Debates of 3 Jun 2008

MR. FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:02 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:02 a.m.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:02 a.m.
Hon. Members, correction of Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 30th May, 2008, any corrections? Pages 1, 2 … 10. [No correction was made.]
The Votes and Proceedings as we have
gone through for Friday, 30th May, 2008 reflect exactly what took place for that day.

Hon. Members, we have a couple

of Questions for the hon. Minister for Health. The first Question stands in the name of hon. Emmanuel Kwasi Bandua of Biakoye. Is the Minister for Health here with us?

Majority Leader/Minister for

Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. A. O. Aidooh): Mr. Speaker, may we have your indulgence and that of the House, to permit the hon. Deputy Minister to act for the hon. Minister who is not available in the city?
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:02 a.m.
Very well,
the hon. Deputy Minister, if you are ready. The first Question, as I said, is in the name of hon. Member for Biakoye.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10:02 a.m.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Bandua 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the
Answer, the hon. Deputy Minister said that the Ministry had a programme to prioritise and mobilize extra resources for this programme. I want to find out from her the programme that the Ministry has.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if
you go to our Central Medical Stores right now, you will see that we have procured a lot of equipment for the various hospitals and health centres. Also there are so many clinics and health facilities that need some renovation works done. So we are doing all these and when everything is completed then we will consider the others. There are so many in the pipeline. Thank you.
Mr. Bandua 10:02 a.m.
In the Answer, the
hon. Deputy Minister also said that the Ministry was trying to source funding for the project. I want to find out from her the efforts that the Ministry has so far made towards securing the funding for the project.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I mentioned various areas where the Government or the Ministry is getting the resources; some from the Government of Ghana (GOG). Whatever the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (hon. Baah-Wiredu) does for him to come up with the resources, as for us we ask and they bring them. We have health partners and each time we organize a health summit we present our requests and whoever responds to them, we will take it.
So we are fishing out in all areas. Each time I travel outside and I attend conferences too, I lobby and that brings us a lot of support. So anytime we have resources available, we will get to Nkonya Wurupong. These are areas where we get our resources. Thank you.
Mr. Bandua 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Minister's Answer, she said that the Ministry was at the moment prioritizing

the completion of ongoing projects and the maintenance of existing infrastructure and equipment. I want to find out from her when this exercise would be com-pleted.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
that depends on the contractors and the resources available and the capital investment in their programme. So I cannot give any exact date.
Mr. G. K. B. Gbediame 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
in the second paragraph of the Answer, the Minister stated that they would require GH¢1.26 billion in providing health infrastructure in the country. May I know whether this includes the establishment of new health centres or just equipping the existing ones.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, that
includes new facilities that are yet to be constructed. It is a policy of every health institution or health Ministry that health facilities should be at the doorstep, just a walking distance and that is what we are aiming at. So you will see that the Ministry had recently also adopted and intensified these outreach programmes and majority of hon. Members will know that we have been coming to their communities to offer free medical services.
This is costing the Government because when we get there it is free but if the facilities are there, you will see that at least levies would be actually taken and that will go in to support other facilities.
Thank you very much.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:02 a.m.
Hon.
Gidisu, lastly?
Mr. Joe Gidisu 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister noted in her Answer that it would be taking the country 12

years to achieve the target she talked about. Having realised this, what specific programmes has the Ministry put in place to fast track this situation which she admitted is not the best for the country.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I just mentioned that the Ministry is doing its best in sourcing funds all over the world, especially through our health partners. Also, we have made it part of our programmes that wherever we attend conferences we lobby for funds -- [Interruption.] That is what I am saying. It looks like he did not hear me; we are doing our best lobbying for funds and I am sure that within - [Interruption.]
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Hon.
Deputy Minister, speak to the Chair and ignore all side issues.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
sorry. We are doing our best to make sure that at least, when sources of funding are available, we would be able to finish the project before the 12-year period.
Ms. Akua Sena Dansua 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
in the hon. Deputy Minister's Answer, she indicated that if funds are available the programme will be completed before 2012. I want to find out from her, is she talking about the New Patriotic Party (NPP) programme or the incoming National Democratic Party's (NDC's) programme?
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
I will
disallow your question.
The next Question stands in the name of hon. Charles S. Hodogbey, North Tongu.
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Hon. Member, do you want to ask your Question or not? I will not allow you to make a brief statement, so go straight to your Question.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Please,
go to your Question.
Dofor Adidome Health Centre, etc. (Residential Accommodation)
Q. 1338. Mr. Charles S. Hodogbey asked the Minister for Health what the Ministry was doing to provide residential accommodation for nurses and other staff of the following health centres:
(a) Dofor Adidome Health Centre
(b) Togorme Health Centre
(c) Podoe Health Centre
(d) Volu Health Centre.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
provision of housing units for the staff is an important and indeed, a decisive component in the deployment of health staff and the operation of healthcare facilities. As part of the strategy to deploying staff to work in the sub-district, where there is the general lack of decent rental units, the MOH has initiated the construction of residential accommo- dation for the staff. Some of these have been completed in a number of districts while construction is in progress in others.
The health centres that do not presently have staff houses will be provided with new housing units as and when the MOH is able to raise the necessary funds.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
sometime last Meeting a similar Question
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Hon.
Member, when you say ‘a similar Question came up', what exactly do you mean?
Mr. Hodogbey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Hon.
Member, is that the statement I stopped you from making? Is it a supplementary question or you are making some other statement?
Mr. Hodogbey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, her
boss answered a question on this earlier. The hon. Deputy Minister said that as part of the strategy of the Ministry of Health to deploy staff and the operation of healthcare facilities for health workers, they had initiated programmes for this. I would like to know if she can mention at least, one of the health centres in my constituency where this programme has been initiated.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it
looks like in the past when health centres were constructed and established, with the exception of the teaching hospitals, staff were forgotten. So when they are posted there is a problem. Now, it is a policy in the Ministry that without staff accommodation no health facility would be constructed. So everything would be a package.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
like to know if the process of providing this facility has to be initiated by the people or her Ministry would take the initiative of siting those facilities in those required areas?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
we do both. We encourage the local government and districts and also the Ministry is adding that as a package. There are so many requests for health facilities which have been turned down. We are making sure that we have staff accommodation. That is a policy now and we are encouraging the local government and the District Assemblies also to come in and assist us.
Mr. A. W. G. Abayateye 10:15 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. Deputy Minister, what specifically is the fate of the Dofor Adidome Health Centre, Togorme Health Centre, Dodoe Health Centre and Volu Health Centre? This is because the Question was specific but her Answer was blank. So I want to know the specific fate of the four health centres.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:15 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you repeating the Question that has already been asked? What exactly do you want?
Mr. Abayateye 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
Question was specific to four health centres. She has not said anything about the four health centres. That is why I want to ask what the fate of the four health
centres is.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the Ministry has actually realised that all health centres should have staff accommodation and so we are mobilising funds to make sure that all health centres have. So we will consider the four health centres as well.
Mr. John Gyetuah 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Deputy Minister said the health centres that do not presently have staff houses would be provided with new housing units, as and when the Ministry of Health (MOH) is able to raise the necessary funds. I want to ask her what specific measure, if she can tell the House one measure that the Ministry has put in place to raise the funds that she has indicated in her Answer.
Dr. (Mrs) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, every year the Ministry sends its budget to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and it is brought to this House, for approval. So when we check the 2008 Budget, we will see that we have Item 4 which is “Capital Investment” and we have allocated the resources we have for them. Then when we attend our health summits and conferences, we speak to the health partners. We are making all efforts to mobilise funds for the healthcare needs of the nation.
Mr. G. Kuntu-Blankson 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, according to the hon. Deputy Minister, Item 4 of the Budget indicates - [Interruption.]
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
She did not say Item 4 of the Budget. Did she say so?
Mr. Kuntu-Blankson 10:25 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said Item 4 is classified as “Capital Invest- ment”. Mr. Speaker, I mentioned that.
Mr. Kuntu-Blankson 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, according to the hon. Deputy Minister, Item 4 is classified as “Capital Invest- ment”, which indicates the resources which have been stated in the Budget and are going to be used to fund these facilities.
May I know from the hon. Deputy Minister, categorically, which part substantially is going to be used in alleviating the problem mentioned by my hon. Colleague who asked the Question?
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, I will not allow that question.
Juapong Health Centre (Completion and Opening)
Q. 1339. Mr. C. S. Hodogbey asked the hon. Minister for Health when Juapong Health Centre would be completed and the facility opened for use.
Dr. ( Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the project was funded under the Saudi Fund and has not been completed yet due to some technical problem under the funding arrangement. The Ministry is in the process of ensuring successful comple-tion of the project for use soonest. Meanwhile, healthcare services are provided to the community from the old health centre.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my question is, how many years ago was this project started?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
honestly, I can tell you that I am not sure of the time the project was started. We have so many uncompleted projects and the Ministry has taken it upon itself to make sure that all facilities are completed; especially those in the pipeline and Juapong Health Centre is one of them.
As I said, it was a Saudi-funded project and there is a problem and we are trying
to do our best to find resources to finish it.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in 2005 I was in the Ministry on this project. Hon. (Maj.) Courage Quashigah (retd), Minister for Health came to this House and promised completing the project in August 2005. He was here last Meeting, and he could not answer why the project was not completed. This is the third time that this issue concerning Juapong Health Centre is coming up.
Juapong has a population of over 10,000 people; they have a very small ramshackle health centre. This project was started even long before I came to Parliament and that is why I wanted to know when the project would be completed. Can she give me an answer about this?
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
I do not know whether that is a supplementary question because you have already asked that question and maybe, some other hon. Friends would like to come to your aid.
Ms. Akua Sena Dansua 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. Deputy Minister to tell us exactly what the technical problem is with the Saudi-funded projects. This is because previously in this House, each time the hon. Minister came to answer Questions relating to the Saudi-funded projects, she only said that there were technical problems. We need to know exactly what these technical problems are?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I did not actually receive notice on these “technical problems”.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, I did not get exactly what you said. It appears to be that the hon. Member wanted to find out what you mentioned in your Answer that there were some few technical problems. They want to know exactly what those few technical problems are.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I might not be able to tell the House the details of the technical problems that we are facing, but I will do that later.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, what is your problem? What is it that you have? Can you tell the House so that they may be of some assistance?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I did not receive notice to provide details of the technical problems, so I cannot provide the details they are requesting for now.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of the technical problems, this should have been answered by the hon. Minister if he were to be here. That is why it is important for the substantive Minister himself to be present to answer Questions. But I did not finish my supplementary question when you accepted the other question.
My next question is, with the Saudi- funded projects, we have about 26 of them for the whole country which were funded by the Saudi Fund. I would like to know from her, out of this 26 projects of which Juapong Health Centre is one of the uncompleted projects, how many are left now uncompleted? Is it that it is only Juapong Health Centre which was discriminated against or there are others?
rose
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, what exactly do you want? Hon. E. T. Mensah, do you want to answer the question for the hon. Deputy Minister? Hon. Deputy Minister, did you hear the question very well and that you want to give an answer to it?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would need notice of this and then come back to tell you.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if the Minister needs notice to tell us how many of the Saudi-funded projects have been completed, she should just mention two that she knows about and where they are - [Interruption.]
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
The hon. Deputy Minister has already agreed that she would come to this House to give an answer when she is given the appropriate notice. I wish you could save your question.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, then let me rephrase it. She said she had a problem and she needs notice for the “technical” - How technical is the “technical problem” that she does not know about? Because when you are briefed as a Minister -- the issues which concern the subject-matter are technical. So how technical is the “technical problem”? [Interruption.]
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
She has already said that they are very technical and she will come back - very technical.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I hope this time the hon. Deputy Minister will not be hiding behind the issue of notice.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from her whether the Ghana Government has any input to make towards the Saudi-funded projects and if so, how effectively has the Government been responding to its side of the agreement with the Juapong Health Centre as a specific example.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is again a very technical issue and I will ask for notice. [Interruption.]
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Well, hon. Members, we move on to the next Question which stands in the name of hon.

