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Madam Speaker

Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 5th March, 2010.
Pages 1 - 6

Madam Speaker, at page 6, number 22, I have been put down as absent I believe my Sister and I and Hon E. T. Mensah and others were away at the ECOWAS Parliament. I crave your indulgence that the amendment be made that I was absent with permission.

Madam Speaker

Yes, thank you.
Page 6 - any more on page 6?

The Votes and Proceedings of 5th March, 2010 as corrected, is a opted as the true record of proceedings.

We now move on to the Official Report of Tuesday, 2nd March, 2010.

Hon Members, in the absence of any corrections, the Official Report of Tuesday, 2nd March, 2010, is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.

Hon Members, you have received copies of the Addendum Order Paper comprising the Questions which come as

item 3, after item 2. So We are now going to deal with the Questions.

Minister for Education (Mr Alex N. Tettey-Enyo)

Madam Speaker, Government policy with regard to basic school leavers who are unable to enter senior high school and the youth who drop out of primary and junior high schools is to provide them with apprenticeship training in both formal and informal sectors. Plans are far advanced to establish the National Apprenticeship Training Board under the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).
The Ministry of Education (MoE) in collaboration with NVTI and other agencies responsible for the apprentice- ship training in the country, Will be implementing the programme. The curriculum of the programme covers 25 identified skills areas and will include communication, entrepreneurial and

Madam Speaker

Hon Members, I know that this is not constituency- specific. Let us control the number of questions that would be brought to the House because of the debate on the State of the Nation Address. So I think we have two more questions.
Yes?

Mr Charles Hodogbey

Madam Speaker, I would like to know from the Hon Minister the question in relation to funding -- For the past several years, how much has been given to graduates of that status?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, I am afraid I have not got the figures here. But I am aware that in all the pilots undertaken in the past, some moneys were paid out to the graduates of the scheme to enable them set themselves up in their businesses.

Mr Williams O. Boafo

Madam Speaker, I would like to know from the Hon Minister whether they have drawn up any guidelines or criterion for the selection of persons who are interested in the NVTI programme. The 15,000 they have ear- marked and also with regard to the TVET programme, which is going to be launched at Suame, whether there are any guidelines to guide those beneficiaries Who intend to take advantage of the programme.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, there are guidelines. With regard to the apprenticeship, the guidelines will be advertised soon and the District Assemblies and the District Education Directorates will do the selection. With regard to the Suame scheme, I am not sure whether the guidelines have not been advertised. If they have not been, then we would take steps to have them advertised.

Mr Alfred K. Agbesi

Madam Speaker, I want to know from the Hon Minister whether before this programme that he has elaborated commences in the near future, the Ministry would consider assisting those who are presently under the private training, like hairdressing, sewing - who are facing financial problems and cannot complete their training schedules.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, Government would consider this proposal.

Mr Samuel K. Obodai

Madam Speaker, I Want to know from the Hon Minister when the Suame programme started.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the Suame project has been on the drawing board for a long time. We are nearing the preparations to launch it and that would be done, as I have said, in June this year.

Madam Speaker

Yes, we have had two from each side. Shall we move on

One-Laptop-Per Child

Q. 432. Mr Benito Owusu-Bio asked the Minister for Education how the first batch of "one-laptop-per child" were

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, last year, the Ministry of Education took delivery of a thousand (1,000) pieces of XO Laptops for the One- Laptop-Per Child (OLPC) Programme, under an agreement made between the Ghana One-Laptop-Per Child Foundation (GOLPCF) and the One- Laptop- Per Child Organisation of the USA in 2008 for the supply of 10,000 laptops for distribution nationwide.
The consignment follows a pilot project implemented by the Ministry in two schools, namely, Kanda Estate ‘5' School in Accra and Bonsaso L/A Primary School in the Amansie West District of Ashanti Region.
The Ministry of Education has found it necessary to review the scheme in terms of cost implication and sustainability. The Ministry, therefore, decided to extend the pilot programme and distribute the consignment accordingly.
Regional Directors and District Directors of GES were invited to identity primary schools that had electricity and secure rooms for the computers. A final list of thirty (3O) beneficiary primary schools (three per region) was prepared. The distribution was done through Regional and District Directors to Head teachers to the beneficiary primary schools in August, 2009.

