Debates of 19 Jun 2008

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Members, we have in this august House, a parliamentary delegation from the South African Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature.
The delegation is headed by hon. Sydney N. Sikhosana. Other members include hon. David S. Mkhwanazi, hon. Mabhuza S. Ginindza, hon. Refiloe C. Mahlobogoane, hon. Ndaweni J. Mahlangu, hon. Violet S. Siwela, hon. Lucky N. Ndinisa, and hon. Anthony M. Benadie. They are being accompanined by the Committee Co-ordinator, Mr. Hezekiel Moselakgomo.
Hon. Members, on behalf of the hon. Members of this House and on behalf of myself, I welcome you to the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana and wish you a pleasant and fruitful stay in Ghana.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Correction of Votes and

Hon. Members, we have the Official
Majority Leader/ Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. A. O. Aidooh) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you will permit me, I beg to move motion No. 4 on behalf of the Attorney-General.
BILLS - SECOND READING 10 a.m.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, this is a Bill standing in the name of the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice. The Majority Leader is not the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice. This is a very important Bill. I believe, and with the greatest respect, this is a Bill that the hon. Attorney-General And Minister for Justice must come to this House and speak to.
First, the hon. Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs will have limitations where certain clarifications - he is not in charge of this Bill. So Mr. Speaker, this is one very important Bill, and with the greatest respect, we would want to defer and when the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice is in, then we can take it. With the greatest respect, it is a very important Bill and the hon. Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice is aware that he has this business in this House but he is nowhere to be found, neither his Deputies are present.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Majority Leader, what
do you say to that?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
believe that I had your permission to go ahead. Mr. Speaker, this Bill has gone through Cabinet, of which I am privy to be a member. I can assure my hon. Colleague, and I know he is not doubting my competence to move this motion --
Mr. Speaker, once I have your permission and fully aware and being part of the process that is emanating this Bill, I beg the House's indulgence to allow me to go ahead. If the hon. Member raises any issues, I believe I can handle them.
Mr. Speaker, the onus of the Bill -
Mr. Adjaho 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am a
responsible hon. Member of the Leadership of this House. I will not do anything that will frustrate the business of this House, but there are very good reasons that I ought to raise, which I do not intend raising them. Mr. Speaker, I believe this Bill is a very important one and we want the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice or any of his Deputies to come and lead the debate on it.
Fortunately Mr. Speaker, the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and one of his Deputies are members of this House and they are not here. Mr. Speaker, I think this is a matter we on his side of the House feel strongly about

because we do not want to raise any issue that will frustrate the business of the House this morning.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Majority Leader, what do you say to that?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with all respect and with all humility, I believe if anybody can handle any business in this House, it is the Leader of Government Business. I am both the Leader of the House and Government Business and so, in that capacity, I can handle anything from Cabinet and it is with that right that I insist I should be allowed to move this motion.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Minority Whip, you have your Deputy Minority Leader who is raising an objection. What are you -
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to support my hon. Leader. Mr. Speaker, whilst agreeing with the hon. Majority Leader that he is capable of handling any business in this House, I think that he will also agree that, he will not accept responsibility, totally, for any mistakes that he might make on behalf of the hon. Minister. As my hon. Leader said - this anti-terrorism issue is not a simple matter; it is not a child's play.
Mr. Speaker, it will take a national position, national image -- Mr. Speaker, the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice goes outside to represent us in international fora and he will make
representations and other things to defend a position that this country has taken and not the hon. Majority Leader in that capacity as the hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.
Mr. Speaker, we are only asking
that this House should be allowed to do something that will stand the test of time and not that we are just against any business in this House. We want to do it so that in future we are not asked, “Who was responsible for this?” “Why did we not do this and that?” And then the man would say, “I only acted as Majority Leader and that I was not the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice”.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader, where exactly is the hon. Attorney- General and Minister for Justice or he has travelled?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think he must be on his way coming. I want to assure my hon. Colleagues that I would take full responsibility for any lapses that occur. I would take full responsibility and I can assure him that I am very particular about this matter and he knows I am very competent to handle this matter. I assure him again that I would take every responsibility for any mistakes that I may make, and I think that there will not be any mistakes.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader, I am suggesting that we stand it down in the meantime. I know you can always resolve this matter among yourselves. Try and resolve it. Then, let us go on; let us take item 5.
MOTIONS 10:10 a.m.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Nomination to the ECOWAS Parliament
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
beg to move, that this honourable House approves the nomination of hon. Simon Osei-Mensah to replace hon. Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu who has been appointed Minister of State to represent Ghana at the ECOWAS Parliament in accordance with the Protocol relating to the establish-ment of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is consistent with the ECOWAS Protocol and I beg to second the motion moved by the hon. Majority Leader.
Question proposed.
Mr. J. A. Tia (NDC - Talensi) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the ECOWAS Parliament and this activity that has just taken place is in line with the Protocol. But the hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is being replaced was the leader of the delegation from Ghana to the
ECOWAS Parliament. This motion does not address that issue. I do not know whether there is going to be an opportunity for the Leadership to discuss this -- [Interruption] -- I remember that the last one we took here in the composition of the delegation, the issue of leadership of the delegation was tabled. It was adopted. It was part of the Resolution. Now the leader is being replaced and there is no mention as to who succeeds him - [Interruption] -- Why is he saying I should not raise this pertinent issue?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Minority Whip, whom are you addressing?
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I was carried away. I respect my hon. Colleague - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
No, do not be carried away.
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he was getting at me. So I want to know from the hon. Majority Leader whether there is going to be an opportunity for Leadership to discuss that one and bring it for the consideration of the House.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Minority Whip, this is not Question time.
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I agree that it is not Question time, but it is a clarification. So I should not say that I wanted a clarification on whether there would be an opportunity for us - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
When he comes to wind up, he may be able to do that.
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development & PSI (Papa Owusu-Ankomah) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this is a non-contentious
Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development & PSI (Papa Owusu-Ankomah) 10:10 a.m.


