Debates of 14 Aug 2008

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Members, correction of Votes and Proceedings, Wednesday, 13th August, 2008. Pages 1 . . . 15. [No correction was made.]
Hon. Members, we do not have Official Report for today.
At the Commencement of Public Business - Presentation and First Reading of Bills - Hon. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines?
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I crave your indulgence to allow the hon. Deputy Minister to present the Bill on behalf of the hon. Minister.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right. Hon. Deputy Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines?
BILLS - FIRST READING 10 a.m.
Mr. Aidooh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I advise that among the terms of reference, the Committee should determine whether this Bill is of an urgent nature. The Committee must decide that fact among its terms of reference.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right.
Item 5 - Motion - hon. Chairman of the Committee on Finance?
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the matter relates to works and housing. The Finance Committee was in charge and they brought the Committee on Works and Housing to help them in the transaction.
So, Mr. Speaker, if I may seek the indulgence of the House, and your permission, to allow the hon. Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing to move the motion.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing, please, move the motion.
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing (Mr. Samuel Johnfiah) 10 a.m.
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 Buyers Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic
of Ghana and KBC Bank N.V. of Belgium for an amount of €72,000,000.00 for an additional scope of work improvement of the sanitation of Old Fadama as part of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), including the redevelopment of Adjen Kotoku near Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region may be moved today.
Mr. Yieleh Chireh (NDC - Wa West) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Item 6 - Motion - Hon. Chairman of the Committee?
MOTIONS 10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Samuel Johnfiah) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Buyers Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and KBC Bank N.V. of Belgium for an amount of €72,000,000.00 for an additional scope of work improvement of the sanitation of Old Fadama as part of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), including the redevelopment of Adjen Kotoku near Amasaman in the Greater-Accra Region.
Mr. Speaker, in doing so, I wish to present the Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
Mr. Speaker, the above Financing Agreement was laid in the House on Tuesday, 12th August 2008 and referred to
the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
To consider the Agreement, the Committee met with the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Prof. G. Gyan- Baffour and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
Since the last 37 years, Accra has been experiencing flooding, sewage spills, and solid waste pollution problems specifically in and around the Korle Lagoon.
The situation is worsened further by the fact that any additional organic waste finds its way into the lagoon but this is not dissolved as a result of low levels of dissolved oxygen in the Lagoon.
The net result is a deteriorating situation where the downstream water courses are blocked with silt and all the low lying areas, basins and the lagoon become receptacles for the waste being carried by floods.
The stench and visual pollution associated with the entire area bears testimony to these improper methods of disposal methods resulting over time into an environmentally unacceptable situation. Other aspects relating to the dilemma are the associated upstream flooding incidents during moderate downpours and seasonal rains, as well as the associated health hazards typically found in urban slums with unhygienic conditions, poor water and low levels of installed sanitation facilities.
Compounding this problem is the
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Samuel Johnfiah) 10 a.m.


Old Fadama settlement which is a slum situated very close to the Korle Lagoon and it inhabits about 30,000 people. Residents are mainly immigrants who provide casual labour in the city.

Overcrowding is widespread as the houses in this area are mainly made up of all kinds of materials such as cards, chipboards, timber, with no decent toilets, water or electricity and the area has poor drainage and indecent sanitation facilities.

Hon. Members would recall that in July 2006, the House approved a loan facility to support the sanitation of Old Fadama. This loan facility approved by the House is part of the total financing which is required to kick-start the project.

Unfortunately, due to the continued existence of this community and their activities, work on the lagoon at restoring its ecology is been frustrated.

To address this situation the following issues were considered:

1. sustaining the restoration project;

2. sensibility of relocation;

3. acquisition of land for relo- cation; and

4. integration of the new com- munity with existing com-

munities.

As a result, the Government of Ghana sought additional funding from the Belgian Government to finance the relocation of the Old Fadama and its commercial activities to ensure the completion of the ecological restoration project. It is this additional funding that is currently before hon. Members.

3.0 Purpose of the Credit

The purpose of the credit facility is to support the efforts of the Government of Ghana to:

a) improve the sanitation of Old

Fadama as part of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project ( KLERP); and

b) Relocation of Old Fadama commercial activities and community to Adjen Kotoku near Amasaman.

4.0 Terms and Conditions of the Credit Facility

The terms and conditions of the facility are as follows:

Loan Amount -- €72,000,000 (including insurance premium)

5.0 Observations

The Committee was informed that the project is aimed at improving the overall sanitation of Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration and it would specifically include among others the following:

a) the improvement of sanitation at Old Fadama; and

b) the relocation of the slum settlement at Old Fadama to a new site at Adjen Kotoku, near Amasaman.

The Committee further noted that the Lagoon restoration project is part of Government's plans to restore the lagoon to its natural ecology in which marine life abounds, realign the lagoon to improve its hydrological efficiency, increase water flow through the lagoon into the sea. Unfortunately the activity of the settlers is polluting the lagoon which is receiving ecological restoration.

The Committee observed that the initial completion date for the project was December 2003. Unfortunately, as a result of the presence of the settlers and their occupation at Old Fadama, the project is still not complete. Their continued existence at this site threatens the long- term sustainability of the project which the Government of Ghana has already spent over $89 million and hence the urgent need to resettle them together with the commercial activities.

The hon. Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning informed the Committee that as a result of this, there is the urgent need to relocate these settlers to Adjen Kotoku. He informed the Committee that the execution of this exercise will help address a common objective of the four

Ministries involved. Due to this a number of inter-Ministerial consultations has gone on and the necessary preparations have been done. These include sensitization of the settlers, meeting with landowners among others.

The technical team informed the Committee that the scope and implemen- tation of the sanitation of the Old Fadama and social/bulk services of Adjen Kotoku include the following activities:

Provision of physical infrastructural facilities, i.e roads, water, drainage, electricity, sanitary facilities;

Provision of social infrastructure (health, security, education, market and transport terminals);

Project management, relocation and mobilization;

Engineering and consultancy services;

Redevelopment of Old Fadama site.

The Committee observed that the Old Fadama site is a low-lying terrain (prone to flooding) and a strategic site overlooking the lagoon. Due to this, the area has been earmarked for recreational purposes.

The Committee was informed that part of the credit will be used to create social and physical structures in Adjen Kotoku to facilitate the movement of the people and their commercial activities.

The Committee observed that some of the benefits to be derived from the project when completed include:

a) improved sanitation

b) improved shelter, social life; and

c) better economic and environ- mental circumstances.

The Committee was informed that the new community would be integrated with
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Samuel Johnfiah) 10 a.m.


the existing communities at Adjen Kotoku. It is expected that the project would be completed within thirty-six months.

The Committee observed that as part of the project, special development programmes would be targeted at improving the conditions of women within the project area.

Members of the Committee, therefore, urged that steps should be taken to ensure that the project is completed within schedule.

6.0 Conclusion

After a careful consideration of the agreement, the Committee respectfully recommends to the House to adopt this report and approve by Resolution, the Financing Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and KBC Bank N.V. of Belgium for an amount of €72 million for an additional scope of work for the improvement of sanitation of the Old Fadama as part of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP) including the redevelopment of Adjen Kotoku near Amasaman in the Greater- Accra Region in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335).

Respectfully submitted.

Nii Adu Daku Mante (NPP - Klottey Korle): Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.

Question proposed.
Mr. B. D. K. Adu (NPP - Okere) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for the opportunity to contribute to this motion.
Mr. Speaker, this loan has come on time and my advice is that resettling these
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey (NDC - North Tongu) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the motion of the €72 million for clearing the Korle Lagoon.
I have said here at one time that we have taken so many loans for this very purpose but in the end we do not realize the objectives for which the loans are taken.
In the report, they stated among other things as removal of organic waste. It is not the organic waste. Organic waste is dissolvable but the plastic wastes that drain into the lagoon have been causing the disilting.
Mr. Speaker, they also talked about the
stench. Mr. Speaker, we are not told how much it would cost to remove the sterch and even to relocate the population of thirty thousand people and we are taking a loan for €72 million. In the end, the very purpose for which the loan is intended would never be achieved.
What wonders me most is that, most of the loans that we have been taking are always coming from that area of the world. They are either from Belgium, Nether-lands, Austria or some other place. I would like to know why we are always
taking loans from that area. There are so many other countries. I believe strongly there might be some reasons why we are always taking those loans from that area.
What is most important, Mr. Speaker, I hope, is that this huge loan of €72 million would be used for the purpose so that we do not come back here again to be asked for an additional loan to do the same thing which we are approving today.
Minister of State, Ministry of
Finance and Economic Planning: (Dr. A. A. Osei): Mr. Speaker, I rise to add my voice to support the motion that is currently being debated.
Mr. Speaker, this is one of the few projects that has a multi-sectoral co- ordination among three major Ministries, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment and the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations. Mr. Speaker, that tells us the importance of the kind of project that is being done.

Mr. Speaker, it is true that already a lot of money has been spent on it, but we will not be doing ourselves a favour if we do not see to the successful completion of the project.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of work has gone in to preparing this particular project, particularly involving the three Ministries. Consultations have been made among the communities that are going to be relocated; issues on environment will be done by the appropriate Ministry, and more importantly, the construction will be done by Dredging International, a
Mr. A. K. Agbesi (NDC - Ashaiman) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute in support of this motion.
Mr. Speaker, two of the major things that are facing this country are drainage and sanitation. Mr. Speaker, this loan, as other hon. Members had said, has come at a time when sanitation, drainage, et cetera, are facing us in the face.

Mr. Speaker, one hon. Member said that after this loan is taken, one of the most important things is to see and follow it so that it is applied for the purpose for which it was granted.

Mr. Speaker, I have a situation in my constituency, particularly the Sakumono Lagoon where such projects are being undertaken; within two or six months, they are abandoned. Mr. Speaker, this loan has come to alleviate the plight of the people of Old Fadama. It is of importance that once we grant this loan, once this facility has come, the implementing agencies must be up and doing to see to it that the loan goes to what it is acquired for.

Mr. Speaker, it will be gladdening to all of us to know that the plight of the people of Old Fadama will be solved with this facility. Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I want to say that this is a welcome news and we should all support it.
Mr. I. K. Asiamah (NPP - Atwima- Mponua) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the motion on the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly welcome this very important loan that aims at improving sanitation in Old Fadama area.
Mr. Speaker, if you consider the Committee's Report, page 2, the last paragraph, Mr. Speaker, it says that:
“To address this situation, the following issues were considered:
1. sustaining the restoration project;
2. sensibility of relocation;
3. acquisition of land for relocation; and
4. integration of the new com- munity with the exist ing communities.”
Mr. Speaker, my particular interest has got to do with sensibility of relocation. Mr. Speaker, this is an area I will urge the implementing agencies to be more concerned about. How do we involve all stakeholders in the relocation? Most often, when there is such a viable project, the major challenge has always been how to relocate the people so that the project can take off. So it is important that we take a critical look at the relocation process and then we integrate all concerned and everybody on board.
Mr. Speaker, it is also important to look at the timing of the relocation so that we do not create more problems for the Member of Parliament for the area.
Mr. Speaker, more importantly is the fact that we should involve, especially the Member of Parliament in that area, in this whole process so that the community is very much involved. Mr. Speaker, when that happens, it will sustain the project.
Mr. Speaker, another issue is the politicisation of such projects. Most often, when such national projects are carried out and people will have to be moved, anyway, to sustain the project, you will hear interested parties, moreso, people who will benefit politically, politicising the whole exercise.
Mr. Speaker, when that thing happens, it defeats the whole purpose of making sure that we have a safe and clean environment for all us to live. So this caution goes to, especially politicians in this House, people who will have much interest, so that all of us will see to it that Accra, the capital of this great nation
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 10:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Member is trying to deceive the House. He made mention of a certain group of people - the political people benefiting from this kind of things. The question is, why are we now trying to impress upon the Sodom and Gomorrah people, that we are very nice to them, when for so many years this had not been done? Now that it is an election year, they have brought this kind of a loan so that the thirty thousand people will vote for them. It is the purpose of that, so they are the ones who are benefiting, it is no other person. [Inter-ruption.]
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Atwima-Mponua, please, continue.
Mr. Asiamah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I
said, Ghana can only develop when policy- makers, especially legislators in this House see programmes of national importance as such. And that is the more reason why I issued that note of caution that it is important for all of us to embrace such programmes, and not to go down there to accuse the Government of a project that this House is part of. This is because whether we like it or not, we approve of some of these programmes, we approve of the loans, so almost all these programmes are approved by this
Mr. Asiamah 10:30 a.m.


House, including the Minority. So I am calling on the other side to support the Govern-ment's programmes, and not to go and sit on radio stations to lambaste the decongestion and other exercises that aim at cleaning the city.

Mr. Speaker, that is the more reason

Mr. Speaker, another issue that I am particularly interested in is the issue that was touched by the hon. Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade, Finance and Economic Planning. Mr. Speaker, that has got to do with the multi-sectoral approach. I am happy that about three Ministries are involved in this project.

Mr. Speaker, for sometime now what has been lacking since independence in our drainage system has been the lack of co-ordination in inter-ministries. The inter-ministerial approach to some of these issues are very important so that the co-ordination among Ministries will ensure that if it is about the environment, the Environmental Protection Agency is concerned about it. And if it is about finance, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is interested in making sure that there is value for money and if it is about the city, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment is interested in making sure that the city is well cleaned. This is why I endorse wholeheartedly, the inter or multi-sectoral approach to this issue. Mr. Speaker, I expect the implementing agencies in all Ministries to be up to the task.

Mr. Speaker, the problem we face as

politicians is that, most often, we come here and agree and then we leave it to the technocrats to implement. Sometimes the commitment from the technocrats is questionable. And when there is a lapse somewhere, the first person to be called is the Member of Parliament or the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, when you go to my constituency, if there is a poor road network or a road has not been well constructed, the first person they mention is the Member of Parliament.

Mr. Speaker, this country should demand accountability from our technocrats. This august House should demand responsible work from people who are implementing our policies - [Hear! Hear!] Mr. Speaker, until we begin to do that, we will not be having value for money.

We all know that as Members of Parliament, we cannot go under the tunnel to look at a drainage that has not been well done or a market that has not been well constructed. But if we have people on the ground who are supposed to see to it that these things are properly done and they do their work well, Members of Parliament and politicians will be free.

That is why the call for accountable leadership, for me, should begin from the technocrats. The call for quality work should begin from the technocrats so that politicians are absolved from some of these blames, criticisms and unwarranted attacks by the electorate.

So Mr. Speaker, I believe that with these few words I support the motion on the floor and I urge hon. Members to vote for the motion.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the loan request because this is a project that dates back to the 1960s. Unfortunately, it was terminated after the 1966 coup. The project was then being done by an Israeli Company - the dredging of the Old Fadama area.
Mr. Speaker, I was very happy when the project started again around the mid- 1990s but then the project ran into difficulty when it came to the resettlement of the Sodom and Gomorrah people.
I am surprised my hon. Friend, hon. Asiamah is trying to politicize the issue. He is too young. I happened to be the Chairman of the sub-committee for the relocation of Sodom and Gomorrah in the year 2000. Initially, they tried to induce settlers with cash for them to move voluntarily. It did not work because some of the issues that hon. Asiamah is raising were raised by certain politicians in the year 2000, trying to let the people not to move. But in politics, it is a double-edged knife - it cuts both ways and he must stop making such statements because it does not help.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy that eventually the settlers have agreed to move and some money has been found to resettle them.
The Korle Lagoon is a very important water body in the city and anyone who travels to Europe, well advanced countries, will know that any river or lagoon that flows within the city is clean. It is used for recreational purposes. In our case, the lagoon is used as a dumping ground for refuse, to the extent that the aquatic life in the lagoon is dead and the biodiversity is almost extinct.
I have read through the report and I do not know whether the project covers the timber market area because it forms part of the reclamation process. You cannot
move Sodom and Gomorrah and leave the timber market. You have not completed the project. This is a long standing project.
Anybody who looks at the master plan will know that at one time a lake in the form of Africa was to be constructed in the area purely for recreational purposes and I hope that those who are handling the project will do so to its logical conclusion so that the stench and the filth that have engulfed the centre of Accra will be a thing of the past.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words I support the motion.
Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Environment (Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Darko): Mr. Speaker, in supporting the motion, I will like to touch briefly on one of the objectives of the loan, that is for improvement of sanitation.
Mr. Speaker, I would want all of us to accept the reality that, no matter the amount of loans, no matter the amount of infrastructure we put in place to address issues on sanitation, if people are not prepared to change their ways all these will come to naught.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the stench and the fact that the oxygen level in the lagoon is so low that organic pollutants within the lagoon cannot even dissolve. Mr. Speaker, we are the cause of this issue. You might find within such areas provision of toilets but people refuse to use them. I will therefore want to urge that in the implementation of the programme, education becomes part of it so that people are well educated, well informed as to how we should manage our waste, whether solid or liquid. Ghanaians should learn to change their attitude or we
should learn to change our attitude as to how we dispose of our waste.
Mr. Speaker, the other issue is on the relocation. I would also want to urge at this point that, people who will be in-charge of the implementation, will recognize the position of the Municipal Assembly because the Municipal Assembly is the highest planning authority.
We should also guard against the springing up of urban slums in these areas so that we do not go back and then tackle the problem again when we have resettled them. If we resettle these people and the Assembly is not involved and we do not constantly monitor the growth of that settlement, eventually, we will end up with another urban slum which we want to avoid.
Mr. Speaker, this project is very important because as the hon. Member who spoke last said, in most advanced countries, property around water areas are very expensive but unfortunately, that is not the same with Ghana. We use water courses and land around water areas for all sorts of unimaginable things. We can use this waterway to supplement even transportation in our city because if we keep it clean and water can flow and the stench is also out, it can also be used for water and lake transportation.
Mr. Speaker, with these few remarks, I support the motion and urge all colleagues to do same.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor/Ave) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion. Mr. Speaker, first of all I need some clarification from the Committee. The Memorandum submitted to Parliament talked about the total cost of €82,494,000.00 for the project and this is made up of an approved loan of July, 2006, an additional funding of €63
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor/Ave) 10:40 a.m.


million bringing the total to €73 million. When you add insurance premium of €9.4 million, you get €82.49 million.

Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the Memorandum to Parliament from the hon. Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Minister for Local Government, Rural Developement and Environment and Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.
Dr. A. A. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, just in
case I do not forget, I want to avert my hon. Senior Colleague's attention to the Memorandum to Parliament that we all received sometime back. On page 5 of 14, paragraph 1.8 and Mr. Speaker, I crave your indulgence if you allow me, to read:
“The Government will incur extra budgetary expenditure as a result of contracting additional loan.”
So that information about where the additional money is going to come from, it has been made available to us in the Memorandum that came to all of us sometime back. Just for your information.
Mr. Adjaho 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are invited to approve the Committee's Report; we are not approving the Memorandum to Parliament and I am picking my information from the Memorandum and asking for clarification. He may well provide the clarification but the Committee's Report which we are being
invited to approve did not clarify that position. If it is in the Committee's Report, the motion is to adopt the Committee's Report; if that information is there they should show me which page it is.
Dr. Osei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with all due
respect to my senior Colleague, the information I was giving him was to avert his mind to the fact that the Committee has assumed that since this document was available to all hon. Members, my senior Colleague should have taken time to read it. Otherwise, the Committee will have to reproduce the entire Memorandum as a Committee's Report and all Committees make that assumption. I was just averting his mind to that.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Yielding to him?
Mr. Bagbin 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, just a point
of clarification. It is important for hon. Members to realize that we are not just doing this for today, we are doing this for the records and people in future will be doing research and their source of reference will be the Hansard. It will not be on assumptions and that is why it is important that critical matters such as this be included in the report and not a summary of the whole Memorandum but as to the additional funding, the source of funding and the arrangement Govern- ment has made. Because we have got a lot of completed projects all over the country and this does not speak well for the country. That is what he is asking for. Let us be sure that when we approve this
amount this year we are sure we will get an additional amount by this time to complete the project. That is all.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Please, conclude.
Mr. Adjaho 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we
have to explain this in the Report of the Committee and captured properly in the Hansard, the issue would have been cleared and put beyond all reasonable doubt. Mr. Speaker, I support the motion but that is the clarification and I thought that it ought to have been captured in the Committee's Report.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Chairman, who is
winding up? Hon. Minister, are you winding up? Yes, go ahead.
Minister for Water Resources, Works
and Housing (Alhaji A. S. Boniface): Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, with the honourable House accepting and approving this facility, it will really enhance and support the Government's policy and intention of moving this country from the low-income economy to a middle-income one. In the first place, we have made a promise to the people of this country that Old Fadama will be reconstructed into a modern place with the drains also being converted into a modern one where we have various facilities being created.
With this facility, it will help change and sustain the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration and improve upon the sanitation of Old Fadama. It will also help to relocate the slum settlement of Old Fadama for a better economic and social environmental advantage.
Mr. Speaker, if we thought of leaving the people or just relocating them, evicting
them would have been politically unwise, socially and economically bad; just to say we were dispensing with them or evicting them. But we are moving them from their present position to a new place where we are going to get new and modern facilities because there is going to be a provision of physical infrastructural facilities like roads, water, drainage, electricity, sanitary facilities and also social infrastructure like health, security, education, market and transport terminals.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Order! Order!
Alhaji Boniface 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I feel
elated and happy that the honourable House is going to accept in approving this facility and that will help integrate our people into the main system.
Again, it will also boost the economic position of where we are going to have the new area and this will also help boost the economic position of the people, the community and Ghana at large.
Mr. Speaker, based on that, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all the support that the honourable House has granted and I call on my hon. Colleagues to help approve this facility.
Mr. Speaker, on this note I thank hon. Members.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTIONS 10:40 a.m.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 10:40 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 10:40 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Gifty E. Kusi) 10:50 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 Joint Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy on the Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Caylon Credit Agricole Bank (France) for an amount of €85.00 million for the Network Expansion and Loss Reduction Project of the Electricity Company of Ghana may be moved today.
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
GOG/Caylon Credit Agricole Bank (France) Credit Facility Agreement to Finance the Network Expansion and Loss Reduction Project of the
Mr. P. C. Appiah-Ofori (NPP - Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in so doing, I want to make a brief intervention.
Fifty years ago, the population of Ghana was around 6 million. Today, we are about 22 million and the facility available to us 50 years ago remains the same while the number of people in the country has increased which requires expansion of facilities for the benefit of the whole country.
The facility has remained the same and therefore, this has created problems for the people in this country. It is, therefore, time for us to make it possible for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to expand its facilities in order to take care of the growing population of Ghana. That is why this facility is in the right direction.
Indeed, the facility is made up of two components. One is a buyers credit made up of €65 million while the €20 million is a commercial loan which attracts a repayment period of only five years. It means therefore that the ECG must work harder to be able to pay this within five years, failing which, since it is the Ghana Government which is contracting the loan, it would be passed on to the Ghana Government to pay. So efforts should be made by the ECG to ensure that within the five-year period it would be able to repay the loan without hindrance.
Indeed, as we need this facility for the expansion purposes, I urge all hon. Members to support it and give approval as soon as possible.
Question proposed.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC - Tamale South) 10:50 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to associate myself with the
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC - Tamale South) 10:50 a.m.


motion for the approval of €85 million between the Government of Ghana and Caylon Credit Agricole Bank of France for the network expansion and loss reduction project for the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Mr. Speaker, in doing so, let me refer you to page 4 of your Committee's report and to ask whether compared against other loan agreements, the management fee of up to 7.5 per cent is not on the high side. If we compare it to other loans that we have looked at, I think that the management fee of up to 7.5 per cent is excessive and I think that those who negotiated this loan should have been seeking to downsize how much of this money should go for management fee. That is the first major observation. Up to 7.5 per cent, for me, is unacceptably high.

Mr. Speaker, if you observe, on the same page, you have a commitment fee of up to 1 per cent. The focus of this Agreement is to improve upon electricity supply in two major areas - Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema. These are two major noted industrial hubs of our country and I think that it is important that such improvements are done especially so, as we are informed that in the last 50 years the ECG has not had the opportunity to change many of its networks to be consistent with ever- growing population.

Mr. Speaker, page 6, the paragraph before the conclusion notes and carefully sums up why this facility is important as the Committee observes, that it is aimed at reducing technical losses which arise due to obsolete equipment and over-aged power lines. I do hope that when this loan is approved, the ECG would be able to improve upon its services as is rightly captured on page 5 of the Committee's report, to improve access to power supply

in the project areas namely, Tema and Kumasi.

When I saw the other addition of Akuse, I was wondering what that will mean since the project details itself tell us that - under page 4, if you look at the observations - there will be construction of some primary substations.

Mr. Speaker, the Committee looked at the Volta River Authority (VRA) requirements and we noticed that in approving the budget statement for the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the same ECG which is today asking for money because they think that they have shortfalls, had some Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) allocation which was not utilised and we asked for explanation why you yourself in one breath, you say that because you have a shortfall in funding.

There must be justification for you to be given a French loan. Yet when domestic resources were available and Government allocated HIPC resources to ECG, at the time that they reported to the Committee on Mines and Energy, this particular money was not utilised and I think that it is important.

We also noticed in the investment programme of the ECG itself, they are saying that annually what they need is US$187 million. If we convert the €85 million, that is above what their yearly requirement may be and I think that the Ministry must keep an eye on the utilisation of this fund and measure the performance against the indicators that they have given in this report and that of their own investment programme so that we would be able to see improved services in Kumasi and Tema and other areas that would benefit from this.

With these few comments, Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the motion.
Mr. K. Opare-Hammond (NPP - Adenta) 11 a.m.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to associate myself with the motion on the floor of the House and to support the approval of this loan to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Mr. Speaker, for myself and the people
in my constituency, this is a very welcome news and indeed, a welcome project. Mr. Speaker, I am saying this because my constituency is one of the fastest growing areas in the national capital and a lot of people are moving into the area. In addition, people are putting up houses and therefore, they need the extension of electricity into their homes.
Most often we have a situation whereby there is not sufficient supply of electricity. In fact, of late what we have been experiencing in certain parts of Adenta, Ashalebotwe, Nmarjor and Ogbojo areas is that, almost every day we have power outages and most of the time when you call the ECG they are not able to explain except to say that there is a problem on the line from Tema to these areas.
I believe that as we approve this loan, the ECG would be able to acquire the necessary equipment and change the ones that are obsolete so that electricity supply to the various communities in Adenta Constituency would have more regular supply of power.
Mr. Speaker, one of the most important
issues that I find in the report which is also very heart-warming is captured on page 5, paragraph 3 of the Committee's Report and with your permission, I beg to quote:
“The Committee observed that the project, when completed, would ensure stable and reliable power
Mr. K. Opare-Hammond (NPP - Adenta) 11 a.m.


supply to the Ghana Water Company pumping station at Akuse which supplies water to the eastern part of Accra and parts of the Eastern Region.”

Mr. Speaker, everybody knows that we

have water problems in Adenta. In fact, we did not have adequate water coming into Adenta and the communities that form part of Adenta and therefore, the Ghana Water Company has put a power rationing programme in place to ensure that at least once a week water would flow to certain parts of some of the communities in the constituency.

However, the problem usually is

compounded by the fact that, at the time that a particular place needs to get water there would be power outage at Akuse and therefore, they cannot pump water. And what that means is that that particular community would miss its turn in that week, and sometimes for three to five weeks water had not flowed into that place. And so I want to I urge the Ghana Water Company to collaborate with ECG as they get this loan, as they have stated here, to put that project on fast track.

Mr. Speaker, I even want to suggest that if ECG, considering the fact that water is very important, would want to begin this project by first of all tackling the extension or the additional power that should go to the Akuse pumping station so that regular power outages that affect the pumping station would cease and in the long-run water would flow regularly on the days that water needs to flow into all the communities in Adenta Consti-tuency that rely on Akuse pumping station.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I once again say that I support and urge my hon. Colleagues to approve the loan for ECG.
Mr. D. K. Abodakpi (NDC - Keta) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion for this facility to assist the ECG to discharge its responsibilities to the people
of Ghana. While saying this, however, that this loan facility is most welcome, I think that Mr. Speaker, it is not wholly correct for ECG to claim that since its establishment 50 years ago, Governments have not intervened to help them upgrade the network. Whiles I cannot provide evidence immediately, I do know that in previous Governments, efforts have been made and I am sure hon. Kan-Dapaah would agree to that.
Mr. Asiamah 11 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Colleague is misleading the House. He did dispute ECG's claim that over the years Governments have not invested in them and then he says he cannot immediately prove otherwise. Mr. Speaker, if he cannot immediately provide any evidence to prove that, then he should rest his case so that when he is ready he can come to the House to provide the evidence -- [Hear! Hear!]
Mr. Abodakpi 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have institutional memory to know that this is not the fact. Hon. Kan-Dapaah has served in that capacity and I am sure that he would agree with me that what I am saying is the truth. [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Have you concluded? [Laughter.]
Mr. Abodakpi 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is that, we should make conscious effort to help - [Interruption.]
Mr. A. Kan-Dapaah 11 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that on
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Minister for Defence, that was not a point of order. Hon. Member, please, continue.
Mr. Abodakpi 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. Minister, whilst we are approving this facility, to ensure that we look at the technical competence of ECG. There is a lot of haemorrhage also taking place in that company and whilst we are approving this facility to help upgrade them, conscious effort must be made to ensure that the inefficiencies, the haemorrhage that undermine the capital are addressed in a way that benefits the country as a whole.
On this note, I support the motion.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Who is winding up, please?
rose
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Yes, Minister for
Energy?
Minister for Energy (Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, let me first of all thank the House for agreeing and seeing the need for us to provide additional funds for ECG to improve its facilities.
Mr. Speaker, it is the wish of the Ministry that we do something about the tariffs we have in this country. This country cannot become a middle income group if it continues to have high electricity tariffs. Definitely, we should be talking about single digit cents per kilobyte hour. Therefore, the Ministry has met the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the ECG to look at what it takes for us to come into that range.
Mr. Speaker, there are two things that contribute to the high tariff rate. One is the production cost, and the other is the losses they incurr as a result of old equipment for transmission.
Therefore, when Parliament agrees to give this money to ECG, it would be contributing towards our need to ensure that we would reduce tariffs for electricity in this country which will eventually also affect water tariffs.
We hope that we would continue to receive support of the House in looking at the installations in the other regions and also the expansions that require to be done in the various communities.
One problem we have in this country is that in most towns where there are new houses, new settlements, new industries, they tend not to have electricity connections easily because we have not extended to that area. Perhaps, with this loan it should be possible to do that exercise in places like Tema and Kumasi.
With this, I want to once again thank the House for agreeing to approve this loan for the ECG to improve on its services.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTION 11:10 a.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11:10 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
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 11:10 a.m.


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 Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Caylon Credit Agricole Bank (France) for an amount of €85.00 million for the Network Expansion and Loss Reduction Project of the Electricity Company of Ghana.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11:10 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11:10 a.m.
Alhaji A. B. Sorogho 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Chairman of the Committee (Nii Adu
Daku Mante): 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 Joint Committee on Finance and Communications on the Sale and Purchase Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Vodafone International Holdings B. V. and Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited relating to the sale and purchase of seventy per cent (70%) of the ordinary shares in the Issued Shares Capital of Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited for a consideration of US$900 million may be moved today.
Mr. Kojo Armah 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
GOG/Vodafone International Holdings B. V. and Ghana
Telecommunications Company Limited Sale and
Purchase Agreement
Chairman of the Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Communications on the Sale and Purchase Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana
and Vodafone International Holdings B. V. and Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited relating to the sale and purchase of seventy per cent (70%) of the ordinary shares in the Issued Share Capital of Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited for a consideration of US$900 million.
Mr. Speaker, in so doing, may I present to you your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
The Sale and Purchase Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Vodafone International Holdings B.V. and Ghana Telecom- munications Limited (GT) relating to the Sale and Purchase of seventy per cent (70%) of the Ordinary Shares in the issued share capital of Ghana Telecom- munications Limited for a consideration of US$900 million was laid in the House on Tuesday, 12th August, 2008 in accordance with article 181 (5) of the Constitution.
The Agreement was subsequently referred to the joint Committee on Finance and Communications for consideration and report.
To consider the Agreement, the Committee met with the Minister for Communications, hon. Dr. Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister for Communications, hon. Frederick Opare- Ansah, officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Communications, Ghana Telecom (GT) and Volta River Authority (VRA) and hereby presents this report.
2.0 Purpose of the Sale and
Purchase Agreement
The purpose of the Sale and Purchase Agreement is to bring in a strong and technologically advanced operator to inject more efficiency into its operations in order to make it more competitive; inject the necessary capital into the company; raise revenue for the country's develop- mental agenda; and to prevent it from continuing to incur more losses.
3.0 Terms of the Agreement
The thrust of the Agreement is that the Government of Ghana is selling seventy per cent (70%) of the Ordinary Shares in the issued share capital of Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited together with its existing subsidiaries to Vodafone International Holdings B.V. for a consideration of US$900 million --
That Government will liquidate the outstanding debts of Ghana Telecom
(GT).
That the Sale and Purchase shall be on Debt-free Cash-free basis.
That Government and Vodafone are committed to the injection of US$500 million capital in the company after the sale and purchase.
4.0 Observations
The Committee noted that this Sale and Purchase Agreement was first laid in the House on Wednesday, 9th July, 2008 but was later withdrawn to enable some of the concerns of the Joint Committee to be addressed and incorporated. The current Agreement which incorporates the earlier concerns of the Joint Committee was laid in the House on Tuesday, 12th August, 2008.
The Committee observed that 70 per
cent of Ghana Telecom's shares is being offloaded for US$900 million. However, because the transaction is on cash-free debt-free basis, Government is taking steps to recapitalize GT as part of the process.
The technical team from the Ministry of Communications informed the Joint Committee that Ghana Telecom is currently technically insolvent as its debt obligations exceed the value of its assets. Because of this, the company is unable to attract the capital that is needed to enable it grow. The solution therefore is to clean up the company's balance sheet by paying off the debts to make it attractive to the buyer who can move the company forward.
The Committee noted that the structure of the GT transaction will significantly enhance the outlook of GT's balance sheet thereby providing it with better access to the Capital markets in a more favourable manner.
Again, the transaction will enable GT to become part of a major global operator and enjoy all the benefits of being part of a major global telecom operator including economies of scale. This includes the provision of much cheaper handsets to local consumers as part of large-scale global supplies from handset manu- facturers.
Furthermore, the Government of Ghana needs the partnership of an entity with the requisite financial muscle and technical competencies to ensure that GT restores its leadership role in the market.
The Committee also noted the current competitive market in which GT operates and acknowledged that by becoming a part of a multi-market operation, GT will now have certain competitive advantages which it can leverage in the marketplace to improve its market share.
Chairman of the Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 11:10 a.m.


The aggregation and transfer of the fibre assets as part of the transaction will ensure that the second phase of the fibre backbone programme will be completed successfully and within a reasonable timeframe in order to realize its intended social and commercial benefits.

Some members wondered why Government is selling the national fibre network in addition to Ghana Telecom. The technical team explained to the Committee that the fibre network is currently controlled by VRA and the recently formed National Communications Backbone Company. Government's objective is to bring the publicly owned fibre network under one management, to be run on profitable basis and to expand it to cover the entire country.

Mr. Speaker, minority of members on the Committee expressed reservation about the GT sale and purchase transaction. In their opinion, there has been lack of openness and transparency and that the exclusive and confidential negotiations with Vodafone denied other bidders who could have offered higher values for GT.

Again, some members said they were convinced that GT has been undervalued, and that the enlarged GT being offered for sale does not reflect the financial value and worth of GT, particularly with the inclusion of the fibre assets, which they strongly object to as they believe this will grant a monopoly to Vodafone.