The OLPC concept is in principle, a good programme but there are serious sustainability and security issues that need to be guaranteed before the programme can be continued, The Ministry is committed to deployment of ICT in the teaching and learning process and efforts are being made to provide class or laboratory solutions and not one- to-one solution at the pre-tertiary level in view of the capital intensive nature of ICT deployment.

Madam Speaker, he is Wrong in the sense that consistent with the formula of distribution, three schools -[Interruption] My Hon Friend should please, listen otherwise, he would get into the same mistake. the Hon Member has made. Three schools per region and he is talking about three schools in a constituency, which is entirely wrong.

Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan

Madam Speaker, would the Hon Minister for Education consider liaising with the Minister for Energy, that as a matter of

course, every community that has to have connection to the national grid has power extended to all basic schools in such communities in view of the importance of this programme?

Mr Tetteey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, I will endeavour, to do so, "In my own constituency, I have already started.

Dr A.A. Osei

Madam Speaker, in his Answer, the Hon Minister said last year the Ministry of Education took delivery of a thousand pieces of XO laptops for the One-Laptop-Per Child Programme. Can he tell this august House how much these 1,000 laptops cost the Government of Ghana, and when it was paid for?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the consignment which was received was perceived to be a free consignment for distribution. Later on, we got to know that we had to pay for it at the cost of US$205 per laptop. We have sent a letter applying for funds from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) to pay for the 1,000 laptops we received last year.

Dr A. A. Osei

Madam Speaker

Have we finished the two questions on each side? No?

Papa Owusu-Ankomah

Madam Speaker, thank you very much. Definitely, there must be a project paper explaining the rationale for this project, and he must have read it. Is it not the policy that these laptops were to enable school children have access to information throughout the day? And so, it was to be given to them to be taken home and to be brought back to school. So that while they were even at home, they could educate themselves. Is that not the basis of this whole One- Lap-top Per Child policy?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, I thank the Hon Member for the point he has raised. Yes, there was a paper stating the objectives and so on, and stating in it the process of allowing the children to use these things. But if these proposals were foolproof, there will not be the need to pilot. We are studying the implementation of these objectives from the pilots. And we are still concerned about the two levels of security; the physical security and also the security of the material that these laptops would contain.

Madam Speaker

Yes, last question from this side.
Maj.(Dr) (Alhaji) Mustapha Ahmed (retd): Madam Speaker, Kanda Estate ‘5' is within the East Ayawaso Constituency, indeed, the pilot was started about six

years ago, and it was for the entire cluster of schools and not only Kanda Estate ‘5'. I would like to know from the Hon Minister, in view of the fact that all those laptops which were supplied then are now out of use; then the ones that were also supplied subsequently are also out of use. Would the Hon Minister consider a special package for Kanda cluster of schools?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, as I said in my Answer early on, when I visited the pilot in Kanda, there were a number of computers being used, and the children were very happy using these computers. I do not know when the Hon Member of Parliament for that constituency visited there, but if that is the situation, we would look at it and address the problem there.

GETFund True Indebtedness (Forensic Audit)

Mr Emmanuel K. Bedzrah asked the Minister for Education when forensic audit would be conducted. on Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to ascertain its true indebtedness.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Education has plans to conduct forensic audit on the Ghana Education Trust Fund and has initiated moves to get the auditing done to, among other things, ascertain its disbursement practices over the years and outstanding commitments. The Board of GETFund constituted a sub-committee to develop the terms of reference to guide the conduct of the forensic audit. The sub- committee has completed its task.
In line with Public Service Administrative rules, the GETFund

Secretariat has written to the Auditor- General's Department for a review of the developed terms of reference and approval.

Procurement of the services of a consultant will be done to undertake the audit immediately the GETFund Board gets approval from the Auditor-General's Department to proceed with the audit.