motion and it is in conformity with the practice of the House. I recall the tortuous moments we went through before we could get this matter settled this way.

As regards l eadersh ip o f the delegation, I believe that we can leave it in the competent hands of the Leadership. Indeed, we have certain guidelines as to leadership of international delegations. The hon. Deputy Minority Leader is very much aware of the guidelines, so I believe that we can leave this matter in the very capable hands of the Leadership of this House.

I support the motion and I urge hon. Colleagues to support it. If Leadership considers this necessary, that the leadership of that delegation should be a matter that should be brought before the floor of the House, certainly, I believe when the time comes the leader - [Interruption] -- I was here, and you would recall that it was during my tenure as the hon. Majority Leader that the issue of the composition and leadership as to whether a Minister can be a member arose.

All those matters were handled holistically and you would recall, that it was through my prompting that the then Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey suggested that this matter be brought to the House and debated so that when we adopt it, that would then be the decision of the House.
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is misleading the House. The last time this matter was discussed here was in 2007 and he was not then the Majority Leader; he was not here. As I said, he was busy campaigning for the presidential ticket of

his party. So he was not here. He should not mislead the House. I know what I am talking about, that the last time we discussed it, the issue of leadership was part of the motion and the Resolution. That is why I was drawing the attention of the hon. Leader to the position of the leader of the delegation. What do we do? So if it is that Leadership is capable of handling it, that is what I was seeking clarification about. So let us take it from there and then clarify it. The hon. Member should not come and mislead the House.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister for Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, have you come to the end of your contribution?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to wind up. I believe I have not misled the House. I was talking about a principle, a principle relating to the composition of the membership of Ghana to the ECOWAS Parliament, and the fact that that membership has to be determined and approved by the House. That is what I was talking about. I was not really talking about the last time the issue of ECOWAS Parliament came before the House. I was talking about the principle.
Mr. Speaker, I reiterated the point that in certain matters, Leadership is capable of handling them. Sometimes when these issues are raised by Leadership on the floor of the House, it engenders unnecessary and acrimonious debate which can be avoided if members of the Leadership put their heads together. So I urge Leadership, particularly, the leadership of the Minority, to agree with me, and discuss this matter at their leadership meetings, so that we can then go forward with unanimity and concord.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader, you may wish to wind up.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. Colleagues for their support, and I will just make two quick remarks.
First, it is in relation of leadership of the group of the delegation. Mr. Speaker, conventionally, the most senior member on the group from the Majority leads the delegation. Conventionally, and that is
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Minority Whip, I
cannot hear you, you have already contributed to the debate.
Mr. Tia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon.
Member for Lawra/Nandom, hon.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
No, you are out of
order.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTIONS 10:20 a.m.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS under article 5 of the Protocol relating to the Community Parliament of ECOWAS, a total of eight (8) seats have been allotted to the Parliament of Ghana out of a total of one hundred and twenty (120) seats for the entire sixteen (16) Member ECOWAS Community;
UNDER subclause (ii) of clause 1 of article 7 of the said Protocol, elected Representatives to the Community Parliament of ECOWAS shall be drawn from the National Assemblies of member states or their equivalent institutions or organs which shall elect such members from amongst themselves;
UNDER article 12 of the said Protocol and Rules 10 (5) of the Rules of Procedures of the ECOWAS Parliament a Member appointed to carry out executive function in a Member State should resign as a Member. NOW THEREFORE this honourable House resolves that hon. Simon Osei-Mensah shall replace hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who has been appointed Minister of State as the representative of the Parliament of
Ghana at the ECOWAS Parliament in accordance with articcle 12 of the said Protocol and rule 10 (5) of the Rules of Procedures.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader,
what is the position? Have you been able to resolve it?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
No, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
If you have not
resolved it, then I am going to defer it. Item 4?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this
matter appears simple, but it raises the issue of the role and capacity of the Leader of Government Business in this House. I think that in all fairness, and in keeping with parliamentary practices anywhere on earth, I should be allowed to move the motion. Mr. Speaker, that is why a Member of the Majority side is always made Leader of Government Business and I believe that I am capable, competent and able to handle it.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
On a point of
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Can I give you two
minutes to put your heads together?
Mr. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Well, I do not have any objection to that suggestion.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
I have not called you.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to moved that the House adjourns till tomorrow at ten o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr. J. A. Tia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
second the motion.
Mr. J. A. Tia 10:20 a.m.


Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 10:20 a.m.