Joe Danquah, the hon. Member for Tain.
Mr. I. K. Asiamah 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Member of Parliament for Tain is unavoidably absent and has asked me to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Go ahead and ask the Question on his behalf.
Sabiye Sub-District Hospital (Ambulance)
Q. 1341. Mr. I. K. Asiamah (on behalf of Mr. Joe Danquah) asked the Minister for Health what plans the Ministry had to provide an ambulance for Sabiye Sub- District Hospital.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Health in the past provided ambulances to health institutions to enable them carry out effective inter-hospital transfers. However, it has been observed that, most often than not, the ambulances are considered properties of the institutions stationed in the health facilities and do not help neighbouring communities. These same health institutions sometimes park their ambulances and rely on the services of the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to transport patients to other health institutions.
Thus the new policy of the Ministry after this observation is that, the Ministry will no longer allocate ambulances to the health facilities, but rather increase the fleet of the National Ambulance Service (NAS), which can in turn extend pre- hospital emergency medical services to cover communities.
Sabiye Sub-District is in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region. Currently, the National Ambulance Service has set up stations in Berekum, Techiman, Kwame Danso, Jema, Nsawkaw, Dormaa Ahenkro and Goaso. In the meantime, the ambulance station at Nsawkaw will provide that service to the sub-district.
Alhaji M. M. Mubarak 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the Answer the hon. Minister gave, there is this occurrence of ‘National Ambulance Service'. Mr. Speaker, I would want to find out from her what the Act is, because so far as this House is concerned, there is nothing like National Ambulance Service. This House has not passed anything called National Ambulance Service and they keep mentioning it again, and again, and it is a service that is running illegally. If there is any legal backing, I would want to find out from her, where from this National Ambulance Service?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this ambulance service keeps coming back and forth in Parliament and I feel hon. Members should appreciate and actually commend the Ministry of Health for coming up with this initiative and for realizing that health facilities would need quick service. And transporting patients for immediate treatment the Ministry decided to initiative this service.
We are hoping that some day this Bill will come here and then we pass it. But hon. Members should appreciate the Ministry's effort in making sure that pre-ambulance care or pre-hospital care is taken care of before patients are seen at the facilities.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the issue is that it has been touted around that we have a National Ambulance Service and we are saying that we have not seen any Bill to that effect. We are saying that we do not know about it. That is what we want her to educate us on. [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon.
Majority Leader, are you on a point of order?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes. The unit is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health. We have a National Health Service and that unit is its subsidiary and it does not have to be set up by another Act of Parliament.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, a subsidiary cannot be the parent company. If you have a parent company and there is a subsidiary, it cannot be the parent company. What we are saying is that they have a unit - the National Ambulance Unit - but if you talk of National Ambulance Service, they are two different things and we are saying that she should educate us on it. We do not seem to see our way clear, that is the point that we are making, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon. E. T. Mensah, I believe that is not a question.
rose
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, hon. Owusu-Agyemang, do you want to ask a question?
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we need to educate my hon. Friend, my little brother there - [Interruptions.]
rose
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, are you asking a question?
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am asking a question.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, go ahead and ask your question. You do not need to educate anyone, ask your question.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:35 a.m.
I am 62 years old,
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon. E. T. Mensah, you have not been given the permission to speak. Hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, ask your question.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, whether he likes it or not, I am older than he is, so he is my little brother. I want to ask a question, is it the case that the hon. Deputy Minister requires permission of this august House to establish any unit within her Ministry? Is she required by law to come before this House to establish any unit in her Ministry?
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, no, we do not need any Act to establish any unit in the Ministry.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon. Members, we move on to the next Question.
Special Audit Report on National Health Insurance Council
Q. 1342. Alhaji M. M. Mubarak asked
the Minister for Health what measures had been taken so far to implement the recommendations of the special audit report on the National Health Insurance Council from January to September 2005.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:35 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Health actually set up a committee, headed by the Director of Internal Audit, to further study the recommendations of the special audit report and advise on the way forward. This, they did and actually every recommendation so far has been implemented.
Alhaji Mubarak 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister whether it is the case that after a special audit report has come from the Auditor-
General that they set up another committee to look into its recommendation. Is that what they did?
Dr. (Mrs) Ashitey 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, you
would all recall that the report was from January 2005 to September 2005. In fact, the report and its recommendations have so far been sent to Parliament. The hon. Minister for Health, myself and the other Deputy were then new in the Ministry and this came out. So the hon. Minister set up a committee and we studied the report and every recommendation has been implemented.
Alhaji Mubarak 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I heard
the hon. Deputy Minister say that the recommendation of the sub-committee had been made available to this House. When was this done? Because we still do not have copies. If possible, can she lay the one that is in her hands for consideration.
Dr. (Mrs) Ashitey 10:45 a.m.
So far, I have this
document here. I will give it to the hon. Member and maybe, he will trace it back to find it. This is because I have it here and it has been given to Parliament.
Ms. Akua Dansua 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, can the hon. Deputy Minister tell this august House who the other members of the committee are?
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:45 a.m.
The
other members of which committee - the committee that was set up by her Ministry?
Ms. Dansua 10:45 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Dr. (Mrs) Ashitey 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
do not have my list, but I know that Mr. Eleblu was the chairman of the committee.
Alhaji Collins Dauda 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Deputy Minister has told this House that recommendations were made and had been implemented. Can she be kind enough to this House, and tell us some of the recommendations of

this committee that the Ministry had implemented?
Dr. (Mrs) Ashitey 10:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
them here. There was excessive printing of National Health Insurance Scheme campaign brochures, duplication of media agencies, services for ¢360 million by then, additional cost of ¢296.2 million, inappropriate award of contract and on and on and on. And almost everything has been implemented. Those who were supposed to refund moneys have done so.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 10:45 a.m.
Hon.
Members, that will be the end of Question time.
Thank you, hon. Deputy Minister for coming here to answer these Questions from hon. Members of this House.
Yes, there is one Statement that I wish
we could take. It stands in the name of the hon. Member for Tarkwa-Nsuaem (Mrs. Gifty Kusi).
STATEMENTS 10:45 a.m.
Mrs. G. E. Kusi (NPP - Tarkwa- Nsuaem) 10:45 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to make this Statement on the floor concerning the free medical care for expectant mothers in Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the Government and the President in particular for taking the necessary steps to provide free medical care for expectant mothers in Ghana. It is unfortunate that in our quest to execute our God-given responsibility as the vessels through which the world is replenished, we are saddled with so many predicaments, some of which sometimes cause us to lose our lives, as women.
My fellow hon. Members would

without doubt agree with me that, the free medical care for expectant mothers is a laudable one from the Government and I would like to congratulate it for securing £42 million grant to help broaden the reach of medical care currently provided for pregnant women in the country. With this there would be a drastic reduction in maternal mortality, which is a target set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Mr. Speaker, the problems of women in the reproductive age group can be summarized by the level of Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), which covers deaths during pregnancy, child birth and up to 42 days after delivery. Women over the years have had great ordeal with regard to child birth and many a time pregnant women die during delivery as a result their inability to access maternal care due to high cost of medical care. Maternal mortality is a sad event because majority of the factors associated with the deaths are preventable, especially with regard to affordability and accessibility.

We in the Women Caucus in this Parliament are particularly grateful because this move by the Government to reduce maternal mortality is consistent with our efforts in helping to reduce maternal mortality and are very positive that the fight for the eradication of maternal deaths has been given a major boost with this policy.

Mr. Speaker, in our aim to enhance our knowledge of the problems of infant and maternal mortality and also to create awareness about the plight of the unborn child and the pregnant woman, we held a seminar, the result of which led us, not only to visit to find out, but also launch an appeal for funds for the total rehabilitation and refurbishment of the theatres and wards of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

To grace our effort, MTN Ghana Foundation as part of their corporate social responsibility offered to finance the project as its health flagship project to the tune of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) and the project was launched recently.

Mr. Speaker, many maternal deaths in developing countries do not happen only in hospitals but take place either at home or on the way to a health facility. Even where services are functioning well, women with Obstetrics complications face variety of barriers which results in delays. Some of these barriers are economic, cultural and geographic which experts have grouped into three called “the three delays”. These are:

1. Delay in deciding to seek care: which entails socio-economic factors for example inability to pay for service at the hospital and cost of transportation and cultural factors including lack of knowledge in the recognition of obstetric complication in pregnancy where, for example, certain behavioural patterns such as infidelity and stubborn- ness are believed to lead to obstructed labour.

