Debates of 12 Jun 2008

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 11th June, 2008. Pages 1……13. [No correction was made.]

Item 3 - Questions - hon. Minister for

Education, Science and Sports?

Question No. 1236, hon. Joseph Yieleh

Chireh?
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10 a.m.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 10 a.m.
SCIENCE AND SPORTS 10 a.m.
Mr. Chireh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister's Answer does not inspire me at all. But I would want to find out when the other districts will be considered, that is, when the phase three will commence - the time frame.
Prof. Fobih 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we decided
it is not good to programme the schools into phases and leave them there. So we felt that we should finish some phases before we add on more phases. That is why we are now reaching the second phase. As soon as the second phase progresses to more or less a completion level, we will add on other phases, and that is when his school would be considered.
Mr. Chireh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, how are the
schools selected in each district or region?
Prof. Fobih 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when we
come to the issue of selection, it is a joint work by our technical team from the Ministry, the Ghana Education Service, and of course, the districts where the schools are located, because they decide which ones they want to be upgraded.
Mr. Chireh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister is talking about Government's policy. Will he be kind to provide the
policy document that may give the criteria for these selections to guide all of us?
Prof. Fobih 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the detailed
guidelines are there. As I said, the reporting stakeholders are what I mentioned. So I think they are enough guidelines but if he wants the detailed guidelines, we will provide that later.
Mr. Chireh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I talked
about policy document and he says it is government policy, and I wanted us to have the policy document that spells out the things. Is it possible for him to supply it?
Prof. Fobih 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, well, if this
question is asked at the appropriate time, we will provide it -- [Interruption] -- But it is not here to be provided right now.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
The hon. Minister says
later, not now.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Minister said phase one of the programme had been completed. How many schools were involved in the phase one which the hon. Minister said had been completed?
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said
the first phase of schools was almost completed and the schools were 31 in all.
Mr. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
find out from the hon. Minister, how soon will he make the Government's policy on the upgrading of the schools available to this House?
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will bring
that later.
Mr. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon.
Minister, who is an hon. Member of this House says there is a policy. We are interested in the policy and as a result of

that policy, maybe the kind of questions we keep on asking on this matter might even stop. He said that he would provide it later and I asked how soon would he make that policy document available to this House.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
I guess he is asking for
a time span and I am also saying that as soon as possible, I will do that.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Question number
1240, hon. John Agyabeng, Member of Parliament for Agona East?
Mr. Samuel Johnfiah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is on his way to the House, but he has asked that I seek your permission to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Go ahead, permission
granted.
Capitation Grant (Breakdown)
Q. 1240 Mr. Johnfiah (on behalf of Mr. John Agyabeng) asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports to explain the breakdown of the capitation grant to basic schools.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the actual amount of capitation grant given to public basic schools is GH¢3 per child. The object of the grant is to serve to remove the financial barrier created by school levies and to compensate the schools for any loss in revenue as a result of the removal of school levies.
The capitation grants are to be used to support the implementation of school performance improvement plans which include activities such as the following:
1. Sports and Culture (schools, zonal, districts and regional)
2. Purchase of teaching and learning material

3. Minor repairs (furniture, windows and doors)

4. Purchase of washing bowls

5. Schools and cluster-based in- service training

6. School administration (T&T, stationery and sanitation)

7. S.M.C. meetings, and

8. Support to needy children.

The breakdown of the capitation grant to basic schools is aS follows:

Sixty (60) Ghana pesewas per pupil should be used to organize sporting activities at all levels

Thirty (30) Ghana pesewas per pupil should be used to organize culture activities at all levels