Mr Bedzrah

Madam Speaker, in 2009, our Minister for Finance and Economic Planning told us in this House that some MDAs and institutions had overspent and for almost a year now, the GETFund, one of the MDAs that overspent for over a year now, had not done any forensic auditing. Can he tell me when exactly the audit will be done on the GETFund?
Thank you.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, unfortunately, I cannot be precise. The situation is that as soon as the Board receives approval from the Auditor- General, the audit will start. Madam Speaker, we will pursue the matter. I think the questioner is urging the Ministry on to expedite action on the auditing. We will do so.

Mr Bedzrah

Madam Speaker, I will like to find out from the Minister, the over- expenditure -= can he tell us if other contractors or consultants are being paid or they have not been paid?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the information I have so far is that the deficit is around GH¢116 million.

Madam Speaker, the Minister has given - [Interruption.]

Madam Speaker

Hon Member, you cannot have three questions.
Any other questions?

Dr A. A. Osei

Madam Speaker, the previous question said, "is he aware?" Madam Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt, if we can quote the relevant article in the 187 (7a)--
"In the performance of his functions under this Constitution or any other law the Auditor-General -
(a) shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority,
Then article 187 (8) reads:
"Paragraph (a) of clause 7 of this article shall not preclude the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State, from requesting the Auditor- General in the public interest, to audit, . .. ,
Madam Speaker, in an Answer to the Question, the Minister says the GETFund Secretariat has written to the Auditor- General, in line with the Public Service Administrative rules. There is no such thing. The GETFund Secretariat has written to the Auditor-General for a review. is the Minister not violating the Constitution? Is he aware that he is violating the Constitution? He has written, controlling the Auditor-General. He cannot. He does not have that power.

I have agreed that we skip this and go back to it. Now, let us lay the Papers, Hon Member.

Madam Speaker

Hon Members, we move to the next Question, then.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the Ministry has an elaborate plan to improve and provide facilities in all senior high schools and technical institutes with emphasis on deprived institutions, for example, community schools with major

Mr Ackah

Madam Speaker, the Hon Minister says dormitories would be provided as soon as resources are available. May I know from him what plans he has put in place for us to actually be very sure that the "soon" he is talking about would be really soon.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, the latest step to assure the Hon Member of Parliament, is the GETFund formula that would be soon placed before this august House. Provision has been made for the construction of classrooms, dormitories and so on and so forth in that outlay of activities for the GETFund this fiscal year.

Mr Ackah

Madam Speaker, may I then take it from the Hon Minister that, looking at the urgency of this request, he is assuring this House that these dormitories would be part of the GETFund project this year?

Mr Tettey-Enyo

I am assuring the Hon Member and all Hon Members who have a stake in the utilisation of the GETFund that if the appropriate revenue is accrued, we would be able to resource them adequately during the year.

Senior High School at Atronie (Establishment) Q. 467. Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh asked the Minister for Education what

plans the Ministry had to establish a senior high school at Atronie in the Sunyani Municipality.

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Madam Speaker, it has not been the practice of the Ministry of Education (MOE) to establish senior high schools from scratch. It is normally the communities or individuals who initiate the move to establish senior high schools after which they apply for absorption into the public system.
There are a number of senior high schools within the Sunyani Municipality. These include: Sunyani Senior High School, St. James Seminary Senior High School, Odumaseman Senior High School, Chiraa Senior High School, Twene- Amanfo Senior High School and Notre Dame Senior High School. These are expected to serve communities in the Atronie area. The stakeholders at Atronie could initiate the establishment of a new school with the help of the District Assembly, if Atronie is under serviced.
However, the Ministry of Education is reviewing the policy on the establishment of second cycle institutions in the country. The emphasis is now on technical/vocational schools. As part of the review, the Ministry of Education would consult with the appropriate authorities on the sitting of second cycle schools.
Atronie may be considered for the establishment of a technical/vocational institute.

Hon Member, are you a man to know whether they made them happy or not? [Laughter] I thought rather they would make the Women happy. Yes, anyway.

