Debates of 17 Feb 2009

MADAM SPEAKER
PRAYERS 1:30 p.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 1:30 p.m.
PAPERS 1:40 p.m.
Madam Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Hon Members, the reports have been laid and they are for distribution.
Mr. P. W. Pepera 1:40 p.m.
Madam Speaker, some of the Backbenchers do not have it. I think it is important for us to see everything so that we will not be accused of approving things we have not seen.
Madam Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Hon Member, I believe they are passing them round now. So, they are distributing them. You should be getting them any moment from now.
Can we take the motion on item 2 of the Addendum?
MOTIONS 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Third Report of the Appointments Committee on Ministerial

Nominations

Chairman of the Committee (Mr. E.

K. D. Adjaho): Madam Speaker, I beg to move, that this House adopts the Third Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nominations for ministerial appointments.

Madam Speaker, before I come to the “Conclusion” I would like to refer the honourable House to page 6, under Recommendations, the second paragraph. The words, “… pending her reconciling her remuneration and furnishing the Committee or Parliament with documents relating to the payment of her taxes,” should be deleted.

1.0 Introduction

His Excellency, President J. E. A. Mills communicated to Parliament for prior approval of the nomination of the following persons for appointment as Ministers of State pursuant to article 78(1) of the Constitution.

They are:

1 . M s . H a n n a h Te t t e h - - Minister- designate for Trade and Industry

2. Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith (retd.) -- Minister-designate for Defence

3 . H o n . H a r u n a I d d r i s u - - Minister- designate for Communications

4 . H o n . A l h a j i M o h a m m e d Mubarak Muntaka -- Minister- designate for Youth and Sports.

In accordance with Order

172(2) of the Standing Orders of the House, Madam Speaker on Tuesday, 27th and Wednesday, 28th January, 2009 referred the nominations to the Appointments Committee for consideration and report.

The Committee subsequently held three sittings to determine modalities for the vetting of the nominees. The names of the nominees were published in the media in accordance with Order 172(3) and memoranda were invited from the public on the suitability, conduct, experience and capability of the nominees. Due diligence was also undertaken on the nominees to ensure that they satisfy the requirements of article 94 of the Constitution.

2.0 Reference Documents

The following documents served as reference documents to the Committee during deliberations and vetting of the nominees:

1. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana

2. Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana

3. Curriculum Vitae of nominees

4. Petitions and memoranda from the public

5. Reports from security agencies

6. Reports from revenue agencies.

3.0 Procedure

On appearing before the Committee, nominees took the oath of a witness and answered questions on issues relating to petitions received by the Committee against them, their records of office, the positions to which they have been nominated and general issues of national

concern.

4.0 Observations and Recommendations

4.1 MS. HANNAH TETTEH

-- Minister-designate for Trade

and Industry

Background

Ms. Hannah Tetteh attended Wesley Girls' High School, where she obtained her GCE ‘O' and ‘A' Level Certificates. She obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from University of Ghana, Legon and a Professional Certificate (Barrister- at-Law) from the Ghana School of Law.

She commenced her legal practice with Ansa-Asare and Company and later joined the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice. She later held positions such as Legal Adviser, Human Resource and Legal Services Manager, and Deputy General Manager in charge of Administration at Ghana Agro Food Company Limited (GAFCO). Between January 2001 and January 2005 she was the Member of Parliament for Awutu- Senya Constituency.

Petition

The Committee brought to the attention of the nominee a petition brought against her nomination by the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG). She refuted the allegations and produced a certificate awarded her by the late Rt. Hon. Speaker, Peter Ala Adjetey to hold office of profit. She quoted copiously from Votes and Proceedings from 10th July, 2001 to 31st January, 2002 in support of her defence. The nominee admitted that she had paid her taxes at both Parliament and GAFCO where she worked concurrently

between 7th January, 2001 and 6th January,

2005.

She was not sure whether she had to pay higher taxes if the remuneration from both places were consolidated. She promised to look into that and if she had to pay higher taxes, do so or take steps to do so immediately. The Committee wants to satisfy itself that this has been complied with.

Plans for the Private Sector

The nominee indicated to the Committee that the private sector in Ghana had been described as the engine of growth but the sector was weak because of structural difficulties. She said she would focus on the private sector because there were currently very few state industries in operation. She called for infrastructural development and promised to collaborate with other Ministries to achieve the goals of the Ministry, if given the nod.

Retail Trading

Answering a question on foreigners' involvement in retail trading, she said the law demands a minimum investment of $300,000 from foreigners who wished to invest in the retail sector. Unfortunately, Ghanaians entered into private agreements with these foreigners in order to circumvent the law. She advocated strict enforcement of the law to ensure that foreigners abided by the regime to ensure that the retail sector remained principally in the hands of Ghanaians.

State of the Economy

On the State of the economy, Ms. Hannah Tetteh informed the Committee that she had learnt that Ghana's economy had challenges and was not “broke” as she had stated categorically elsewhere

earlier. She conceded that she had learnt her lessons and would hence not engage in such political talk again.

Development of the Informal Sector

The nominee assured the Committee that if given the nod, she would restructure the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to assist the informal sector in order to maximize the sector's growth.

Economic Partnership Agreement

Ms. Tetteh informed the Committee that Ghana benefited from previous agreements, namely, Lome I and II and the Cotonou Agreements. According to her, Ghana initially negotiated on ECOWAS basis but later initialled an interim agreement because of certain reservations. She promised to study the initialled document and take initiatives to ensure that local industry did not suffer.

Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI)

The nominee said if given the nod, she would, in consultation with stakeholders, review the viability of these presidential initiatives and possibly restructure them to ensure effective performance. She promised that the staff “would not be laid off but at worst they would be transferred to other departments”.

Textile Industry

She told the Committee that efforts were made in the past to address problems confronting the local textile industry. As part of these efforts, a directive was issued that textile imports should be received only from the Takoradi Harbour. She said although the directive has been waived, she would consider reintroducing it if
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.


Allowances for Peacekeepers

The nominee informed the Committee that currently, Ghanaian soldiers earn an allowance of US$32.8 from the United Nations and they are paid about US$27.8. The remaining US$5 is used to acquire equipment for the military.

Recruitment

The nominee indicated that the future of the Army is always taken into consideration when recruitments are conducted. He said men are recruited every year to replace persons who die and retire from the service. The recruitments, he said, are done simultaneously in all the regions to ensure parity.

Security

The nominee assured the Committee of his commitment towards maximum security of the nation. He said police and military patrols have been intensified and he hopes armed robbery would be brought to its lowest minimum. He advocated military presence in every region but lamented the lack of equipment. He sought the assistance of Parliament in that regard.

Recommendation

The Committee, by unanimous decision, recommends the nominee to the House for approval.

4.3 HON. HARUNA IDDRISU

-- Minister-designate for Communications

Background

Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was born on 8th September, 1970. He attended Tamale Secondary School and later pursued his

first degree programme at the University of Ghana, Legon. He is a lawyer by profession.

Hon. Iddrisu has previously held several positions including President of National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) from 1996 to 1997, and National Youth Organiser of the NDC. He has been a Member of Parliament for Tamale South Constituency since January 2005.

Petition

A petition against the honourable Member's nomination was duly brought to his attention. The petition bordered on an alleged appropriation of someone else's intellectual property.

Hon. Iddrisu said it was legitimate to

show concern as citizens of Ghana and explained that he pursued a Masters degree in Philosophy (M.Phil) degree programme at the University of Ghana. He passed the first part of the course excellently and supported his lecturers to teach social psychology. In the bibliography of his thesis, he made 63 references including the one he is alleged to have plagiarized. He said the issue of plagiarism came to the fore when he published a book on zero tolerance for corruption and tendered it for an award.

In evaluating the award, it was realised that his work contained some non- acknowledged material. The authorities of the University of Ghana subsequently set up a committee to investigate the matter. The committee in its report established that the research work was basically the nominee's own but that in seven places, some ideas and passages of texts appeared to have been copied from someone else's work without acknowledgment. He said the University, after the investigations, decided to withdraw his M.Phil degree “against the recommendation of the committee set up by the University”. He

attributed what happened to human error and insisted that he never intended to plagiarize. He promised not to ever use his position to do anything illegal.

Mobile Phone Crime

On mobile phone crime, he said cyber security needs to be improved and that National Communication Authority and National Security are working towards ensuring that there is maximum phone security. He promised to fast track the process if given the nod.