The remaining two Ghana cedis, ten Ghana pesewas (GH¢2.10) per pupil should be used for the other activities indicated above.
Mr. Johnfiah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I
know from the hon. Minister, whether the Ministry has plans to increase this capitation grant in view of the fact that it is woefully inadequate.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, as costs
increases, definitely there is the need to review it. So it would be looked into, maybe, later.
Mr. G. Kuntu-Blankson 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I know from the hon. Minister, so far how much has been spent on the capitation grant?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, please
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
would like to know the GH¢3.0 per child, is it for a month, a year, per annum or per term?
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is for the
academic year. It is a total sum which is worked out based on the enrolment of the school and this amounts to some cumulative sum, if you look at the general total enrolment in the school and then this is released to the school.
Mr. Hodogbey 10:10 a.m.
So, if a school has
300 pupils times GH¢3.0, it is GH¢.900. By his own estimation, the breakdown of how the money is being used, does he think GH¢900 will suffice to maintain an elementary school in Ghana of GH¢3.0 per child?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, if
you have other questions, please ask - [Laughter]. I am not admitting this question.
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I would like to find out from my hon. Colleague, the measures his Ministry has put in place to ensure that the money when advanced to the headteachers, does not end up in people's pockets as the public service has a lot of malpractices which actually result in loss of revenue to the State.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, presently,
the District Directors are responsible for the local disbursement of the money to the schools because they supervise the use of the money and the School Management Committees (S.M.C.s) also have to supervise the heads of schools in the use of the money. So they are accountable to these management committees and it is expected that the headteachers of these basic schools at their staff meetings brief their staff on how much moneys they have received per term and the budget they
intend to use for the minor things that these moneys go into.
Mr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo 10:10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister, whether the policy is under threat given the findings of corruption and other malfeasance in the school feeding programme.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, there was
also an auditing process to ensure that the corruption element he mentioned is reduced or eliminated altogether given the structures that are there.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Question number 1254,
hon. Evans Paul Aidoo; Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso?
Sefwi Wiawso SHSTS and Asawinso SHS (Buses)
Q. 1254. Mr. Evans Paul Aidoo asked the hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports, when the Sefwi Wiawso Senior High Secondary Technical School and the Sefwi Asawinso Senior High School would be provided with buses.
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as already
said in this House, it is the policy of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to ensure that all schools have buses to enhance their smooth operation.
As at now, a number of buses have been
procured for distribution to schools. Sefwi Wiawso Secondary Technical School is being allocated a bus during this first phase of the distribution whilst Sefwi Asawinso Senior High School will be considered during the subsequent phases.
Mr. E. P. Aidoo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
like to know from the hon. Minister when will the distribution of the first phase buses
Prof. Fobih 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are on
now and before the end of the month, the school would have got its bus.
Mr. G. K. Arthur 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister the criteria used in the distribution of the buses to the various schools.
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I can give some brief guidelines for this. First of all, we give priority to girls' schools and we also give priority to technical institutes, secondary technical schools and then we consider enrolment of the school and the catchment area, that is whether it is a community school or not, it is serving some communities that need to be transported and so on. So these are some of the guidelines.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in view of the fact that when I looked at the Ministry's budget for this year, I did not see any provision to finance the purchase of these buses, I want to find out from the hon. Minister, how is he going to raise money to purchase these buses for the schools?
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
This is not a supple- mentary question.
Mr. Lee Ocran 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister whether buses that are promised well- endowed schools which anniversaries the President attends are part of the scheme that he is talking about. When the President attends anniversaries of some of the well-endowed schools, he promises them buses although those schools have very good buses, sometimes two or three. I would like to know from the hon. Minister whether these buses which the
Mr. Lee Ocran 10:20 a.m.