2. Delay in reaching a treatment facility and referral system: Once the decision has been taken for the woman in obstetric emergency to seek care, accessibility factors like distance, transportation, bad roads and cost may delay her arrival at the health facility. Most health centres are far away from villages where labouring women have to travel through long distances or be carried in hammocks to health centres thus
MR. SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER
Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak (NDC - Asawase) 10:55 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement made on child and maternal mortality and the facility the Government has just procured to enable our mothers and younger brothers and sisters to get free access to medication before and after and immediately after birth. It is worth noting that this, we believe is something we have been crying and calling for, for a very long period of time.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the UNDP Report of 2007 and with your permission, I would like to quote some sections of page 34 and it says:
“Life expectancy at birth among Ghanaians has not changed significantly over the years but still remains very low . . .”
That is page 34 and I continue:
“. . . Child mortality in the country remains very high. Over the period 1983 to 1999 infant mortality declined from 77 deaths per 1,000 live births to 57 deaths per 1,000 births. However, since 1999 to 2006 infant mortality has increased from the figure 57 deaths per 1,000 live births to 71 per 1,000 live births.”
Mr. Speaker, also the report quoted says 10:55 a.m.
“Also over the period 1983 to 1999 under-5 mortality rate declined from 155 deaths per 1,000 live
births to 108 deaths per 1,000 live births. However, from 1999 to 2006 under-5 mortality increased from 108 deaths per 1,000 live births to 111 deaths per 1,000 live births.”
Mr. Speaker, you can see clearly that when it comes to infant mortality and maternal mortality, we have not been doing well at all. Even under the so- called inhuman cash and carry system, there was free ante-natal for pregnant women and children under five. When we came to have the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr. Speaker, we deliberately or we refused to provide these services to pregnant women and children under five and that has accounted for the high increasing rate of infant and maternal mortality rates in our country.
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:55 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is misleading this House. I have been in the health facilities for sixteen years before I came to this House. Yes, the services might be termed lip-service, not being done. When the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government came in, there has been a change.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Order!
Order! Hon. Deputy Minister, just indicate clearly what your point of order is; where
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 10:55 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is giving wrong facts.
Prof. Oquaye 10:55 a.m.
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if anyone says that under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) there was universal, free, maternity care for Ghanaians, he or she is seriously misleading this House and I challenge him/her to prove it. [Interruptions.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Order!
Order! Hon. Member for Asawase, can you continue.
Alhaji Mubarak 10:55 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe when I was making my contribution I cited the document, I cited the page number, I cited facts and figures. If they doubt, they should simply just mention whichever figures they hold to indicate that I was misleading this House.
Mr. Speaker, according to the 2007 UNDP Report, page 34, all these figures are there indicating that there is a serious decline in the infant and maternal mortality in our country. The hon. Deputy Minister herself acknowledged that, yes, but there were reasons.
Whatever reasons there are, I am saying that it is a serious problem that we have in the country, and for the first time in the history of our country I have uncles and senior colleagues who have been with us since independence; there was no time in the history of this country that a mother would go to hospital and give birth and she is quarantined because she could not pay for the health services. Until now, it has never happened in the history of this country.
Mr. Speaker, the former flagbearer aspirant was saying that - [Interruption] -- Who was saying that I was misleading? I believe that either he was not listening
very well to me or during that time he was in exile, or self-imposed exile.
Mr. Kwadjo Opare-Hammond 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I believe my hon. Colleague on the other side of the House is trying to mislead this whole country. Mr. Speaker, under the PNDC/ NDC Government, they had what we call the cash and carry system - [Uproar] -- What they were doing at that time was that they would state it as part of their broad category of polices, that maternal care and child bearing was free at the hospitals. Mr. Speaker, but when you go to the hospital -- and I am saying this based on facts -- Mr. Speaker, even though I was not a Member of Parliament, I was working with a non-governmental agency, and I was paying to help some of these mothers deliver in hospitals in some rural areas.
Mr. Speaker, under the cash and carry system, mothers who went to hospitals to give birth had to pay cash before they were allowed to leave the hospital. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member who just spoke is grossly misleading this House and the entire nation.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Member for Asawase, this is a Statement to which you are commenting on, and you should avoid issues that will provoke debate. Please, go on without raising issues that will provoke debate.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Member, do not go into the slippery area, just go on and make your contribution. The point is that you are saying a certain state of affairs existed in the past but it does not exist now, and they are challenging it. And I am saying that avoid those kinds of statements that will provoke debate.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, these reliefs, I believe will go a long way to help our mothers, but then, what I will have to add is that it will not be enough for us to only depend on foreign aid to take care of our mothers and children under five.
Mr. Speaker, I am saying this because, it seems if it had not been as a result of the £42 million grant from the United Kingdom Government, we as a country would not have thought of giving this kind of relief. Mr. Speaker, I think that we must use the National Health Insurance very effectively, in that people are paying indirectly for everything that they purchase on the market to finance our health.
Mr. Speaker, today you attend some of our hospitals; many of our hospitals, even in Accra, when you are going to give birth, you need to go with some number of buckets of water because the hospital has some problems. I think that whatever problem that they have, it should not affect our health facilities.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you on your feet?
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
No, he is not on his feet. [Laughter.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order!
Order! If hon. Members do not wish to intervene, they may please resume their seats.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, since 2005 when we started implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme -- I will give -- [Interruption.]
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, when my hon. Colleague was contributing, he made mention of the fact that if, and I will try to paraphrase it, he said, “if you go to the hospital to give birth you must carry buckets of water”. Does he have any evidence himself of giving birth or is he going by hearsay - [Uproar] -- I am not sure that he has gone through that experience. If he has the evidence, he should please provide it.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Members, Order! Do not distract the hon. Member who is making his comment; the hon. Member is capable of reacting to the situation so please keep your calm and allow him to talk. The hon. Minister of State was asking whether you have some personal experience of what you were saying. But please go ahead and then - [Interruption.]
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. Colleague, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is either not watching and listening to news currently or he has been so busy travelling outside the country that he does not follow the issues in the country.
Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, it was in the news that all the news item - La

General Hospital, people have to carry sachet water when they are going to deliver.
Dr. Osei 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member says I have been so busy travelling outside the country. Mr. Speaker, either he is blind or he does not know what he is talking about; he is misleading this House. I have been on the ground, in Parliament the whole of last month, so I do not know what he is talking about. He should withdraw that statement. I seriously object to that.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Member for Asawase, the hon. Minister is objecting to your inference that he was not around, that he has been travelling all the time. He says he had been in all this time.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
believe the hon. Minister had been around because of his primaries. Now that his primaries are over - Mr. Speaker, but on a more serious note, I withdraw the statement.
Mr. Speaker, the point that I am trying to make is that since 2005 when we started the implementation of the National Insurance Scheme, if you look at the quantum of money that we have made available to the scheme -- in 2005 the figure was about GH¢1.3 trillion, in 2006 it was GH¢1.5 trillion, in 2007 it was GH¢1.7 trillion, this year we estimated to spend GH¢2.3 trillion or better still GH¢235 million, indicating clearly that there is a huge chunk of money going in there.
I believe that as a country we should be able to take care of the needy among us - children under five and women pregnant and giving birth at the hospitals. I believe we have the capacity to absorb these ones without necessarily falling on foreign aid to be able to do this. Because if this 42 million pounds fails to come, what it simply means is that we are not going to be
Dr. (Mrs.) Ashitey 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is misleading this House. He is giving the impression as though the foreign aid that we recently had is what is taking care of the health needs of our people; yes, it is in the National Health Insurance but he should remember that we have other nations around us. How can this be sustainable if we do not keep watch over it? We have principles and guidelines. The people should register, and if they do not register how can we take care of them? The facility is there, everybody's needs are being taken care of. So he is misleading this House; it is not the foreign money coming in that they are now being taken care of.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon. Member, in Statements, you just have to make a few comments, do not let it look as if you are making another Statement. So please, just try and wind up.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with regard to what the hon. Deputy Minister was saying, if she felt that the National Health Insurance was already taking care of our mothers, then the question one asks is, why this intervention? If the system is already taking care of this, it means that there are some difficulties with the system that is why we are bringing this intervention. Mr. Speaker, to wind up -- [Interruption.]
11. 15 a.m.
Mr. S. Asamoah-Boateng 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my Colleague there wants to debate and this is not a point for debate. The intervention is not a substitute for what the Government is doing. It is an additional. Is he saying that we should
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order, order. Yes, hon. Member, you may try and wind up.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Thank you very
much. Mr. Speaker, I am in no way not being appreciative of what the foreign Governments are trying to do. All I am trying to say is that the maternal and infant mortality issue is a serious one that we need to be able to take care of within our own budget.
So that when these moneys come it should rather come to support our roads or something else but it should not be the core or backbone of the support that is going to be given to help us reduce maternal and infant mortality.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 11:05 a.m.
On a point of
Order! Mr. Speaker, actually, I am going to eat kokonte this afternoon -- [Laughter.] And if my Colleagues on the side who eat konkonte in their houses and hide them want to join me they are all welcome to come and eat kokonte with me.
Mr. Speaker, on a more serious note, my Colleague on the other side of the House should just calm down when he is making a contribution. He shifts the goal posts and he still goes on to say that when this money is coming in, we should use it for other purposes other than to help our
mothers. But he must know that when you receive aid or assistance sometimes it comes with a condition that it must be used for a particular purpose and that is exactly what the forty-two million pounds was meant to do. So he cannot be dismissive of somebody who is giving you help which in this case is the British. Is he saying that the British are not doing us a favour? Is this his point?
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Yes,
hon. Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr. E.T. Mensah 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Colleague and my senior brother; he should be educated on my position. I am the Minister of Information and National Orientation. He should go back and learn. Thank you.
Mr. E.T. Mensah 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
very well aware that he is supposed to be the Minister for Information and National Orientation but he has been disorienting people. That is why I am couching it that it is National Disorientation. He said we ate kokonte - where is the evidence that we on this side of the House ate kokonte this morning. He advocates kokonte eating. What I am saying is that there is nothing wrong with eating kokonte but the way he is going about it is the problem.
When the hon. Member was talking his reaction meant that he was not listening. He just jumped onto the fray and started disorienting people; that is the problem. On a more serious note, he must begin

to work on national orientation and stop disorganizing and disorienting people. Thank you very much.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon.
Member, your intervention has not helped us in any way.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in
winding up I must say that the attitude of some of our health professionals also leaves much to be desired and I am using this medium to plead, especially the nurses at the various maternity wards - their attitude towards patients is terrible.
Mr. Speaker, if you go there, the way they receive them itself discourages - Some of them can be very very irritating and they are indirectly even discouraging some of our mothers from running to the hospital when they really need maternal services and I want to plead with the Ministry especially, the Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Ministry of Health to embark on serious monitoring. Because they are bringing in this new policy we should not sit down and hope that magically this will drastically reduce infant mortality and maternal mortality, but they should ensure that our health professionals, the nurses in the various maternity homes will live up to the task.
We know the challenges, the difficulties that they are confronted with but we are a developing country and there is the need for them to continue giving us their best assistance. Sometimes, the attitude of some of them is really not encouraging at all.
I thank you very much for the opportunity, Mr. Speaker.
Prof.A. Mike Oquaye (NPP Dome/
Kwabenya): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the floor of the House.
Mr. Speaker, health is very crucial and
whereas we all may be subject to sickness of one form or the other sometime women in particular suffer some other further ailment so that children can be born.
So this is a very very important human rights issue and human rights intervention and I think it is a big victory for Ghanaian women and a sign of the President's care and social welfare for the people of this country and we want to congratulate His Excellency once more for the good work done in ensuring the welfare of the people of this country. And to add to the extension of free service to minors is a feather in the cup in this regard.
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 11:05 a.m.
On a point
of order. Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Member is using this opportunity to campaign because from this statements.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon.
Member, what is the point of order?
Mr. Hodogbey 11:05 a.m.
I just want to say this
is not the platform for people to campaign.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon.
Member, please resume your seat. This is not a point of order. Hon. Member please go on.
Prof. Oquaye 11:05 a.m.
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker on an occasion like this, apart from congratulating our President for another very good work done we also have to extend our gratitude to the British Government.
Mr. Speaker, they were the first to support us when this country had to go to HIPC and they have consistently shown that Ghana is dear to them. Mr. Speaker, those who have lived abroad, Britain in particular, will tell you how very jealous they are of their national health system. And what they have done now is virtually to tie theirs to ours and to extend some of what they could have spent on their own people on our people and it is very

important to note this well and to extend our appreciation from this august House to the British Government -
Mr. Moses Asaga 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think he is misleading Ghanaians by saying the British are very generous in their health delivery services. Mr. Speaker, just two months ago - [Interruptions.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order!
Order!
Hon. Member, let the Chair decide
whether it is a point of order or not.
Mr. Asaga 11:05 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he is
misleading this House by talking about generosity and the efficiency of the British health system which they want to extend to Ghana.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Order! Order! Order! Order! Hon. Member that is not a point of order. You may not have a perfect system everywhere. That is his view, that by this gesture they are being generous. So let him go on. Hon. Member, go on.
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my Friend was confusing jealous with generous. I said they are jealous over it. They guide and guard the moneys spent on their national health system and for them to take some part of it and give to us is a real show of their generosity and their regard for the people of Ghana, and it should be appreciated. That is the essence of my
argument.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, let us not take issue with people's view points. He is expressing a view; you may disagree with it, if it comes to your turn to make comments you can deal with that. Please, go on.
Mr. Asaga 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker --
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Let the hon. Member go on. He is expressing his view point and you may not agree. Hon. Member, go on.
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as much as we have always had problems with our national health delivery system, it cannot be gainsaid that there had been consistent improvement, consistent policies, to resolve some of the contra-dictions in the system and to make things better for our people.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is going off. He just admonished hon. Asaga that we should not take issues with people's contributions. Something that was said a short while ago he is still speaking to it and rolling the thing back. I am not surprised because he has not recovered from the shock of his campaign - [Uproar.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Members, please, avoid irrelevances.