Review of Sale of Ghana Telecom

He conceded that it was true that he previously alluded to the fact that the agreement between Government and Vodafone would be reviewed. He however said it was a government decision based on a manifesto pledge. According to him, the agreement contains certain government obligations including capital injection and those would be reviewed. He however promised that the agreement would not be revoked.

Recommendation

The Committee having satisfied itself with the explanation of the nominee and has owned admission of fallibility, by consensus recommends the nominee to the House for approval as Minister for Communications.

4 . 4 H O N . A L H A J I

MUBARAk MUNTAkA -- Minister- designate for Youth and Sports

Background

Hon. Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka was born on 17th October, 1971 in Kumasi, Ashanti Region and is a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science

and Technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics (2000) and a Masters Degree in Development Policy and Planning (2004). The nominee is a Member of Parliament for Asawase and a former Deputy Ranking Member, Select Committee on Health as well as a member of the Special Budget Committee in the previous Parliament. He has been a member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament since 2005.

youth in Agriculture

The Committee was informed by the nominee that the youth have lost focus in agriculture because of the numerous challenges confronting the agricultural sector. He cited high cost of farm inputs, lack of market for farm products, unavailability of credit and labour intensiveness of farming as some of the difficulties scaring the youth from farming. He said he will encourage the youth to go into productive agriculture to support government interventions like the Ghana School Feeding Programme.

In this regard production will get demand and there will be ready market for farm produce to encourage the youth to get involved in farming. He promised to encourage the provision of farm inputs and storage facilities to support the youth who want to go into agriculture.

Separation of Sports from Ministry of Education

The Minister-designate informed the Committee that the decision to separate Sports from the Ministry of Education is commendable. He said education is such an important sector with many challenges and that little attention is paid to sports when it is under the Ministry of Education. national youth Employment Programme (nyEP)
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.


Hon. Mubarak Muntaka agreed with the Committee that the National Youth Employment is a good programme and will be pursued vigorously. He said the decision concerning which Ministry should handle the programme lies in the hands of the President but he is ready to see to its implementation when placed under his Ministry.

youth and Social Vices

In response to how to reduce the involvement of the youth in all forms of vices and criminality, the nominee advocated the establishment of more youth training centres to give more opportunities to the youth. He said by so doing most of the youth will be employed so as to reduce their involvement in criminalities. He also stressed the need for the youth to be oriented on the need to pursue greater heights.

Construction of Stadia for all Regional and District Capitals

On the construction of stadia for regional and district capitals, the Minister- designate informed the Committee that he cannot give a definite timetable for the completion of these projects but promised to pursue vigorously the establishment of sports facilities in the Regional and District capitals in the long term. He admitted that the capacities relating to the Stadia to be built as stated in the NDC manifesto is incorrect. He explained that the stadia capacity to be built for the Regional and District capitals are 20,000 and 5,000 respectively and not 50,000 and 7,000 as stated in the manifesto.

Sports Development

The Minister-designate said a
Minority Leader (Mr. Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 1:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise to second the motion moved by the First Deputy Speaker who doubles as the Chairman of the Appointments Committee.
Madam Speaker, ordinarily I should, in seconding the motion, also raise certain issues, but as per the agreements that we have come to, I would want to stand down my own contribution and allow for Hon Members to contribute and thereafter I may, before we wind up -- I do not know whether the Majority Leader or the Chairman of the Committee may wind up; then I will come up with my own contribution. Madam Speaker, I second the motion.
Question proposed.
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon Members, now you can make your contributions but if I may say this before we get on to that; time is far gone and we will hear from Hon Members, but I think five minutes for each Hon Member and then 10 minutes for Leaders so that we can have a lot more people contributing to this debate. Before I hear the contributions, the time now is five minutes to 2 o'clock and having regard to the state of the business of the House, Sitting would be held outside the prescribed period and in accordance with Order 40(3). I hope we would observe the rules as I have said; five minutes. Can we hear from Hon Dr. Osei?
Dr. A. A. Osei (nPP - Old Tafo) 1:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much for
giving me the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor.
Madam Speaker, all the Hon Ministers- designate are very good friends of mine and I think they are well deserving. But I want to understand the point made by my hon. senior Colleague who, as I repeat, keeps teaching me.
Madam Speaker, I want to refer Hon Members to page 4 of the report and with your permission starting from page 3, I want to quote:
“She promised to look into that and if she had to pay higher taxes do so or take steps to do so immediately. The Committee wants to satisfy itself that this has been complied with.”
Madam Speaker, for me, my untreated mind, if the Committee wants to satisfy itself, it stands to reason that the Committee is admitting that it has not completed its work. Besides, the Committee wants to satisfy itself that this has been complied with. It is bringing this report to us in this House, so now it is our property and it is saying that they have not finished their work.
So my obvious question is, why is the Committee asking us to vote? And I noticed that it has deleted the section about “pending her reconciling this”. But I find that with that statement on pages 3 and 4, it confuses us Hon Members as to what the Committee wants us to do because if you have not satisfied yourself, definitely you have not satisfied this honourable House.
In this environment where people are accusing us of not doing due diligence, it would seem to me that you would want to have her comply with a letter stating that she has made satisfactory arrangements with the appropriate authorities. That kind
Dr. A. A. Osei (nPP - Old Tafo) 1:50 p.m.


of letter would be sufficient. But to ask us, when you yourselves have not - By the way you are doing this for this Committee, right? So you are saying that you have not completed your work.

Madam Speaker, even though I support the nominee, I think the Committee should help us by completing their work or having her write a statement that they have satisfied -- so that we would feel that we are also satisfied. As it is, I do not feel that they feel that way; more so, to convince me that she has complied with it.

With those few words I make my contribution to the motion.
Mr. Adjaho 1:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, there is a background to that particular sentence there. As an effort to build consensus in the Committee as much as possible, I told my hon. Colleague, the Hon Minority Leader to make any input which he deems fit so that certain level of consensus is built in the Committee. But I also informed the Clerk that those should be drawn to my attention.
Indeed, the first one that I deleted earlier on, was one of the inputs that came from the Hon Minority Leader. This particular one, my attention has not been drawn to it by the Clerk's office because I had then signed the last page of the report. But Madam Speaker -- [Inter-ruptions] - The most important thing was that, the nominee produced a tax clearance certificate and as far as the Committee is concerned, the nominee has a tax clearance certificate. It was only in the course of examining the nominee that the issue of her earnings from two different incomes came up and the Minority Leader raised the issue of consolidation and she said she would take steps to remedy it.
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
I would like to hear
from the Hon Minority Leader about this particular point because the report comes from the Committee.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, as you may recall, in seconding the motion, I said perhaps it would be most appropriate for me to listen to Hon Members from the floor because the other day we were accused of having guillotined
the contribution of Hon Members and we had that prior arrange-ment with you to just second the motion and thereafter if I have any points of my own, raise them and I thought that was going to be very decorous.
But the way the Chairman is conducting himself, I am afraid, Madam Speaker, with respect to your Chair, he may have to restrain himself; otherwise the way he is going, it is certainly not good for the Committee and on countless occasions, I have discussed this matter with him. He should not be treading this path.