President promises them are part of the package to supply schools with buses.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, ask another question.
Mr. G. T. Bayon 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, will the Ministry consider deprived rural secondary schools as one of the criteria for selecting the schools for the buses?
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the criteria I mentioned take care of deprived areas. As I said, with community schools, we consider the catchment nature of the school's location and that takes into account the deprivation aspect of the district.
9th May Stadium Disaster Fund
Q. 1281. Mr. Joseph Z. Amenowode asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports the extent of disbursement of the 9th May Stadium Disaster Fund.
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the manage- ment and disbursement of the 9th May Stadium Disaster Fund is being handled by the Office of the Chief of Staff. Therefore, I wish to request that this question is redirected to the Office of the Chief of Staff for the appropriate response.
Mr. Amenowode 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am really surprised by the Answer given by the hon. Minister because I know he has ministerial responsibility for sports, and sports includes stadia in the country. Though the Chief of Staff might be the umbrella clearing out for the Ministries, I expect that he has an idea. The Question is simply on the extent of disbursement. Is the hon. Minister telling the House he has no idea of the extent of disbursement of the Stadium Disaster Fund?
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, I thought the Answer was quite clear on this. He may have an idea but is he the person responsible?
Mr. Amenowode 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the issue is, he is the sector Minister and if he has an idea and Parliament wants to know the extent, it is his responsibility.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Please, file the Question again and direct it to the Chief of Staff.
Mr. Amenowode 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask permission to file this as an Urgent Question?
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
When you file it, it would be determined accordingly.
Question No. 1284 - hon. Stephen Amoanor Kwao, hon. Member for Upper Manya Krobo?
Mr. A. W. G. Abayateye 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Stephen Amoanor Kwao is engaged in the Education Committee and I seek your permission to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
You may ask the Question.
Asesewa Senior High School
Q. 1284. Mr. A. W. G Abayateye (on behalf of Mr. Stephen Amoanor Kwao) asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports when the Asesewa Senior High School would be upgraded to a model school.
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is as I said the policy of Government is to upgrade at least one senior high school in each district to serve as a model for the district. The programme is being implemented in phases. Phase I, as I said, is almost completed. We are now into the second phase which comprises 25 senior high
schools and these are at various levels of completion.
The Asesewa Senior High School may be selected when we are considering the remaining districts which have not been phased.
Mr. Abayateye 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when the President is making these educational tours, the hon. Minister goes with him and on a trip to Asesewa, the President promised to give the people a model school. I would like to know what the state of that promise is.
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in my response I said it might be considered when we are considering phasing the rest of the schools which have not been phased, as soon as we finish the second phase of the programme.
Mr. Abayateye 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. Minister -- one phase is not completed and he has taken on another phase -- So when is the new phase going to begin? It means there would be three phases. I would like to know what is happening.
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in my response I said the first phase was almost completed. Here, I am just referring to a few minor fittings which need to be done. In fact, about 28 of the schools are ready for commissioning, leaving about four with minor things to be put right. So we have almost completed and that is why we have started the second phase which is also at some level. As soon as we reach some appreciable level of completion, then we would feel confident to bring on board another set of schools and then we would begin to phase the rest.
Mr. Abayateye 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. Minister to assure this House,
that in view of the President's promise, the Asesewa Senior High School would be considered as the President promised. This is because the hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports was with him when they undertook the tour. What is the fate?
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you going to rephrase your question?
Mr. Abayateye 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, would the hon. Minister assure this House, in view of the promise made by the President, that in the next consideration and before the President leaves office, the Asesewa Senior High School would benefit from the President's promise?
Prof. Fobih 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would facilitate it, but it all depends on resources. I would facilitate it knowing very well that a pledge has been made by His Excellency the President.
Mr. R. K. Ahaligah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister said they would be considering some schools during the second phase. I want to know the number of schools that would be considered during the second phase.
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said we were already into the second phase, so I guess he is referring to the third phase. When we come to the third phase, considering the amount of funds available, we will then determine the number of schools that we can cover. So I cannot give him a straightforward answer right now.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
want to know whether the hon. Minister would be able to convince His Excellency the President to go and cut the sword for commencement, knowing that he is a gentleman, and he does not want to go down on his words because he has only
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
This is no question. Hon. Deputy Minority Leader?
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in an earlier response, the hon. Minister told the House that thirty-one schools were involved in the phase one. He also informed the House that twenty-five schools were involved in the second phase. Would he provide this House the names of the thirty-one and the twenty-five schools involved so far in the project?
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have the list but I cannot offhand name all of them.
Mr. Adjaho 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister just said he had the list but it was not with him here. When will he make it available to this honourable House?
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I can distribute them this afternoon to hon. Members.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Question No. 1298 - Hon. Member for Bawku Central?
Dr. A. Y. Alhassan 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is not in the House. He is on an official duty as a member of your Committee on Health and has asked me to put the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Permission granted.
Dr. Alhassan 10:30 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Bawku Technical School
Q. 1298. Dr. A. Y. Alhassan (on behalf
of Mr. Mahama Ayariga) asked the hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports what plans the Ministry had to rehabilitate
the boys' dormitory of Bawku Technical School.
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Education Service is currently undertaking the construction and rehabilitation of over four hundred projects countrywide and which are at various stages of completion. Due to financial constraints some of them including the above-mentioned project, have not yet been included in the list of schools being considered. However, a teacher's bungalow was completed last year for the school.
The boys' dormitory block at Bawku Technical School would be considered when more funds become available.
Dr. Alhassan 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in view of the security situation in Bawku, would the hon. Minister consider this project as a top priority so that students are not found elsewhere?
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have said that funds are the major constraint and as soon as we have funds, we will do the rehabilitation. We know it is of very importance to the school so we would consider it.
Dr. Alhassan 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if I accept
the hon. Minister's position, would that mean that the Ministry would consider this project this year if funds are made available to the Ministry?
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this year's budget has already been prepared and allocated. So depending on how we get money for next year, we may consider it.
Dr. Alhassan 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, will the hon. Minister be very definite that this project would be considered in the 2009 Budget?
Prof. Fobih 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I am speaking now, I do not know how much
budget would be given to me, so I cannot make promises.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions.
Item 4 - Statements -- A personal Statement by the hon. Member for Ketu North.
STATEMENTS 10:30 a.m.
Mr. J. K. Avedzi (NDC - Ketu North) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the morning of Tuesday, 3rd June 2008 Joy FM, an Accra-based radio station broke a news item concerning a shooting incident at the residency of the Volta Regional Minister.
In the story, it was alleged that a young man named Dan was reported to have come to the residency at Ho with the intention of assassinating the Regional Minister. The young man, Dan, was killed, ostensibly by the action of the Minister's police security.
Mr. Speaker, the Regional Minister was later interviewed by the Volta Regional Reporter for Joy FM and this is what he said when he was asked whether he knew the young man.
“I don't know him very well but I know him. The mother is the sister of the hon. MP, Avedzi; the father used to be our party man but the father died so the uncle brought him here to be trained. I paid and sent him to a driving school but since then, I never saw him. But I heard he has been going out with Avedzi and that proves that he is an NDC man. So that is the way I know him.”
Mr. Speaker, my interest in making this Statement is the fact that the hon. Regional Minister was quick to link me to the alleged assassination as a relative. I want to state emphatically that I do not even know the young man let alone engaging him in any assignment. This was confirmed by the mother of the boy on Jubilee Radio, Keta and Citi FM on 5th June, 2008 that even though the Member of Parliament (MP) Avedzi is a distant relation, he does not know any of my children.
Mr. Speaker, I am calling on the Government as a matter of urgency, to set up an independent committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident.
Mr. Speaker, the committee should be set up as a matter of urgency to unravel the mystery behind the alleged assassination attempt and to establish the truth or otherwise for appropriate action to be taken against those people who would be found culpable.
Thank you Mr. Speaker, for the oppor- tunity.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
At the Commencement of Public Business, Item 5 -- Laying of Papers.
PAPERS 10:30 a.m.
MOTIONS 10:40 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Mixed Credit Facility between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/KBC Bank NV of Belgium for an amount of €5,383,822.22 for the Second Phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project (CLIP) and a request for the tax waiver may be moved today.
Dr. A. A. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Government of Belgium/KBC Bank NV of Belgium Credit Facility
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Mixed Credit Facility between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/KBC Bank NV of Belgium for an amount of €5,383,822.22 for the Second Phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project (CLIP) and a request for the Waiver of Tax