Please, hon. Members let us make our comments on the Statement very simple without provoking any debate. Hon. Member, please, go on.
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Our democratic tradition New Patriotic Party (NPP)) members have very excellent shock absorbers in the art of politicking and for that matter no New Patriotic Party (NPP) member carries defeats of any kind to such extent that they made him less efficient in the delivery of his duties.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, leave that out and go on with your comments.
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it has been shown by studies carried out -- [Interruption.]
Alhaji Amadu B. Sorogho 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I want your guidance. Mr. Speaker, I want to find out whether hon. Prof. Mike Oquaye is commenting on the Statement made by the hon. Member or he is commenting on comments made by the Ranking Member?
Mr. Speaker, he got up by making reference to a bucket of water. If he wants to talk about buckets of water then we should go back to - I want hon. Prof. Mike Oquaye to tell us whether he is commenting on the Statement on the floor of the House or he is commenting on Statements that other people made. Mr. Speaker, he is completely off. If he has nothing to contribute, he should sit down and allow people to comment on the Statement.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Member for Abokobi- Madina (Alhaji A. B. Sorogho) if the comments you are talking about were made in respect of this Statement then he can do that. Go on.
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to establish that it has been shown by studies carried out in the University of Ghana recently that our health workers are better motivated as a result of the National Health Insurance Scheme - [Inter-ruptions.] And I am saying that this is going to further motivate them and that these interventions are very, very timely and in the best interest of the people of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear from this intervention, from the intervention regarding children and from the National Health Insurance System generally, that we are moving systematically to the point of free universal health system for the people of Ghana as against the obnoxious cash and carry system.
Mr. Speaker, we are saying that very soon, if we move in this direction every adult who is working will contribute and then with other additions such as the one we have got from our developing partners, et cetera Ghana is going to move towards a system whereby we shall all benefit from a better health delivery and those problems of the past will remain things of the past. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 11:25 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member for Tarkwa Nsuaem (Mrs. Eugenia Kusi) made the Statement specifically on maternal health and the assistance or interventions that Government is trying to put in place to help our expectant mothers. I am very surprised that the Statement is taking on a different dimension altogether.
Mr. Speaker, it is important for all of us to apprise ourselves of all the policies carried out by various governments in the health sector. It is a fact and nobody can
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, seriously speaking my Friend on the other side should not be talking of any Member of Parliament having a colonial mentality. It is derogatory, it is un-parliamentary and I will ask him to withdraw.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member for Jomoro, the hon. Member takes objection to the term “colonial mentality” assigned to him.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Parliament we have is a spring off of the colonial system, it is not indigenous, it is based on both the American and Westminster system; we have not invented our own. So it is part of the colonial system.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, the structure having root in that is one thing, specifying him for that description is another thing. He takes objection to it so please -
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
You mean Prof. Oquaye? His utterances betrayed him; I am not saying that, his own utterances betrayed him.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, let us have our peace. He objects to it, please, withdraw it and then we go ahead.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if hon. Professor Oquaye does not like what I am saying, from now on, he should keep cool; I withdraw.
Mr. Speaker, we should be able to take
care of our own mothers and children. This year under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) we are collecting the equivalent of $235 million. Please, check the formula which was brought here in Parliament. Let us be able to use the money judiciously and be able to take care of our own mothers.
It seems that now it has become very
Prof. Oquaye 11:25 a.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, it is seriously wrong to say we should be able to do it ourselves. As we are speaking we have not reached the position of 50 per cent of eligibles being registered under the system. It is now about 47 per cent and we have not even had co-operation from some relevant persons who could have helped the National Health Service, for now, to have reached 70 per cent.
If we had that kind of appropriate co-operation then we could even have gone higher than we have gone now. $235 million would not do it all and for that matter if we have some help from somewhere we must show our gratitude rather than going backward and saying, ‘We should be able to do it all'.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
It
was not a point of order. Hon. Member, I would advise that just go on with your point.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am on it.
It would have been very good if the hon. Professor had consulted me as the Ranking Member on the Committee of Health. I would have told him that 50 per cent of the population who had not registered are the youth. They are under 18 and therefore what we have now is almost past 50 per cent of the eligible. [Interruption.] Yes, I have the document; the hon. Member does not have anything. And the 2 ½ per cent - [Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member for Jomoro, I have advised that please, avoid argumentative aspects. [Interruption.] Whatever reasons you are giving are subjective. Avoid them; just go on with your contribution.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member, you have a point of order?
M r. A s i a m a h : M r. S p e a k e r
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member, please, state your point of order clearly and let us see.
Mr. Asiamah 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon.
Colleague is grossly misleading this House. The challenges of the health sector - I want to quote what Dr. Elias Sorey, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service said. He did say on Metro TV that the problem with maternal health care was the neglect of the health sector over the years between 1970s and 1980s. He continued that the then Government programmed primary health care for all by the 2000. They failed woefully in all these indicators.
So the underlying causes of the problems started from the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the NDC. So we have inherited a huge

problem in the health sector. It is not coming from me; it is coming from the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service; he did say this.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member, my caution that the comments on the Statement sliding into debates applies to all and your intervention, although reacting to it, only worsens the situation.
Hon. Member, once again just go on
with your views without provoking debate. Please, try and wind up. The time for the Statement is over.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
finish, but when young people like the hon. Member for Atwima-Mponua misquotes things I have to direct him. I have been in government since 1979. I know many things that he would never learn from any university; he was not even born. So let me teach him. Mr. Speaker, let me teach him small; allow me.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member, provided he is yielding to your teachings.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
He should.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
He has
shot up. Let us hear him.
Mr. Asiamah 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe
each hon. Member in this House deserves respect. I have been duly elected by the people of Atwima-Mponua to represent them. I am not here to receive teachings from him. He holds a Masters degree and I also hold a Masters degree. So he is not here to give me any new teachings. I am very competent and I know what I am saying. The record is there and I am quoting somebody who is more responsible in the health sector. I am
quoting Dr. Elias Sorey. He did say this on Metro TV.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon.
Member, that is all right. Your point is clear. Hon. Member for Jomoro, please, take advice from the Chair and veer away from those issues that would provoke debate.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Dr.
Sorey has quoted his figures. Let me quote from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote:
“Over the period, 1983 to 1998, that is PNDC/NDC, infant mortality declined from 77 deaths per 1,000 live births to 57 per 1000 live births. However, since 1999 to 2006 infant mortality has increased from 57 per 1000 live births to 71 per 1000 live births.”
An hon. Member: Oh, NPP.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not like
people diverting my attention, otherwise I would quote more figures.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, please, he
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon. Member, just hold your horses for a moment.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
They are giving us some £42 million. I think what we should do
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.


Hajia Alima Mahama: On a point of

order. Mr. Speaker, I have been trying to resist the attempt to rise up on the basis of point of order. My point of order is related to this issue of begging.

It is not a case of begging. The whole

world committed itself at the Montero Consensus that we should meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the world committed itself to put in resources, making resources available for us to meet the MDGs.

If therefore we went for the meeting on achievement of MDGs and the targets set and resources are mobilised to ensure that they met the MDGs, one should not call it begging. So I would ask that he takes this information and he should not refer to the issue as begging. It is a commitment made by the world community to ensure that we all meet the MDGs.
Mr. Ocran 11:25 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think what
our Government should do is to bring to this House an amendment to the National Health Insurance law so that expectant mothers would be treated free; that is all. We must amend this Act, (Act 68), section 77 (2) so that we add maternal health. She as a woman and hon. Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, that is what she should try to do. So that we can amend the Act and pregnant women can go to hospital free. That is the most important.
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Members are mesmerised; they are quiet so I would sit down so that they can revive their --
Some hon. Members -- rose --
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Before
I come to hon. Christine Churcher, let me hear the hon. Minister for Women and Children's Affairs.
Minister for Women and Children's
Affairs (Hajia Alima Mahama): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Statement ably made by the hon. Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem.
Mr. Speaker, one needs to appreciate
the support that we are getting from the international community. It is true that prior to 2001, it was the policy that antenatal care should be free and delivery should be free. But as has been observed, all policies and programmes and their implementations have their challenges. The challenge prior to 2001 was that people had to go to hospital, claim exemptions and the various hospitals would have to go back to the Central Government to claim their moneys.

Therefore, most hospitals had a problem with that and would not want to deliver free services. This is because sometimes there were delays in the payments of the various exemption clauses or sometimes not at all if it was not budgeted for, especially if it was above the budgeted estimates. So there were challenges in that regard.