Some members further made reference to the problems that characterised the Ghana Airways' privatization and said they did not trust that Government will creditably discharge its obligations to the over 2,000 workers of GT in the event of a restructuring as indicated in the agreement.

The minority again expressed concern over some of the provisions of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) on the obligations of the Government. Their view was that the provisions of the SPA protect the purchaser and not the national interest.

5.0 Conclusion

After careful consideration of the Agreement, the Committee, by majority decision, is of the opinion that the transaction will help resuscitate Ghana Telecom with the injection of the needed technology and capital. It will also give meaning to Government's policy of making the private sector the engine of growth.

The Committee therefore recommends to the House by majority decision, to adopt this report and approve by Resolution, the Sale and Purchase Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Vodafone International Holdings B.V. and Ghana Telecommunications Limited (GT) relating to the Sale and Purchase of seventy per cent (70%) of the Ordinary Shares in the issued share capital of Ghana Telecom-munications Limited for a consideration of US$900 million in accordance with article 181(5) of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.

Respectfully submitted.
Mr. Kojo Armah (CPP - Evalue- Gwira) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the Report presented by the Chairman of the Finance Committee who jointly chaired your Committee that looked into the Sale and Purchase Agreement for the sale of 70 per cent of Government's shares to Vodafone.
Mr. Speaker, it needs to be stated that
your Joint Committee sat for about five times looking very closely at the details of the Sale and Purchase Agreement. Over the period of about five weeks or so, the Committee's concerns that were raised moved back and forth between the Joint Committee and the Government and its technical team.
At the end of it, Mr. Speaker, a number of fundamental changes have been made to the Agreement. The Committee for example, raised issues about the purchase price; we could not do much about that one. We also raised issues about the capital expenditure that was to be injected into the company, the enlarged Ghana Telecom (GT) after the sale. An indication was given of how much would be put in and your Committee insisted that this should be written into the Agreement so that it becomes a binding thing on the enlarged GT. Mr. Speaker, this can be found in article 10 (1) (a) and 10 (b) which has now become part of the Agreement.
Your Committee also looked at the other issues like the bundling of the fibre optics vodaphone and the fibrephone together to GT and we were given some expla-nations that appear satisfactory to us.
Mr. Speaker, it must be said that the intention to sell part of Government's shares in GT is not a new thing. We have had the experience of shares that were sold to Telecom Malaysia and later it became a problem for this country. Part of the shares were also again sold to Telenol, that could also not mature and therefore, it has been on the drawing board to offload part of the shares to an international entity that could also bring GT up to international standards.

[NII ADU MANTE] [NII ADU MANTE]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Minister of State, do you
have a point of order?
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, just a
point of correction. No shares were ever sold to Telenol, none. Telenol was a management Agreement; just a point of information.
Mr. Armah 11:20 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
I will take that on board. But the essence of the argument I am making is that, there have been consistent attempts, intentions displayed by Government to find an international operator which can bring some muscle to GT to bring it into the international global market of telecommunications.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that ICT is becoming the fastest growing industry in the country and that any country that wants to develop needs to hook on to this ICT highway to be able to get its fundamentals right.
Therefore, the idea of Government offloading 70 per cent of its shares to an international player certainly is nothing new and will not surprise anybody. It is the quantum of the shares that is being offloaded that people are complaining about and the price for which it is being offloaded. But if that is the bid that can be negotiated then we need to look at the terms and obligations under which they were done.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that in the Agreement itself, there have been some conditions about anti-corruption and warranties inserted in it which in itself is good to protect the company against some of these viruses that plague up the country.
But I also expected that Mr. Speaker, we could also bring in some clauses to protect the national interest of Ghanaians

working in our new company. I say so at this time because I am minded to refer to cases where some foreign companies have come and treated Ghanaians as if they were no human beings at all. I am talking about human rights. I am talking about the Chinese who have been here and even went to the extent of spitting on Ghanaians in their workplaces.

We are talking about areas like the mining companies where some South Africans have treated the Ghanaian workers there almost in an apartheid manner and I believe that if we had included some clauses like that in the Agreement, it would have gone to protect Ghanaian interests.

As we consider these things, I believe the managers of the Agreement would impress upon our new partners that Ghana is a sovereign country, the workers of this country deserve to be respected and that whatever the case, as we move along in partnership to develop GT and make Ghana one of the players on the global market, the integrity of our people would be respected so that we can all move together as an equal partner in the promotion of development for this country.

Mr. Speaker, we are also told of the role of the fibre optic in the development of IT. Some hon. Members expressed concern about the granting of monopoly to GT as a competitor in the telecom industry to also manage the fibre company but again, we were told that other companies would also develop their fibre backbone.
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for North
Tongu, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Hodogbey 11:20 a.m.
Exactly so, Mr.
Speaker. My point of order is about the hon. Member supporting a decision which his whole party was against -- [Laughter.] I mean the Convention People's Party (CPP) is against what he is supporting, so I am really wondering. I think he is really out of order for supporting something which his party is against.
Some hon. Members -- rose -
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Evalue-Gwira, please, continue.
Mr. Armah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon.
Friend has just arrived from the United States -- [Some hon. Members: When? When was this?] - where there have been partnerships even between the United States Government and private entities.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, you do
not have much time so conclude.
Mr. Armah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do operate
in these circumstances as Chairman of the Committee and I am expressing the
sentiments of the Committee. I believe the party can be distinguished from my work as an elected Member of this House who has his own conscience, who also has to work according to the dictates of the moment.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Hon. Member,
please, conclude. You have had much time already.
Mr. Armah 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC - Tamale

South): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to raise a fundamental objection to this motion and to canvass for Members' support to outrightly reject and vote against this motion.

But Mr. Speaker, before I do so, may I refer you to page 1 of the Agreement dated 3rd July, 2008 which forms the basis of this debate to make some correction. Mr. Speaker, on page 2 of the report under Definitions and Interpretation, “Back- stop Funding Account means two hundred and twenty million US Dollars” yet in figures it is US$228 million which, I think, it is important that both words and figures must tally.

Mr. Speaker, may I further refer you to page 7 of the headnotes “Sale of Sale Shares”. I am sure, article 2, is “Sale of Shares”.

But Mr. Speaker, even before I canvass for objection to this, may I refer you to a letter dated 7th July, 2008 from the Office of the President, signed by Mr. Frank O. Npare, Secretary to Cabinet. Mr. Speaker, the headnote is significant for the purpose of my preliminary objection. It reads: “Sale of 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecommunications (GT) to Vodafone PLC, UK” - signed Frank O. Npare.

Mr. Speaker, there is another interesting letter which references the earlier letter and it is also dated, interestingly, 7th July, 2008 to the Clerk, Parliament House, Accra and it reads with this headnote:
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Aidooh 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
Mr. Iddrisu 11:30 a.m.
It is not confidential.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you going to make it available to the House?
Mr. Aidooh 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
humbly request that you take a look at that document first.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I can readily make this available to you.
But Mr. Speaker, can I continue whilst you look at the document?
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Yes, hon. Member, please, continue.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am making reference to this important document because the second letter dated 7th July is signed by hon. Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim and the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu). That is the second letter which is referencing the letter from the Office of the President.
Mr. Speaker, whilst the President of the Republic of Ghana, through his Secretary to Cabinet, communicated and authorised this House to consider an agreement with Vodafone PLC, UK, his two hon. Ministers namely, the hon. Minister for Communications and the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, are dealing with another entity different from the entity to which the President gave his authority.
Some hon. Members: Ooh!
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:30 a.m.
I think that it is important that we establish whether in proceeding with this motion, we are going to rely on the President's authorisation which is Vodafone PLC, UK.
And Mr. Speaker, I refer you to page
1 of the Agreement; we have Vodafone International Holdings B.V., which consistent with what the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning indicates as a party. But that party is different from the party to which His Excellency the President has given his directive. I am
raising this issue so that we know who the Government of Ghana is engaged with in this transaction; is it Vodafone PLC, UK in the words of the President or Vodafone Holdings B.V. of Netherlands?
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Minister for
Presidential Affairs, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Mpiani 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to say that the hon. Member is just wasting the time of this House. [Uproar.] Mr. Speaker, there is an Agreement before this House which is being considered. The Secretary to the Cabinet conveyed a document to the Committee. The Committee looked at it. The Committee has presented a document to this House and the hon. Member is asking this House to debate a letter from the Secretary to the Cabinet to a Committee - [Inter- ruptions.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, are you yielding to the hon. Minority Leader?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes.
Mr. Bagbin 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the issue raised by the hon. Member for Tamale South (Mr. Haruna Iddrisu) is critical with
the debate that is ensuing in this House.
Mr. Speaker, the executive authority resides in the President in accordance with article 58 of the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, businesses from the Executive are debated by this House only when they are introduced by or on behalf of the President.
Mr. Speaker, he is drawing our attention to the fact that, the President has introduced one business to us, which is an Agreement between Ghana Government and Vodafone PLC, UK.
An hon. Member: PLT?
Mr. Bagbin 11:30 a.m.
PLC, UK - [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Order! Order!
Hon. Minority Leader, please, go on.
Mr. Bagbin 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, then we have a letter from the hon. Ministers introducing a different business. And that is talking about an Agreement between the Ghana Government and Vodafone International Holdings B. V. of Netherlands. Mr. Speaker, they are definitely two different companies.
Mr. Speaker, I refer you to article 108 because this is going to impose charges on the Consolidated Fund. There are obligations that we have to fulfil. And article 108 states and Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote:
“Parliament shall not, unless the Bill is introduced or the motion is introduced by, or on behalf of, the President -
(a) proceed upon a Bill including an amendment to a Bill, that, in the opinion of the person presiding,
makes provision for any of the following:
(i) the imposition of taxation or the alteration of taxation otherwise than by reduction; or
(ii) the imposition of a charge on the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of Ghana or the alteration of any such charge otherwise than by reduction …”
Mr. Speaker, my emphasis is on the “imposition of a charge”.

Mr. Speaker, I am saying that what we are debating is going to impose obligations and charges. If we look at the Committee's Report itself, it talks about Ghana Government and Vodafone committing an injection of US$500 million into the company. Mr. Speaker, that is a charge.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Bagbin 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, none of my hon. Colleagues here is the President of Ghana. None, and Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my uncle hon. Hackman Owusu- Agyemang who attempted and failed is now behind me -- [Laughter.] But Mr. Speaker -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Minority Leader, have you concluded?
Mr. Bagbin 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
conclude before they - [Interruption] -- they are standing up. Mr. Speaker, the Chief of Staff in charge of the staff at the Presidency is also standing up. Please, they should let me conclude before they stand up.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that the issue be clarified before we go on with the debate because it is important that we are acting for or on behalf of the President who represents the Executive authority of this country. We are trying to get the proper documentation from the proper source so that we can continue with the debate.
I thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Minority Leader, my view is that this motion is properly before us and we are dealing with the report based upon the motion, so we should go on.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, go on with the motion.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if we look at the Sales and Purchase Agreement - [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, if you disagree with my ruling, you are entitled to - [Interruption.]
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am asking for a point of order. I cannot disagree with you.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
You have no point of order, let him continue.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is for this House to approve of the transfer of 70 per cent equity shares being held by the Government of Ghana in Ghana Telecommunications Company to a Vodafone Company, whether Vodafone UK or Vodafone PLC, I am sure those who have to resolve it would resolve it.
Mr. Speaker, for US$900 million --
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Do you have a point of order?
Mr. Ayariga 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
What has he said on which you are raising a point of order?
Mr. Ayariga 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he has said that we are considering a transaction between the Government of Ghana and Vodafone International Holding B.V. Mr. Speaker, it has come to our notice that the person in respect of whose transaction - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, what is the nature of this point of order? Is it against what he is saying?
Mr. Ayariga 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is against what he is saying because what he is saying

Mr. Speaker, we have evidence to show that the President does not intend to transact with Vodafone International Holdings B.V. So to the extent that the hon. Member for Tamale (Mr. Haruna Iddrisu) is saying that this House is considering that Agreement, which is not the intention of the President, Mr. Speaker, it is not true and he is misleading this House -- [Laughter.] That is why Mr. Speaker, it is even important that before we even proceed, we should be clear in our minds in this House who we are being called upon to approve the sale of the shares to.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have no point of order; let us continue.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are being called upon to privatize 70 per cent equity shares for US$900 million.
Mr. Speaker, may I refer you to schedule 10 of the Sales and Purchase Agreement. Mr. Speaker, while we are being told that this transaction is for US$ 900 million, I beg to disagree because even today, if we
look at the subsequent motions following this motion it is for this House to approve US$300 to redeem the Iroko bond of Ghana Telecom.
Mr. Speaker, in one breath before we can get US$900 million we must bring US$228, and by simple arithmetic, it reduces the consideration price - [Inter- ruption.] It is here. Mr. Speaker, quite apart from this, I have referred to schedule 10 and let me use it for the basis of my argument. They have said that the purchase price is A-B x 70/100. This is the purchase price not the consideration price and Mr. Speaker, there are transaction considerations - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, what page are you referring to?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Page 55 of schedule 10, Mr. Speaker.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:40 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, just a point of correction. The gentleman - [Interruption.] [Some hon. Members: You lose. Kangaroo. Go, go high.]
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Good Friend was trying to read to us the purchase price formula on page 55. Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether he wears reading glasses but he read to us and the Hansard can prove. He said it was A-B x -- Mr. Speaker, it is A-B+C. [Uproar.] Please, correct yourselves.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am by this establishing the basis why we are fundamentally opposed to this transaction because it is not in the supreme national interest.
Mr. Speaker, I referred you to schedule 10, the quotes are there. It says that 11:50 a.m.
(A-B+C) 70/100. So if you have a
Mr. Speaker, I referred you to schedule 10, the quotes are there. It says that 11:50 a.m.


consideration price as A, $900 million minus B, which is the net debt, $228 million plus C which is working capital, and in the words of the hon. Minister for Communications at his last press conference was a minus $199 million.
Dr. Osei 11:50 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr.
Speaker, I want to respectfully advise my hon. Good Friend that, it is true that it is a complex formula so when he is reading it, he has to read it carefully. Mr. Speaker, we all have the same document. The term of C, is not simply “working capital”. It is “working capital adjustment” -- [Uproar] -- Mr. Speaker, there is a big difference.
Mr. Speaker, he has to be very careful. I know he is a very respectful lawyer. I just want to -- [Interruption] - I think that, for this House to benefit from his contribution in financial matters, he ought to read what he sees. This is not a legal opinion. This is technical language - working capital adjustment. If you do not add the “adjustment”, it is not simple.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of doubt, I continue. Mr. Speaker, indeed, under C, that is even more significant - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Member, page -
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am still on page 55, schedule 10. It says that if the working capital adjustment is positive, the purchase price will be increased, and if the working capital adjustment is negative, the purchase price will be reduced.
I am relying on the hon. Minister's May 2008 working capital of minus 199. Mr. Speaker, I am worried in particular, under clause 4 of the same page, on the final payment date, specifically paragraph B, if the purchase price is less than the closing payment, Ghana Government shall pay the difference to the purchaser.
It creates an obligation there for the Government of Ghana to make additional payment to Vodafone. That is what we are establishing. Indeed, you have no role even in determining the working capital.
Mr. Speaker, may I further refer you to page 8 of the Sales and Purchase Agreement, and in particular, paragraph 3.5. And I am saying that when the argument is being made to the Ghanaian public that we are getting $900 million, it is very misleading. Mr. Speaker, the first paragraph reads and I quote:
“On closing, GOG shall transfer
(a) Sixty-three million US dollars (US$63,000,000.00) in imme-diately available funds to the Escrow Account
. . .”
There is another obligation created for
the Government of Ghana. So even before you get $900 million, you must put some $63 million somewhere.
The second paragraph says even at closing, you must also pay, and that is established by the $228 million, and if you add $63 million to the $228, I am sure mathematically, I can round it up as minus $300 million. These are the initial commitments Government of Ghana must make which is captured even in motion 11, page 5 of today's Order Paper. So arithmetically, 900-300 cannot give you 900 - [Laughter] -- because before you can make 900, you must necessarily make some deductions, that is why we think that
Ghana Telecom is not being offered for its financial worth.
Mr. Speaker, in Ghana here, Scancom was established in 1997 with an initial capital of $500, 000, and by 2007, ten years on, the value of Areeba Ghana as bought by MTN was $2.3 billion -- [Uproar] -- Yet we are offering Ghana Telecom plus “One Touch” which is a registered subsidiary with 1.4 to 1.8 million customers plus a fibre component for $900 million - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Members, please interruption should be minimised. I would, in fact, ask anybody who wants to interrupt to do so through the Leadership.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank
you for your guidance and indulgence.
Mr. Speaker, this is one of the reasons why we think that this is not in our national interest.
Dr. A. A. Osei 11:50 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr.
Speaker, the Hansard is capturing what we hope are true statements. Mr. Speaker, there is no company like American Telecom. So the hon. Member should not be making up names of companies to fool the entire nation. Mr. Speaker, there is no company like American Telecom. There
is British Telecom. So he should just withdraw so that the Hansard does not capture the fact that he is saying that there is American Telecom.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
sure I will need to crave your indulgence. I want to refer to a document. I would want you to have sight of it. But before I do so, may I refer you to page 1 whilst I make reference to that document.
Mr. Speaker, page 1 says that -- [Interruption] -- page 1 of the Sales and Purchase Agreement. The proper one you gave, not the supplementary. The one which contains all the details -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Please, go on. You
know you do not have much time.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it says that Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) - [Interruption.]
Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani 11:50 a.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member has referred to “strategic investment” twice -- [Uproar] -- For my benefit, I want to understand what strategic investment in this thing means. If he can explain it to us.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Chief of Staff, this is not Question time.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, before I come to the reference in order to answer - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have about less than two minutes.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, no problem. Mr. Speaker, the advertisement to divest these shares was advertised looking for a strategic investor. I have the document here.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.