Madam Speaker, the Chairman has
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon Member, the
only reason that I called upon you was that the report was a report of a Committee of which you are a member and I just wanted to find out whether that, in fact, was what happened there. But I would come to you finally when we come to wind up.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
Very well,
Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon Leader, can I hear you?
Majority Leader (Mr. A.S.K.
Bagbin): Madam Speaker, I would want at this stage to come in and reserve the right also to come later as my Hon Colleague has just done which is in accord
with the Standing Orders of this House.
Madam Speaker, after going through
the report of the Committee I came across this statement and recommendation and I did call the Minister-designate and the Minister-designate confirmed that this transpired at the committee level and that she undertook to produce the evidence. She has got the evidence and she is bringing the evidence. So I will at this stage let us suspend her case and move on to the rest, then she will bring that thing and we will handle it.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, I thought that what had been captured there really represented the sentiments of the Committee. The hon. Majority Leader taking a cue and having made that extra check confirms that what we have written here is nothing but the truth and he has assured the House that the nominee herself, in compliance with what we have stated here, has indicated that she is bringing this.
In fact, all that the Constitution requires is whether you have paid it or made arrangements to pay and because of what the Majority Leader has said, and I want to believe that the Majority Leader is an honest man, a man of integrity, we can hold him to his words and for that reason, I will appeal that we do not even stand it down given the assurance the Majority Leader has given and continue.
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Hon Members, I
will give a ruling on this. Can I have quiet so that I can rule on this?
I think I agree with the Leaders of the House that we defer it for a little while. Let us still consider the report and defer this particular nominee's discussion. We can talk about the others and if something is going to be done before the end of it, let us go ahead.
Is there anybody who wants to

contribute to this debate other than talking about this particular difficulty?
rose
Madam Speaker 1:50 p.m.
I have given my ruling on this particular matter.
Mr. I. A. Fuseini (nDC - Tamale Central) 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I thought the ruling is that we will not take a decision on that nominee, but to comment on the report.
Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor of the House. There is no doubt that the men and the woman who were nominated by the President for various Ministerial positions in this country are men of substance and a woman of substance. All of them have distinguished themselves previously in various fields that they have found themselves.
We have no doubt that when they are given the approval by this House, they will serve the people of the Republic of Ghana and help realise the vision of the President of the Republic, which is obviously to make Ghana a better place for all of us.
Even though there is a ruling on the first
nominee, permit me to express my views on the subject-matter contained therein.
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Hon Member,
that is why I asked you whether you were going to talk on -
Mr. Fuseini 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I have
a cue from Leadership, I will not go there.
Dr. A. A. Osei 2:10 p.m.
On a point of order,
Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Hon Member, have
you not already spoken?
Dr. Osei It is on a point of order.
Madam Speaker, you ruled that we can comment on everybody else except that -- but he appears to be going into that area.
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
I think he has seen
the point. Thank you, hon. Member.
Mr. Fuseini 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, every-
body else, except nominee number one.
Lt. General Joseph Henry Smith (retd.) was a distinguished soldier in the army, served diligently, while a serving officer in the army --
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Hon Member, you
have five minutes. I did say five minutes and I think you are exhausting it all. Can you wind up then.
Mr. Fuseini 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, very
well. As I said earlier, all these persons who have been nominated -- the three persons, Lt. General Joseph Henry Smith, my good Friend and Brother Hon Haruna Iddrisu and my Brother Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka are men of honour. I crave the indulgence of this House to approve their recommendations for the President to continue to work. Thank you.
Mr. Isaac K. Asiamah (nPP - Atwima-Mponua) 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor.
I have looked through the report and the report presents to this House very important issues that affect the nation's development.
The first one I would like to touch on is in connection with Lt. General Joseph Henry Smith (retd), Minister-designate for Defence. It is reassuring that he did
indicate to the Committee that recruitment into the Army would have more future direction, making sure that there is much more professionalism and therefore recruitment is based on merit.
I was also touched when he did mention that at least, the regional basis for selection will be continued so that there will be parity to ensure that there is regional balance in the recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces. That is very important for the sake of the nation.
Another issue he did touch on is the
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Order!
Mr. Asiamah 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker,
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 2:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, I do not know whether my good Friend Hon Asiamah is a prophet. He can hear tomorrow, a car being snatched, a car being seized but he should address himself to the issue. If he says “tomorrow a car being seized” I do not know; Tomorrow has not come yet and yet he knows a car is going to be seized tomorrow. [Uproar!] He knows tomorrow a car will be seized, tomorrow is not yet come and yet Hon Asiamah knows that tomorrow a car will be seized. I think we must listen to him carefully.
Mr. Akologu 2:10 p.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, the Hon Member on his feet opposite has made a very serious allegation against the Presidency. [Uproar!] He has said that there is a car snatching gang at the Castle. It is a very serious allegation and unless he has the evidence before him now, he should withdraw that statement. It is an allegation that is not based on any merit, there is no fact on it and therefore the people he is making this allegation to are not on the floor here to be able to defend themselves and I demand that the Orders of this House dictate that he should withdraw that statement. Madam Speaker, I beg to sit. [Uproar.]
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Hon Members let
us have peace and quiet, cool down, then we can move on. Carry on.
Mr. Asiamah 2:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I
Madam Speaker 2:10 p.m.
Hon Members, can you keep to your seats. I will rule on this matter.
Mr. Isaac K. Asiamah 2:10 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, it is important that we check some of these creeping dangers in our society. It is about rule of law, it is about democracy and we must fight and fight for democracy and rule of law in this country.
Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the motion.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
We will have two more contributors from each side.
rose
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
I think we should carry on. He has finished his contribution -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Akologu 2:20 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I think that if you allow this situation to go on, you are setting a bad precedent in the House. An allegation has been made, he has been asked to produce evidence. He only continues to make the same baseless allegations or statements. He has not produced any evidence. There is nobody who has been arraigned before any court that he belongs to a car-stealing syndicate from the Castle.
There is no proof anywhere. So if you allow this thing to go on, we will have numerous allegations coming on the floor of the House that we cannot deal with and this is a very bad thing. He must produce the evidence or he should withdraw, Madam Speaker, with due respect.
It is a very serious allegation against the Presidency and he must produce the evidence or he should withdraw that statement. According to our Standing Orders -- These are statements that the people are not here to defend. There is no proof anywhere. As for the newspaper that he is flicking about, there is a precedent in the House that we do not go by those ones. Madam Speaker, it is a very serious statement and I take strong objection to it so he must withdraw it or produce the evidence.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon Tia, in fact, I was going to ask the Hon Asiamah to discuss this and not go beyond it. But he has already finished his contribution.
Mr. Akologu 2:20 p.m.
Madam Speaker, the precedent in this House is that you must produce evidence for every allegation that you make. He should withdraw that statement.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon Tia, if you are insisting on it, I will like to hear exactly what he said because at that time there was so much noise. So what particularly are you complaining about so that I can rule on it? What did he say? I cannot hear anything.
Mr. Akologu 2:20 p.m.
Madam Speaker, my Hon Colleague, Hon Asiamah made a statement to the effect that there was a car-stealing gang at the Castle - I mean a car-snatching gang at the Castle. And I say that this is a very serious allegation, there is nobody from the Castle who is here to defend the allegation. There is no evidence anywhere to show that there is a car-stealing gang at the Castle, and I am saying that, based on that, he should withdraw the statement or he should produce the evidence.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon Members, can we have some quiet so we deal with this matter and move on. As it is, still I have not heard the statement which Hon Tia is complaining about because of all the noise. That is why I am saying that if you are quiet maybe I can say whether that was bad enough and needed to be withdrawn. [Interruptions.] But as it is, I cannot make a ruling because I do not know the particular sentence he is referring to. If we can have quiet, he will tell me and we will verify it. Unless Hon Tia is prepared to let us carry on without a definite ruling.
Mr. Akologu Madam Speaker, the Hon “Ashaiman” stated - [Laughter] -- I always call him Ashaiman, I do not care
rose
Mr. Akologu 2:20 p.m.
The Hon Asiamah -- [Interruption] -- Please, he is my Friend I call him -- I said Asiamah - [Inter- ruption] -- Is he not Asiamah? The Hon Colleague does not object to the name. He is my Friend and that is how we call each other. He does not object to it.
Madam Speaker, the statement he made was that there was a car-snatching syndicate at the Castle. And he went on to state that a former Minister's car had been seized from him at the Castle, and so on. And I said that the first portion of his statement was a serious allegation and that he had no evidence to show - [Uproar] -- I was demanding and I am demanding still that in the absence of any evidence to show, he should withdraw that statement because it is a very serious allegation against the Presidency, and there is nobody from the Presidency who can speak to the motion or defend it. And he has no evidence, he should withdraw it.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon. Tia, I do not
think that from what he said he defamed the President, and so I think we should leave the matter. [Hear! Hear!] You have made your point. Next time there is a definite case, I will ask them to withdraw. I have ruled, please.
Mr. Akologu 2:20 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I
was not talking about defamation of the President; I was talking about an unsubstantiated allegation that the Hon Member has made. And I am saying that without, and in the absence of any evidence to that, he should withdraw that statement. Madam Speaker, that is all. I am saying that it is an unsubstantiated allegation, baseless one of course; concocted by his
own imagination and he should withdraw it.
Madam Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon Member, I
thank you, but once I have ruled, I have ruled. [ Hear! Hear!] Hon Members, shall we carry on. This side, can I have one more contributor?
Alhaji Sumani Abukari (nDC - Tamale north) 2:30 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I stand to support the motion on the floor of the House and to agree with the Committee once again that Lieutenant- General Joseph Henry Smith, Hon Haruna Iddrisu and Hon Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka be approved unanimously as Hon Ministers in the respective designations in the Government of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills.
Madam Speaker, I think that Lt.-Gen.
Joseph Henry Smith is known to all Ghanaians. [Interruptions.] He retired as a Lieutenant-General in the Armed Forces of Ghana and unless anybody is here who was not concerned with the security of the State in the past 15, 20 years, the person cannot say that he does not know anything about him or has never heard the name.
Madam Speaker, during the vetting,
he touched on two issues that I think should be highlighted. He talked about the allowances for peacekeepers. This is a thorny issue that many people debated without knowing the facts and even the figures and a lot of rumours were spread all over the place that nearly caused disaffection within the Army until they were explained to all the troops.
The Lieutenant-General says they are given US$32.8, US$27.8 is paid to them, that is to the troops directly and $5 is used to acquire equipment for the military. I think it was good he came out with these
Alhaji Sumani Abukari (nDC - Tamale north) 2:30 p.m.