Prior to 2001, to confront these challenges, there were huge amount of exemptions that we had to pay and these were paid from the HIPC relief. But the National Health Insurance factored in the experience of the policy statement that there should be free ante-natal care and delivery services. And in doing this, it said every woman or every pregnant woman must be registered under the
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon.
Member for Asawase, do you have a point of order?
Alhaji Mubarak 11:45 a.m.
That is so, Mr.
Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague on the floor is misleading this House. She said prior to 2001, they had to go for the HIPC relief but all of us are very much aware that until 2003 there was no HIPC relief.
Hajia Mahama: Mr. Speaker, I do not
Mr. J. Y. Chireh 11:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
rising on a point of order and my point of order is for us to state facts about the periods that we are talking about. When we take a partisan position, then we will have a difficulty. She should say that prior to 2005; the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme started in 2005. So all these other things that we are talking about - we are talking about pre- 2001. The issue is that that policy was continued to 2005 before the National Health Insurance Scheme. So when we do not relate our facts to the facts as they are, but looking at the period of governments, then we miss the point.
I think that she should also continue to talk about what the Statement said and not to be comparing things because comparisons are not what we are talking about here. We are talking about some assistance that has come; we should be talking about policies that will facilitate the proper implementation or spending of this money. All this idea of prior to this and that, I do not think that it is fair. That is my point of order.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Well,
your advice applies to both sides; it is a good piece of advice.
Hon. Minister, all that he is saying is that a certain state of affairs changed upon the intervention of a policy, so you should start from where the policy started. That is the point he was making. But both sides were making certain comparisons so both sides were guilty of this sort of comparison game. Hon. Minister, please, go on.
Hajia Mahama: Mr. Speaker, that is the way the discourse has been going and I am not saying that prior to 2001 there was one problem or the other. I am just continuing from the Statement that whatever programmes and policies that are put in place, there are challenges and we need to address them. That statement has been made here and I am just pursuing the challenges that were realised as a result of the free policy coverage for pregnant women.
The National Health Insurance Scheme was conceived as a programme that could address the issue of having gaps in the exemptions clauses. The National Health Insurance Scheme though was started in 2005, the processes concerning the development of the policies and the programme started prior to that.

[HAJIA MAHAMA] The National Health Insurance Scheme therefore, has as part of it that all pregnant women should have free and ante-natal care, free delivery service, free post-natal care but the condition is that they must register. Therefore, this was a challenge for us to get all women but more especially those in the reproductive age bracket to ensure that they do register under the National Health Insurance Scheme. The research and figures indicated that there was a reduction in maternal mortality.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:45 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a
point of order. Mr. Speaker, I am on a point of order because factually, there is a lot of inconsistency in what the hon. Minister is saying. She was saying that maternity, ante-natal, post-natal were all free and all they needed to do was to register. Please, she should go and look at Act 650. It is not true that it is free; you need to pay a premium to be able to access it. So it is not free. She should not say that just because you are pregnant just go and register and then you can access it free of charge. It is just like all Ghanaians, we need to pay a premium before we can go on to access health.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Hon.
Member, maybe you have to find out what she means by “registration”. Please, go on hon. Minister.
Hajia Mahama: Mr. Speaker, you
have to pay a premium to register and that is why I used the word “registration”. You cannot register without paying the premium; you have to pay and that is why it is called insurance. You have to pay a
premium to register. If they would allow me, I may continue.
Mr. Speaker, the maternal mortality
figures before the 2005 demographic health survey were 214. The last demographic survey in 2005/2006, the figures were 197 and 187 respectively under the national demographic health survey, they showed a reduction. However, in 2007, they have not yet done the survey but it is estimated that there has been an increase to 230.
So we are calling for a survey to let us know whether there has actually been an increase or a decrease, because the trend was a decrease and now we are being told that the figure is 230. Therefore, we are expecting another demographic health survey to know the real figure. But if we look at the authentic demographic health survey, it was 197 and then 187 out of 100 live births. Whatever the case, the figures are still high, out of 2000 live births and we still need to do something about that.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) require that we should reduce poverty, we should ensure universal enrolment, we should empower women but we should also ensure improvement in maternal health and improvement in child health.
When Ghana was being reviewed, it
was indicated that Ghana was on track to achieve a reduction in poverty. Ghana was on track to achieve a universal school enrolment: Ghana was on track because we were putting in efforts in that area. However, we were not likely to achieve the target for maternal health, that is, improvement in maternal health and improvement in infant and child health and that we needed to double our efforts.
Then the President therefore used that opportunity to say that achieving the Millennium Development Goals for

[HAJIA MAHAMA] improvement in maternal health was so important and fundamental for the development of Ghana; and we needed to use the resources that we were getting under the MDGs to ensure that there was an improvement in maternal health and therefore, reduction in maternal mortality.

We applauded him for going there with one item agenda and saying that moneys that were coming from the British Government should be pooled for maternal health. We were therefore glad that his request was responded to and we got £42.5 million. The budget estimates put $6 million for maternal health per annum for Ghana. So if we have £42.6 million, and convert it to the current figures to dollars, I am sure we would get about nearly $90 million. If we divide that by 6, it means that this would be doing a lot of work for us for a number of years.

Mr. Speaker, for this matter, we congratulate His Excellency the President. I mobilized women to go and thank him for what he did for us, going there with a one-item agenda. It is our hope and our expectation as has been observed here that the money would be used well, set up some teams, comprising the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, including Parliament, because health is a multi -sectoral activity that we will all work together and ensure that these monies are used for the benefit of pregnant women to improve the maternal health.

It is my expectation that family planning would be factored in so that we address the issue of family planning as well, because it relates to maternal health. If the mother is not healthy, she will definitely not get healthy children; and factors even including women empowerment issues to ensure that women are able to avoid the delays that were ably narrated in the

Statement and to ensure that women have the resources and that they will go to hospital and seek maternal health.

Mr. Speaker, I need also to refer to the issues of women going to the hospitals and not being detained there for not paying their bills. We all know about the problem of neo-natal care. The children that the neo-natal clinics are now saving, in the past would have died. But it also requires a lot of resources, it requires disposable items and the bills need to be picked up.

It is my expectation that the $42.5 billion will also be used to support the neo-natal clinics so that the high cost that is expected will be taken care of and the little ones will survive. I have visited the place and sometimes the children, you cannot even handle them; they are not bigger than my palm, very little ones and they need to take care of them, they need to support them to survive.

Yes, infant mortality has increased slightly from the under five mortality figure that he was quoting from 57 to 64. What are the policies in place to do that? The Upper East Region had the highest figures of over 150. What we did was, we did an intensive programme in the Upper East Region and we were able by using mothers, using all sorts of inter-sectoral collaboration under the accelerated child health programme, to reduce infant mortality and child mortality in this region by 50 percentage points. So this shows that it can be done and we can develop strategies to bring down infant mortality.

The next place is the Upper West Region because the Upper East Region had the highest figures; now, the higher figure is the Upper West Region, which had 108 out of 1000 births; and we have mobilized our resources again to ensure that the high impact rapid delivery

[HAJIA MAHAMA] programme addresses the issues of infant mortality in the Upper West Region. This programme has been going on for two years now and my Ministry is involved, mobilizing women and ensuring that they become the peer group educators in the use of all the facilities to bring down maternal mortality.

We are extending it to the Northern Region and to the Central Region and it is our belief that as this continues, infant mortality figures will reduce.

Mr. Speaker, our nurses, it may be that
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Hon. Member, do you have a point of order?
Mr. I. M. Abass 11:55 a.m.
Exactly so, Mr. Speaker. It appears that my hon. Colleague is veering off the issues at stake and talking about what her Ministry is doing. I would urge her to come back to the Statement and stop taking us to her Ministry and what they have been doing. That is my point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Hon. Member, what she is saying is not irrelevant. Your point of order is not sustained. Hon. Minister, please, go on.
Hajia Mahama: Mr. Speaker, a number of hon. Members have talked about maternal mortality and infant mortality, so I am just telling them that yes, I agree with them that some figures have gone up, but I am also telling them what has gone on and how the figures have been reduced in the regions that had the highest figures, and how we are on course to reduce infant and child mortality in Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, on the point about nurses not behaving properly and all that, it may
be that sometimes some nurses do not. But I will also want to say on the floor of this House that the nurse-to-patient ratio in this country is high and we all know about our nurses leaving for greener pastures. We have fewer nurses working overtime to respond to our health needs. So we should be applauding the nurses for what they are doing and I will take this opportunity to applaud them for the hard work they are doing to support the health of women, children, men and boys in this country.
Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying that I agree with all the suggestions that the money should be put to good use. We should put in structures to ensure that maternal health is improved in this country.
Mr. Speaker, the good news is that now, all children under 18 will have free cover under the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Ministry of Health is working on a document to bring it before this House to ensure that there is an amendment in the law that requires parents to register before their children will have free coverage. So all our children under 18 will have free cover under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Mr. Speaker, no child in Ghana has died
of measles in the last four years; this is an achievement. And Ghana is on course to be certified as a polio-free country. In other words, children of Ghana have stopped getting polio in this country. These are achievements and improvements that we should be applauding Ghana. I would not say Ghana Government, but we should be applauding Ghana.
Maternal health is linked up with the
whole issue of human rights as well as women empowerment issues. I will call on hon. Members of this House to factor in women rights and women empowerment

[HAJIA MAHAMA] issues as we do our monitoring visits in our communities, and if possible even apply the little resources that we have to improve on women health and to promote issues of women empowerment.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
I thought hon. Minister you said you were concluding?
Hajia Mahama: Yes, there are socio- cultural inhibitions and I am calling on hon. Members to let us work on these socio-cultural inhibitions that prevent our women from seeking medical health when they are supposed to do that and we all have to play a role in that.
I congratulate and applaud His Excellency the President for going out and working on one agenda item and bringing in £42.5 million to Ghana -- pounds, not dollars, to bring about improvement in maternal health.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Now, it appears the men have dominated this debate. I am going to give the last slot to a lady, hon. Churcher and that is the last point and then we go on to other business.
Ms. Christine Churcher (NPP - Cape Coast) 12:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Statement made by the hon. Member for Tarkwa Nsuaem (Mrs. Gifty Kusi).
Mr. Speaker, I have listened with
intent and rapt attention to contributions that have been made in support of the Statement on the floor. I have actually been impressed by the passion and interest shown by our male hon. Colleagues who
have so far contributed. Mr. Speaker, it gives me reason to believe that all of us see maternal and child mortality as a problem mowing at the development of our country.
Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about
maternal and child mortality, we must consider that even one woman who dies as a result of child birth costs so much. It is not only one woman, it is the woman plus a future somebody and probably a whole family.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, many of such deaths are not even reported in our hospitals. This is because we have many of our births still in our rural areas and these deaths are not reported. It might interest you to know that maternal mortality has become so common that every woman who is walking or driving to the hospital to have a child is afraid and sometimes to some people, it is a journey and one is lucky if one returned. Mr. Speaker, it is such and so frightening that instead of it being a joyous moment, where a woman wants to deliver, it becomes an occasion where fear itself can cause even her death.
Mr. Speaker, who is here who is not
born of a woman? The interesting thing is that sometimes the causes of maternal mortality, when they are looked at, we do not look at the role of husbands in ensuring safe delivery for women. Mr. Speaker, that is not to say that husbands do not pay attention. That is to say that some husbands, when their wives are pregnant, do not even know that giving them more love, attention, care and comfort propels the woman to move forward into safe delivery.
Mr. Speaker, sometimes when it is time for women to give birth, you cannot even trace their men. I have witnessed an occasion where they wanted to do a caesarean operation on a woman. They