Mr. Speaker, I refer you to - GIPC has been requested to grant certain exemptions and other matters pursuant to the GIPC Act. Mr. Speaker, this is embodied in this Agreement, that this Parliament must give approval to it so that GIPC can do that. But Mr. Speaker, even before Parliament gives approval to this transaction, I have with me here a letter from Vodafone, addressed to the GIPC, dated 9th July 2008:

“Application for approval as a strategic investor under section 25 of the GIPC Act 478”.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, in this letter they are asking for exemptions from import duties on capital items for three years, exemptions from withholding tax for three years, corporate tax holiday for first three years. This is unfair. The other competitors, MTN, tiGO and others will deserve same because if you say you want to encourage competition, you want to go and grant tax exemption to a company because you are transacting - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member, are you concluding?
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, even in this letter, Vodafone itself admits, and if you want me to refer you to a paragraph and I beg to quote: “The basic problem confronting Ghana Telecom . . .” in the words of Vodafone is “. . . under investment and under-capitalisation”.
And Mr. Speaker, in the last decade Government has proudly said that under one hundred per cent equity shareholder. What have you done in order to capitalize and invest as the majority shareholder? What we hear today is an excitement that Ghana Telecom is going bankrupt, is going insolvent. Who should we hold responsible for the inefficient per-formance?
Mr. Speaker, who should we hold responsible for Ghana Telecom collapsing and for Ghana Telecom being insolvent? It is because of its management problems and because Government has failed in its duty to ensure that State institution are functional and effective and the blame must be placed squarely on the President who has directed that we consider this transaction.
Mr. Speaker noon
Your time is up.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
I am winding up, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Members, we
talked about time with the Leadership before starting this debate.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
I am aware, Mr. Speaker. I will indulge you. Mr. Speaker, my final point and I will allow other hon. Members to have their take - [Interruption.]
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague on the floor has made a statement - he said over the past decade, Mr. Speaker, a decade is 10 years, that the Ghana Telecom has been mismanaged, under capitalized, under resourced. Mr. Speaker, he says that the blame for this lies with the current President. Mr. Speaker - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Order! Order!
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
Mr. Speaker, a decade, counting backwards up to 2008 takes us to 1998 when the NDC was in power and ex-President J. J. Rawlings was in power. So by what calculation does he come out to say that President Agyekum Kufuor is solely responsible? Mr. Speaker, why does he say so?
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member, you know your time is up?
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I am concluding. Mr. Speaker, as the Ranking Member and with the heckling, you have been very fair to me and I hope that you will allow me one additional minute to conclude. [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker, I did not know that hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has his own understanding of positive change. I did not know that it meant regression - [Laughter.] For eight years we are not seeking to improve but he was referring back to what happened 10 years ago - [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker, finally, when the Government advertised, I am holding the Economist Magazine. The request for expression of interest from strategic investors, Economist Magazine June 30 to July 6, 2007, with the coronation of the British Prime Minister at the face of it and the page number is 109.
Mr. Speaker, many of the bidders were unaware that this transaction would be on cash-free and debt-free basis because it was not put in the advertisement. Inclusion of national fibre optic backbone was not included and if you look at the shortlisted companies, Vodafone was
Mr. Speaker noon
That is the end of your time.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I urge all hon. Members to vote against this motion as it is not in our national interest. [Hear! Hear!]
rose
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member for Bole, I have not called you yet. Are you the Minister for Defence?
Minister for Defence (Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah) noon
Mr. Speaker, I can understand why my hon. Friend got up. The promise we made to him was to make him the Minister for Defence when we win and not for today.
Mr. Speaker, this is one transaction that has generated a lot of public interest and I think it is very good for the democracy of this nation and I pray that we should stop the heckling and allow Ghanaians to listen to the issues.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Ranking Member has given the fundamental reasons why Ghana should reject this transaction and we heard him.

Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday, 12th August 2008, Prof. John Atta Mills joined the demonstration ostensibly to protest against the sale of 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom and he was beautifully captured in the Ghanaian Times of Tuesday. Mr. Speaker, in the process, somebody and
Minister for Defence (Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah) noon


I must say a very bad advisor must have advised him to show a placard which read - “Ghanaians are capable of managing Ghanaian Companies”.
Mr. Bagbin noon
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister for Defence has referred to two hon. Members on this side of the House and said that they might have been embarrassed.
Mr. Speaker, those two Members
through your ruling, got in touch with me and they want to tell this House whether they are embarrassed or not so that we can go on.
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Minority Leader, what procedure do you want me to follow?
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, your ruling was that they should raise points of order through Leadership and because of that they could not do it, they had to pass it to me so that they can raise a point of order.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Member for Jirapa, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Salia 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, I have a point of order in respect of what my hon. Colleague thought about embarrassment. On the contrary, I am very satisfied and excited about the points raised by the Ranking Member in respect of communications for the intelligent presentation he made in respect of the arguments against approving this. Indeed, I am far from being embarrassed.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Defence, please, go on.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:10 p.m.
I am grateful for the endorsement that what the hon. Ranking Member said represents the view of the National Democratic Congress
(NDC). And Mr. Speaker, I started by saying that last Tuesday, 12th August 2008, the former Vice-President, Prof. Mills joined a demonstration apparently against - [Interruptions] -- Mr. Speaker, I am sorry about that. Prof. Mills, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Flagbearer, I will add that.
Mr. Speaker, apparently, he was protesting against the sale of 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom and this is the message that he had for Ghanaians [raising a newspaper]. Mr. Speaker, I was embarrassed. I was disappointed and I believe a number of Ghanaians were disappointed because as a Party, the NDC of which Prof. Mills is the Flagbearer has demonstrated by words and by deed that they believe in privatization and private sector participation which is why it is on record that they sold the largest number of state-owned companies in this country -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the other day, I recollect that you ruled that when a person is not here, he or she will not have the opportunity to respond - [Inter- ruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, that day
it was hon. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo who was on the floor and you ruled that it was improper for a Member to be referring to
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Members, you must observe decorum in the House. You must observe decorum.
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, because what he is referring to is to a newspaper publication of what he was alleged to have said - [Interruptions] - It is a newspaper he is showing me and that is what I am saying. What is his problem? Mr. Speaker, I am urging you to rule him out of order because we can respond to it but I think for the record, that is improper.
Mr. Speaker, let me just end but I
am pinpointing just one thing from what he has said. At the time the Post and Telecommunications Corporation (P&T) was being privatized, Prof. Mills was not the Vice-President. He was not. That time he was not the Vice-President. He must withdraw and apologize.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, two comments. I can see that the Majority Leader - [Uproar] - [Mr. Bagbin rose and raised his hand.]
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Order! Order! Minority
Leader, what were you doing in this House?
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, because my hon. Colleagues sacked their Majority Leader through the back door, I have now been given that title as the Majority Leader
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Anyway, order, order!
Mr. Bagbin 12:10 p.m.
And since hon. Kan- Dapaah has referred to me as the Majority Leader, I am just thanking him for making me the Majority Leader because that definitely is what is going to happen in 2009 - [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, please, let us make progress.
Mr. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my hon. Colleague that I will not hand over to him - [Laughter.]
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Majority Leader of this House in 1997 will confirm that what I was saying is true. That was what I was saying. The Majority Leader in 1997 - [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, let us make progress, please.
Mr. Bagbin 12:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, just for the records. I want us to make progress. I was not the hon. Majority Leader in 1997. The hon. Majority Leader in 1997 is not in this House so there would be nowhere for him to confirm or deny what he is saying on the floor of the House. He is saying something that he is aware cannot be objected to here because the person is not here. That is why we said he should not be referring to people who are not here because they are not here to do that -- [Interruption] -- I have. He was not born by then -- [Laughter.]
rose
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Defence, please.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 12:20 p.m.
He said I was not born - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Defence?
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I note
that my friend, hon. Bagbin is embarrassed by this picture and so I would not refer to it again -- [pointing to a picture on the front page of The Enquirer of 12th August, 2008]. The picture of his flagbearer holding that placard - the way he has been defending it suggests to me that he is embarrassed by it. I would not refer to it again.
Mr. Bagbin 12:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, if my hon. Colleague has nothing to say, he should sit down. I was personally at that demonstration and I spoke. I could not have been embarrassed at it and that is why I am talking like this. I was personally there and I know what happened. He cannot be referring to things that he does not know.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Defence, I hope you are watching your time.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted it to be on record that it was the NDC that initiated the sale of Ghana Telecom and that point must be on record. Not only did the NDC sell 30
Mr. J. D. Mahama 12:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I was the hon. Minister at the time and even though the transaction was handled by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, I was aware of all the details of that transaction. The hon. Member is misleading the House.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Order! [Pause.] Order! Please, go on.
Mr. Mahama 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the consideration was for 15 per cent additional shares in Ghana Telecom - [Interruption.] It is 15 per cent additional shares in Ghana Telecom and that would have made it 45 per cent. The Agreement was that in the event that the 15 per cent shares were valued and they proved to be less than the $100 million consideration that we had put on them, then the excess money would be a loan to the Government of Ghana and repayable under certain terms. [Hear! Hear!]
If the shares ended up more valuable than the consideration that we have put on them, then Telecom Malaysia would pay the Government of Ghana the difference;
that was the agreement.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy that my hon. Friend has made that illustration and that was why I started by saying that I am happy that the two hon. Members are here and they can deny if I am lying. On what he has said, there are two points that I would raise.
Number one - Mr. Speaker, if it was an intended loan, the hon. Member knows that they would have come to this House first; so it was not. But I would read the clause from the Agreement they signed and we would decide for ourselves whether it is so or not. Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote:

It is from the Agreement that was signed.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Please, go on -- [Interruptions.] Hon. Minister, go on please. [Some hon. Members: No!]
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Agreement is nothing new to hon. John Mahama. It is entitled “Heads of Agreement between Telecom Malaysia Berhad and the Government of the Republic of Ghana”. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to give this document to your Table so that they can have a look at it.
Mr. Speaker, in that Agreement, the relevant clause says that - [Some hon. Members: Date.] [Interruption.]
Mr. Aidooh 12:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, it is dated 10th August, 2000. [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister, please.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the relevant clause reads and, with your permission, I beg to quote:
“The parties acknowledge that if the value of the Offered Shares based on the independent valuation conducted pursuant to clause 3 (1) (13) is different from the Purchase Price, then the purchase considera- tion for the Offered Shares shall be adjusted accordingly as follows:
(1) By a reduction in the Purchase Price or an increase in the number of shares in the company to be transfer-red to TMB .”
Mr. Speaker, you do not need to be
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Defence Minister, please, leave him out since he is not an hon. Member of this House. Do not mention his name -- [Uproar.]
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to refer to the Insight newspaper of Wednesday, June 28 July 4, 2000 and Mr. Speaker, I beg to quote:
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Minority Leader?
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you sell 30 per cent shares - [Interruptions.]
Mr. Bagbin 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order granted me, hon. Minister for Defence --
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you sell 30 per cent shares and you want an additional 15 per cent shares, do you ask for $100 million?
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister, there is a point of order.
Mr. Bagbin 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. former Minister for Communications, hon. John Mahama wants to make a point of order but because of your ruling - [Interruption.] Mr. Speaker ruled, and that was why I had to get up.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bole?
Mr. J. D. Mahama 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, my Colleague, hon. Kan-Dapaah quoted from a document, the Agreement covering the transaction he referred to. He refused to quote a clause or any other thing. Mr. Speaker, I hold the same Agreement here and what he read is not in this Agreement here -- [Some hon. Members: Ooh!] The signatures are here. It was signed by hon. Kwame Peprah and Datel Raxi GAG Mansuro. What he quoted is not in this Agreement.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Minister, are you yielding to the Majority Leader?
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:20 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Aidooh 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have the Agreement and what he read is in the
Agreement. I have it here. That is clause 4 (3) (5). It is there.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Let him continue.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to confirm that what I read was in the Agreement, 43 (51) to be specific. Mr. Speaker, let it be known by all that the decision to sell some shares of Ghana Telecom (GT) was initiated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and that if we had not stopped it, 80 per cent of GT's shares would have been sold for $138,000,000 -- [Interruptions.] Mr. Speaker, we stopped this transaction. We stopped it because we felt selling 80 per cent of Ghana Telecom's shares to them at only $138,000,000 was unacceptable -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Mahama 12:30 p.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, hon. Kan-Dapaah continues to mislead this Parliament and the nation. He keeps talking about selling 87 per cent. I have just corrected him. I have the Agreement here. It was for 15 per cent and I have explained to him the basis of that Agreement. Mr. Speaker, he persists and insists that if they had not stopped the Agreement, we would have sold 87 per cent of the shares. That is factually incorrect.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as they say “book cannot lie”, the Agreement is there but I want to explain that 30 per cent of GT's shares were sold for $38,000,000 and so if you are going to sell an additional 50 per cent, you do not ask for US$100,000. You knew what you were up to, when you asked for US$100,000 and the Agreement here says that they were going to value the shares and sell them at the equivalence of $100,000,000.
Mr. Speaker, two years later, in the year 2003, the same 30 per cent shares were valued and the value was only
Mr. Mahama 12:30 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I am amazed at the logic of my hon. Colleague on the other side. In 1996, we sold 30 per cent shares of GT for $38,000,000. Mr. Speaker, it was a 70,000 line analog exchange. No mobile company, no SAT-3 investment, nothing. Mr. Speaker, four years down the line from 1996 to 2000, GT invested in the SAT-3 cable and spent $24,000,000 investing in SAT -3. Mr. Speaker, they introduced One- touch as their mobile network and so, if you valued 15 per cent four years down the line, you do not expect that you make a comparison between that.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Member, you have a few minutes.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, when the company was valued in 2003 after the additional investments, the 30 per cent shares were valued at US$52,000,000 -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Bagbin 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is proper we go to our Standing Orders, 93 (2) because apart from the fact that he is not speaking to the motion, he is imputing improper motives to his hon. Colleague who is on this side.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to quote Order 93
(2):
“It shall be out of order to use offensive, abusive, insulting, blasphemous or unbecoming words
or to impute improper motives to any other Member or to make personal allusions.”
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Minister, you may wish to conclude.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that there is no way that I will impute such motives against the hon. Member in particular and I have not done that. I have only tried to give the facts as they were.
Mr. Speaker, GT was first valued in 1997, the value was US$167,000,000; the whole of GT's 30 per cent shares was $38,000,000. In 2003, there was another major valuation. GT at the time that the Malaysians were leaving was valued at $175,000,000. The 30 per cent shares was $52,000,000. Today, as GT is being sold for the equivalence of $1.2 billion, we are being given all sorts of interpretations.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Ranking Member asked a question, which said that if Spacefon was sold for so much, how come GT was being sold for such a small amount? And I would tell him why it happened.
Mr. Speaker, the real cause of the problem of GT, can be traced to the days when mobile telephoning was introduced into the country. Mr. Speaker, at that time a deliberate decision was made by the NDC that GT should remain on line services alone.
Mr. Speaker, al l the available frequencies were given to Mobitel. If,

Mr. Speaker, they have to tell us who owned that company.
Mr. Edward Salia 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, on
a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I wonder why my hon. Colleague is deliberately misleading the whole country. The first cellular licence that was given was to Mobitel. At the time, it was the Frequency Board that allocated frequencies. At that time, the knowledge was limited and so they allowed Mobitel to choose what frequencies they could operate on.
Let me tell the House that the second cellular licence was given to Ghana Telecom and it was called Sincom. They were given before Scancom and Celltel. It is just that because of their poor management, their partnership with the foreign partner, which was a United State (US) based cellular operator, did not come to fruition. There was no point in the history of our telecommunications development where Ghana Telecom was prevented from going into cellular operations.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, your
time is up, so please, conclude.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, let
us get the facts right. The hon. Member is saying that, yes, we gave all the frequencies to Mobitel but that was the
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Are you concluding?
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, what all these arguments about the frequencies meant was that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) took a deliberate decision that Ghana Telecom should only concentrate on the land lines, for the profitable mobile, give it to the white people. Unfortunately, the land line has continued to be a loss maker. All the money that is being made is from mobile telephony.
Mr. Speaker, Ghana Telecom is big but
it is big in terms of assets for land line services; it is very small when it comes to assets for mobile telephony. And to hon. Haruna Iddrisu, that explains why somebody would buy Spacefon at a much higher value than they would buy Ghana Telecom.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I rise on a point of order, to draw hon.
Kan-Dapaah's attention to the inaccurate and very misleading statement to the effect that it is mobile telephony which is keeping Ghana Telecom going. That is not true. Sixty per cent of the revenue of Ghana Telecom comes from the fixed network. Indeed, Onetouch was set up with revenue from the fixed wireless, so he should check his facts. It is not true that Ghana Telecom is surviving on revenue or profit from mobile telephony. Let him get the records straight.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, your concluding statement, please.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, he
has already confirmed what I have said, that Ghana Telecom by its late entry into mobile telephony has not been able to realise its full potential and therefore, they are not making as much money as the other mobile companies are making.
Mr. Speaker, another point that I want to register before I sit down is that -- and we should ask them, how come the workers are so supportive? When it comes to expertise in telecommunication, we have better experts there than anywhere else in Africa. IMr. Speaker, for your information, in all the English-speaking African countries, the state-owned telecom-munication companies have been sold off. There must have been a reason why they did that and there is a reason why hon. Edward Salia started selling it in the first place -- [Laughter.] I am amazed that they would now challenge this thing.
All over Africa and Mr. Speaker, I have a document here from International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which confirms that 65 per cent of Africa nations have sold theirs. Those that have not sold theirs are effectively the French- speaking nations. But even there, their national telecommunications services are controlled by France Telecom, so they
have that connection. Mr. Speaker, today, you cannot be
small in the telecommunications business and make money. They know that. Hon. John Mahama would bear me out and hon. Salia also would bear me out that we cannot allow Ghana Telecom to remain in the state that it is. They are losing business, they are competing. How come profitable Spacefon decided to join the giants and went to Mobile Telecom-munications Network (MTN)? How come tiGO is one of the biggest telephone companies? How come Westel has gone to Zain?
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Member for Jirapa,
please, exercise patience, I am in charge. Exercise patience over these matters.
Mr. Salia 12:40 p.m.
But Mr. Speaker, he is
misinforming the public. Mr. Speaker, the truth is that Onetouch is not the smallest cellular network in this country, it is KASAPA which is the smallest. Everybody knows that. So why is he misinforming the public?
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, your time is up.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, to
wind up, I want to assure my hon. Friends that I am sure those who know the industry would concede that the technology for both hardware and software in this particular industry are moving and moving so fast. One of the people who have spoken about this transaction is the former Managing Director, Mr. Aggrey Mensah. He said it
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.


