Debates of 5 Jan 2009

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order!
Hon Members, I shall now proceed to the Central Lobby to receive His Excellency the President and the Vice President.
Leadership should accompany me.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon Members, the House is privileged of the presence of His Excellency, John Agyekum Kufuor, President of the Republic of Ghana and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces -- [Hear! Hear!]
His Excellency the President is in the House, in compliance with article 67 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana to deliver a Message on the State of the Nation before the dissolution of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic. On behalf of Leadership and Members of this august House, and on my own behalf, it is my privilege and singular honour, to welcome His Excellency the President to the House.
THE STATE OF THE NATION 10 a.m.
ADDRESS 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! May I call on the hon. Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to move a motion thanking His Excellency the President for the Message he has just delivered to us.
MOTION 10 a.m.
Majority Leader/Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. A. O. Aidooh) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this
[THE PRESIDENT] House thanks H.E. the President for the Message on the State of the Nation which he delivered to this honourable House on Monday, 5th January 2009.
Mr. Speaker, the Address is thought- provoking which in fact has been acclaimed by all of us. I so move.
Minority Leader (Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we truly and sincerely thank His Excellency for this Message on the state of the Nation.
Experience, as we all know, is the best teacher and his Message has reminded me of the slogan that “The longer, the better”. We have listened attentively. We have heard what he said. We have accumulated and accommodated it. We are taking note of the tone and spirit of the delivery and the contents and we will assure him that, definitely we will take that into consideration in trying to rectify the challenges that we have been en-countering as a country. The House definitely will take that into consideration in doing business, and I am sure that we will improve on our consensus building.

Question put and motion agreed to.
Mr. Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon. Members, being His Excellency's last Message prior to the dissolution of this Parliament as well as his retirement as President of the Republic of Ghana in due course, I deem it proper to convey to His Excellency, not only the gratitude of the House, but also the compliments of the House and wishes of good health and God's guidance in his retirement.
May I at this stage, suspend the Sitting of the House for about an hour.

The Sitting was suspended at 10.46 a.m.

The President and the Vice-President, conducted by the Speaker, left the Chamber.

Sitting resumed.
MR. FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
Mr. First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon Members, the House is brought to order.
Hon Majority Leader, what do we do?
Mr. Aidooh 12:43 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, we were supposed to have a closed Sitting to discuss matters of interest to Hon Members but there has been some other improvement to those terms and they are being finalised now.
So, I beg to move that we adjourn proceedings as at now, come back tomorrow morning and find time to consider those matters. Tomorrow the House Sits at 10.00 a.m.
Mr. Alfred Agbesi 12:43 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 12:43 p.m.