr. Speaker, I have
been listening to my hon. Colleagues but I think that (c) should be retained. I do not see the need to make any amendment here. Mr. Speaker, in my view, those who are authorized to perform functions would not include a consultant. The consultants would advise and the Board or the Centre or the officers would perform the functions. So in my view, Mr. Speaker, the function that we are talking about -
The functions of the Centre, for instance, the functions of the Board, the functions of the Chief Executive, these are the functions we are talking about, and all these persons must swear the oath. If you look at the Bill, these are the three bodies that perform functions under the Act. If we have a consultant or we engage a consultant, Mr. Speaker, he is not performing a function under the Act, those who perform functions under the Act are specified. We have the Board, the Centre, the Chief Executive and his Deputies and so there is no need to amend this clause.
Mr. Chireh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Majority Leader has defeated his own argument because if all the people who are to perform functions under the Act have been identified, they are the ones who are in (a) and (d); they have either been appointed or appointed to act in an office and therefore there is no need for the (c).
If we are talking about authorizing people to do this, it means that those people necessarily are not staff, they are not appointed officials but we have authorized them to go and perform - For instance, if they get a policeman to go and arrest somebody or to go and get information from somebody who is not a staff of the Centre, it means they should swear him in before he goes to do the thing.
If that is the intention, fine. But by what he has argued, it means that all these people are covered by (a) and (d) because they are either appointed or they are appointed to act in an office and therefore they are covered. Why do we have “authorize”? If we are bringing “authorize”, it means that the person is not necessarily a staff or an officer of the Centre and that is where the allusion to consultants comes in.
If we say there is no distinction, then we do not need (c); but if there is a distinction that at one time we require people to be authorized to perform a function, yes. And
those people, depending on the nature or the sensitivity of whatever, unless we intend to put it in the interpretation section, what that sensitive nature is - that is where I am reluctant about this (c).
But if you define it - “authorize to perform” means the person has been given a limited authority. Otherwise, if he is appointed he would go ahead and do the thing because he has already been sworn in. That is why we think that (c) should not be there. But if he thinks it should be there then the nature of the sensitivity must be a definition, because I know this is also a special Bill; it is a new Bill that we are introducing. So we need to introduce some new aspects in the law. But in doing so his own argument defeated the purpose of his argument.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to react quite briefly. You would notice that, for instance, under clause 15 the Chief Executive acts, and in his absence the Deputy is authorized to act. That is an example. And I am saying, for emphasis, that those other non-members who may be co-opted or assigned duties, maybe not for performance functions under the act, they would make recommendations to the Board to implement.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Chairman, help us.
Mr. Armah 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to draw the attention of hon. Members to the fact that we are dealing with an institution that we have christened: “Financial Intelligence Centre”. It is very possible that they might be undertaking certain assignments and duties that are completely covered with intelligence and it is possible that they might call somebody who is not a staff of the Centre
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, earlier, after listening to the comments of the Majority Leader I was encouraged that his remarks were rather supportive of our position; that the Board is appointed, the Chief Executive is appointed and therefore they are appointed to perform functions under this Act and so they are required to swear an oath of secrecy.
But with the subsequent explanation given by the Chairman of the Committee I am tempted to seek a further amendment to see whether it would resolve the issue. To say that, then we should delete the words “authorized to” under (c) if we insist that we want to maintain (c). Then it would read that - we just maintain:
“performing a function under this Act”.
Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, may I rephrase it. So clause 52 (1) will now read as follows:
“A person appointed to an office -
x x x
(b) appointed to act in an office, and
(c) performing a function under this Act …”
Then we can allow the rest to stay --
“. . . shall swear the oath of secrecy set out in the second schedule”. But if we say “authorize”, I am afraid
any person who would work under this Act would be somebody exercising delegated authority and we would be necessarily saying that that person must swear an oath of secrecy. If we make it as it is, we cannot distinguish between people

who would come in just for a daily routine and other officers of the Centre. So I think that (c), in my view, if we do not want to delete it, we should further amend it so that it reads as follows:

“any person who is performing a function under this Act answers an oath of secrecy.” [Interruptions].

Then we are opposed to maintaining (c) at all. Mr. Speaker may put the Question.
Mr. Chireh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that with the arguments now advanced we should agree, reluctantly, that we maintain (c) with the addition of “sensitive nature”.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, then it would arise - What is “sensitive nature”? Do we define it? [Some hon. Members: It would be determined by the Board.]
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, I do suggest that we put our heads together and when we come to the Second Consideration Stage then we would raise this matter again. I understand we really voted on this yesterday, but I am not too sure.
Mr. Chireh 12:10 p.m.
I wanted to have the last word on this. From what he is saying, it should be a sensitive nature “determined by the Board”. That should be the conclusion of the matter.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Member for Wa West, as I said, we could still put our heads together and when the proper time comes you may decide to move it again.
We have come to the end of the Consideration Stage in respect of this Anti-Money Laundering Bill.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that we adjourn proceedings till
tomorrow morning at 10.00 a.m.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
ADJOURNMENT 12:10 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 12.20 p.m. till 2nd November, 2007 at 10.00 a.m.