amounting to GH¢1,292,003.00 arising from Goods to be purchased under the Facility.

Mr. Speaker, by so doing, I would want to present the Report of the Finance Committee for the consideration of the House.

1.0 Introduction

The above Mixed Credit Facility between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/ KBC Bank NV of Belgium was laid in the House on Wednesday, 4th June 2008 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report.

In considering the above agreement, the Committee met with the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, and with officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to consider the referred agreement and report as follows:

2.0 Background

The genera l s ta te of Cl in ica l Laboratories in the public sector has been very deplorable, especially the state and availability of diagnostic equipment and technical facilities.

As a result, the reliability of test results is always questioned. Turn around time has also been very high for laboratory staff. This in turn has increased the cost of health care.

The Clinical Laboratory improvement Project (CLIP) was designed to help address this problem, and to improve the standards of public laboratories in the Country. A total of 68 district hospitals were targeted under this project.

Out of this, twenty-two (22) were catered for under Phase 1. Due to its success, the Belgium Government has obligated itself to support the Government of Ghana with a Mixed Credit Facility to support the second phase which would cover the remaining 46 district hospitals

left under the project.

The Credit Facility is in two parts. The first one is a soft loan from the Belgian Government amounting to €2,668,360.00 and the Second is a Commercial Loan from KBC which amounts to €2,715,462.22.

3.0 Purpose of the Credit

The purpose of the Credit is to fund the implementation of the Second Phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project (CLIP).

4.0 Terms and Conditions of the Credit

The terms and conditions of the Credit are as follows:

1) Soft Loan from the Belgian Government

Loan Amount -- €2,668,360.00

Interest Rate -- 0 per cent

Repayment Period -- 20 years

Grace Period -- 10 years

Maturity Period -- 30 years

2) Commercial Loan from KBC

Loan Amount -- €2,715,462.22

Interest Rate -- 4.49 per cent (fixed) Repayment Period -- 5 years

Grace Period -- 1.75 years

Maturity Period -- 6.75 years

Management fees -- 0.50 per cent

Commitment Fees -- 0.25

per cent

Overall Weighted Grant Element -- 39.10 per cent
THE COMMISSIONER 10:40 a.m.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH - CLINICAL LABORATORY IMPROVEMENT 10:40 a.m.
Dr. A.A. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question proposed.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh (NDC - Wa West) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support the motion but there are
two things that I want to say about it.
First of all, the amount involved is too small for us to spend valuable parliamentary time on, and also for government members to spend time negotiating and travelling and all that just to ask for this paltry sum of money. That is my first point.
The second thing is that, it is going to update our laboratories, and for laboratories it is important that we are precise in prescriptions particularly when we look at the rate of
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Dr. A. A. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. senior Colleague said a loan and grant. There is no grant; it is a soft loan and a commercial loan. I think he needs to correct that.
Mr. Chireh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, that makes
the matter more serious. I thought it was because of the grant element that is why we would be going for this small loan but if it is mixed soft loan and commercial grant, then it is serious and that we should not have gone for it at all.
It is too small and Ghana Government could have generated this money, let us spend our time more profitably doing so.
I was on the point of having precise determination of the causative agents and to allow our doctors to be more precise in what they prescribe, so that we would not have a situation where patients walk away with so many drugs because the doctors want to cover all the ground. This is a tropical country and infections are the