Mrs Ohene-Konadu

Madam Speaker, the. New Patriotic Party (NPP) took over from the previous Administration and they inherited the structures that were put in place by the previous Administrations. Immediately it took over, it established a Ministry for Women and Children's Affairs and gave it a Cabinet status. The

Mrs Ohene-Konadu

Ministry focused on economic empowerment of women by creating opportunities for women to have access to loans without having to go through cumbersome procedures that the banks required.
Again, to consolidate the efforts made under the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), the then President, His Excellency J. A. Kufuor established a fund, which was called the Micro-Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and more women received credit from this centre to boost their businesses.
Again, to give meaning to the gender mainstreaming at the time, guidelines were developed to guide gender mainstreaming efforts and Hon Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu of blessed memory also introduced gender responsive budgeting into the national budget to ensure that budgets of MDAs were broken down in a manner that catered for differentiated needs of men, women, boys and girls and also other vulnerable groups.
With regard to women's participation in political processes, the NPP Government did very well. The numbers of women in executive positions were unprecedented in the history of the nation.
Seventeen women were appointed to Ministerial positions. And other executive positions were filled with Women.
The current Government, Madam Speaker, has not kept faith with the women of this country with regard to women's representation in political processes. Only 15 out of the 75 Ministers are women. Out of a total of 1,957 government appointees to Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, only

553 are women; ambassadorial positions, it is seven out of 44; Council of State, three out of 25.

Madam Speaker, many are worried about the low numbers of Women in political processes, especially where decisions are made, including Parliament. We know that there is willingness on the part of the electorate to increase or vote for women in elected positions. But a number of factors make it less likely and also more difficult for women to run and get elected.

First and foremost, women need to bring themselves up. Second, there is the need for them to be selected as candidates by the parties. And third, they need to be selected by the voters. It is accepted in general terms that a more equitable representation of women in Parliament is required to reflect exactly the composition of society to ensure that women's diverse interests are taken into account.

Madam Speaker, I want to suggest that we revisit the Peoples' Representation Act of 1960 to allow for more women to be appointed to political decision-making positions because it is only when the numbers of women increase in positions where they can increase policy that we can talk about the theme, which is "Progress for All".

Let me conclude by acknowledging the following women for the roles they played to give meaning to women's empowerment: Justice Annie Jiagge of blessed memory, Mrs Esther Ocloo, Katherine Tedam, a young lady from Chiana/Paga. At the time, she was the youngest Member of Parliament. Mrs Susana Alhassan, she was a Minister for Social Welfare, Mrs Florence Dolphine, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, Mrs Akpalu; Mrs Grace Nortey, Mrs Angela Dwarnena-Aboagye;

Madam Speaker

Thank you, Hon Member.

Ms Shirley A. Botchway (NPP - Weija)

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
Madam Speaker, International Women's Day, its commemoration and in observing this day, requires every one of us, both men and women, to reflect on how far women, the world over have come. It is a day to reflect on the progress We have made and also call for change.
Madam Speaker, 100 years ago, women the world over were expected to stay at home and raise children. Women were defined by the men they married. And they were considered second class citizens without voting rights.
Women comprised only 15 per cent of the working population. And most of them

were single, young and in the teaching profession. And they were paid a fraction of what their male counterparts were paid.

Madam Speaker, today, we have come a long way. In many parts of the world, significant successes have been chalked. Fifty per cent of the workforce is women; an average of about 18 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide is held by women. We have women captains of industries; female presidents; female Speakers of Parliament, like your good- self, Madam Speaker. [Hear! Hear!] And females occupying very, very important positions in society.

Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, although we have made a lot of progress in sub-Saharan Africa, Africa and specifically in Ghana, we do have a long Way to go.

Women comprise 50 percent of the population of Ghana. And yet we are woefully represented in areas of governance, such as in our District Assemblies and also in our National Assembly.

Madam Speaker, women suffer a lot of discrimination. Taking into account that our Constitution guarantees equal rights for all - equal opportunities for all -- regardless of whether one is a woman or a man and the fact that governments have shown good faith by taking steps as members of multilateral agencies, such as the United Nations (UN) and all the others.