facts to inform the entire nation and especially our troops in the Armed Forces because the $5 that is kept is not only used for their equipment but it is also used to acquire uniforms and everything that they want while they are there on duty.

I happen to know that when the troops

go on missions, the $5 is used and paid to the United Nations (UN) itself so that the equipment that they use there - they do not go there with equipment - some of which are more sophisticated than our own equipment that are leased to the Armed Forces of Ghana. I learnt this when I went to an international military conference in France and Belgium not too long ago.

Lt.-Gen. Smith also went on to talk about security and this is what he said -- He advocated military presence in every region but lamented the lack of equipment. He sought the assistance of Parliament in this regard. I want to emphasise that - “He sought the assistance of Parliament in this regard.” Madam Speaker, I am saying this in advance of the Budget that may come.

Each year the Army presents a budget, each year it is drastically cut down and because of that they are not able to meet their programmes. So I hope that when it comes up we who are concerned would talk about equipment and we would get the support.

As to Hon Iddrisu and Hon Muntaka, these are representatives of the youth in the Government of Prof. Atta Mills. These are competent young men, intelligent young men, who have bright future ahead, and who I am sure would mature to be very, very prominent Ministers in the country.

I think that we should all have no objection to their being approved as recommended by the Committee members like Hon Prempeh who all assisted in

approving them. I hope we should all agree with them to approve them as Ministers of State to satisfy people like my brother, Hon Asiamah and the rest of us.

The youth are now well represented.

With these few words, I support the Committee's recommendation that we approve of them unanimously as Hon Ministers of State.
Mr. Isaac Osei (nPP - Subin) 2:30 p.m.
Madam Speaker, in supporting this motion, I wish to just preface with two notes. First as a neophyte Member of Parliament, I think I have the responsibility to learn from those who are my seniors in this House. Two things have disturbed me this morning.
First was the admission by the Chairman of the Committee that he had indeed signed without reading. I thought it was very strange. Second, there was a sign - [An Hon Member: No, I did not say that.] There was a sign which was made by the Hon Deputy Majority Leader, Hon John Tia Akologu. It reminded me of the famous group, Abodam when he signalled in this manner, when he looked towards this place. I thought that that was completely unacceptable.
Having said that, I have read the report and I believe that with the two sub-50 nominees, very young, energetic and intelligent men, it is my duty to ask the House to support the motion for approval.
rose
Madam Speaker 2:30 p.m.
Hon Member, were you going to make a point of order or you wanted to wind up? This is because we have finished with the --
Mr. Adjaho 2:30 p.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much. Am I doing the winding up?
Madam Speaker 2:30 p.m.
Yes.
Mr. Adjaho 2:30 p.m.
This is because I was rising on a point of order but I was not able to catch your eye so I do not know whether I am doing the winding up. [An hon. Member: Do both.] No.
Madam Speaker 2:30 p.m.
Can you go ahead? I would take your contribution and then I will signal the end of the debate.
Mr. Adjaho 2:30 p.m.
All right. Then I under- stand that I am winding up.
Madam Speaker 2:30 p.m.
To finish up. I think Hon Minority Leader, can you wind up?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:30 p.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity.
I think the Committee was meeting on these four people and, of course, today we have hived off one so we are considering three -- Lt.-Gen. Joseph Smitth (retd), Hon Haruna Iddrisu and Hon Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka.
I think the Committee has done quite a good job and today the Hon Majority Leader came to my office and was saying that the Committee has been overly diligent and very scrutinuous and produced a near excellent report.
Madam Speaker, I think in respect of the corrections, if I may just correct one simple matter, Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith (retd) said that the allowances which are paid to service persons is US$29 not US$27.8 as appear - [Interruption.] In point of fact, it is US$29. But I just briefly want to talk about the Hon Mohammed Muntaka.
He made an admission to the House and he explained that the capacity for the stadia to be built for the various regions and districts is 20,000 and 5,000 in that order
and not 50,000 and 7,000 as contained rather erroneously in the NDC manifesto. I believe that it is a typo-graphical error in the manifesto. If it was not, then I believe that it is a grievous misleading of the general populace but I would want to believe that, maybe, it was a typographical error and if it was a typographical error, it ought to have been corrected long ago. I think that the proposition from the Hon Colleague, Hon Muntaka, is a realistic proposition and we must, as a nation, abide by that.
2. 40 p.m.
Madam Speaker, the Hon Muntaka has been with some of us on the Special Budget Committee and before the Committee, I commended him very much for his diligence. He is one person whom I have known who is ever prepared to learn. I hope that he carries that to the Ministry. Whenever he is short on some matter he would come knocking and asking and I believe that is the way to build our nation.
Madam Speaker, there is something that he also said with respect to the school feeding programme, and he says that we may have to encourage the youth to go into agriculture to support Government's interventions like the Ghana school feeding programme. There are a lot of Ghanaians roaming the streets in the afternoons, wiping columns of sweats off their foreheads and making less than, in some cases, GH¢1 as profit everyday.
Madam Speaker, I think that many of these young guys are adapted to robust life. What if we, for example, everyday or maybe the beginning of every week ferry them maybe to the Afram Plains, give them some land to cultivate, we give them say the seedlings of water-melon to cultivate, after that we buy from them and give to the prisons or to support the school feeding programme; and I thought
Mr. E. T. Mensah 2:30 p.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, the point of order is just simple. One is that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost elections only on the 28th of December last year. My good Friend has been a leading member of the NPP and I am surprised as to whether the proposal he is making, he made them to his Minister responsible for Youth and Sports and he did not listen.
In any case what he is talking about is not possible, he knows the problems that people have when it comes to farming. [Interruptions.] What he is saying is too simplistic, just playing to the gallery. [Interruptions.] Madam Speaker, the issue about the mistakes in the manifesto, it is a typographical error and he knows it, but the way he went about it, that if it is not a typographical error -- There are several typographical errors and several issues of facts in the Agenda 2000 and Agenda 2004 that I have, that we have never raised here. So these are human errors.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:30 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I do not intend to respond to such interruptions that my Hon Colleague would want to call a point of order. So I would appropriately ignore him.
Madam Speaker, the Hon Haruna Iddrisu -- I think there is something that has been haunting him and he took the occasion to explain himself very well and I think that the air must be cleared on this matter. He said he was alleged to have plagiarised -- he acknowledges in his bibliography, that is, the thesis that he wrote. But then at certain portions, in fact seven portions of the thesis he is alleged
not to have offered any acknowledgement and that is why a committee was set up to investigate this. The Committee made recommendation to the general body upon which recommendation the committee, that is, the board awarding the M-Phil decided to withdraw it.
The Hon Member had the humility to accept that it was attributable to human error and that he did not intend to plagiarise anybody's work and I thought that, that was a humble submission that the man had made.
There was something else that he said, but in this report, we find that we are being told that what even happened was against the recommendations of the committee set up by the University and I thought that, that had no place here. That is because, Madam Speaker, a committee of Parliament -- and we told ourselves this -- could have a referral to it.
The committee could come out with recommendations but it is for the plenary to decide to adopt it or not; and that is as short or as simple as that; and so I thought that the important thing was for the man to have admitted to his own fallibility upon which we said, no, that being the case, we should propose -- we are satisfied with the explanation of the nominee and his own admission of fallibility and we are recommending him by consensus to this House for approval as Minister for Communications.
Madam Speaker, I do not think that it falls within our competence to now debate the issue that the Committee was wrong or the University was wrong in withdrawing the degree. I think that is neither here nor there. The man himself has admitted that it was most unintentional and the Committee agrees with him.
Indeed, some of us have even gone beyond to ask questions of the committee that went into it and we are satisfied with the explanation given by our hon.
Colleague that indeed it was unintended and that is why the Committee, after availing ourselves of this explanation, agreed that we are satisfied with the explanation given by the nominee and his own admission of fallibility and we recommend him by consensus to this House for approval as Hon Minister.
As I have said, we know him to be a very good material and we believe that he will carry same enterprise to his new Ministry. There is one thing that he said and he had already said so on air, that they were going to review the sale and purchase agreement between Government and Vodafone. We thought that it was a bit whimsical on his part to engage in that; but he agreed with us that because it is a decision by Parliament he will resort to Parliament in the exercise of the proposed review. He said that he was not calling for a revocation but a review which I think is really in order. So we are not going to encourage any unilateralism but we believe that our Hon Colleague, knowing the rules of this House will come by the rules if he has to propose any review.
Madam Speaker, on Lt-Gen. Smith I think the Committee was satisfied and I believe we are all united in recommending to the House for the approval of these three persons.
Madam Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence.
Madam Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Thank you, hon. Member. I noticed that on nominees 2, 3, 4, you had recommended. In respect of the first one, your recommendation was that the nominee distinguished herself before the Committee and hence the committee by consensus decision recommends her to the House for approval pending her reconciliation. And that is where Leader of the House came in that she was pending; maybe she could show the records of what
- Hon. Bagbin, can we hear you on that before we finish with this matter?