Mr. Speaker, one expert who has talked
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, your
time is up.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, things
are moving so fast, you cannot be small in the telecommunication industry and be able to survive.
I want to conclude by making a very passionate appeal that we should listen to the plea of the workers of Ghana Telecom and Mr. Speaker, with your permission I quote:
“We the 4,200 staff of GT risk losing our jobs and be made redundant if the Vodafone deal fails.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
He has concluded.
Did he refer to you? Hon. Minister for Defence, did you make any reference to him?
Mr. Bagbin 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, he read a document referring to me -- [Inter- ruption] - He mentioned hon. Bagbin, that they are appealing to hon. Bagbin to stop playing politics and let us move forward.
He said that.
Mr. Speaker, hon. Kan-Dapaah is my good Friend. He has misled everybody in his submission. Mr. Speaker, when the elephant starts behaving like a kangaroo, it is a fatal -- [Uproar.] Mr. Speaker, it is only when the elephant has a fatal injury that it starts behaving like a kangaroo -- [Laughter.] When they have a fatal injury they cannot walk properly so they start behaving like kangaroos.
Mr. Speaker, the point he raised and quoted the appeal is not the issue we are on, on this side of the House and we are going to put across our case for people to understand the position of those of us on this side of the House. Our position is different from that of the CPP and so he should not mislead the workers there against me. That is my point. He should not mislead the workers of Ghana Telecom against me by propagating a different position.
Mr. J. D. Mahama (NDC 12:50 p.m.
None

Bamboi): Mr. Speaker, I cannot begin without addressing a few of the points my hon. Colleague raised in respect to some of the issues to do with Ghana Telecom.

Mr. Speaker, when he talks about the issue of frequencies being allocated, I forgive him because he is not an industry expert, he just got appointed Minister for Communications and that is where he learnt a bit about communications. He is not an industry expert and so he does not understand.

Mr. Speaker, at the time Mobitel was licensed in 1991, GSM technology had not come in yet and so there was no space reserved for GSM. So in the frequency allocation that took place at the time, there was no reserved allocation for GSM for specific mobile purposes and that was why the Frequency Registration and Control
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:50 p.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, I want to refer to an unfortunate remark that was made by my Friend and I wonder when he also learnt his engineering. He has not been known to be an engineer and so to use these sorts of words against me, I think is most unfortunate and I believe he ought to withdraw them. He knows that I will never use those words against him.
Mr. Mahama 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, there is
obviously no intention to disparage my good Friend, hon. Kan-Dapaah. If he feels offended, I withdraw that statement.
Mr. Speaker, I was just explaining to him that in frequency allocation, at the time the frequencies were allocated to Mobitel in 1991, GSM technology had not been discovered and so there was no reserve band for GSM. So the Frequency Registration and Control Board with the knowledge available and the technology available at that time did not know that GSM technology was about to come into operation.
So when they allocated the frequencies to Mobitel, they allocated the frequencies across including the 900 band which is the
preferable band used for GSM. It was only in the mid-1990s that GSM technology came in and it was realized that it best operated in the 900 band and in the 1800 band. I was the Minister at the time; we asked Mobitel to relocate its frequencies that had been allocated to it in 1991.
But Mr. Speaker, let me put on record that there has been no deliberate policy ever to ask Ghana Telecom not to go into mobile -- [Mr. Kan-Dapaah: You just said it] - Listen to me - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Minister, please,
let us have decorum.
Mr. Mahama 12:50 p.m.
There has been
no deliberate policy ever and as my predecessor and colleague, hon. Edward Salia said, indeed, Ghana Telecom was given permission to go mobile; it is just that it did not take off. But Mr. Speaker, let me also say that I heard hon. Kan-Dapaah make this same statement at the “Meet the Press” Session and I was hoping that he would not come and repeat it on the floor of this House.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, he has just said that I said something at the “Meet the Press” Session and he is surprised I have repeated it here and yet he is confirming what I said. The licences were given first to Mobitel, then
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:50 p.m.


to Spacefon and then to Ghana Telecom. If Mobitel did not start early, that is not the point. The point is that they gave the licence first to Mobitel, second to Spacefon, and third to their own child Ghana Telecom. So why is he denying it when that was exactly what I said?
Mr. Mahama 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, despite
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Member for
Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem, do you have a point of order?
Dr. Nduom 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, for the last
few minutes, I have been listening to what has been going back and forwards -- [Interruption] - Yes, it is a point of order because Mr. Speaker, what is being talked about has nothing to do with the document that is here. So Mr. Speaker, respectfully, I would like you to direct our hon. Colleagues to stay on the topic, the Agreement that we have on the floor -- [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Members, please,
let us have decorum.
Mr. Mahama 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if I may
continue.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Minister, do you
have a further point of order?
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 12:50 p.m.
Yes, indeed, Mr.
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Minister for
Defence, you are out of order. Yes, let him continue.
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, let me say emphatically that we on this side of the House are not opposed to privatisation. Indeed, we commenced the privatisation of Ghana Telecom with the sale of 30 per cent shares to G.Com. which was a consortium led by Telecom Malaysia. So we cannot say we are opposed to private- public participation in business.
Mr. Speaker, if you take a look at the telecom industry, there are larger synergies and advantages to be had from associating in a bigger telecom environment. And that is why you have companies like MTN expanding and that is why you have the advantages to be had. So our problem is not about privatisation. Our problem is about the mode of privatisation and whether Ghana is getting value for money. That is what we are here to discuss.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if hon. Members - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Let us have decorum, please.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Majority Whip, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Manu 1 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is saying that they are not against privatisation but against the mode of privatising the shares of Ghana Telecom. Could he tell us how different is the mode being used now from the mode they used when they sold the shares to Telecom Malaysia? They negotiated and we are negotiating. What is the difference between the two modes? What is the difference?
They should sit down and let us carry on. Ghanaians are willing to benefit from Ghana Telecom and we shall not sit down for Ghana Telecom to die as a company. We shall not sit down as they did to Ghana Airways - [Uproar] - Yes, that is so. Ghana Airways was dying and they were looking on. This Government is committed to saving privatisation in this country and we shall not sit down. That is why we are offloading the shares and they must understand. If they are not against privatisation, they should sit down and let us carry on.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
This is not a point of
order.
Hon. Member for Bole-Bamboi, please, continue.
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I just hope that you are noting the time being taken by some irrelevant interventions that are going on here. Mr. Speaker, it looks like there is an attempt not to allow a proper discussion of Ghana Telecom to be made on the floor of this House today. And I think that that is most unfortunate.
rose
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Minister of State, do you
have a point of order?
Dr. A. A. Osei 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with him. We need to speak to the facts. But Mr. Speaker, he has mentioned the name of a company, G.Com. as if everybody knows what G.Com. is. To make sure we can carry the debate forward, it will be useful to identify G.Com. and who its shareholders are so that we can properly debate the matter. So it will be useful.
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister of State has been in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and I would hesitate to think that he does not know G.Com. that bought the 30 per cent shares in Ghana Telecom led by Telecom Malaysia. That is G.Com.
Dr. A. A. Osei 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, who are the shareholders? -- [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Minister of State, I have not called you, resume your seat.
Hon. Minister of State, please, let us have decorum. You speak only when you are called.
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, like I said, it looks as if an attempt is being made for us not to have a proper discussion of this matter. But let me go on.
Mr. Speaker, whilst we are not against
privatisation and we are not against public- private partnership in business, I think that there is a worrying trend where State agencies or public enterprises are made to run aground and then that becomes the basis for deciding to divest them.
Mr. Speaker, Ghana Telecom was a very profitable enterprise. When I left office in 2000, Ghana Telecom was making handsome profits and the two share-holders had agreed that for five years they were not going to share profits

and that all profits arising out of Ghana Telecom should be reinjected into network privatisation and so dividends were not shared. So the profits were ploughed back.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 1 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, for posterity, we should choose our words well.
The hon. Member for Bole-Bamboi said where State institutions are allowed to run aground -- Who allowed them to run aground? -- [Uproar] - Mr. Speaker, from the previous sentence of the hon. Member, it is imputing that this Government has allowed it to run aground so that we can sell it. [Laughter.]
Some hon. Members: Yes.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 1 p.m.
And that is what I am objecting to because this Government did not allow Ghana Telecom or any other company to go down. If anybody did it, it is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government which did that and not us.
Some hon. Members: Ooh!
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, they themselves have said that is the case. So I want him to withdraw that particular statement because posterity will not forgive us if we condone such nuisance. I do not accept that. It cannot be accepted in this House. It is completely out of order. Nobody allowed that so that we can sell. Is he imputing bad motive to the Government or to this Party? No. This is not regular in this House. Mr. Speaker, our Standing Orders do not allow an imputation of bad motives to any hon. Member of this House or for that matter to the Government. I am sorry; he has to withdraw that particular statement.
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is the case of who the cap fits, let them wear it.
Mr. Speaker, I did not mention any government's name. I said that what we are against is the fact that public enterprises are allowed to run aground as a basis for selling them off. If the cap fits him, let him wear it.
The point I proceeded then to make was the fact that as at the time we left office - and I was the last Commu-nications Minister of the NDC Government until 7th January, 2001 - and Mr. Speaker, when I left office, Ghana Telecom was a very profitable public-private enterprise.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 1 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think we must have this on record. What he is saying is important but I want to submit that the best way of evaluating the performance of Ghana Telecom is in terms of its value at various points in time. Ghana Telecom has been valued at three critical times. The first was when Telecom Malaysia was coming. The whole of Ghana Telecom at the time of 1997 was valued $167 million. In 2003, at the time that the Malaysians were leaving, the company was valued at $175 million. After five years of Telenor and Ghanaian management, the value of the company today is $1.2 billion. What are they talking about? What is he talking about?
Mr. Mahama 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member has eventually defeated his own argument. He is equating value with profitability - [Laughter] - So, if the value is now one point, how many billon dollars, then why are they selling the company? [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker, this is the kind of logic I have been referring to all this time. In any
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, such
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Hon. Minister, you only speak when you are called on.
Mr. Mahama 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in any case we have come full cycle in the House. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleagues on the other side, and I am happy hon. Osafo- Maafo is here, I cannot see hon. Dr. K. K. Apraku. [Some hon. Members: He is there.] He is here, good. Mr. Speaker, when they were on this side of the House they argued strongly that we should not sell the family silver to finance budget deficits. They argued strongly that we should not use divestiture proceeds to balance the budget.
Mr. Speaker, today, they need that US$ 900 million so badly that they have not negotiated this deal properly. They need that money so badly that they are prepared to accept anything that Vodafone offers them. That is the problem with this Agreement that we are here to discuss.
Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu 1:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think we all approved the budget here so if we budgeted for $85 per barrel and then it went up to $148 then obviously, there is a gap. We consume 60,000 barrels a day. Is he telling us that we should stop importing crude oil and let the economy come to a halt? Is that what he has been looking for? Is that what he has been working for? We are not going to sit down to allow that thing to happen.
In the Budget Statement, there is a provision for divestiture receipts, so obviously, my hon. Friend cannot just say that we need the thing badly, it is the people of Ghana. Is he not been paid? At the end of the day, is he not paid? Does he not move around? In his campaigning, does he not run his vehicles? Does he not run on fuel? It is not that we need it. We need it for all of us.
Mr. Mahama 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know what that point of order was. But he has virtually confirmed exactly what I was saying. I said that at the time they were on this side they thought it was bad practice and said that we should not sell family silver to balance the budget and I am saying that today that they are on this side they desperately need this money so badly to balance the budget that they are prepared to negotiate anything with Vodafone. That was my point and he has confirmed it hook, line and sinker.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to interrupt my hon. Colleague and I believe that this whole debate must be structured in such a way to afford both sides the opportunity to give out their arguments in a very cogent and coherent manner. Mr. Speaker, so I am sorry to intervene in this manner.
But Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague has just said that he has not seen the valuation document and yet he is insisting that we are not having value-for-money.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.


If he has not seen it how can he argue this way?

Mr. Speaker, secondly, he is saying that if the value of a facility is high, it cannot be sold. That is premise upon the issue that hon. Kan-Dapaah raised. The value for Ash-Gold at the time was high, they sold it. He admits. They sold it. They privatized it. But Mr. Speaker, beyond all this we are having a new definition for privatization from hon. John Mahama - [Interruption.] Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is a relevant point of order; it does not lie in the bosom of the Minority Leader to intervene. It does not. [Some hon. Members: Behave!]
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Deputy Majority Leader, you are too personal here. Do not be personal here.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you.
But Mr. Speaker, the placard that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was carrying carries this inscription “Ghanaians are capable of managing Ghanaian companies”. What is the new definition of privatization that he is espousing now and how many companies were sold under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)/NDC?
Mr. Mahama 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we
believe an industry expert has determined that the value we are getting for Ghana Telecom, that includes control of the SAT 3 fibre cable talking Voltacom's VRA fibre that it had laid over the years on the high transmission grid and adding it into the deal. , the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning came and moved a motion for us to build a national communications backbone. We all supported it. He spoke about the feasibility of it.
Dr. A. A. Osei 1:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, when my hon. Good Friend got up he was talking about people misleading this House. He has been a former Minister for Communications. He just told this House that they had completed Phase 2. Mr. Speaker, that is a big lie. Phase 1, so how did they complete Phase 2. Mr. Speaker, he said Phase 2, so he should withdraw.
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend the Minister of State does not need to get too heated about that. Phase 1 has been completed. If I said Phase 2, it was an error. But Phase 1 has been completed. But it does not take away the point I am making that the hon. Minister came and stood here and told us the feasibility and viability of that project.
Today, why are we being told suddenly that, well, that project is not exactly the best and we rather have to throw it into the Vodafone deal so that Vodafone can
take it over and manage it? Then we must question some of the Agreements that this Government is bringing on the floor of this House. But Mr. Speaker, if we are throwing in all that fibre; if they are throwing in the control of the SAT 3 cable; if they are adding on the entire fixed network of Ghana Telecom which is almost more than 400,000 lines; if they are throwing in the whole Onetouch which is about the second biggest mobile network in this country and they tell me that all Ghana deserves for that is US$ 469 million, I will dispute it even as a layman.
Because Mr. Speaker, we must always bear in mind that the actual value we are getting for Ghana Telecom is not the US$ 900 million, it is the US$ 900 million minus the debt and if we take that debt away of US$ 431 million, then it means what we are getting is US$ 469 million.
But Mr. Speaker, there is one particular clause in this Agreement that is subversive of our Constitution and Mr. Speaker, that is the indemnity clause.
Mr. Speaker, that is the indemnity clause, clause 10.7. Mr. Speaker, this clause -- I think I should read it. Mr. Speaker, this clause is on page 60 and it says that:
“The Government of Ghana hereby waives and undertakes that it will not at anytime bring any claim or prosecution against any member of the enlarged GT Group or any post- closing directors in respect of any act or any such matter of any such member or director relating to the anti-corruption warranties which arises from or otherwise relates to the period prior to closing”.

Mr. Speaker, what we are saying is

that the anti-corruption warranties in this Agreement, and it says that the expectation is that the partners - Government of Ghana and Vodafone Company are abiding by those ethics and that nobody shall take any consideration for anything, nobody shall do anything that is unethical. Then it says that but even if they did, upon the signing of this Agreement, Government of Ghana waives its right, if later it discovers that somebody took a bribe from this transaction, we cannot prosecute the person.

Mr. Speaker, how can you sell the sovereignty of this country for such a pittance -- $469 million. If tomorrow we find that somebody took a consideration as a basis for this transaction, you waive our right to prosecute the person, it is not fair to the people of Ghana. If you think that you are doing this thing ethically and above board, why would you put an indemnity clause to indemnify anybody?
Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Hon. Member, are you
concluding now?
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, I

Some hon. Members -- rose --
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 1:20 p.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious business. And as the running mate of the NDC, he must actually substantiate what he is saying. He is talking about valuation, so it is not a matter of opinion. Because the Minority Leader has even said that at certain stage, they did not value certain items, they just negotiated - in 1996. Mr. Speaker, so whatever he is saying, he must give us the facts, if he cannot substantiate, if he cannot give us the value then he is just misleading all of us.
We are not joking. He must actually give us what value he is talking about. It does not lie in his might to say that this is the value. How much is Onetouch going to cost? What is the value? What is the total value of it, and what work have you done to prove to us that this is the value and this is what he is saying. Who is their transaction advisor who has even advised them? Mr. Speaker, hon. Members must actually give the facts as they are. He himself could not even give us the value he negotiated, not mere opinions.
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if the
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, my
hon. Friend has been a Member of this
Parliament, and on the 10th of November, 2005, when the Budget was presented, the Government's intention to privatize Ghana Telecom and Westel was placed here, and approved. So he does not need any further two weeks. He was given the time, long time ago, he could not do anything.
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Hon. Member, are you
concluding?
Mr. Mahama 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking of the national interest here. I sincerely believe that we are not getting value-for-money in this transaction. And I think that it is not the fault of Vodafone. I think that it is the fault of our negotiators, those who negotiated on behalf of the people of Ghana - [Interruption.]
Mr. Joe Ghartey 1:20 p.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that my very Good Friend opposite - [Some hon. Members: We cannot hear you ] -- If you keep quiet -- you will hear me - [Laughter.] I believe my very Good Friend opposite said some things about indemnity and said that it meant that some people were condoning some matters which were not entirely proper. I wish to explain to him, maybe, he has not read the thing in its entirety, and an agreement should be read as a whole. First of all, I wish to explain to him that when you read 10.7 clearly -- [Some hon. Members: Read it! Read it!] -- I will read it when I want to read it. Clearly, in ordinary English, all it is seeking to say, and I understand that my hon. Friend is not a lawyer, so he does not understand but all it is seeking to say in ordinary English is that the matters -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker, I noticed that those who are shouting “read it” are those who are not learned in the law. Those who are learned in the law are quiet and want me to give
the explanation. Please, if you keep quiet, I will explain, and after I have explained, I will read it.
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the long and short of 10.7 is that, it deals with - [Interruption.] I will read it at my own time. It deals with matters that occurred before completion, and it says that those who come after completion should not be held for matters which occurred before completion. Mr. Speaker, we all know that the company has perpetual succession, and the purpose of this is that those who are liable at the time the crime occurred are those who should be held. When you look at schedule 13 that deals with the anti-corruption warranties, it says, and if I may read 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6:
“So far as GOG is aware . . .” --
rose
Mr. Ghartey 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Ayariga does not know these matters, does he? Four, five years at the Bar, he does not know these matters.