[HAJIA MAHAMA] were waiting for the husband to sign a document but he was not around.
rose
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Abokobi-Madina, do you have a point of order?
Alhaji Sorogho 12:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, I
have a point of order. And the point is that the hon. Member is explaining so many things, but talking from a practical point of view, at times when the women are in labour, they do not even want to see the faces of their husbands - “Wo nawo yemi saa. Bre nae bre nyina, wonawo dea ba. Ena wo hu bre ma bre”. They get annoyed. And I experienced one at the Ridge Hospital. I went there when my wife was in labour. I thought I could smile. I called her and she watched my face and asked me what I wanted there and said I should look at how she was suffering. Mr. Speaker, they should also advise the women.
Apart from that medically, when some
of the women are pregnant and it is almost time for labour, the servicing reduces. Doctors will tell the women that this is the time that they should go near their husbands. Mr. Speaker, some of them
also refuse and put so many impediments on our way. [Laughter] - By so doing, Mr. Speaker, it does not also allow them - [Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon.
Member, calm down.
Alhaji Sorogho 12:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, she
must take that into consideration and also advise the women so that we also can play our part.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Abokobi-Madina, do not wait till the day of birth before you show concern. Begin to show those good gestures, then on the day of birth, maybe, she will smile.
Hon. Member for Cape Coast, please,
go on.
Ms. Churcher 12:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I only
started my contribution. The hon. Member did not even know what else I was going to say. Mr. Speaker, being an experienced woman, I know what to tell women. But I am talking about the roles of husbands which have not been emphasised.
Mr. Speaker, I am talking about a peck. Doing something at the right time is the importance of doing anything. If you wait till the baby has shown that it is coming and the woman is in pain - I am saying that from the very onset of conception, women need to be told that men understand that it is a two-way affair.
Mr. Speaker, I have said that the only
question that I will ask the Almighty God, if ever I go up is, why men do not also get pregnant? I say this because I have seen very responsible men who have given such attention to their wives that the pain that they feel ceases to be any pain. I have seen men who themselves have carried their
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
At the Commencement of Public Business, hon. Members, we have an addendum to today's Order Paper and we will take that first.
Item 5 on the addendum - Motion - Chairman of the Appointments Committee?
MOTIONS 12:15 p.m.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 12:15 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Third Report of the Appointments Committee on Nominations to the
Supreme Court
Mr. F. W. A. Blay 12:15 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the third Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nomination for appointment to the Supreme Court. 1.0 Introduction
Pursuant to article 144 (2) of the Constitution, His Excellency the President communicated to Parliament his nomination of four Justices of the Court of Appeal for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ghana. They are:
i. Mr. Justice J. Dotse
i i . M r . J u s t i c e P a u l Baffoe- Bonnie
iii. Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah
iv. Ms. Justice R. C. Owusu
1.1 In accordance with Order 172 (2) of the Standing Orders, the Speaker referred
the nomination to the Appointments Committee on 19 th March 2008 for consideration and report.
1.2 Owing to the fact that at the time of the referral, the House was busily completing its business for the First Meeting, the Committee decided to consider the nominees during the second Meeting.
1.3 The Committee held public hearing on Tuesday, 27th May 2008 to consider the nominees and hereby reports as follows:
2.0 Reference Documents
i. Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992
ii. Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana
3.0 Procedure Adopted
In accordance with Order 172 (3), the nomination was published in the mass media to inform the general public and to invite their views in the form of written memoranda on the suitability, experience and capability of the nominees for the position.
On appearing before the Committee, the nominees testified on oath and answered questions on a range of issues in relation to their office and duties.
4.0 Observations
No adverse reports, petitions or objections were received on any of the nominees.
The Committee noted that all the nominees have the requisite qualifications and experience to be appointed to the high office of the Justices of the Supreme Court.
Certain pertinent questions were

posed, to which the nominees gave various answers. Central among them were: public perception and indeed the reality of corruption within the Judiciary, opinions about the Capital Punishment and possible amendments to portions of the Constitution of Ghana (1992).

All four nominees acquitted themselves creditably and actually proved themselves knowledgeable, competent and capable of occupying the positions to which they have been nominated.

4.1 Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah

4.1.1 Resume

Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah is currently a Justice of the Court of Appeal with twenty- seven (27) years Standing at the Bar having been called in 1981. He was born on 24th May, 1953 at Toase and attended Amaniampong and Apam Secondary Schools from 1968 to 1976. He holds a BA (Hons) in Law and Political Science from the University of Ghana and BL from the Ghana School of Law. He was appointed to the Bench in 2002 as a High Court Judge and subsequently rose to his present position after recommendation to the Bar. Before then Justice Yeboah had been a successful private practitioner and had held many positions in the Bar Association.

He travelled widely and attended many conferences, seminars relating to law and the Judiciary.

4.1.2 Capital Punishment

The nominee told the Committee that he does not subscribe to the imposition of capital punishment on convicts because it does not address the critical issues of deterring crime. Besides, an innocent person may be sentenced to death only to be exonerated later.

4.1.3 Improvement of Logistics

Justice Yeboah commended the District Assemblies for their effort in nation building but he, however, expressed the need for their continued assistance with respect to justice delivery in the country by providing court rooms in the districts. He also appealed to Parliament to give legal backing to the Judiciary to retain 50 per cent of their IGF instead of the current 15 per cent retention, as it was woefully inadequate. According to him, with the approval of 50 per cent the Judiciary could build more infrastructural facilities and court rooms to avert the situation where magistrates sit on verandas to adjudicate cases in some communities.

The nominee also advocated for the establishment of special tribunals to adjudicate cases that might arise from peculiar circumstances and execution of particular projects such as Bui Dam and related special needs and problems to avoid overcrowding at the courts.

4.1.4 Achievements

One significant judgment he believed he delivered and might want to recom- mend for reading to those who may be interested was the case of Kwame Addo versus CHRAJ. In his narration, the nominee stated that he considered that case ‘Locus Classicus' in the sense that his judgment from the high court went to the Supreme Court and was confirmed. The judgment in question laid a principle that the High Court has supervisory jurisdiction over CHRAJ and its holdings and activities.

4.2 Ms. Justice Rose Constance Owusu

4.2.1 Resume

Justice Rose Constance Owusu is a Justice of the Appeal Court with thirty-nine (39) years standing at the Bar. She was called to the Bar in 1969 upon completion of the Barrister-at-Law programme at the Ghana School of Law. She was born on 25th August, 1944 at Koforidua and attended Wesley Girls High and Aburi Girls Secondary Schools from 1958 to

1964.

She holds LLB (Hons) from the University of Ghana and BL from the Ghana School of Law. In March 1973 she was appointed as a State Attorney in the Attorney-General's Department. Having performed creditably, she was promoted to the rank of Senior State Attorney, Second- in-Command in 1976 and progressed to the position of Principal State Attorney in 1983. She was then appointed to the Bench on 19th September, 1989 as a High Court Judge and steadily progressed to his current position in April, 1999.

4.2.2 Capital Punishment

In expressing her views on capital punishment, Justice Rose Owusu was emphatic about her position and said that she had always supported capital punishment and would not advocate for its abolishment. She was firm on the law and stated that “he who kills must be killed”. The nominee clarified her position on the matter by quoting a portion of the Bible with specific reference to Matthew 26:52 where Jesus Christ rebuked Peter after he had cut the earlobe of one of the soldiers who had come to arrest him at Gethsemane and said to Peter, “.anyone who draws the sword must die by the sword”.

She added that as far as she was concerned there had not been any instance where the review of cases of Capital Punishment have been positive, since a wider opportunity given to prove one's innocence was adequate before an

execution was carried out.

In response to whether the State would not be committing murder if it executes Capital Punishment, the nominee said that the State would only be performing its constitutional mandate and it would therefore be improper for people to conclude that the State is equally guilty as individual criminals.

4.2.3 Corruption in the Judiciary

Ms. Justice R. C. Owusu stated that it is difficult to substantiate cases of corruption, especially those involving judges. Nevertheless, she admitted that as a human institution there could be some element of truth in the perception, but to her the situation was not that ugly as it is perceived to be.

She told the Committee that corruption could be reduced to the barest minimum if ‘givers do not give'. She informed the Committee that she tried to stand by her principles during her twenty (20) years of service in the Judiciary. Citing an instance, the nominee said she once had to return a carton of fish delivered to her house from an unidentified source to the police station.

4.3 Mr. Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie

4.3.1 Resume

Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie is currently a Justice of the Court of Appeal with twenty-five (25) years standing at the Bar having been called in 1983. He was born on 26th December, 1956 at Goaso and attended Konongo-Odumase Secondary School from 1969 to 1976.

He holds LLB (Hons) from the University of Ghana and BL from the Ghana School of Law. After a successful
Mr. E. T. Mensah 12:15 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion that this honourable House approve by consensus the report of your Appointments Committee for the appointment of Justices Dotse, Baffoe-
Bonnie, Anin-Yeboah and R. C. Owusu.
Mr. Speaker, as the First Deputy Speaker said, the nominees, were very frank, objective and showed that they are really on top of their jobs.
Mr. Speaker, there were a couple of issues which came out which need to be taken seriously. Their concern was about the logistics in the courts, the facilities and the conditions under which they operate. It is rather unfortunate that most of our courts operate in rented premises and in most of those rented premises they have been ejected. We were even informed that some people at certain point in time sit under trees whilst the presiding judge sits on the veranda. This is not good for Ghana at 50 and they thought that they had some interim solution to the problem. They thought that if the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would allow them to keep 50 per cent of the internally- generated funds (IGF), they would be able to use it judiciously to improve upon the status of the courts and the environment in which they operated.
I would suggest that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning gives them 100 per cent of the internally- generated fund (IGF), after all, whatever they are going to do, would go to improve upon the judiciary system which is very important in this new democratic dispensation.
With these few words, I invite my hon. Colleagues to approve by consensus the Supreme Court Judges listed in this report.
Question proposed.
Mr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo (NDC
- Wa Central): Mr. Speaker, I read through the report and what catches my attention is the issue of corruption which all of them were asked to make a comment
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
It appears that the House is satisfied. So I would put the Question.
Question put and motion agreed on.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:25 p.m.
Hon.
Members, we move to motion 7 on the addendum.

Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Blay) 12:25 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 for the adoption of the Seventeenth Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nomination for Ministerial appointment may be move today.
Mr. E.T. Mensah 12:25 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Seventeenth Report of the Appointments Committee on
Ministerial Nominations
Mr. Blay 12:25 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move,
that this honourable House adopts the Seventeenth Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's Nomination for Ministerial Appointment.
Mr. Speaker, the Report concerns hon.
F. K. Owusu-Adjapong and I would crave the Hansard office to capture the whole report.
As I pointed out the hon. F. K. Owusu-
Adjapong was the hon. Majority Leader in this House and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. He went to aspire to a greater and higher office but unfortunately it did not happen. But because the President is convinced that he needs his services, he has asked the hon. Member to come back. The best we could do is to agree by consensus his nomination.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Pursuant to article 78 (1), of the Constitution, His Excellency the President communicated to Parliament for prior approval, his nomination of Hon. Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong, for appointment as Minister for Energy.
1.2 In accordance with Order 172 (2) of the Standing Orders, the Speaker referred the nomination to the Appointments Committee for consideration and report on 19th of March 2008.
2.0 Procedure
After the referral, the Committee published the nomination in the mass media in accordance with Order 172 (3) and formally invited written memoranda from the general public on the suitability, conduct, experience and capability of the nominee.
Mr. Blay 12:25 p.m.


and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, expressed his views on the issue of oil finds and whether it would be a “blessing or a curse” to the nation. He told the Committee that the country could benefit from the oil production if measures are put in place to manage it. The under listed he said are identifiable areas which must be considered to achieve that objective. These are:

i. Proper management of pro- duction;

ii. Proper management of Revenue; iii. Environmental Management;

iv. Management of security.