most serious things that affect our health and for us to improve our laboratories, it is good.

I have also seen the list attached to the disbursement and I would say that it is fairly distributed.

The other caution I would add is, how do we maintain them? These things are going to provide instruments that are very sensitive. We should have that culture of maintenance; we must also train the people to use these machines carefully and once we do that, we can be sure that we would be paying the loan with less pain. But when we take this loan and procure the items and they are badly managed and they collapse within a short period, nobody benefits from the laboratories again; then there is a problem about it.

Mr. Speaker, with this, I support the

motion and urge hon. Members to vote for it.
Mr. E. A. Agyepong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion moved by my hon. Friend, Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori. I am not sure whether the hon. Member for Wa West is asserting that the money is too small for us to worry ourselves acquiring.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the purpose of the loan is what matters most to us. It is for this clinical laboratory work which is very, very paramount when we talk about health services. Though the amount is € 5.3 million but the quantum of work it is going to do is what matters. We are going to serve 22 districts with appropriate clinical laboratory tests on blood pressure, on sugar levels and others.
Therefore, if this amount can do this sort of work then I do not seem to see why the Member for Wa West (Mr. Chireh) should quarrel with the quantum of the amount. I believe it is going to be for a very good purpose. I was happy when
he was ending his contribution he went on to tell us how we should maintain the equipment and how we should train people to use the machines out there that means he is in favour of the loan. So his first assertions must be dismissed as not of any great consequences to us.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for Wa West, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Chireh 10:50 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order. He says that my assertion should be dismissed. He is not the Speaker, and as a matter of principle he has also argued in favour of this. I talked about the waste of parliamentary time -- I am talking about travel time for Ministers to go and negotiate this loan; I am also talking about negotiation expenditure and all that. Apart from that, we are exempting taxes from this. So if you look at our own contribution as a country and the amount we are going to take, the net effect is that this money is too small for all of us to be wasting our time on it.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Please, go on.
Mr. E. A. Agyepong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, at the tail end of his intervention he said the technicians and all those people must be trained. That goes to underscore the fact that he supports the loan.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of information. Mr. Speaker, I think that my hon. Colleague from Wa West is confusing everybody. I mean, €5.3 million is more than 8 -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for New

Juaben North, is it a point of order to what the hon. Member said?
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:50 a.m.
Yes, yes sir, it is. Because they are talking about the size of the loan being too small. As far as I know this amount is in excess of $8 million. Is that what he is referring to as being too small? That is what I want to know. It is $8 million and we have passed in this House loans of about $1 million so why is he wasting everybody's time and telling us that it is a small amount?
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have no point of order at all, let him continue.
Mr. E. A. Agyepong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on the loan itself. As I have said, part is a soft loan with a zero per cent interest rate, meaning it will take us 30 years to pay back that amount without any interest accruing. I think this is the best we can get. When we look at the commercial loan the interest is 4.49. If we take today's libor plus an interest which is always added to the libor then this is a very, very concessionary rate. I do not think we would like to describe it as a commercial loan.
Therefore, looking at all these things Mr. Speaker, I think this is a very generous offer which we should not allow to go. We must take advantage of it and as my Friend from Wa West also said we must make the best use of it. When these things are sent to the districts, they must not be misused when they finish working with them. If they need to clean them they must clean them so that they last a longer time for us.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge other hon. Members to support this loan agreement.
Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor (NDC - Lawra/Nandom) 10:50 a.m.
Thank you Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this motion. Mr. Speaker, I understand this motion to be one that is asking for a tax waiver and yet the debates
that I have heard so far are dealing with the substantive matters of the merit of the financial facility as it were.
Mr. Speaker, the only footnote I want to register here is that it is increasingly becoming a fashion that anytime we negotiate for any external facility, we always will provide for tax exemption and I think this state of affairs needs to be looked at very, very closely, because if we want to be able to wean away from donor funds eventually then we must begin exploring the potential of mobilizing domestic revenue. But if at every step we are waiving tax then it means our ability to generate internally what resources we need for our development initiative is being weakened increasingly.
If you look at the total tax liability, Mr. Speaker, on this particular one that we will exempt, it is as high as about GH¢1,292,000. If you aggregate almost all the loan agreements that we have had in this House, and you begin to see the amount of tax exemptions that we keep granting, I think it is a state of affairs that we need to look at as a matter of policy.
So I would entreat the Ministry that while we are introducing new tax regimes for domestic mobilization of resources, let us also look at what we are throwing away in terms of the relative benefits that we get from these external facilities; and this is the point I want to register in support of the motion, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee, you may wish to wind up, but before then the Deputy Minority Leader.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor/ Ave) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion. I have taken note of the fact that the memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in support of this loan facility indicated that the phase 1 of the programme, there
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor/ Ave) 10:50 a.m.