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that upon a true and proper important interpretation of 10.7 with Schedule 13, there has never been any intention and there will never be any intention by us to condone corruption.

Those who are liable pre-completion will be liable. The directors post-completion will not be liable for the things that occurred before completion. That is what it means, very simple.
Mr. Mahama 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is said

Mr. Speaker, if you say that post-

closing directors who are not part of the transaction will not be liable for any such - then why put the waiver in there? They were not part of the transaction, how can they be held liable? [Interruptions.] It is giving protection to the directors not as a corporate entity but as individuals.
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Member, your time is up now.
M r. M a h a m a : M r. S p e a k e r,
Mr. Joe Ghartey 1:30 p.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend opposite is, as he was told by the Minister for Defence, an excellent Public Relations (PR) man.
Mr. Joe Ghartey 1:30 p.m.


He is not an engineer and he is not a lawyer. And so Mr. Speaker, when they say a member of the enlarged group, the members of the enlarged group are the corporate entities, the shareholders. A member is not an officer. We have not given waivers to officers. When they say the directors, they are talking about the post-completion directors.

My hon. Friend should not try to give us his interpretation of the law because he is not qualified to do that. He does not understand law and he should restrict himself to matters which he understands and then also he should restrict himself to these statements like the law is an ass no matter how you kick it -- It is only non- lawyers who will say that. Lawyers respect the law. We do not say the law is an ass.
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bole/
Bamboi, conclude now. Your time is up.
Mr. Mahama 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will like
to ask the hon. Attorney-General how many lawyers signed this document? Of those who signed the document, how many of them are lawyers? Mr. Speaker, if he thinks I am not competent to discuss this document, why does he not take it to the Bar Association to go and approve it for him? [Laughter.] We are required to approve this document and those of us here are teachers, we are nurses, or whatever professions but it is in us, the people of Ghana have reposed the mandate to approve documents like this. [Hear! Hear!] So do not question my right to interpret this - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bole-
Bamboi, your time is up. I will give you only one minute.
Mr. Mahama 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you
look in the anti-corruption warranties, it says that -- they both warrant that no undue bribes were paid to political parties or individuals or whatever. Then you say
that in any case, after closing, if any of the directors was involved in breaching this anti-corruption warranty, we would not bring prosecution against him. What other meaning can you give to this?

Deputy Minister for Communications
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:30 p.m.
I am very happy
today to see us get to this particular stage in our development process.
rose
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Member, do you
have a point of order?
Mr. Bagbin 1:30 p.m.
That is so Mr. Speaker,
because it is important to assist you to maintain order in the House. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Regional Minister for Ashanti is still not listening to me and that it is improper for him to move to the seat of the hon. P. C. Appiah-Ofori - [Interruptions.] Mr. Speaker, there was a precedent in this House and I am referring to it because you do not move to the seat of your Colleague in a threatening manner and pin-pointing - [Interruptions] - It happened in this House and Mr. Speaker ruled against it. I think it is improper to do that.
Mr. Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Hon. Members back to
business; please, continue.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as
I was saying, the country must feel very happy at the point that we have come to today where this particular transaction has been brought before the august House of Parliament to be duly debated and analysed before due approval is given.
Mr. Salia 1:40 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is misleading this House. The Agreement between the Ghana Government and Telecom Malaysia was not in 2000 but in 1996. So I want him to have it corrected.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I had no intention of referring to the Agreement of 1996. Indeed, I was referring to the Agreement which hon. John Mahama and the Minister for Defence (Hon. Kan- Dapaah) had been discussing earlier and that Agreement was indeed in the year 2000. The Agreement which purported or sought to sell about 15 per cent of additional shares to Ghana Telecom; that is the Agreement I am referring to. And in the conditions precedent, if you would allow me, I will quote. It says that:
“the sale and purchase of the offered shares as contemplated herein shall be subject to and conditional upon inter alia the following: “the
approval of Bank Regalia Malaysia being obtained””.
There was no condition precedent that the Government then would have to obtain the approval of Ghana's Parliament. However, the approval of a bank in Malaysia was all that was necessary to move this document forward.

Nii Amasah Namoale: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, it seems we are here today to debate the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), a document before us. The NDC negotiated with Malaysia. A whole lot of things happened and that is why the NDC was voted out of power; it is one of the reasons. Mr. Speaker, we are here to debate the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government trying to sell GT to Vodafone. So Mr. Speaker, let us concentrate on this document. Do not throw it overboard and be discussing things that have been voted on already.

Ghanaians are going to the polls in December, we are going to vote and we are going to say that we are not going to vote for the NPP as they did to the NDC because they are selling GT. So let us discuss the document that is before us, do not waste our time.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you refer to your Committee's Report on page 5 and the third paragraph and with your permission, I quote. It says:
“Minority of members on the Committee expressed reservation about the GT sale and purchase transaction. In their opinion there has been lack of openness and transparency . . .”
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the point I
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:40 p.m.


am making is very relevant to the debate in question because the report is talking about what Members on the other side are feeling and they are feeling that this transaction has been conducted in a very non-open and non-transparent manner.

So it is important to let Ghana and the whole world know that indeed, the process that was followed in arriving at the current state has been indeed very transparent and open unlike previous transactions which previous govern-ments, their government, the NDC Government took this country through and denied the good people of this country the opportunity to fully discuss and debate and bring forth their concerns. Maybe, if we had gone through that process, we would not be where we are today.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of comments have been made about the inclusion of other assets in what has been referred and defined in the Sale and Purchase Agreement as the enlarged GT. Once again, let me indicate that anybody who understands transactions of this nature will agree and I believe my hon. Colleagues on the other side, the former Ministers of Communications will agree with me that indeed when you engage in transactions such as this, when it gets to negotiations there are all kinds of things which are thrown in. And let me tell the honourable House what some of the things were which were thrown into that Agreement with Malaysia Telecom in 1996. Significant in there was a five-year exclusivity during which period no other company with the exception of Ghana Telecom and Westel; Ghana Telecom then being managed by the Malaysians, no other entity was allowed to enter the fixed line business.

No other entity was allowed to bring into the country international telecom- munications traffic. It was the exclusive preserve of Ghana Telecommunications and Westel for five good years.
Mr. Adjaho 1:40 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, with the greatest respect, I refer to Standing Order 92 (4) and with your permission, I quote:
“The speech of a Member must have reference to the subject under discussion.”
Mr. Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Order!
Mr. Adjaho 1:40 p.m.
The flagbearer of the NPP said we should move forward but his followers are not moving forward.
Mr. Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Hon. Members, please, speak to the motion.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, that was precisely what I was doing. If you take a look at your Committee's Report you would realize that on page 5, again in paragraph 4, it says:
“Again, Members said they were convinced that GT has been under valued and that enlarged GT being offered for sale does not reflect the financial worth and value of GT particularly with the inclusion of the fibre asset.”
Mr. Speaker, what I was seeking to do was to establish the premise and then advance the reasons why the fibre asset has been included in this transaction. And just to allay the fears of the hon. Deputy Minority Leader, I think precisely what we are doing here is to speak to the motion on the floor. So like I was mentioning, the second thing that was being thrown into the previous transaction was the 10 Megaheads (MHz) of 800 MHz frequency for CDMA operations.
This was at no extra cost to Telecom Malays ia . Fur ther, the Nat ional Communications Authority (NCA) was required to give an undertaking that it would provide a third generation licence to the Malaysians, again for no additional funds, for free. Again, the NCA was to give an additional undertaking that it will not license any other voice over I.P. operator. It was also going to undertake that and it will not award additional cellular licences during the exclusivity period.
Unlike the current process which has started over two years ago and during that process we have witnessed the award of additional licences.
Mr. Speaker, Ghana's fibre asset has three components 1:50 p.m.
the VRA-VOLTACOM owned fibre asset, the Ghana Telecom East-West link and then the National Communications Backbone Company, northern sector fibre asset.
It would interest you to note that as a telecom operator, it is not an easy task to seek to get a round-trip around this fibre
Mr. J. D. Mahama 1:50 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the points the hon. Deputy Minister made would seek to mislead the public.
Mr. Speaker, we had taken a decision under the NDC Government that we were going to restrict, considering the size of our market, only five cellular operators in our market based on the population size at the time. And so if he says that in the Agreement we committed not to license another cellular operator, it was like we intended to license another cellular operator but we had agreed that we were giving five cellular licences and the five cellular licences had been bidded and taken already. Celtel had one, Westel had one, Ghana Telecom had one, Spacefon had one and Mobitel had one; that was five. So if he puts it like that it is like we were going to license and because of this Agreement we did not do that.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I was indicating, to try to secure a fibre link that would carry telecommunications traffic around the country means that you would have to negotiate with the management of Ghana Telecom for the Southern East-West Link, negotiate with the NCA Backbone Company for the northern sector link and then negotiate with the VOlTACOM management also for a section of their fibre asset and this turns out to be very cumbersome, indeed.
In fact, just making reference to what hon. John Mahama said earlier, phase one of the fibre development programme has been completed. However, commercia- lising it and operationalising it has been a problem precisely due to the factors that I just enumerated. What the addition of the fibre in this transaction seeks to do therefore as correctly captured by your Committee's Report is to bring all these
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:50 p.m.


three under a single management to enable entities who seek to get capacity on this fibre have an easy way out.

Due to these current encumbrances you have two of the current major telephone operators in the country, namely, MTN and tiGO, going their separate ways to begin to implement their own national fibre backbone network which if we are not careful and do not find ways of completing our national fibre backbone on time, would render Government's own programme redundant at the time we find the right resources to either complete or manage it.

The action on Government's part in adding this fibre to the transaction is first of all, to bring it under one management like I said. And secondly, if hon. Members would recall, the hon. Minister came to the House and asked for a loan of $30 million which was used in the completion of phase one under concessionary terms. That was from the Chinese Government. We came back and asked for another concessionary loan from the Chinese Government on the Bui Dam Project. Beyond this, it has become difficult getting further moneys to be advanced to fund the second phase of the programme and this is actually going to delay it and would not make the fibre assets available for commercial use in time.

So bringing it under this arrangement and making sure that indeed, the completion of phase two has been adequately captured under the capital expenditure programme of the enlarged GT Group after closure, would ensure that within two years the fibre networks would be fully completed across the country.

Mr. Speaker, let me use the opportunity to enlighten hon. Members on some of the benefits that having a very good national fibre network would bring to
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 1:50 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the hon. Deputy Minister for Commu- nications and his expositions on the benefits of fibre. I know he appreciates how useful the fibre network would be in the next five years.
Mr. Speaker, the core issues we have raised, to which I believe he should address himself subject to the earlier amendment is that, for instance, Volta River Authority (VRA) - [Interruption.] I am not debating. I am referring him to the document. Page 76 - He has been making reference to the fibre assets and he himself referred to three components of the fibre asset: The $30 million Chinese fibre asset, and the $56 million VRA fibre asset. He deliberately failed to even make reference to SAT-3 which is already a fibre property of Ghana Telecom. What we are worried about is that under his enlarged - [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon. Member, is it a point of order?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if they are not interested, then put the Question and they do what they want.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale South, you must have patience over these matters. All right, please, go on.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was just getting on to enumerating some of the very good benefits that would inure to the nation in concluding this transaction.
Mr. Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Are you concluding?
Mr. Opare-Ansah 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
almost. Mr. Speaker, with your indul- gence, I would quote from a statement that hon. John Mahama made when the Communications Service Tax Bill was being debated on the floor:
“It is such that anytime there is a 10 per cent increase in telecom penetration in a country, it results in a 1.2 per cent increase in GDP and so the more people get connected and the more people use the phones it has a direct relation to the growth of our GDP.”
This was said on the floor of this House by hon. John Mahama and I agree with him and that is precisely why Government is taking these steps to ensure that the cost of telephone handsets, for instance, gets below GH¢20 mark which is one of the objectives that has come up during
Mr. Speaker 2 p.m.
Hon. Members, we shall have extended Sitting.
Mr. E. K. Salia (NDC - Jirapa) 2:10 p.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this motion. Let me at the onset say that I feel very vindicated by events that are taking place here today.
On the 7th February 1997, when I made a Statement in respect of the sale of 30 per cent of the equity of Ghana Telecom, many were those who were dead against that privatization. I am very happy to hear that my hon. Friend, hon. Kojo Armah who then talked about the security aspects of telecommunications and did not want foreigners to be involved. Today, he was the one who seconded this motion in this House.
My hon. Friend, hon. Albert Kan- Dapaah who was very concerned about the valuation, is today trying to convince us that the pittance we are getting from this

being a minority on the Board, whilst we had no objection with management; this was one of the things he said that if it was the NDC's Government intention that no matter who won the contract, it was going to allow the minority to have more members on the Board, then I am afraid, we were right to say that the NDC Government did a bad thing.

Again, one of the reasons is that, they appointed people with dubious qualifications as senior managers, who tried to disrupt the position between the Ghanaian workers and their foreign counterparts. These are the basic reasons. They negotiated with the World Bank that, they as managers, were going to take a loan of $100 million from the World Bank, and one of the conditions was that so long as that loan succeeds, Telecom Malaysia would become a consultant and managers of Ghana Telecom. This was at the time they had shown no improvement as to what was happening.

So Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is misleading us by trying to tell us that there were good reasons why we should have retained the Malaysians.
Mr. Salia 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, what has been the performance of the Norwegians? Nobody is assessing the disastrous performance of the Malaysians that led to financial losses, and even today, the Norwegians are still being paid after several years of leaving this organisation. If we made a mistake, they could have corrected it but they could have made the worst mistake.
My position is that, Ghana Government
as my hon. Colleague said, tends to mismanage state-owned enterprises, it has mismanaged Ghana Telecom and it
sale should be accepted by all and sundry. My sympathy with the situation is that, it is this current Government that has put us in this predicament. How did it do it? Even before the Government came into office, those who were not appointed Ministers for Telecommunications were already talking about reviewing the Telecom Malaysia deal.
My hon. Friend hon. Dr. K. K. Apraku from the then Ministry of Trade was talking about communications.
Finally, it is the handling of the Telecom Malaysia divestiture that has put Ghana Telecom in this predicament where the workers, management and Government are all agreed that Ghana Telecom is not performing and therefore, they need salvation from a foreign partner like Vodafone.
Mr. Speaker, let me say this, the
management consultancy that was given to the Norwegians did a lot of harm to the Ghana Telecom. And until 2002, Ghana Telecom was doing relatively well. If you look at the performance of Ghana Telecom, when the Norwegians took over, you would realize that they did a very poor job and we advised them not to allow the Malaysians to take over. If the Government had heeded to our advice and negotiated with the Norwegians -- and if we had allowed them to go and not to take over the management consultancy, Ghana Telecom would have been in the strongest financial position and would have not been pushed into this desperate situation of wanting salvation from Vodafone.
Mr. Speaker, privatization is something I would speak for any day and I am very proud that as a result of the initiatives of the NDC Government, our telecom sector has seen some development. Indeed, we would have still been the leaders in the telecom sector, if Government had not interfered with what was then going on
for various frivolous reasons. By looking at Telecom Malaysia deal, if they were not satisfied with management being given to them they could have re-negotiated that.
I think it was malice aforethought from the first day even before they assumed power, they had made up their minds to remove the Malaysians and that is what they went ahead and did. That is why we are suffering now. [Hear! Hear!] Let me say that it is the same way - [Inter- ruption.]
Mr. Kan-Dapaah 2:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the reason why we stopped the Telecom Malaysia contract was because they insisted, that based on the Agreement they had with the NDC, although they had 30 per cent ownership of the shares, they will have four people on the Board as against three for Ghana which had 70 per cent. This was the matter that went to court and it was on the basis of that that we were unable to renew the Agreement.
Mr. Speaker, they said that if we would not agree to that, we would go to international arbitration. At that time the management Agreement had expired and we said to them; if you are taking us to court on this matter, then we cannot continue to have you as our managers and since the contract has already ended, we would not renew it. You are taking me, the owner to court, and in court you will represent yourself and me because you are my manager, that was why we stopped it. And I think the hon. Member knows that that was the reason.
Is the hon. Member asking us that we should have accepted the situation where for only 30 per cent ownership, they controlled the Board? We had no difficulty with them controlling manage- ment; that we accepted, but it was wrong
and we repeat, it was wrong on the part of the NDC Government to have given them control of the Board.
Mr. Salia 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, just as the hon. Deputy Minister for Communications talked about conditions given to the Malaysians; there were no special conditions given to the Malaysians. This was based on our transaction documents which we offered the whole world. If the Malaysians had not won, and it had been Senegalese or for that matter, the preferred Vodafone, they would have been given exactly the same terms.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 2:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, as the person who spearheaded the crusade against the Malaysian transaction, and I am prepared to accept it. I would please crave your indulgence to give some little information to him and prove that he is misleading this House.
Mr. Speaker, it is never correct that the Malaysians were making profits. Mr. Speaker, what we felt was that, under only good decent management system, you cannot have majority shareholder
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 2:10 p.m.


has also mismanaged Ghana Airways. They kept on appointing people who could not manage Ghana Airways and Ghana Airways became a desperate basket situation and they liquidated it. Who were the beneficiaries of the remainder of the assets of Ghana Airways?