The nominee told the Committee that to the best of his knowledge the Ministry is preparing some policy documents to avoid clashes with multinationals corporations and ensure full participation of Ghanaians in the oil find. He however urged Parliament to put in maximum effort to ensure that the necessary legislation is passed to maximize profit. According to him lessons from countries with best practices in that regard must not be ignored, for instance, Norway. He also noted that the agricultural sector must not be neglected in spite of the discovery.

4.1.3 Rural Electrification Projects

In response to concerns raised on abandoned rural electrification projects, the nominee told the Committee that when given the nod he would ascertain the facts of the matter and ensure that appropriate measures are employed to speed the process to achieve desired results. He acknowledged governments support for rural electrification and would work hard to ensure its realization.

4.1.4 Energy Production
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC - Ningo/ Prampram) 12:25 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion that this House approves the nomination of the former great leader as Minister for Energy.
As the Chairman said, he was on top of issues when the Committee grilled him. But when the question was asked what were his presidential ambitions, he said the issue did not arise anymore. I do not think that it is for him to say, no. Maybe, in 2012 I would partner him and he will
never know. So he cannot say, no.
On a more serious note, Mr. Speaker,
we expected that whatever issues are put in place to deal with this oil find we have said it again and again that, these days presidential aspirants are all talking about how they are going to use the oil, even though we have been told that we would not be able to start getting oil in commercial quantities until after five years. So he will advise those people who are making the promises and also ensure that structures are put in place so that what is happening in the Niger Delta will not happen in Ghana. We need to know that if we do not put proper structures in place we are not going to benefit from whatever returns that is out there and since he is going there in the twilight of the administration of His Excellency President John Agyekum Kufuor he must make sure that the right structures are put in place.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I
urge my hon. Colleagues to approve the motion by consensus the nomination of hon. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong.
Question proposed.
Majority Leader/Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. A. O. Aidooh): Mr. Speaker, I support the motion that relates to my former boss. I think that I am very qualified to recommend him for acceptance having worked so closely with him. I know that he is a good achiever and a good time manager.
Mr. Speaker, he comes to the Ministry
at a very crucial time when we notice a lot of shoddy work being done in the Ministry. In particular, if one looks around the whole country, the current street lighting
programme that is going on, Mr. Speaker, with all seriousness, it is not being done to one's expectation. As I said at the vetting, on the motorway for instance, one would see poles that have been erected which have not been made functional, collapsing before they are commissioned.
Mr. Speaker, if this is what we see, if this is the quality of work we see physically, one can imagine what quality of goods have been buried in the belly of the earth, the wires and others. So I expect my former great leader to bring a lot of sanity in the Ministry because it appears to all of us that we are being seriously short chained.
Mr. Speaker, some of us have resisted saying this for a long time and I have conferred with my hon. Colleague on the other side and even the Committee on Energy. I think that my boss' appointment to this Ministry gives us every oppor- tunity, to hope that for the few months that he would be in charge of the Ministry, he will make sure that sanity is brought to the Ministry and in particular the kind of work that we see being done.
I am surprised that nobody is complaining. Mr. Speaker, I believe in him and I think that he would bring sanity in this respect and I also expect the Committee on Energy -- I have had a chat with the chairperson to immediately go into the field and conduct an inspection and give us a report.
Mr. Speaker, when we were doing the budget in Koforidua, we said the committees of Parliament must be proactive and that they should not just sit there and have the budget process gone through without monitoring projects and I believe that the Committee on Energy has enough funds to assist the hon. Minister to monitor what is being done in this
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC - Ningo/ Prampram) 12:25 p.m.


Ministry in particular.

Mr. Speaker, with this, I thank you and

I wish my boss all the best.

Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor (NDC -

Lawra/Nandom): Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a contribution to this motion. I must say I missed the opportunity during the vetting of the great leader.

My contribution is going to be focussed on a very narrow area and I guess it is going to bring a lot of diverse experience to bear on that problem, first as Member of Parliament and sometimes Majority Leader here. Second, as somebody who has some knowledge in the energy sector and thirdly as somebody whose views have grown over the years to respect particularly his articulation during the presidential campaign. I saw him in a very different life at the time in terms of the ideas he expressed. This has to do with the Self Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) Project.

I am sure my hon. Colleagues here are not too clear in their minds which particular agency today is responsible for that. One would find that while on the original plan that has been laid and the criteria for connecting various communities to the national grid, one would go to district after district and find that this exercise is being done in a very, very haphazard manner. It is not surprising that we are beginning to get power trips that are taking place in various areas.

One would find a community that is not even under SHEP 4 phase 1 and it is connected to the national grid and a community that is under SHEP 3, phase 2 is not connected to the national grid. There are a lot of difficulties with this because one would find that when they eventually
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC - Ningo/ Prampram) 12:35 p.m.
The second point in relation to the
SHEP is the fact that people are just behaving at the district level as if we just want to connect electricity to communities. Nobody is seeing how this power sources are supposed to be linked up to other development initiatives. So you would normally find electricity poles that are lying up to particular communities and one does not see in the foreseeable future what type of industry might develop in that area or enterprise for the electricity to become meaningful to the community. And one would go and find, very bad and emerging communities that are very promising commercial towns and they are not covered by the national grid.

I am sure I have a very personal concern about this matter, and if my old letter to the Ministry is missing, I shall repeat that letter in the strongest of term, and I hope he will look at it very closely and address it, not as an isolated issue, but one that cuts across so many communities in terms of distribution of energy in this country.

I am also interested in the fact that he must have to take a serious look again at the rural electrification aspect. I do know, some years ago, there used to be a particular levy which was meant to subsidize electrification or consumption of electric power in rural communities. I am not too sure what has happened to that particular levy facility because as things stand now, you will find that relatively very poor communities are required to pay about the same commercial rates like those in the urban cities. And what we are beginning to experience now is that the mass disconnection that is taking place seems to be suggesting that the extension

of electricity to address a number of social development issues are not being considered.

Lastly, as a matter of urgency, to co- ordinate our development policies, we know that the new educational reform now requires that all junior high schools should be computer literate. You definitely need some form of electricity to ensure that computer classes can be held. And so the priority focus for extending the national grid in addition to the existing priorities should be where you have junior and senior high schools located.

Otherwise, you might be having people who are computer literates in some communities while others would not even know how to use a computer because there is no power, and candidates from both communities would still have to write the same examinations. I think these are concerns that I want the hon. Minister- designate to take on board.

With these few comments, I support the motion.

Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang

(NPP - New Juaben North): Mr. Speaker, I thank you most sincerely.

Mr. Speaker, our hon. Colleague is going to a Ministry which of late has become the centre of attention because of the challenges we had to go through last year. But I have no doubt that speaking to the hon. Minister-designate, that he will rise to the occasion.

Mr. Speaker, what is important is to also appreciate the fact that it is not only as we said, the generation of the power but its distribution which sometimes becomes a major bottleneck in the scheme of things
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC - Ningo/ Prampram) 12:35 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the time has now come to squarely face issues in this country. I think whether it is in the water sector or the energy sector, we are still insisting that we must have facilities that have the so-called concessionality of 35 per cent. I think we are coming of age, we have gone to the bond market, we were over subscribed, and we took what we thought we should take.
Mr. Speaker, the time has now come when we must understand that nobody is going to subsidize things for us indefinitely, and we should not make the extension of power or the addressing of the issues regarding the energy sector contingent upon receiving facilities which give you 35 per cent concessionality, almost like a grant. The same is being applied to water, and then you find that you cocoon yourself, you are constrained in developing that sector. Because if we must drink water, for example, why should somebody come and pay 50 per cent or 35 per cent of that for you.
If we must have power, why should it be so? And we have to wean ourselves from this situation to the extent that we will then be able to move at the pace that we want to move. They say in our language that if a blind man says he will

throw a stone at you, then he knows what his foot is on. So we know what is coming in the future; we want to judiciously use it for the development of this country. But it cannot be the case that many initiatives are constrained because of lack of power or the lack of the national grid going to that area.

I would urge the hon. Minister- designate to take a good look, so long as - Mr. Speaker, in most instances, the projects can pay for themselves, either through Independent Power Producer (IPP) or Independent Water Producer (IWP). So I do not understand why this is so. I would want him to be innovative and proactive to the extent that he will engage the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to understand and appreciate that we need to move forward at a pace faster than we have ever done in the past, and for that matter we are prepared to pay for the services, get good value-for-money for the services that are provided.

But if we should always throw our hands in the air and want 35 per cent to be given by some Father Christmas which increasingly, progressively disappearing, then our development would be constrained. The energy as has been said by the hon. Member for Lawra/ Nandom (Dr. Kunbuor) is a sine qua non of development. We cannot do without it.

Mr. Speaker, I would want to know

that my nephew, and he is my nephew -- [Laughter] -- I like having relations, do I not? But actually, my adopted nephew would rise to the challenge of that place and make sure that the challenges that we had are things of the past. Maybe, we needed that to open our eyes, Malaysia went through the same, and it was worse than ours. Now, they have 5000 megawatts in excess, and I am sure we can also do

the same. So in wishing him well, I hope that he will also take the bull by the horn.

Mr. Speaker, there are people in the system who we must say, are not in tune with the dynamics of the society, and the way and manner we want to move forward, and these people must be screened out. We have to do that because I happened to have the privilege of being the Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of Cabinet which included energy. And sometimes are you really at your wits end to understand why issues are that, and I have discussed with my hon. Colleague on the other side of the House.

So I wish him well and hope that the hon. Minister-designate would bring to that Ministry, a new found dynamism and make sure that in this extra time we score not three goals, but maybe five goals.
Mr. Moses Asaga (NDC - Nabdam) 12:45 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the endorsement of hon. Felix Owusu- Adjapong as the new Minister for Energy.
As the Ranking Member for energy, the appointment of an Energy Minister is of concern to me because we would want people who can take up challenges, we want a Minister who will co-operate with the Minority side, who are endowed with a number of energy experts. Some of our predecessors did not work closely with the Minority, especially the Ranking Member for Energy, and they saw the troubles that they went through. I hope that he will take cue from this, and make sure he works closely with the Minority.
He is coming into a portfolio that is very challenging, and unfortunately for him, because of the high turnover in the Ministry including hon. Professor Mike Oquaye and hon. Kofi Adda, institutional memory is a little bit checkered and therefore, he has to do a lot of reconstruction in that Ministry. But as I have already mentioned, he is coming
into a challenging portfolio.
The first challenge that he needs to deal with is crude oil prices on the international market. Just this morning, I heard the Government was negotiating with the Standard Chartered Bank to see whether they could do hedging. I find this very interesting in the sense that it is a little too late, and the market is no longer very attractive for hedging because everybody knows the direction of crude oil prices and therefore, if you are going to hedge now the premium is going to be very high as compared to when it was about $60 when people thought oil price could just be about $70. That was the time that I urged the Government to do the hedging so that we could cap at $80 per barrel.