has been a value for money assessment. But I have tried to ask members of the Committee whether the Ministry has made that information available to them and my response was no.

And while we take steps to approve this facility it is important that the Ministry makes that information -- the value for money assessment that they have done on this facility -- available to this House so that it is not only an information that is put in documents but it is not made available to them.

I would want to find out from the Ministry whether it is their desire to make that value for money assessment to confirm what they have put in their own memorandum so that we are all clear in our minds and how soon will they make that information available to us?

Mr. Speaker, subject to this comment I support the motion.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa, you may wish to wind up.
Mr. Appiah-Ofori 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank all Members who contributed to this motion and not refusing to approve but supporting the approval. Certainly, I support what the hon. Member for Avenor/ Ave (Mr. Doe Adjaho) has just said and that my Friend here may be called upon to bring the necessary information to the House as soon as possible. Because if you say you have done value for money assessment, let us know whether indeed the nation will see value for the amount which is going to be borrowed.
I also want to draw attention to the issue raised by the hon. Member for Wa West. Mr. Speaker, half a loaf is better than nothing. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, this is the second phase of the amount.
The first phase was substantial, it is the second part of it which has now come in. So for anybody to say that it is peanut and therefore we should not consider it, the person is not being fair. Finally I want to thank everybody for supporting us.

Question put and motion agreed to.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Item 8 - Resolution - hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning?
RESOLUTIONS 11 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Mixed Credit Facility between the Government
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11 a.m.


of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/KBC Bank NV of Belgium for an amount of €5,383,822.22 for the second phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project

(CLIP).
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11 a.m.
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP - Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Item 9 - Resolution - hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning?
RESOLUTIONS 11 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 174 (2) of the Constitution, Parliament is empowered to confer power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by an
Act of Parliament;
THE EXERCISE of any power conferred on any person or autho- rity to waive or vary a tax in favour of any person or authority is by the said provisions made subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution;
BY THE COMBINED operation of the provisions of section 26 (2) of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 330), the Export and Import Act, 1995 (Act 503), the Export Development and Investment Fund Act, 2000 (Act 582), the Value Added Tax Act, 1998 (Act 546), the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act 579) and other existing Laws and Regulations applicable to the collection of goods into Ghana, the Minister for Finance may exempt any statutory corporation, institution or individual from the payment of duties and taxes otherwise payable under the said Laws and Regulations or waive or vary the requirement of such statutory corporation, institution or individual to pay such duties and taxes;
IN ACCORDANCE with the provisions of the Constitution and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament a request by the Minister for Finance for the prior approval of Parliament to the exercise by him of his power under the Laws and Regulations relating to the payment of the sum of GH¢1,292,003.00 on Laboratory Equipments, Work Table, Needles Electrophoreses, Power Generator, UPS, Tools Centrifuge, Vortex
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11 a.m.


Mixer and other materials imported into Ghana or purchased locally in respect of the Mixed Credit Facility between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/ KBC Bank NV of Belgium for the Second Phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project

(CLIP).

NOW THEREFORE, this honoura- ble House hereby approves the exercise by the Minister responsible for Finance of the power granted to him by Parliament by statute to waive such taxes and duties or to exempt the payment of such taxes and duties on laboratory equipments, work table, needles, electrophoreses, power generator, UPS, Tools Centrifuge, Vortex Mixer and other materials amounting to GH¢1,292,003.00 imported into Ghana or purchased locally in respect of the Mixed Credit Facility between the Government of Ghana and the Government of Belgium/ KBC Bank NV of Belgium for the Second Phase of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project