We have signed, ratified the elimination of all forms of discrimination against Women - the Domestic Violence Bill and others -- the reality on the ground is quite different. As much as women form the bulk of the informal sector, which is the backbone of our economy, we still have a lot of problems that make it very difficult for us to achieve a proper place in society.

Ms Shirley A. Botchway (NPP - Weija)

Madam Speaker, this affects us in areas such as land ownership. Women have problems. It is, therefore, very difficult for most Women to access loans. We are not independent. We are subject to control, violence and maltreatment. And also, Women are being subjected to human trafficking Where they are made such promises, taken outside the country and are involved in all kinds of prostitution and inhuman practices.
Madam Speaker, we operate a patriarchal family system in this country, which means that in most cases, we are not recognised as being at par with our male counterparts.

Even in the home, it is said that the man is the head of the family. In social institutions, such as even in our religious cultures, we have been asked to be submissive to men. When we come to cultural practices, women are subjected to all kinds of very harmful traditional practices such as Trokosi, female genital mutilation (FGM), widowhood rites and the like.

Madam Speaker, like I said earlier, a lot of progress has been made but we have a very long way to go.

We are calling for a change. We are calling for all to do something and to ensure that we move forward and make sure that the woman gains her rightful place in society. On this day, I would like to commend the Civil Society Organizations for all the work that they have done but I ask them to intensify their efforts.

I call on Government to operationalise the Domestic Violence Law and also to look at the issue of human trafficking critically and take steps to do something

to curb it. I also call on H.E. the President to make good his promise to appoint up to 40 per cent women in government positions. I call upon government agencies, such as the police to ensure that women get justice when they are subjected to inhumane treatment in the home and otherwise.

We call on traditional leaders to join the fight. I call on the media to ensure that women are projected in a very positive light and in doing so, I would urge media houses to turn away advertisements that show women in a very negative light. Especially, one would find advertisements of alcoholic beverages which show women as objects of pleasure. I will not specifically mention any but I believe we all know what I am talking about.

I call on all political parties also to promote affirmative action and to increase the number of women candidates. I believe one sure way is by the quota system that would ensure that we have a certain number of women being presented as candidates.

Madam Speaker, last but not least, I call on all women to see themselves in a very positive light and to support our counterparts who decide to go into, whether it is politics or the corporate world because if we have 51 per cent of this population or very close to that being women, then I think that we have a very large constituency that can cheer us on to be the trail blazers in order that we can reach where we need to reach. Madam Speaker, just before I came in, somebody stopped me at the foyer; he wanted to know whether Ghana is ready for a female president. Madam Speaker, I believe Ghana is ready. I believe there are so many women who are capable, who have the ability and are competent enough

Mr Wisdom Gidisu

Madam Speaker, I wanted to come on a point of clarification but I think he has ended. But if I would be allowed to clarify it. [Interruptions] Madam Speaker has given me the floor to talk - [ Interruption. ]

Madam Speaker

Yes.

Mr Wisdom Gidisu

Madam Speaker, she said a lot of positions have been occupied by women, that your good self is a Speaker, the Chief Justice is a woman, the Director of Immigration is also a Woman and if women again want to take the position of a president, then Madam Speaker, it means that the whole nation is - they are on course. [Laughter]

Alhaji Abukari

I also contribute in supporting the Statement to cheer up the women of this world and to liberate and free them forever.

Mr Baidoe-Ansah

Madam Speaker, I was actually raising a point of order, but it looks like he has finished.

Madam Speaker

well, I allowed once, so let us hear you. What were you going to say, the largeness of his heart or what?

Mr Baidoe-Ansah

Madam Speaker, that is actually an issue; and he also described Nana Oye Lithur as an NGO. I do not think she is a walking NGO.

Madam Speaker

She is what?