Majority Leader (Mr. A. S. K.
Madam Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Order! Order! Let us listen to the Leader of the House.
Mr. Bagbin 2:50 p.m.
Madam Speaker, so far,
I have just narrated my discussion with the nominee, I have not yet even put across my views and some people are saying “no.” This is what I discussed with her and this is what I told her. So what is the no for? [Interruptions.] Definitely, Madam Speaker, that is what I told her and I insisted that she should submit it with dispatch. She cannot compel the Kinbu District Office to issue it immediately, so she drew my attention to that difficulty. But it is within the powers of the House and I believe it is our authority to either accept what I am saying or disagree with it and take a position.
But I believe that the lady as we all know, a former Member of Parliament, distinguished herself and in fact at the committee level, she was one of the very bright spots that appeared before the Committee. And I believe that this is not a matter that we can hold her and use that to either disqualify or delay the approval of her nomination.
So Madam Speaker, I would want to
plead and urge my Hon Colleagues to let
Mr. Bagbin 2:50 p.m.


this pass so that we approve her and then we can view later on her submission in this matter. [Interruptions.] Madam Speaker, I take a clue and then my Hon Friend would say a cue from my Hon Colleagues opposite that we have won the day and therefore she would be approved.
rose
Madam Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Hon Member, I
was just going to remark that this has been done before. In the case of the Attorney- General the House agreed that she should go and apologize and I think it is a similar case where she is being called upon. This is a report from the Committee recom- mending her but they are urging her to submit her tax returns. So I would put the Question now.
Were you going to suggest that we put the Question in respect of the 3 of them and then leave the others? This is because an appeal has been made that as happened in the other case -- Anyway I would listen to Hon Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:50 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, the Hon Member who has been nominated has been a Member of this House before and I know that as a Member of this House, she had discharged her responsibilities fully. At the same time she had taken permission from this House to work in some other enterprise and I wanted to assure myself whether she had paid taxes. She indeed proved that she had paid taxes at those two places which ordinarily should settle the matter.
The issue rather is that the tax laws
of this country call for a consolidation of salaries particularly, in this case when she is drawing from the Consolidated Fund and that would necessarily put her into a higher bracket and that was my worry. It was an innocuous question that I asked and then she said well, she was not too
sure of how much she had to pay, that is, if the two remunerations were consolidated and that she was going to check and do the right thing.
Madam Speaker, as we do know, a basic condition for a nominee to any ministerial position is guided by article 94 of our Constitution, article 94(1)(c) and with your indulgence, Madam Speaker, I would want to quote:
“Subject to the provisions of this article, a person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament unless -- he has paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his taxes.”
I would want to believe that she has done that as per the analysis and the account being given by the Hon Majority Leader. And if that is so, if we are to hold the Hon Majority Leader to his words, then we would agree. Except that Madam Speaker, there is another technical point.
As you do know, ignorance of the law is
no excuse and that is the cardinal principle. So if she was ignorant and did not do that, is it excusable under the laws of this country? Madam Speaker, I have nothing against Hon Hannah Tetteh Kpodah but these are germane matters that we should advert our minds to. She is a lawyer and she has been a Legislator before so that is my point of confusion.
And so Madam Speaker, I would want
your guidance on this.
Madam Speaker 2:50 p.m.
Thank you. In
respect of the last sentence that if she did not know the law that is her business, but law and fact are two different things. Ignorance of fact is a defence, it is the
ignorance of the law -- But this one I think is based on facts; she did not know whether she needed to pay more or not. And so if you want my guidance, I would say that her ignorance was not of the law but maybe of the fact which is a defence. [Interruptions.] Other than that I take it that you agree with the Hon Majority Leader and Leader of the House that we should trust her to do the right thing as we have done for other people. Then I would put the Question.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:50 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, with respect, I take a cue from what you have said. As I said, I would depend on the assurances by my Hon Colleague, the Majority Leader.
But Madam Speaker, I thought we had tax laws and not tax facts. But Madam Speaker, I am not in any way challenging you, I will agree with my Colleague, with the proposal by the Majority Leader.
rose rose
Madam Speaker 3 p.m.
Thank you very
much, Hon Member. I am ready to put the Question now but before I do so I will hear the last word from the Chairman. Since you are on your feet can we hear you? Is it about the undertaking that the right thing would be done?
Mr. Bagbin 3 p.m.
That is so. Madam
Speaker, I am sorry to come in at this stage because I do not want my submission to be misrepresented to mean that she was ignorant of the law. What she simply did was to go; not recollecting all the tax payments she has been making - because they said from 2001 to 2004 - So she said
to prevent all this let me go and repay. She has paid and she can bring all the records -- [Interruptions.] - please, please, I do not want it to look like she was ignorant of the law; that is what I want to draw -- [interruptions.]
Madam Speaker 3 p.m.
Hon Member, we
have moved from that. Can we have the last word from the Chairman of the Committee then I will put the Question.
Mr. Adjaho 3 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I
would want to make just two quick points. I have just received correspondence, a letter from the Internal Revenue Service to the effect that - [Some Hon Members: “Read it.”] - and with your permission, dated 17th February, 2009 - [An Hon Member - BNI Police] -- [Laughter] - upon your request confirming that the nominee in question has settled all her outstanding -- [Interruptions] - So the matter is settled before the Question is going to be put.
The second point I would want to make
is to thank all Hon Members for their contributions to this debate. But in doing so it is important to correct one important thing on record of fact; a statement made by my Hon Friend from Subin (Mr. Isaac Osei) that I have admitted not reading the Report -- That is far from the truth. Madam Speaker, if you notice from the Order Paper, we have advertised that we were going to meet at 9.00 a.m. today to consider the Committee's report so that we can lay it. We went there but the Minority were in a meeting in the Minority Leader's office.
So I said that look, if you have any input to make, make the input so that we can facilitate the business of the House, and I made that point to the effect that when that is made my attention should be drawn to it. It is different from saying that I did not read. Indeed, all the members of the Committee have copies of the original Report which we took to the Committee meeting this morning at 9.00 a.m. and I read everything; and because we have to
move this motion today I had to sign it before he sent his intervention; and it is important to correct the wrong impression created by my Hon Good Friend, the Hon Member for Subin.
Madam Speaker, with these comments I thank all Hon Members for their contributions.
Madam Speaker 3 p.m.
I think the time is
now and I will put the Question.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Madam Speaker 3 p.m.
Hon Members,
this House has accordingly approved the following nominees for appointment as Ministers of State in accordance with article 78 (1) and they are:
Ms. Hannah Tetteh -- Minister for Trade and Industry
Lt.Gen.Joseph Henry Smith (retd) -- Minister for Defence
Hon. Haruna Iddrisu -- Minister for Communications
H o n A l h a j i M o h a m m e d Mubarak Muntaka -- Minister for Youth and
Sports
Hon Members, may I take this
opportunity to congratulate all the nominees, especially the Members of Parliament amongst them who have received parliamentary approval for appointment as Ministers of State. Thank you.
This takes me to item 4 on the
Addendum.
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 3 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I beg to move, that notwithstanding the
provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Fourth Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nominations for ministerial appointments may be moved today.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly. Fourth Report of the
Appointments Committee
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho) 3 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to move that, this honourable House adopts the Fourth Report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nomina- tions for ministerial appointments.
Madam Speaker, I present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
His Excellency President J. E. A. Mills communicated to Parliament for prior approval of the nomination of the following persons for appointment as Regional Ministers pursuant to article 256 of the Constitution. They are:
1 . M r . S a m u e l O f o s u Ampofo -- Eastern Regional Minister- designate
2 . Mr. Kof i Opoku-Manu -- Ashanti Regional Minister-designate
3. Mrs. Ama Benyiwa-Doe --
Central Regional Minister-designate
4. Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo -- Brong Ahafo Regional Minister-
designate
5. Mr. Mahmud Khalid -- Upper
West Regional Minister-designate
6. Hon. Nii Armah Ashietey -- Greater Accra Regional Minister- designate
7 . H o n . J o s e p h Z a p h e n a t Amenowode -- Volta Regional Minister-designate
8. Hon. Paul Evans Aidoo -- Western Regional Minis ter- designate
9. Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina - - N o r t h e r n R e g i o n a l
Minister- designate
In accordance with Order 172 (2) of the Standing Orders of the House, Madam Speaker on Tuesday, 27th and Wednesday 28th January 2009 referred the nominations to the Appointments Committee for consideration and report.
The Committee subsequently held three sittings to determine modalities for the vetting of the nominees. The nominations were published in the media in accordance with Order 172(3) and memoranda were invited from the public on the suitability, conduct, experience and capability of the nominees. Due diligence was also undertaken on the nominees to ensure that they satisfy the requirements of article 94 of the Constitution.
2.0 Reference Documents
The following documents served as
reference documents to the Committee during deliberations and vetting of the nominees:
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho) 3 p.m.


1. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana

2. Standing Orders of the Parlia- ment of Ghana

3. Curriculum Vitae of nominees

4. Reports from security agencies.

5. Reports from revenue agencies.

3.0 Procedure

On appearing before the Committee, nominees took the oath of a witness and answered questions on issues relating to their records of office, the positions to which they have been nominated and issues of general national concern.

4.0 Observations and Recommendations

4 . 1 M R . S A M U E L O F O S U -

AMPOFO -- Eastern Regional Minister-

designate

Background

Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo holds a certificate in advanced leadership from the Haggai Institute, Hawaii Islands, U.S.A. He is a former District Chief Executive and a former Member of Parliament for Fanteakwa and a former Deputy Minister for the Eastern Region.

Unity in the Region

The nominee acknowledged that the Eastern Region has for the past 8 years fallen to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and promised to reach out beyond the political divide and work with everybody for the good of the region. He would also consult stakeholders to determine the way forward in terms of the region's development.

Bauxite Project in kyebi
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho) 3 p.m.
Mr. Ofosu Ampofo indicated that government after government has promised to facilitate the commencement of the Kyebi bauxite project but nothing has been done. He promised to pursue the matter with a sense of urgency because it would benefit a lot of people in the region. It would also promote the vision of the nation regarding the enhancement of the aluminium sector.
High Rate of HIV in the Region
The nominee said he was not proud of the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the region. He took consolation in the fact that the Ghana AIDS Commission and the Regional Coordinating Council have done a lot of work to address the problem. He informed the Committee that the rate has dropped from 7.9 per cent to 4.2 per cent and thanked all who helped in bringing down the prevalence rate in the region. He promised to champion the campaign through churches, mosques, and opinion leaders and town hall meetings to help bring the prevalence rate further down.
Mining of Limestone
He acknowledged that the mining of limestone has become a major business in the region and said a committee has been set up to propose measures at ensuring that the industry benefits the communities. He promised to meet with beneficiary companies to ensure that optimum benefit is realised by all interested parties.
Recommendation
The committee by unanimous decision recommends the nominee to the House for approval.
4.2 MR. kOFI OPOkU-MANU -- Ashanti Regional Minister- designate

Background

Mr. Kofi Opoku-Manu holds a degree in political science from the University of Ghana, Legon. He is also a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

Roads in Ashanti

He said if given the nod, he would prioritize roads leading to food producing areas in the region. He would also liaise with relevant ministries, departments and agencies in tackling the problem of roads in the region. Chieftaincy

In the area of chieftaincy, the nominee said Ashanti Region is considered the most sensitive in the country because of the position of the Asantehene. In administering the region therefore, one has to ensure that he balances administration with reverence to the Asantehene, the Otumfuo who he described as a ‘super chief'. He said with this balance the political administration could avoid conflict with the chieftaincy institution in the region.

Ashanti Region and Ruling Party

The nominee agreed that the job of managing a region that seemingly does not agree with his party affiliation would be challenging. He noted that confrontation would not work and that one needs to be tactful because all persons are needed on board to administer the region effectively and efficiently. He said the development of the region would depend on co-operation and under-standing. He solicited the assistance of the Members of Parliament (MPs) in the region in that regard.

He indicated his ability to superintend over the financial administration of

the region. District Chief Executives who do not comply with the rules of adminis-tration would be summoned to the Regional Coordinating Council to answer for any impropriety.

Breach of the Constitution

He conceded that he did not resign early enough in the year 2000 to contest for elections as a Member of Parliament as stipulated by law. He said when the issue came to his notice, he immediately resigned. He said he later went back to the Ministry of Finance as an advisor to the Minister at the end of the contest.

Problem of Congestion in Kumasi

He said congestion is currently a problem in the Central Business District (CBD) and Kumasi in particular because there are no parking lots and drivers park their vehicles indiscriminately.

Recommendation

The committee by unanimous decision recommends the nominee to the House for approval.

4.3 MRS. AMA BENYIWA-DOE

- - C e n t r a l R e g i o n a l

Minister- designate

Background

Mrs. Ama Benyiwa-Doe attended M.I. Klalinin Institute, Cottbus, Germany and obtained a diploma in Social Science. She is a former member of Gomoa District Assembly, former Member of Parliament for Gomoa West Constituency, and former Deputy Minister for Employment and

Social Welfare.

Cocaine

When quizzed on her opinion of the cocaine menace, she indicated that the issue is national in nature and all must assist in curbing it. She said “cocaine knows no party colour” and her pronouncements on the issue on radio and during the period of political campaign, in particular ascribing the cocaine menace to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), should be taken as political party platform statements. She said the issue of narcotic drug menace transcended all governments including the NPP and the NDC. She said she was compelled to make those comments when former President J. A. Kufuor said the matter “is a party matter”. She said now that the campaign is over, we should come together, put the tagging behind us and fight the menace.

Kasoa Market

She wondered why market women in Kasoa have refused to ply their trade in the new market and promised to investigate the matter if given the nod.

Problems in the Region

Mrs. Benyiwa-Doe indicated that poverty is endemic in the region and that she would meet with stakeholders to find solution to it. She said lands in Cape Coast have been taken over by the numerous educational institutions and so the people had difficulty in finding land to farm. She called for proper harmonization of the resources in the region to promote wealth.