(CLIP).
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP - Asikuma-Odoben/Brakwa) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Item 10 - Motion - Hon. Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee (Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that not- withstanding the provisions of Standing
Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Development Financing Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Asso-ciation (IDA) for an amount SDR60.80 million (US$100.00 million) for the Sixth Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC-6) may be moved today.
Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (Dr. A. A. Osei) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon. Members, let us move on to item 11 on the Order Paper. Motion -- hon. Chairman of the Finance Committee?
MOTION 11 a.m.
Mr. Moses Asaga (NDC - Nabdam) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to this motion in a favourable manner. But my comments are really directed to the hon. Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. In his statement to support it, there were two contradictory statements which I would want him to clarify.
Mr. Asaga 11 a.m.
I have not even said anything and he is rising.
Dr. Akoto Osei 11 a.m.
In this House we direct -
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
I have not called you yet.
Mr. Asaga 11 a.m.
So in my contribution, the clarification is this - [Interruptions.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon. Minister of State, do you have a point of order?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I thought that in this House statements are directed to Mr. Speaker, not to individuals. He categorically said that he is directing his statement at me.
This is in violation of the House rules, so he should be talking directing it to Mr. Speaker who is leading this House.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister, you have no point of order.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, my good Friend, hon. Moses Asaga must have been dozing when I was speaking. Mr. Speaker, my specific comments were the following; for his benefit I will repeat: “When the Board was approving this loan last week”, not the President -- when the Board of Directors of the World Bank, they noted the actions that this President has taken, not the President; it is the Board of Directors I was referring to.
So Mr. Speaker, I beg to ask you to direct my hon. good Friend that we should be paying attention when we come to this House. [Laughter].
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister of State,
I have no such powers.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, before I
continue, I think that I object to the use of the word “dozing” because that is uncomplimentary. How can you say that a Member of Parliament was dozing? I think he must withdraw that statement.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my
specific words said “you might have
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister, he has taken objection to it. Please, withdraw it and let us go on.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I should
withdraw “might have”. Mr. Speaker, if you say so, yes, I withdraw “might have”.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
No, no. that is not it. The word “dozing”. Please, withdraw and let us go on.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, “he might
have not been paying attention”.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you
withdrawing the words you used?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
withdraw, to replace it with “He might not have been paying attention.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
With apologies.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with
apologies, as you direct.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you
very much. [Interruption] --
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Deputy Majority
Leader, do you have a point of order.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, that is so. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Colleague hon. Moses Asaga is misleading this House and the entire nation by alluding to the fact that there is food crisis in the country. Mr. Speaker, there is no food crisis in this country. Mr. Speaker, he says there is food crisis in the country. Yes, prices of some food items are going up somewhat, but there is no food crisis in the country.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Nabdam, please go on with your submission.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that my hon. Colleague, if I have to use the words of the hon. Finance Minister, was not paying attention. Because the Finance Minister said there is food crisis. I am just repeating what he said.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Please, go on with your
contribution.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister of State,
do you have a point of order?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he is
misleading this House. The hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is sitting here. He has not spoken as yet. I am a Minister of State, not a Finance Minister. Mr. Speaker, that was why I said he might not have been paying attention. You see, I am right; the Finance Minister is sitting here.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Nabdam, please, go on, do not go back.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was referring
to the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning which is of less importance, anyway. Mr. Speaker, I rise to -- [Interruption] -
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister of State,
I hope you want us to make progress.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, definitely.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, which
statement do you object to?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he said it was of less importance. Those were his words. Mr. Speaker, that is completely objectionable, and I expect him who was a Deputy Minister to withdraw right now.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member for Nabdam, were you degrading his position?
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was not
degrading, I was comparing because I had sent him to a higher pedestal. He did not want that one, so I have now referred to his lesser position -- [Laughter] -- This is all that I was saying. I respected him and said he is Minister for Finance, he did not accept that so I brought him to his right level - the lower level. [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Members, let
us make progress. I will give you the opportunity at the end of the day, but not now. Let us make progress, please.
Mr. Asaga 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, having gone
through all these controversies, I conclude by saying that we support this facility but in addition, I would have wished to see the various allocation to the various target programmes because when one says for macro-economic stability it does not really come out what we want to use it for. So these should also be captured the next time we get this facility so that we can specific them out in terms of quantities.
Mr. David Oppon-Kusi (NPP - Ofoase/Ayirebi) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to support the motion on the floor.
Mr. Speaker, we all do note that when we pass the Budget in this House, it has to be driven by money. There is really no point in drawing up a budget if you do not have the money to support it. So this loan is coming at the right time, especially since we have only seven years to the target date for the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs).
Mr. Speaker, I think that this Govern- ment needs all the support to push the progress we have made so far. So far we have made considerable progress towards achieving some of the MDGs, and we need all the cash, all the moneys, all the support now to be able to meet these objectives. So I would urge hon. Members to fully support this, and hope that the moneys will come as quickly as possible.
Mr. Speaker, poverty reduction is a
major strategy in our budgetary proposals in this House. And anything that goes to support poverty reduction goes to enhance growth. As we speak, there is a committee that is going out to assess the impact of some of the interventions that has been done by the Government on poverty. They went out on Tuesday, today they are going out, and indications are that we are making progress.
We can only make progress when people feel the benefit of what we are doing in their lives. So I am praying this House to quickly support this so that we can continue making an impact on the lives of people mostly affected by poverty in order that we can reduce extreme poverty, and be able to make people happy, and be able to help people fight poverty, and be able to help people move on in their lives.
Mr. Speaker, I urge this whole House to support this motion.