Mr Baidoe-Ansah

She works with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. It is an NGO, but she herself is not the
NGO.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah (NPP -- Sekondi)

Madam Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Statement. It is true that we need to empower women, as compared to other African countries, I believe that Ghana has been steadily improving the lot women.
Madam Speaker, even in the case of education, you will realize that, in most of the mix second cycle institutions in this country, the girls are more than the boys, and on the average, the girls perform better. However, it appears that culturally, a lot of pressure is put on women in this country, even young women to the extent that women even feel threatened if they pursue higher education, of losing out in life, because, they may not get eligible men to marry.
So a lot depends on the society and to its male members, particularly those of us who exercise authority in our homes, in our communities, in our society. Fathers should encourage their daughters, their nieces and their granddaughters to try and achieve the best that they can achieve in life.
Madam Speaker, for some of us, women have played such an important role in our life that we sometimes wonder where we

would have been without women and I can say that the three most important persons in my life are women and I make no apologies for that.

Madam Speaker

No sister? Carry on.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah

Madam Speaker, when it comes to politics, yes, it is true the President has said that up to 40 percent. But I think that the President's political party should do more, because if you look at representation in this House, women are far more under represented in the Government's party than in the Minority party.
Of course, in terms of promoting women, in our political parties - we all acknowledge that We have strongholds, political parties have strongholds. The best commitment that political parties can make onto women empowerment, despite the fact that we are all equal, it must be by choice - is to support women to be parliamentary candidates in our respective strongholds.
I must say that if you look at the Government party, well, we have quite a respectable number of women Members of Parliament from the Volta Region. Likewise when you come to the Minority, we have quite a substantial number relatively of women representing constituencies in the Ashanti Region.
But it is important that we do far more. And you know from my experience, women are more sensitive to the feelings and needs of others. They are more compassionate. It has been amply demonstrated and I know that the Hon

Mr Fritz F. Baffour

On a point of order. My Hon Colleague is misleading the House. There is no constituency in Ghana called Chorkor --- [Laughter] - Chorkor is one of the strategic electoral areas in my constituency. [Hear! Hear!] And I am proud of Chorkor but I do not represent Chorkor as a constituency; it is an electoral area, so, please, correct yourself. Ablekuma South is the great constituency that I represent. [Hear! Hear!]

Papa Owusu-Ankomah

Madam Speaker, that is true, but I said that for a reason. That is because every constituency has a special profile, and Hon Members reflect that special profile.
I am therefore not surprised that the Hon Member from Ablekuma South is saying that Chorkor is strategic because he amply demonstrates that, indeed, Chorkor is a strategic electoral area in his constituency. He amply demonstrated it in this House, Madam Speaker, having said all that -- and I am from Sekondi - unfortunately, because of certain reasons, I do not amply reflect Asemansedo with Asimgado as the Hon Member knows.
Madam Speaker, having said that, I believe we should continuously work at improving upon the lot of women. But I am urging politicians not to make pledges that they know they cannot fulfill. For the NDC to say that up to 40 per cent and then to have 5 per cent and to justify it by saying they are making progress, I can say that even without our pledge, the NPP did better when we were in Government. [Hear! H earl] Yes, so we should take this

as a national issue and not as a partisan political tool to get advantage of Women votes.

While we are urging women not to engage in certain trades, I will urge men not to patronize them. It is also important. Women are vulnerable, men should not take advantage of women. I am saying this; men should not take advantage of Women. I personally feel strongly about this -- [Interruptions] -- My Colleagues are saying that women are not vulnerable. All right, we agree, but why are you saying that we should do more for Women. Why? If they are not vulnerable, why should we do more for them? Do not let us, as it were, blow hot and cold, it is not good enough.

All I am saying is that, we should continue in this direction and we should do more. I know that all the women who have occupied prominent positions in this country have done so on merit [Interruptions] - because opportunities have been created for women to aspire to the highest offices in the land, but as regards politics, it is application for troubles.

That is why a lot of women dread getting involved, particularly the partisan one. But we as political parties, should in terms of our structures give more opportunity for very capable women to play major roles in the management of affairs of this country.

I thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Deputy Minister for Education (Dr Joseph Samuel Annan) Thank you Madam Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to associate myself also with the Statement.