If we investigate now, we will find out that there were complexities in the sale or liquidation of Ghana Airways. It is people who stood to benefit that promoted the liquidation of Ghana Airways and the workers of Ghana Airways have suffered or are still suffering.

It is the same thing they did to Ghana Telecom and now the workers are saying that unless we sell Ghana Telecom to Vodafone, they cannot survive. It was the Government that appointed Directors who are not capable of leading Ghana Telecom to profitability. These were Government appointees who mismanaged Ghana Telecom. So we should all assign responsibility for the bad state of affairs of Ghana Telecom.

The value of Ghana Telecom is woefully inadequate. Government, already said after the initial transparent process that led to four bidders, they themselves stated that the reserve transaction price was GH¢1.75 billion at a headline price of GH¢1.5 billion. At the end of the day, we are getting less than GH¢600 million for Ghana Telecom. Is the amount up to the GH¢1.75 billion that they themselves had set out to get?

In any case, those who did the bidding in the original transparent transaction, were bidding for 66 per cent. It did not
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
on a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, I think at the end of the opening of the bid, three companies had presented acceptable financial and technical results, none of them had met the reserved price. When you are put under that circumstances, then you have to call off the whole thing and that was what happened. The highest was GH¢486 million but the reserve price was GH¢1.056 billion and the headline price was GH¢1.5 billion. So when you have a benchmark price, or reserve price, that is your reference point, so if people do not meet it then it means the whole thing has fallen through and that is what has happened.
So I do not see that you put the highest - we could have picked the one at GH¢512 million and that would have far from your benchmark price.
So Mr. Speaker, I do agree that it was good that we rejected the bidders and then opened for new negotiations.
Mr. Salia 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, was that communicated to everybody else who was interested? No, it was selective, and that was why it is not transparent. In any case, your targeted amount of $1.75 billion has not even been arrived at, even the amount we have accepted is now far lower than the amount offered by the initial three companies, if we look at the net amount that Vodafone is going to give. This is why I am convinced that we should have got a better value that we have got -- [Inter- ruption.]
Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh 2:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member in
talking of transparency was comparing the 1996 negotiations to the current one.
Mr. Speaker, he will do this House a lot of explanation if he could explain to us how G.Com, a company which was incorporated in Ghana in November 1996 and had certificate to commence business on 23rd January 1997, became part of the bidding process and how Telecom Malaysia which had been part of the bid from the beginning became just a guarantor and how three Ghanaians, Quaynor, Atipoe and Suleiman came to own the three per cent they owned and how much did they pay for it.
Mr. Speaker, that was an agreement which stinks and on which if this House decided to delve into, people may have to answer.
If he is talking about transparency, he should know that some of us know more about the very stinky thing he presented to this House, that he could not even present that Agreement to this House, he just came here to give us information. He just came here on 6th February 1997 to give information. And therefore, he should not open the pandora box because the stinky things they did at that time is still there for him.
Mr. Salia 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that this is being brought up but the truth is that in the transaction document, we made it abundantly clear that any bidder should get preferably Ghanaian partners. We wanted Ghanaian to participate in the telecommunication sector and I could not choose partners for anybody.

Indeed Tailier of Sweden refused to bid because they said they could not get a credible Ghanaian partner. In the case of the G-Com Telecom thing, if you are not bidding for a particular transaction you will not incorporate the company for it and you know under our Companies Code that the certificate to commence business
Mr. Salia 2:20 p.m.


comes several weeks after the incor- poration. So once it was incorporated, that was done. The incorporation was done before the bidding.
Mr. Opare-Ansah 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
rise on a point of order. The hon. Member on the floor is grossly misleading this House and the entire country. He just informed the House that after the closure of the formal RFP process only selective bidding was employed. I want to read the con-cluding part of the report of the Transaction Advisor which was submitted to Government, section 5.3. It says, in conclusion:
“after several unsuccessful rounds of negotiations the RFP process was formally terminated in a letter dated December 17, 2007 copies of which were forwarded to all the bidders. GOG subsequently announced the re-opening of the offer to all interested parties.”
Mr. Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon. Member for
Jirapa, are you concluding as well?
Mr. Salia 2:20 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. I just
wanted to say that I take an objection to what my hon. Friend, the Deputy Attorney-General said about stinking
Mr. Joe Ghartey 2:20 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Salia says he is not indemnified against any act. Indeed, nobody is indemnified against any act. The persons -- and I will take my time, Mr. Speaker with your kind indulgence, because it is a very important point and read it out for him to understand the nature of indemnity.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at Schedule 13, (1) and (2) is an acknowledgement by the Government of Ghana. We acknowledge that in Ghana, in United Kingdom and in the United States, anti-corruption laws exist and these anti-corruption laws prevent you from doing certain things.
Mr. Speaker, 3 (1) says that as far as we are aware, the enlarged GT Group was lawfully organized and operated at all times up to closing and that GT as we know it, did not pay any money to political parties or to government officials to operate as a telecom company and neither did it pay any money to get a licence.
Schedule 3 (2) says that no improper payments were made for it to get a fixed line or a mobile telecommunications service in Ghana. Indeed, at the time that it got the fixed line and the mobile phone and so on, it includes the time that you were a Minister and we are saying
Mr. Joe Ghartey 2:20 p.m.


I will come to that please, sir. We go on to say that all proceeds used and received by Government of Ghana, whether it is the 900 million or it is the figure that other people gave will go into the Consolidated Fund. That is another warranty we are giving. Then we are warranting that, as far as we are concerned, Ghana Telecom and One- touch and so on and their employees have conducted their business according to internationally acceptable ethical standards and in accordance with Ghana Anti-Corruption Laws and their internal policies and procedures.

We go on to say that as far as we are concerned, they have internal policies, internal financial accounting controls, internal management controls and so on. We say also that as far as we are aware, GT has no slashed fund or unrecorded transactions. Then we say that as far as we are aware, Ghana Telecom has complied with all laws including local anti-corruption and procurement laws. If they have not, for example, it is a matter which will come up at the Public Accounts Committee, we are saying as far as we are aware.

Then we go on to say that except as disclosed, there are no disagreements, there are no agreements outside the ordinary course of business between the large Ghana Telecom group and any government officials, et cetera over the past five years in excess of $10,000. Then we say that no government official has derived any direct or indirect personal benefit. Government of Ghana has instructed management of Ghana Telecom to focus on the warranties of Schedule 13

as part of the exercise of the preparation of the disclosure letter, et cetera.

Mr. Speaker, in the normal course of business, when corporate entities are filing their accounts at the end of every year, and I am talking of private corporate entities, and if you are the company solicitor - and I am sure that both the Majority and Minority Leaders have done this several times - they write to you as their external solicitor and ask you that as far as you are aware, does this company owe anybody, are there any outstanding issues, are there any outstanding litigation against it? Now, this is what we are warranting.

Mr. Speaker, when you come to schedule 10 (7), if read together with the warranties that I said are clear and I am saying that nothing here takes away the power of the Attorney-General to prosecute under article 88. That is my view, people may have a different view. But I must add in conclusion, that when there are two views, as far as legal provisions are concerned, they are not debated by the Bar Association as my hon. Friend John Mahama said. It is the court of law that decides when there is a dispute and I am not surprised he said that because he does not understand these things very well.
Mr. Salia 2:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned that as Ghanaians we all own Ghana Telecom. Part of it is being sold, some of us are saying that let us strive for more money because there is an opportunity to get a better value than we are getting. I am surprised that my hon. Brothers opposite think that it is a useless call. Will it not benefit this country if we got US$50 million more than we are getting? Why are we asking that we negotiate a higher amount which is not being considered? I do not understand.
Mr. Speaker, my problem is that, I
Mr. Salia 2:20 p.m.


support privatization and I know that if this exercise was done in a transparent manner and we got good value-for-money, yes, the workers of Ghana Telecom will benefit more, telecommunication sector will improve. There is a necessity for competitiveness but that does not mean that we should just accept any pittance because we are desperate, we should not do that.

We are short-changing the Govern- ment of Ghana, the people of Ghana and we should look at it again. It is possible for us to get more money and I think that much as I support private sector participation in state-owned enterprises, I disagree with the sale of Ghana Telecom for such a pittance and the manner in which it was done.
Minister for Information and National Orientation (Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng) 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak to the motion on the floor of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I would be very brief
because time is going and I am glad that this matter is before the House and I am very appreciative of the fact that hon. Members are now quieting down to allow the debate to take place.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague, Mr.
Edward Salia, was very happy to say in 1997 that matters of this nature will definitely not have unanimous approval from everybody. And this is captured in the Hansard of February, 1997. And that the discourse of this nature is important for our democracy. And that as a nation, everybody has an opinion and of course we appreciate people who want to go on demonstration and demonstrate. But then, we will point out to them what they did at their administration. But at the end of the
day, the matter must be debated on this floor of the House and a decision made by the Government.
Mr. Bagbin 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, just to correct
this misinformation that it is the NDC Government that started privatisation in this country. That is incorrect. Privatisation started in 1969, after the take-over of the Popular Party, (PP) a Government trying to move from the Convention People's Party, (CPP) a state-owned property policy to partnership. That is when it started and the documents are all there. We also did it but he should not say that it was started in the NDC Government.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Thank you,
hon. Minority Leader. But I meant the Divestiture Implementation Committee when the divestiture of state-owned enterprises started under that law, and that is the paper I am holding here where under the NDC alone, 304 state-owned enterprises were sold. And some of them are still owing and they have not even paid a pesewa for them.
But Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to know that when we discussed the Malaysian issue, it has been swept under the carpet. And we are told that they were Ghanaian enterprises. The names have come up but nobody has been able to establish who these Ghanaians are and
rose
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Hon. Minority Leader, relax.
Mr. Bagbin 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, point of order.
He has the names and he has stated that they cannot identify them as if they are phoney names, not people behind the names. I mean, it is not fair. The hon. Foreign Minister is here. If he cannot even get in touch with them, he should contact the hon. Foreign Minister and they can produce those persons. But to come to the floor and give an impression like they were phoney names, is not proper.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, well, these documents were retrieved with some difficulty but the question is how much did they pay and how much are they making? How much did they pay for this? We have not been told.
Mr. Asaga 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, a very bad precedent is being set from the contributions that were made by hon. Osei- Prempeh and currently hon. Asamoah- Boateng.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I would be brief.
Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is
Mr. Asaga 2:30 p.m.
It is because of their behaviour.
rose
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my hon. Senior colleague.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to plead that hon. Asaga withdraws the threats since it will make it difficult for us in future to bring Transactions to the House for approval. That is, he has a problem with the statement made, then it means any time the Ministry of Energy

presents petroleum agreements in the House, it will not be endorsed.

I still stand by the fact that we need to create local content and for a leading hon. Member and a Ranking Member to threaten my Ministry that we should not encourage local content. I think it is a dangerous statement. So Mr. Speaker, if you can please, use your good office to let him withdraw the statement and encourage me to continue to make Ghanaians to benefit under this oil and gas find.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as he said, if my hon. Colleague has any problem with what I have said, he should rather deal with me and the point rather than threaten the Ministry of Energy.
But Mr. Speaker, I am moving on. When we come to the issue of valuation, I think a lot of points have been made on this valuation. We have valued the company, we have appointed a transaction advisor. And I heard a lot from my hon. Colleagues on the other side, as to how much we could have got more. But if they have any evidence of what they had valued the company, they should tell us. They should lay it before the people of this country and tell us how much they have valued the company.
They have no idea. And how did they come by the valuation? They should not throw dust into the eyes of anybody. The Government of the day has valued it. We have appointed an appropriate transaction advisor - an independent transaction advisor and we have secured the best deal for the people of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, I see in your Committee's Report on page 5, that some hon. Members are worried and did not trust the Government to creditably discharge
its obligations to the over 2,000 workers of Ghana Telecom.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my hon. Colleagues and the whole House that the interest of workers have been taken into account. In fact, one will see that most of the workers are in agreement to this deal. The Collective Bargaining Agreement of the workers and the employers has been confirmed that it will be respected in this Agreement. So, workers of the enlarged Ghana Telecom must be assured that Government will abide by these conditions.
Mr. Speaker, finally, I do not want to take too much of your time. But what we have been missing from this date, and I have said this thing outside and let me repeat it on the floor, that the sale of the 70 per cent share of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone will benefit consumers. It will benefit the ordinary Ghanaian on the street. The competition by Vodafone will bring the call charges down. The per minute call charges are now coming down anyway but it is slow in coming down, and with such a competitor coming into the market other competitors will begin to match the lower per minute call charges which we believe will be introduced by Vodafone.
We also believe that the services will improve. If I sit here and they call me, the phones are not even working properly although we know the phones are on. The competitor coming in, with the muscle they have got in the economies of scale, will bring a better service to Ghanaians and we will all be better off.
Again, even in the purchase of handsets - I am told Vodafone, I believe are involved in purchasing handsets. In fact, they manufacture them. That will also bring handsets cheaper to the consumer. What a better deal we have.
So, Mr. Speaker, the profits that they
will make, I believe with the muscle of the economies of scale, will benefit the 30 per cent stake we have in the company. This is the best deal for Ghana. This is the best deal for all of us, so we should approve it.
I call on my hon. Colleagues on the other side - and now that I can see that they are appreciating the point we are making, they will vote in its favour.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC - Avenor- Ave) 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this motion. Mr. Speaker, as has been said before me, I do not oppose this motion because of private/public partnership. We are opposed to it in terms of the process and the content of the document that is placed before this honourable House.
Mr. Speaker, when I got my document, which was laid on the 12th August, the first thing that I noticed was that it talked about supplemental agreement number one and number two. I have also noticed that as at 12th August, when the revised Agreement was laid before this House, supplemental agreement number two was not in legal existence; that document was dated 13th August 2008. So clearly, there is a problem with the document that is before us.
Mr. Speaker, how can they lay a document before this House on 12th August and then refer to that document as being in existence on that day when that document was later on signed and dated 13th August? Clearly Mr. Speaker, there is a fundamental problem even with the document that is placed before this honourable House. Somebody has not done his work well and ought to be asked why he has shown such level of laxity in doing his work.
Mr. Speaker, the first question I asked myself with regard to this document was on page 1, dealing with the recitals of the document and item (i) and with your permission, I quote:
“GIPC has been requested to grant certain exemptions and other matters pursuant to GIPC Act.”
Mr. Speaker, so the first thing I was looking for is the exemptions granted under this Agreement before us.
Mr. Speaker, my enquiry led me to a document which hon. Haruna Iddrisu referred to, and in this document dated 9th July 2008, Vodafone wrote to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) on 9th July, even after the main document which is dated 3rd July was completed, making an application for certain exemptions. Mr. Speaker, if we look at those exemptions and if those exemptions are granted, then it is a total sell-out.
Mr. Speaker, what am I talking about?
They did indicate in this document and with your permission, I quote again:
“The package of incentives and benefits for which application is made are an important element of the business case for the transaction and underpin the value that has been offered to the Government.”
In other words, Vodafone is saying
Mr. Joe Ghartey 2:40 p.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Friend opposite is relying on the recitals, to the Agreement. I am sure he is aware of the fact that the recitals to the Agreement are unenforceable.
Mr. Joe Ghartey 2:40 p.m.


Mr. Speaker, secondly, Vodafone is an

investor under the GIPC and is entitled by law to apply for these things. Those things have not been awarded yet.