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC - Tamale

South): Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the motion but just to seek a clarification on one or two issues. May I refer you to paragraph 4.0 “Terms of the Credit” particularly item (d) “Commitment Fee”.

Mr. Speaker, even though the

commitment fee has been determined, one-half of one per cent, there is another proviso down there that this may be waived at the discretion of the IDA's Board of Executive Director. When that happens, what is this House approving or what is the consequence of that on what we have approved? I think that is important that we have definitive position on commit-ment fees so that if this House is approving, then we know that it is one and half per cent then we put it there. But when we say that the IDA Board of Directors would in future vary it, when they vary it are we going to come back to this august House.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang 11:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have to look at precedence. The way our hon. Colleague is arguing, it would come to a situation where each and every action would come here. What we are approving, he will have a case if it was going to be up. But if it is going to be scrapped, then I do not see what his difficulty is since it might vary. He did not say it might vary upwards, they may decide to waive it. We have done this before, IDA's loans have always gone straight through all the time.
Furthermore, the way he is going, he would even have argued that when we were being forgiven our loans, we should have come to Parliament because
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
am sure the hon. Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning appreciates the point that I am making. My other senior colleague may choose to ignore it but it is important that we do not come and get approval and give the power to some other authority the opportunity to vary it. I think it is important that we are definite on it.
Mr. Speaker, just a little down at paragraph (e), there is another point of clarification. We see the heading “Repayment” and with your permission, I beg to quote:
“The repayment of the principal amount of the credit by semi-annual instalment at the rate of 1 per cent shall commence on June 1, 2018 and end in 2027.”
Then under it, we are told 2047. Which one is ending, when and which one is extending to 2047? I think that I need another clarification on that. If we say that it begins 2018 and then ends 2027, there is an extension where we are talking about 2047.
My final observation Mr. Speaker. I
find some incongruity in the observations of the Committee and may I refer you to page 3, paragraph 5.0 of your Committee's Report. Reference is made to macro economic targets set in 2008 budget and then particularly important Mr. Speaker, the Committee observed and with your permission, I beg to quote:

“One of these is the accumulation of international reserves of the equivalent of at least three months of import cover.”

I want to know the relation of this loan to the attempt by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in terms of enhancing our international reserves. This is because Mr. Speaker, if you come back to the background of the report, a lot of reference is made to agriculture, private sector development, poverty reduction and other things. Our pro-poor interventions in the budget must be specific and I think that when we get this loan agreements, the bureaucracy sometimes turns to consume a lot of the money and it does not spill over to the very people for which some of these are intended and I think that that is important.

I see an inconsistency; in one breath they are telling us that in order to achieve our macro-economic targets we ought to increase our international reserves. Is the $100 million going to international reserve or they should tell us specifically which aspect of agriculture, private sector development and other initiatives that they are going to.

With these few comments, Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the motion.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Who is winding up?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just
want to address some of the points the hon. Member who has just spoken raised. Mr. Speaker, the first point is about the discretion of the IDA Board of Executive Directors. What hon. Hackman Owusu- Agyemang was saying was that if they waive it, it would be in our interest. But I want to assure him that the Board has approved this loan and there was no waiver, so the commitment fee stands.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
No, you have wound
up on his behalf.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTION 11:20 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall
not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament.
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Development Financing Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for an amount SDR60.80 million (US$100.00 million) for the Sixth Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC-
6).
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11:20 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11:20 a.m.
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to support the resolution.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Item - 13, Committee
Sittings, Leadership?
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:20 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, we have exhausted the agenda for the day and there are six cmmittees which have been programmed to meet after adjournment.
Mr. Speaker, I may also want to remind Leadership that the meeting with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, the Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs and the Attorney- General and Minister for Justice is coming on immediately upon adjournment.
Mr. Speaker, in the circumstance, I beg to move, that this House do now adjourn until tomorrow ten o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 11:20 a.m.
THE 11:20 a.m.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 11:20 a.m.
OF GHANA 11:20 a.m.
MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:25 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:25 a.m.