But this my humble appeal was rather rebuffed by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning here in Parliament some where last year when he told me that he was not willing to burn his fingers and be taken to Teshie shooting range for execution. Today, we are now talking of wanting to hedge when the price is now at 135 dollars. So this will be a very tricky event for the incoming Minister for Energy, as to whether to hedge or not and I think he needs to bring all partners on board as far as the hedging issue is concerned.

Another big problem that he will have to confront himself with, is the West African Gas Pipeline. Again, when we were touting ourselves of free gas flow and nitrogen flow, I remember during the budget debate, I complained a lot to the fact that we have been postponing the completion and the utilization of the West African Gas Pipeline and I did mention that gas as fuel was very economical for
Mr. Moses Asaga (NDC - Nabdam) 12:45 p.m.
I did mention that by June this year I did not think the West African Gas Pipeline would come into fruition because of certain technical problems. But again, I was considering the prophet of doom and I remember hon. Deputy Minister for Trade, Industries, Private Sector Development and PSI now was even challenging that he was sure that free gas would flow in June and that we would be able to use it. I remember even that day, the Chairlady of the Energy Committee did inform all Ghanaians that we were going to get the gas on time and that what hon. Moses Asaga Member for Nabdam was saying was another “Asaganomics”.

Again the West African Gas Pipeline is an issue he will have to take on board and I will want him to get the experts so that we discuss to see what are the real bottlenecks on the issue.

Mr. Speaker, he will also have to grapple with the problem of Volta River Authority (VRA) and Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). The balance sheet of VRA is not the best that it can find itself now. We know how they are indebted; we know the TOR situation where even the Bank of Ghana has said that Ghana Commercial Bank is over exposed to TOR in the range of 700,000 to 800,000 million dollars. This is an issue he will have to grapple with.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, during the vetting, he did mention oil and gas in Ghana and he made four statements that he would make sure there was proper management of production, there was proper management of the revenue, and

then environmental management of the security. I am rather too surprised that he was so copious in the four items because just yesterday, I saw the same four items printed in the newspapers as portions or the framework of the oil and gas policy for Ghana. So, here he is, he might have been privy to it. Now, his counterpart in opposition does not have the document and meanwhile it is this same Parliament which is supposed to look at the document and ratify it. So, I hope that I will also have the opportunity to have a copy of the draft document so that we can make an early input.
Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah 12:45 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I was just surprised to hear the hon. Member talking about a document that the hon. Member had and which he had not got. He has also been referring to documents that we have not seen. He is talking about a letter from the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to the Ghana Commercial Bank and he is totally twisting the facts. He is talking about the recent balance sheet of the VRA which we also have not seen. He is creating documents for himself which we have also not seen and yet he is talking about a document that - [Interruption.]
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon. Minister, it is possible two people could be equally guilty - [Laughter.]
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:45 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you - [Laughter.]
Mr. Asaga 12:45 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, that is the trait of the hon. Minister for Defence. So I think he is just bringing it in to just calm my nerves.
Mr. J. H. Mensah (NPP - Sunyani East) 12:55 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, I crave your indulgence to say a few words because in the House our
own discussion of this matter on energy has been rather sketchy. My hon. Friend said he is the Ranking Member and so on. I hope that when for instance, they get a copy of the oil and gas policy, that they will be in a position to produce for the House a review of it which is substantial and not the usual, So, So and So has not got enough money, So, So and So has not got enough cars, or the people are not being paid well. This is a matter of energy which failure can be very expensive. Indeed, failure in this area can cause us our entire development perspective.
Mr. Speaker, also in this area, we have been used to being fed with incorrect information or inadequate information. Mr. Speaker, for instance, nature cannot be deceived. If there is water in the Volta dam, there is enough water; if there is not enough water, it is better that we are told rather than that hopeful statements are made.

Mr. Speaker, for instance, at some point in the middle of our last energy crisis, we were being told that we should dismantle the Osagyefo Barge and bring it to Accra. Nobody even knew where it was going to stand in Tema. Such fanciful things should not be fed into the public domain and our officials must be helped to better account for things.

Just recently, in counting the power generating sources available to us, I heard an official include in it a generating plant that had been supplied to help us overcome this crisis by the mining industry but I happened to know a little bit about the mining industry because I am on the Board of a mining company. And Mr. Speaker, that facility which they provided us is
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Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon.
Member for Lawra-Nandom, do you have a point of order?
Dr. Kunbuor 12:55 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr.
Speaker, my hon. Colleague has made a very important point but because these are official records I will want to get an indication because we have all been hearing a lot of speculations. Where exactly this specific statement came from so that we can get the record richer for purposes of proactive action in the future.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Which
statement?
Dr. Kunbuor 12:55 p.m.
The statement he
knows, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon.
Member, before I can sustain your point, I have to know what you are talking about.
Dr. Kunbuor 12:55 p.m.
Yes, my hon. Colleague
here just indicated the extent to which we have been fed with inaccurate information and that for instance, the Osagyefo Barge was recommended to be relocated somewhere in Accra, I guess between Accra and Tema and he believes this was part of the -- And people did not even know where exactly it was going to be located. I just want to have a complete idea of where this recommendation came from.
Mr. J. H. Mensah 12:55 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, at
an appropriate time we shall go into the details of these matters. I was just referring to another current example. As I said, the mines contributed an 80megawatts facility. Now, as usual in an emergency, we brought second hand equipment and so on. The last time I enquired about that facility, they were struggling to get

13 megawatts operational. So when he says there is an 80 megawatts facility, he must continue and tell us about how much of that potential capacity is actually operational and available, then we would not be taken by surprise when there is a power shortage.

Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with our Colleague that he is being asked to go into this Ministry with only six months left of the present Administration. Six months is not enough to build any energy facility but six months is enough to think about energy policy and to plan energy policy. I am looking forward to the closest co-operation between the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and his Ministry in getting this right because we now have to take a sober long-term view of our energy prospects and plan it well so that the industrial and economic future of this country is assured.

Mr. Speaker, in planning this, I urge

him not to be alarmed by the kind of conservatism of some of our advisors. My Colleague, Prof. Adjei Bekoe and I were responsible for persuading the Chairman of the International Atomic Energy Commission when he came to Ghana to let us start thinking now about utilizing nuclear energy for our future energy needs. Some people said “eeeeh! they are just dreaming”. They are not dreaming. Ghana is going to be economically matured enough to own and operate a nuclear energy facility in the not too distant future. Some of my hon. Colleagues will be here, I may not. But certainly in your life time, we should be thinking of making use of nuclear energy.

The other thing that we need to back the Minister with is that there is the false notion that Electricity Company of Ghana has been a public corporation forever and
Dr. Kwame Ampofo 12:55 p.m.
On a point
of order. Mr. Speaker, I think that the statement made must be corrected; it is misleading the House by stating that people asked in the past that Government come to subsidize petroleum products. These days nobody is talking about subsidy. What was said was that Government should reduce the taxes and levies on the price build-up and Government did it last two years. So it is wrong to say that there was a call for subsidy on the product.
Mr. J. H. Mensah 12:55 p.m.
I will take up
that issue when the feeder roads in his constituency come to be considered then we will know where the money will come from to build them.
The money that we charge on petroleum was supposed to build and maintain our roads and therefore, when we discuss the taxes, he is talking about taxes - [Interruption.] They must be considered very, very carefully and circumspectly. That is what I am trying to appeal to the House to support the hon. Minister.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 12:55 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
two issues on a point of order. One, I thought my hon. Colleague was moving ahead but once again he is falling into the blame game. And the issue he is raising affects both because he was part of those who used to demonstrate against equation of taxes which were also meant to be used for infrastructural development.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I think that it is important for us to also take on board that at any particular time of our development, there are some policies that you need to put in place to be able to keep the system going and as you move along, you review them. So if at the stage of development, you need to feed a child there is a stage that when he grows up you need to stop spoon feeding the child and let him or her also look for the food for him or herself. And we cannot ignore that, it is part of life.
So we should not look back at those who spoonfed the babies to grow as having taken a wrong policy decision. If we get to the stage that we are now mature and we can do away with the spoon-feeding, we will do that. But let us stop this blame game and look ahead as he started. Now, he is falling into the same trap.
Mr. J. H. Mensah 1:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
my statement was this: That when we consider matters of taxation on things like petroleum, we must do so with the greatest circumspection. That is the word I used -- “with the greatest circumspec-tion.” This
Mr. Bagbin 1:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was just trying to draw the attention of my hon. Colleague to the fact that all over the world, it is not only in Africa, the finding of oil in any country has the tendency of lolling the minds and efforts of the citizens of that country. There is the tendency of people feeling that we have been blessed; the booty has come, so why work again? That syndrome has affected a lot of countries, particularly African countries, just to mention Nigeria. And that is why

we have the media seriously drawing our attention that we should not be caught in that syndrome. I do not think there is anything wrong with that. I think we need to encourage it and we need to work hard to move out of that; and that is what the media is doing. It is not doing anything wrong.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to also add my voice to what has been said. I did not want to talk because I was part of the Committee and I did ask just a few questions because I know the capabilities and experience of the nominee.

The task ahead is daunting and as the last, I should think, I am not sure, but I suppose and it is my expectation that he is likely to be the last hon. Minister at that Ministry before we get to the elections in December, 2008. A lot of things would have to be done at that Ministry. There is going to be a lot of rationalisation and in fact, we want to implore the Ministry to always come out with nothing but the truth. The facts on the ground -- because it is true that there has been a lot of misinformation about the situation.

Even the West African Gas Pipeline. After the vetting of the hon. Minister- designate and I decided to cross-check on the facts and there has been a lot of misinformation as to the status of the West African Gas Pipeline and we still need to work on it because a lot of areas still have question marks. This is because a lot of the information is not made available to a lot of stakeholders and as at now, I am not sure this House has even seen the commercial agreements of that project. We have seen the technical agreements. We have gone through them and the Committee has gone - But the commercial agreements and the companies involved and the complexity of the arrangements with the difficulty of
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Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon. Members, I think we have consensus. If the hon. Member would bear with me, I want to put the Question.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Congra- tulations, hon. Minister-designate.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 1:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move that this House do now adjourn proceedings till Wednesday, 4th June 2008 at 10.00 in the forenoon.
Mr. Bagbin 1:05 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 1:05 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 1.14 p.m. till 4th June, 2008 at 10.00 a.m.