She further identified bad roads and water supply as other problems in the region and promised to study what has so far been done with the view to furthering the development of the region.
MARFO 3 p.m.
ZAPHENAT AMENOWODE -- 3 p.m.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise to second the motion and to say now, as I did in the previous one that I would want to stand down my own contribution until we have heard from Hon Colleagues on the floor.
Question proposed.
Madam Speaker 3:10 p.m.
Hon Members, in the same way, we would allow five minutes for the Backbench and then for the
front, maybe, ten minutes if they need it.
Let me hear from the Ladies this time.
Ms. Shirley A. Botchway (nPP - Weija) 3:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this motion.
First of all, I wish to congratulate all the nominees for catching the eye of the President and I wish them well in their quest to move this nation forward - [Interruption.] [Some Hon Members: In the right direction.]
Madam Speaker, I am particularly interested in the promises the nominees have made to this House, especially so for the nominee for Greater-Accra who will be my Regional Minister. On armed robbery, he promised the House that he will work or co-ordinate with the security committee of the District Assemblies to make sure that they work efficiently and effectively.
Madam Speaker, it is my hope that when he assumes office, he will pay particular attention to issues in the Greater-Accra to deal with land disputes, chieftaincy disputes and the problem of land guards. I come from a district that has the highest number of land guard problems, chieftaincy problems and also land issues which most of the time when these problems erupt end in fatalities. So I hope that the nominee would pay particular attention to this problem.
He also promised the House to work with the District Assemblies to look at the planning of the region. I hope that since my area is a new place and Accra is growing fast towards that direction, he would pay particular attention to the planning in that part of Accra.
If the Hon Member remembers, not too long ago, some building inspectors were interdicted because of the issues that had to do with all kinds of permits being granted to people who did not have building permits.
Also, if you would recall, there have been a number of occasions where buildings have collapsed because the building inspectors have not done their work properly. I hope that he will pay particular attention to all of these issues. As he is also aware, when it rains, because people do not have building permits and they build all over and also in waterways, we have flooding in Accra. So I hope that the Regional Minister would look at this together with the District Assemblies.
The third issue that I would want to bring up is also to do with revenue collection. I know he is aware because he has promised to look at ways to generate revenue. We have come to a point where the District Assemblies are relying too much on the District Assemblies Common Fund and I think that we should look at a mechanism to ensure that revenue is generated.
There are so many areas. I take my constituency as an example, again where the residents of affluent areas have complained to me that even when they are prepared to pay their property rates and they go to the district offices, there is nobody to take their moneys, because their properties are not captured.
With these few words, Hon nominee, I wish you well and we will be following your progress in connection with the promises you have made to this House closely.
I thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity.
Mr. E. Armah-Kofi Buah (nDC - Ellembele) 3:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise to support the motion.
I want to thank the Appointments Committee for a very diligent work done. And in doing so, I also want to commend the nominees that were presented to the Committee, especially the Regional Ministers-Designate. These are very important positions, Madam Speaker.
I also want to specially commend the Western Regional Minister-designate especially for the things he said during the vetting. In fact, I was very gratified to hear that hon. Paul Aidoo has committed himself to public service, made clear statements about the fact that the Western Region, over the years, even though is associated with the term, “The best comes from the West”, is always getting the worst from this country.
I was also very gratified that our hon. Minister committed himself to work very hard to make sure that the Western Region, this time around, gets the fair share of the national cake.
He talked about the need for the Western Region to be a true beneficiary of Ghana's oil. He also talked about making sure that the cocoa roads are continued and he was going to draw the attention of the Ministry of Finance to make sure that the Western Region is actually benefiting.
It is also very important, as I talk about the need to approve these Ministers, to call on this House to answer the call of Ghanaians. There is a real call for us to work together. There is also a real call for us to be seen to be addressing the national issues with serious diligence.
Madam Speaker, as we do that, I urge this House to focus on the work of the Appointments Committee. They have done a great job. The President has also done a great job by “forwarding” to us very qualified nominees. I urge this House,
as we deliberate on issues, to really focus on the issues of this country and make sure that we are addressing issues, quickly, briefly so that these appoint-ments can be out of the way in order that we can focus on the critical issues of the country.
I want to thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity and I want to congratulate the Ministers and urge the House to approve them.
Ms. Cecilia A. Dapaah (nPP - Bantama) 3:10 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I support the motion on the floor of the House. I believe we are all having the pangs of hunger but we are sacrificing to work for this nation. And I think my Colleague Hon Members of Parliament need to be commended.
Madam Speaker, I want to comment on two of the nominees. I have noticed that when people appear before the Appoint- ments Committee and are vetted, those of us who listen and watch them on television notice that they are held accountable for what they have said or what they have done. I believe we should all take a cue from these happenings so that we can change the course of our lives if we are on the wrong path, and continue to do the good work if we are on the right path.
This is because, I believe our tongues have often landed us in trouble. I do not have the benefit of knowing these nominees very well, apart from my Colleague Members of Parliament. But I want to comment on one nominee who I heard on radio talking or replying to a comment that a fellow panelist had made. And I would paraphrase, Madam Speaker. The fellow said, Ghana's economy had put up and we can use the proliferation of new banks, as proof of the strength of the economy.
I heard one of the nominees replying or retorting that indeed, these banks are all money laundering and cocaine banks.
Ms. Cecilia A. Dapaah (nPP - Bantama) 3:20 p.m.


I do not have a problem if he or she has a proof. But I believe the new Minister for Finance has advised that money does not like noise. So I want to caution here that some of these comments could be done on the spur of the moment or as a joke. But indeed, if it was made seriously, it is regrettable.

I also want to comment on the Central Region. I am always amazed that a region that boasts of very high institutions has one of the lowest educational levels in our country. I have had the benefit of schooling there; the most famous girls school in Ghana and I believe the new Regional Minister should also try and encourage the boy-child to be interested in education.

I had the benefit of representing His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, when he was President, at a school and Madam Speaker, the first 18 students who were awarded prizes; out of the 18, 14 were girls; only four were boys. So I believe as she gets concerned about the education, encouraging the children to go to school, she must put special emphasis on the boy-child.

I will end by commenting on the Hon Minister for my region. I believe he would need the dexterity between traditional protocol and politics to succeed in the region because we have a peculiar situation of having, as the Committee has rightly said, and Madam Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote from page 5, under “Chieftaincy”.

“The nominee said Ashanti Region is considered the most sensitive in the country because of the position of the Asantehene. In administering the region therefore
  • [MR. ADJAHO one has to ensure that he balances adminis-tration with reverence to the Asantehene the Otumfuo who he described as a super-chief.” Whether the “super-chief” is the correct and apt description of Otumfuo, I cannot tell. But I believe the “super-chief” expression is debatable. Madam Speaker, the nominee has not had the benefit of being a Member of Parliament before and he is going to deal with 36 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are not from the ruling party. He has solicited the assistance of the MPs in the region, of which I am one. It depends also on him, how he handles us in the region. [Interruptions.] We, Madam Speaker, can tell him that we are a hardworking bunch of MPs together with his three MPs in the region. We would co-operate and collaborate with him and he also should do same. Madam Speaker, there is also a sentence here, that the nominee agreed that the job of managing a region that seemingly does not agree with his party affiliation would be challenging. Madam Speaker, I would end by stating emphatically that it is a fact; it is not a seeming problem or whatever. It is not imaginary, it is a fact and he needs to co-operate also with us. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for allowing me to make these few comments.
    • Madam Speaker 3:20 p.m.
    Hon Members, I have had two here; one more left. I have a list from the Leadership. The Hon Member for Central Tongu, Hon Joe Gidisu?
    Mr. Joe K. Gidisu (nDC - Central
    Tongu): Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to equally identify myself with the motion on floor. I would also want to thank the Committee for coming up with a report, approving of the
    President's nominations for the Regional Ministerial portfolios.
    Madam Speaker, government business developing from the national level hinges on the Regional Co-ordinating Councils which would be chaired by these hon. Colleagues who are being approved of today.
    I want to say that as a party that is in charge of governmental affairs now, Ghanaians and for that matter, our people in the regions would not forgive us as a government if we fail to deliver, more especially in meeting their aspirations. It is on this note that I want to challenge my hon. Colleagues for the various regions who are under focus for approval this afternoon.
    Madam Speaker, in doing so, I would
    want to identify with the conclusions which have made most of them be accepted unanimously for the approval of the House. By doing so further, I would want to equally focus on the appointment of hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister-designate.
    I want to say that having been in that region previously as a Deputy Minister, he knows the terrain very well and looking at the challenges in that region, he would bring to bear his experiences outside the region, for the past eight years, which have taken him more often than not to the region and other parts of the country and to look at first hand those challenges that continue to plague the region.
    Madam Speaker, all the nominees identified those infrastructures that call for attention, in particular road and other facilities especially in the urban areas.
    It is in this vein that I want to call on my hon. Colleague the Regional
  • [MS. DAPAAH Minister-designate for Volta Region to look at the issue of collaborating with other colleagues in the region. As I noted earlier, our region in particular has no excuse to give when it comes to meeting the targeted development agenda for our party and I am hoping that they would be able to talk about those things. Our chiefs, though we cannot be wondering whether to designate them as super-chiefs, are equally very important and looking at the various chieftaincy issues in the region. I believe his rich experience as a professional teacher and a social worker would put him in the right perspective for harnessing those factors that we can all work with to address those challenges in the region, to move it forward in the right direction. With these few comments, I want to congratulate them and call upon hon. Colleagues in the House to unanimously support and approve of their nominations.
    • Mr. Daniel Botwe (nPP - Okere) 3:30 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, in supporting the motion, I wish to make some few observations. I would have wished that the House or the Committee would have taken greatest exception to the comments that were made by some of the nominees. Especially Madam Speaker, in government you have people who are appointed as Ministers and some of them can tell you that, “We are not politicians; we have been asked to come and be part of the government in order to support the country”.
    We have people who are Ministers of State who say they are not even politicians. But those of us in this honourable House, those who picked forms and signed and filed nominations, it is very difficult for us to say that we are not politicians. And when especially in the heat of elections, you have all manner of people who call to advise politicians, immediately politicians
    become, if you would excuse me, some school children who need to be talked to almost all the time. And this thing happens because they call on us to watch what we say when we are at the political platform. That is why I would wish that the whole country captures the mood of this House, that we take strong exception to this culture and Madam Speaker, with your permission, I want to quote from page 6 of the report under the topic “Cocaine”:
    “When quizzed on her opinion of the cocaine menace, she indicated that the issue is national in nature and all must assist in curbing it.”
    ‘She said, “cocaine knows no party colour” and her pronouncements on the issue on radio and during the period of political campaign, in particular ascribing to cocaine to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), should be taken as political party platform statements.'