Mr. Speaker, the third point is that he makes a play with dates and said somebody has not done his work well. Everything that has been signed, everything, every document dated or undated is subject to approval by us. It will only take effect another time and if I had the opportunity I will explain the sequence of this to him but he is talking about the recitals and the recitals are not enforceable. Even if they were enforceable, they are allowed under the law to apply for these incentives and there is nothing wrong with that.
Mr. Adjaho 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that
when I am making a submission, the hon. Attorney-General should listen and stop talking to hon. Akoto Osei.
Mr. Speaker, the point that I am making
is, I want to repeat, I did not leave the matter at the level of the recitals. I went further to quote a document. If I had left the matter at the level of recitals he could make the submission that he is making. I took a step further by looking at the kind of exemption that Vodafone is requesting Government of Ghana to grant them. So what is he talking about? In any case, what are the exemptions that they have granted them today that this document is before us? I asked hon. Members of the Committee, whether they have been told by the Ministry, and the answer was, no.
What are the exemptions that they have granted to GIPC? If they are transparent enough they should make that document available to this country, they should make it available to this House. What are the exemptions that they have granted them?
Mr. Ghartey 2:40 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I did not only address his attempt to elevate recitals to the point of enforceability. I also addressed the letter he is talking about because there is nothing untransparent about it. Let us be clear. The Parliament of the Republic of Ghana gives certain powers to the GIPC for it to be able to grant certain waivers. If he wants to know the waivers that have been granted, the proper person to ask is the GIPC.
Indeed, this Parliament does not have that power to grant those loans. We have given it away and I refer not only to the recitals but also to the letter and I am saying that there is nothing wrong, nothing untoward, nothing unlawful, nothing untransparent about a company applying under a law which was passed by our Parliament for incentives. There is nothing wrong with that. And I have listened very carefully to everything he is saying.
Mr. Adjaho 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you look
at this document before us the Government that negotiated the deal is telling this House and indeed the whole country that they have given certain exemptions to Vodafone. Mr. Speaker, I am asking what are those exemptions and I want the Attorney-General to tell this House? If he has no answer then he should sit down. He should not waste anybody's time. What are those exemptions that have been granted that he has made reference to? He should let us know the exemptions. Mr. Speaker, in this same document, with your permission, I quote with regard to use of
carried forward loses to offset profits this is what it is stated.
“Our application is based on GT and members of its group from time to time being granted such ability for an indefinite period.”
For an indefinite period. It is here. Is
Mr. H. Iddrisu 2:40 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to provide very valuable information to put - [Interruption] -- because the information that is being articulated is misleading. So I am rising on a misleading point of order.
Mr. Speaker 2:40 p.m.
Hon. Member, on whom are you taking this point of order?
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, for the records.
Mr. Speaker 2:40 p.m.
You have no point of order, please, resume your seat.
Deputy, please, go on.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, our Standing Orders allow for point of information.
Mr. Speaker 2:40 p.m.
No. If it is a point of order against him -
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 2:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, it is against him.
Mr. Speaker 2:40 p.m.
What is it?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 2:40 p.m.
It is a point of order against the remarks the hon. Deputy Minority Leader was making and to supply information to guide this debate.
Mr. Speaker 2:40 p.m.
Let him continue.
Mr. Adjaho 2:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, clearly, I
Mr. Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority
Leader, this is not Question time. Please, go on.
Mr. Adjaho 2:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the point
being made - I will refer you to once again, article 10.7 which was raised by hon. John Mahama, and Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that the past breaches have been indemnified. It is clear. If you look at the terms of 10.7 of this Agreement, it shows that the past breaches have been indemnified. Mr. Speaker, I do not see how a future Attorney-General can say - because there is Agreement, and it is not Parliament's duty to prosecute.
Mr. Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority
Leader, have you averted your mind to the last few words - “prior to closing”?
Mr. Adjaho 2:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, “prior
to closing”. Mr. Speaker, that is before closing; it is very clear. And who are those directors that we are talking about? Those who are the directors before the closing are in the Agreement. Mr. Speaker, who are those directors of Ghana Telecom prior to closing? They are here in article 32, and with your permission I beg to quote: [Interruption] -- Mr. Speaker, I will advise hon. Members to look at page 32 in order not to - [Interruption]-- Yes, their names are here. These are the directors that we are talking about -- [Interruption] -- You want me to mention them. Mr. Speaker, one of the main reasons for our objection is the fact that, we do not believe that the value being put on Ghana Telecom --
Mr. Speaker, in my hand is a correspondence between Telecom South Africa Limited, and the enterprise value on Ghana Telecom is ¢1.650 billion. Mr. Speaker, and this is a letter dated 15th May 2008 addressed to the Government. Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I quote:
“Telecom S.A., South Africa, is pleased to submit its proposals to acquire a majority equity shares even at 66.67 per cent in Ghana Telecom at an enterprise value of 1.650 billion. Telecom offers a purchase consideration of 947 million for 66.67 per cent.”
Mr. Speaker, this does not include
Mr. Ghartey 2:50 p.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry I could not catch
your eye quicker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure I gave 10.7. Mr. Speaker, my understanding of “post-closing” means after closing. It is not “pre-closing”. When you go to schedule 11 of page 61, you will see that the post-closing directors have not yet been appointed because we have not closed. When this Parliament approves this Agreement, it is part of the things that will happen before completion, and it is only upon completion that you will have the post-closing directors. And it is only upon conclusion that you will have the new entity which is called the larger GT Group.
What 10.7 is saying is that somebody -- If by God's grace, you hon. Adjaho is appointed director, all that this is saying is that, he will not be trialed for matters that happened before closing. He will not be liable, because when the things were happening, he was not a director. It is for the avoidance of doubt, that does not mean that nobody will be liable.
The person who was a director at the time will be liable. In any event, all what they are saying is that post-closing directors are not responsible for pre- closing. If the same person is a pre-closing director as well as a post-closing director, then with regard to matters that happened pre-closing, he will be liable.
If somebody is a pre-closing director as well as a post-closing director the person will be liable with regard to pre- closing things like anybody else. But if somebody comes to become a director after we have closed, after we have passed the things. The period of closing, we are saying, or this Agreement says that he will not be liable for things that happened before.
In any event, I said before hon. Adjaho said it, that the Attorney-General has power under article 88, whoever is the Attorney-General at the time would decide whether it is reasonable to charge
somebody for matters that happened when he was not a director. It is as simple as that.
Mr. Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority
Leader, you may wish to conclude.
Mr. Adjaho 2:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
Dr. A. A. Osei 3 p.m.
On a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Senior Colleague, unfortunately, is grossly misleading this House. Mr. Speaker, he has been teaching me very well, and I have been learning from him. Mr. Speaker, let me avert his mind to page 2 of the Committee's report so that he can understand the purpose of the sale of these shares.
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I
crave your indulgence to read:
“The purpose of the Sale and Purchase Agreement is to bring in a strong and technologically advanced operator to inject . . .”
Mr. Speaker, he is giving the impression
to this House that the purpose is to sign on the highest bidder. He is grossly misleading this House.
Mr. Speaker, to buttress my point, let me tell him why the purpose is not the highest bidder - [Interruption] -- that is the point he is trying to make -- that we got 947, how come we did not take it.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose is not to look for the highest bidder. The purpose is indicated in your Committee's report. He should read it. Mr. Speaker, let me advise him. Mr. Speaker, when the transaction adviser - our own transaction advisers -- very competent people from the EDC, Ghanaians, they -- The bid price from France Telecom was 520, the bid price from Portugal Telecom was 484, the bid price from Vodafone was 346. Mr. Speaker, guess who our transaction directors went for first. Not the highest bidder but Portugal Telecom at 484. So to give the impression that the sole purpose is to find the highest bidder is wrong.

Mr. Speaker, even if you look at the capital expenditure contribution, Vodafone gave the highest amount. Mr. Speaker, the purpose is also not to rely solely on the capital expenditure.

Mr. Speaker, there is also a technical proposal. Any prudent and serious manager will take a combination of all these factors. When he, a senior Colleague gives the impression that somebody made the highest offer and somebody did not take it, he is grossly misleading this House and he should know better.
Mr. Adjaho 3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am very
Mr. Speaker 3 p.m.
Hon. Member, you are concluding, I suppose?
Mr. Adjaho 3 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. These
are people who have challenged this side of the House as to what the value is. Now that I have given them the value, they are telling this nation that they were not for the highest bidder. Let Ghanaians listen to them. Mr. Speaker, so clearly there is a problem.
rose
Mr. Speaker 3 p.m.
Deputy Majority Leader,
what again?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3 p.m.
On a point
of order. Mr. Speaker, I believe the point made by the Minister of State was not entirely that the nation was not looking for the highest bidder.
Mr. Speaker, the import of what he said is that we are looking for a basket - a whole other considerations - Mr. Speaker, we do not dwell only on the bid. So if my hon. Colleague was listening and listening attentively, he talked about other variables, it is not only one factor. This is the point he made and so he should not mislead this House and the nation into believing that the emphasis - the sole consideration is on the bid price.
Mr. Speaker, it is not and that is what the Minister of State sought to indicate and indeed the picture he sought to paint. If he does not understand, he should say so.
Mr. Bagbin 3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
listened to my hon. Colleagues but it looks like they have not taken their time
to read the document. Mr. Speaker, the letter dated 7th July 2008 to the Clerk to Parliament and signed by the Ministers -- Minister for Communications and the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning giving us a summary of what happened at the summary process -- Paragraph (6) states clearly, after the evaluation of the proposals by the TA, and I believe the TA is the technical adviser, all three companies passed with their technical proposals except that their financial offers fell short of the expectation of Government reserved transaction price of one million, seventy-five thousand US dollars and head line price of US$1.5 billion.
The final offers submitted by the bidders presented to the Government by the transaction adviser were - and they gave the details. So the issue is not one of technical incompetence as he is trying to raise, it was financial. So if somebody submits - [Interruptions] - I am referring to your document. You have the technical and the financial. Their own transaction adviser says the technical is not the problem. It is there, if you go through it, Vodafone and Telecom - [Interruption.]
Dr. A. A. Osei 3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, with all
due respect to my senior brother, I did not say they did not pass the technical proposal. I said there were several variables that go into it. When you go further, you realize that a financial proposal is not only the bid price. Mr. Speaker, this is why I gave the example.
Let me repeat, that on the bid price France Telecom proposed 520 million, Portugal Telecom proposed 484 million, Vodafone proposed 346 million. Please, keep that in your mind. That is one component of financial proposal. If you took that as one criterion, you would have selected France Telecom as the highest bidder as hon. Adjaho was trying to refer to.
Then I went back and said capital
expenditure programme, Vodafone proposed 699 million, Portugal Telecom proposed 547 million. Mr. Speaker, our competent transaction adviser on the basis of all these variables advised us to rank Portugal Telecom as number one. Portugal Telecom did not have either the highest bid price nor the highest capital expenditure. That was the point I sought to make. Yes, that is the point he was trying to make. It is not the bid price.
Mr. Speaker 3 p.m.
Deputy Minority Leader,
how many minutes more? [Laughter].
Mr. Adjaho 3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
assure you that we will not take a long time.
Mr. Speaker, we should be very serious when we raise these matters because the whole world is looking at us. Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand the country report of Ghana which is a restricted document - Economics Intelligence Unit - and you can hardly fault information from this document because they speak to the people involved in the process. This is the report for July 2008 and Mr. Speaker, I will read --
“Following the Government's suspension of the sale of the 66 per cent stake in Ghana Telecom earlier this year, 2008, it appears that the privatization process will be getting under way once more. Portugal Telecom is reportedly interested in making a new bid for a share in Ghana Telecom. Portugal Telecom was one of the companies involved in the initial bidding process which began in April 2007 and appear to have ended with the selection of France Telecom as the preferred bidder in 2007.”
However, the Government deemed the first France Telecom bid of 520 million undervalued GT's assets -- and dropped the sale. It is talking about value. You know very well, as the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning the importance of this document to businessmen, to investors and to anybody in the world that makes informed decisions. This information is very important.
So Mr. Speaker, what is he talking about when they are talking about the value - the bid value? Once again, they moved to technical capability and then when we gave your own document to them, they shifted again to something else and they keep on shifting the goalposts here and there.
Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani 3:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing this word “transparency” so many times. Mr. Speaker, in this House, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning presented his Budget and in that Budget Statement, he told the House and the world that the Government was going to divest Ghana Telecom. This House approved of that Budget.
After this, Mr. Speaker, the Government appointed an agency Transaction Adviser (TA) to advise the Government on
Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani 3:10 p.m.


selling its shares in Ghana Telecom. The Transaction Adviser, Mr. Speaker, advertised to the whole world and I saw a Member opposite reading from a copy of the Economist about this transaction. At the end of it all, the Transaction Adviser advised the Government and the Government decided that the value being given was not enough.

This transaction is now being debated before this House. What is not transparent about this process? What is the meaning of transparency? What is not transparent about this process?

This is not like what happened in 2000 when some people met in their houses to do -- This is not to the whole country. That is why that leader shamefully took the placard, he could not read, he did not read, saying that he is against -- They are the same guys sitting here and saying that they are not against it.

But the Leader, where is that Paper? The Leader of that -- went around saying that -- Mr. Speaker, this is the picture of the Leader. That is the placard he is showing -- He is saying he is against it that, Ghanaians are capable of managing Ghanaian companies. That is from them.

Now they are saying that they are not against it. They are now telling us that they are not against their Leader. But this was what their Leader did. What is not transparent about this process, Mr. Speaker? They should give us the meaning of “transparency”.
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Deputy Minority Leader, you were concluding, were you not?
Mr. Adjaho 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was
concluding when my Leader got up and so I had to yield to him. That is the practice.
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is important for my hon. Colleagues to understand when they broke the process and stopped being transparent. It is when the first offers fell through and therefore the second one was not opened to the public. That is what we are saying. The second one we are dealing with was only with Vodafone. It was not opened to others to re-bid. That is what we are saying. Mr. Speaker, the Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs is telling us about yesteryears. Did they bring Telenor here? That is not what we are talking about - [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if he is showing papers, let me show him a paper. They opposed National Health Insurance Scheme. Today, they are claiming that they are the ones who brought National Health Insurance Scheme about. Here it is. [He showed a paper.] - [Inter-ruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Order! Order! Minority Leader, be calm. Order! Hon. Members, let us have decorum. Deputy Leader, conclude.
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Agreement before us. We have not referred to examples when he dealt with Zoin, did they bring it here? We have not referred to Zoin, we are talking about what is before us today. That is why hon. Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum left because they are referring to past things; he has nothing about the past to be faulty so he left. Mr. Speaker -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Minority Leader, you have concluded for him.
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
I hear, sir.
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Deputy Minority Leader, conclude then.
Mr. Adjaho 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is not in the interest of this country; it is not in the national interest for us to reject a better offer in every respect and go for an offer which his not in the interest of this country. Mr. Speaker, it is on all these points that I have raised, better offers, et cetera, that I invite this honourable House to oppose this motion before us.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Who is winding up? Leadership, you should be clear about it. Who is winding up?
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, Leadership agreed on who to speak and we agreed that two, two will finish up and - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Order! Who is winding
up?
Mr. Bagbin 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister for Communications himself opted not to speak and for others to speak. So after we have agreed on that, he now cannot get up to try to wind up. The Clerk of the House did consultation with Leadership and we also dropped two hon. Members from our side. So now he cannot get up and wind up; it is the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning - [Inter-ruption.]
Mr. Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Majority Leader, what is the situation? I have a list here and I am following that.
Mr. Aidooh 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning will wind up for us.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 3:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we thank all hon. Members for their contributions and suggestions. And we talked a lot about the valuation, the report
is here. I have also taken a look at the 6th February, 1999 edition of the Hansard, column 592 with regard to the statement by hon. Asaga on valuation and we take note of that.
I believe all the relevant points including the structure, the openness and then the other issues -- technical issues, financial issues -- For example, all the accounts are here. I think we will get time to evaluate all of them from 1999 to 2007.
Mr. Speaker, the economic impact and other things have been made known to all of us and I am also aware of the political implications of everything.
Mr. Speaker, we thank Ghanaians, both inside and outside the House. Mr. Speaker, we thank all the demonstrators who have submitted new ideas and other things; and all friends who have helped us to make some progress.
Mr. Speaker, let us move forward; Ghana has got one of the best deals so far, Mr. Speaker, and all that we are saying is that we are moving forward. Let us know that there is no better offer. We are moving forward.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Question put and motion agreed to.
rose
Mr. Speaker 3:20 p.m.
Hon. Minority Leader, you want us to take a count?
Mr. Bagbin 3:20 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Question put and the House was counted:
AYES -- 124
NOES -- 74
Resolved accordingly.
RESOLUTION 3:20 p.m.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 3:20 p.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 3:20 p.m.
Chairman of the Finance Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 3:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Term Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Rubrika Finance Company, Netherlands B. V. (as Original Lender) and J. P. Morgan PLC and Renaissance Advisory Services Limited (as Arrangers), for an amount of US$300 million for the redemption of Ghana Telecom Bond Debt and other expenditures.
Mr. Speaker, in so doing, I present the report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
The Term Facility between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Rubrika Finance Company, Netherlands B. V. for an amount of three hundred million dollars (US$300,000,000) for
the redemption of Ghana Telecom Bond Debt and other expenditures was laid in the House on Wednesday, 16th July, 2008 in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution.
Pursuant to Order 171 (1) of the Standing Orders of the House, the Agreement was referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report.
To consider the Facility, the Committee met with the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Ministry of Communications and hereby presents this report.
2.0 Background
As part of the terms and conditions for the privatization of Ghana Telecom (GT) under a cash-free debt-free arrangement, Government is required to liquidate all GTs debt obligations, including the recent bond of US$200 million issued by GT.
Again, further injection of additional capital is required to enable the Government maintain its shares under a rights offer of AngloGold Ashanti.
3.0 Purpose of the Loan
The purpose of the Loan is to enable the Government successfully privatise a percentage component of its shares in Ghana Telecom (GT) by providing a debt- free company for privatization.
4.0 Terms of the Facility
The terms of the facility are as follows:
Facility Amount -- US$300 million
Interest Rate -- 1.25 per cent over the bid side yield of the 2017 Eurobond, to be set at the s igning date.
Repayment -- In full on final maturity.
Final Maturity -- 7 years from Drawdown Date.
5.0 Observations
The Committee was informed that the loan facility will be utilized as follows:
Redemption of GT Debt
-- U S $ 2 3 9 . 2
million
Fees and Bond Redemption Expenses -- US$4.2 million
Exercise of Rights Offer of AngloGold Ashanti -- US$56.6 million
Total -- US$300 million
The Committee was further informed that the facility will restore a healthy balance sheet to Ghana Telecom (GT) by paying off its debt obligations. This will help provide a debt-free company for privatization.
It was observed that Government currently holds 9,031,650 shares in AngloGold Ashanti and that through the rights issue, Government is acquiring additional 2,225,426 shares. This will help

maintain Government's percentage (%) shares of the Company.

6.0 Conclusion

After careful consideration of the Agreement, the Committee recommends to the House to approve by Resolution, the Term Facility between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Rubrika Finance Company, Netherlands B.V. for an amount of three hundred million dollars (US$300,000,000) for the redemption of Ghana Telecom Bond Debt and other expenditures in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution, section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and Standing Orders of the House.

Respectfully submitted.
MR. FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
Dr. A. A. Osei 3:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTION 3:20 p.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 3:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
US$300 million for the redemption of Ghana Telecom Bond Debt and other expenditures.
Nii Adu Daku Mante: Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr. Aidooh 3:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this would bring us to the end of today and I believe also to this brief Meeting, let me call it so. But I will urge hon. Members to sit back after the adjournment for a few announcements.
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 3:20 p.m.
Hon. Members, since the business is already completed for the day, I want to thank you on behalf of Mr. Speaker for your endurance, friendliness and tenacity and the debate that has been so lively for today.
The House would therefore stand adjourned sine die.
Thank you very much and have still some pleasant time and those of you who are involved in campaigns, continue. Thank you very much.
ADJOURNMENT 3:20 p.m.