    Madam Speaker, when we begin to accept that political party statements - this statement was made by Mrs. Ama Benyiwa-Doe, the Central Regional Minister-designate. If we begin to accept that statements that are made on political party platforms can be excusable then we have been confirming the fear of people that politicians make statements anyhow.
    Mr. E. T. Mensah 3:30 p.m.
    On a point of
    Mr. Dan Botwe 3:30 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, it
    is important that the House sends a very strong message to the public that we are also against it and I would have expected therefore the Committee or for that matter the House to have taken a stronger exception to this. One cannot come to the Committee and say “kangaroo courts” and the one says it was said in a particular context, on a political party platform and therefore it is excusable.
    It is important that we who are politicians condemn these statements and do not in anyway condone them because I do not see anything in this report which seeks to condemn it; and so that we could send a strong message outside that one cannot say on a political party platform two plus two is six but when one comes and appears before a committee then it is four.
    Madam Speaker, assuming these people were not nominated as Ministers- designate, how were they going to correct this impression? If that is the only time we will get them appearing before us, let the House send its strongest exception to it by condemning this even in the report and I
    will even go ahead and say that people may not have to be confirmed as Ministers because of such statements that they have made in future.
    Madam Speaker, with these few
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Hon Member,
    that is why you were permitted to make comments and anything you say here is recorded and taken seriously. So the fact that the Committee did not say it does not preclude you from drawing attention to it and I thank you for your contribution. But that will not disqualify them as you have said.
    I still have the list. We have had three
    here and I think the last one - Hon David Assumeng.
    Alhaji Sumani Abukari 3:30 p.m.
    Madam
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    I know. But you
    know under the Standing Orders either the Leadership can send me a list or I will call on some people and since we are short of time -
    Alhaji Abukari 3:30 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, I
    was on my feet on a point of order but because you kept looking there you did not see me. I think that it is important that I make that point of order.
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    You were making a point of order when Hon Dan Botwe was speaking. I think he has resumed his seat.
    Alhaji Abukari 3:30 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, I
    was on my feet but you kept looking at

    him. You did not look this way.
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    I am sorry. You did
    not catch my eye at the right time.
    Alhaji Abukari 3:30 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, but
    what he said is very important. I think it should be corrected. He said, she said kangaroo court. She did not say that at the vetting place. She did not call the court kangaroo court there.
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    Let us have the last
    Hon Member to contribute from this side.
    Mr. D. T. Assumeng (nDC -- Shai
    Osudoku): Madam Speaker, in supporting the motion, I want to thank the President very much for the wise decision to appoint very competent persons to manage the affairs of this country.
    Madam Speaker, I want to remind
    the Minister-designate for Greater Accra that there has been a proposal to create Dodowa as the new regional capital. I would want to remind him that this issue must be taken seriously. This will enable us decongest the city of Accra and so I want to remind him to act speedily on this issue for us to decongest Accra.
    Madam Speaker, I want to thank the
    President again for appointing competent youth to help in administering the affairs of this country, and I think these persons who are appointed would do well to make sure that our aspirations are met and development projects are implemented for the benefit of our people.
    Madam Speaker, I hope that the experiences that we are going through now will guide all of us such that, come the next period for campaigning, people would mind their choice of words so that we would not have speeches like people raising gallons of petrol on platforms, to
    ask people how much it is. I hope all these would be taken care of such that we shall all have decent campaign in future.
    Madam Speaker, I want to thank you and I hope that all would join hands to approve these competent persons to administer this country.
    Madam Speaker 3:30 p.m.
    May I call on
    the Minority Leader to wind up for the Minority.
    Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:40 p.m.
    Madam
    Speaker, I really do not want to take too much of your time, except to add my voice to those commending the Committee for the quality of work that they have produced.
    Madam Speaker, but there is one
    important thing that I want us to advert our minds to, regarding what the Minister- designate for the Northern Region said in respect of the exodus of the cream of the populace from the North to the South.
    Madam Speaker, on page 16 of the
    report, it is reported that he indicated that lack of education and the need to earn a living forced the youth to migrate and engage in activities such as head-potter jobs.
    The third paragraph on the migration
    of the youth to the South, there is this statement. The nominee was asked when he really believed that education is the panacea to halting migration, when he after acquiring much education migrated to Libya. He admitted that it may be excusable to seek greener pastures to better one's life after rendering some service to one's country.

    Madam Speaker, I thought that was a bit conflicting. However, I believe it is a reality that confronts the nation and

    indeed, this nation must endeavour to open up the Northern Region; both the road network and also ensuring that they have their fair share of production or productive activities including farming and industries.

    Madam Speaker, I only want to believe that the Northern Development Fund that has been set up would be deepened to facilitate the setting up of industries so as to encourage the youth to stay and help develop the regions up North.

    The case has been made about what the Central Regional Minister-designate is reported to have said on this cocaine thing and I believe the least said about it, the better particularly, when she herself now admits that what she did was not the best and that she has advised herself and from now on, particularly after the electioneering campaigns, she is not going to go that way again.

    But Madam Speaker, the nominee's attention was also drawn to how she will be carrying herself about as a very abrasive and caustic personality and she said that she has taken a cue from what His Excellency Prof. Mills has said, that he is going to be a father to every person in this country be he or she a supporter of the NDC or not. Madam Ama Benyiwa- Doe's pledge was that she was going to be a mother to every resident or citizen in the Central Region and we hope and pray that she does exactly that.

    But it is very worth noting that regarding her date of birth, when she started school and so on, there were a few problems. I hear my hon. Friend, E. T. Mensah saying that it was an innocuous statement. They may be little things but the point really is that if we are not candid about little matters and big matters are entrusted into our hands, can we be sure that some improprieties may not be committed? That is the point. I have known hon. Ama Benyiwa-Doe for a very long time. I know she is very hard working and I am not in any way suggesting that she may commit some improprieties, but I am just throwing some caution.

    At a point in time, issues were even raised about her certificates but I am not going to go there. I am not going to go there. I think that it is important that we move beyond that and I think we need to encourage her to be able to discharge her duties dutifully and in a very dispas- sionate and non-partisan manner, even though at the helm of affairs, she may be the representative of the President and for that matter, of the political party.

    With these few words, I support the motion.
    Madam Speaker 3:40 p.m.
    Yes, Mr. Chairman, if you do not have anything to say I will put the Question.
    Mr. Adjaho 3:40 p.m.
    Madam Speaker, you may put the Question except to say that the issue of the certificate, it is true that we asked a question in that direction. But I want to put it on record to the effect that the impression being created as if she said she has a certain qualification and she did not have the certificate; that was not the issue and that is the only thing I want to correct. So I have nothing more to add but to thank hon. Members for their comments.
    Question put and motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    ADJOURNMENT 3:40 p.m.