It is, indeed, a great day, and it has been said that every year we go through the motions of celebrating the International Women's Day. But Madam Speaker, I want to emphasise the point that, this day came

Papa Owusu-Ankomah

about because of the hard activism, it was political activism that has brought us to this day.
The work was done by one Clara Zetkin, who was a social democrat in Germany. This is to emphasise the point that, the political activism that is required to bring about this kind of social change comes from progressive movements across the world
So when we are talking about who have achieved what all over the world, in terms of bringing about the liberation and the emancipation of women, we have to remember which party is the most progressive party, which party has the greater commitment to bring about the change in women. So we should not be. playing, Madam Speaker, a game of figures, a game that says that we did better than that.

What is the commitment of each and every party? We heard from the beginning that, some of the essential changes that brought about the emancipation of women in Ghana came under our first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. I think nobody is in any doubt that he can be described as one of the most progressive, if not the most progressive President we have had in this country.

Madam Speaker, I just want to say that next year, I think, would be the centenary of the International Women's Day and I urge this House and indeed, the Government and all major stakeholders who are concerned, like we have heard so eloquently expressed today, particularly from men, how they support the emancipation of women, how we must ensure that Women have their equal places

in politics, at the workplace and in society. I would seriously urge that, with the coming centenary, we start preparations to make sure that we mark next year, 2011, the centenary of the International Women's Day, with something special and renew bi-partisan commitment under our watch, the more progressive of the party to ensure that Women take their rightful place.

Dr A. A. Osei

On a point of order. Madam Speaker, my Hon Colleague said "under our watch". I am Wondering who is "our". Is it CPP or NDC or NPP he is talking about? He said "our". We are not sure what he means by that. If he can clarify it.

Dr Annan

Madam Speaker, the explanation is clear, which government it is that is running the administration today - the NDC Government which is running the government today.
Madam Speaker, let me conclude by saying that under our watch, as the progressive arm of politics in Ghana, we shall ensure that what has been said in this House, particularly in relation to next year, is taken seriously and that we mark the centenary as it deserves with concrete action and not mere words.
I thank you.

Madam Speaker

I thank you, Hon Member.
Hon Members, one hour has already passed since the Statement was read and We have a lot of work to do. But I think I will call one Hon Member, just one last Hon Member and it will be the Hon Second Deputy Speaker.

Prof. Aaron M. Oquaye (NPP - Dome Kwabenya)

Thank very much, Madam Speaker, for the recognition.
Madam Speaker, this is a very important issue before us and I have consistently said and written that the essence of the human being are two basic things; they are brain and brawn and in terms of intelligence, it cannot be disputed that women are equal to men, boys are equal to girls. It means, therefore, that our mental faculty being the essence of the human being, and since we are equally endowed by our Creator with this, any society that does not take the development of the girl or the woman seriously, is a loser abinitio in the development process because half of your resource is untapped and it is wasted.
Madam Speaker, in our development effort, this is something that we just cannot ignore and it is a truism. You go to the universities today, persistently our prize winners have been women more than men, incidentally.
Madam Speaker, from the policy perspective, we have to go beyond the rhetoric. If we care to know, there is a very interesting model in India where they worked -- Women in Banking, Women in Cottage Industry and allied actual policies that today they have got more than 25 banks in the southern part of India alone, exclusively for women, so as to empower them. It will definitely not be enough to say it and not to bring some of these policies into effect.
Madam Speaker, when We come to our haphazard planning, most of those who are quickly affected are women. When we do the aabaeei and so on, that we all know about, the victims are mostly women. We should re-visit this issue and then work our planning policies in such a way that it would rather promote the capacity of our Women entrepreneurs.

Many people, actually have been educated by the efforts of some of these Women and, Madam Speaker, we have to recognise the vulnerability of the female sex when we come to talk about the physical and other aspects and for that matter, protect the girl-child and the young woman in a particular way.

After all, if two young people engage in an illicit sex act as students, the girl stops school and the boy continues. That, in itself, requires, a social intervention not only by way of education but also by way of certain policies that will help the girl-child in certain circumstances to continue. These cannot continue if we do not do something about certain policies that would enable a young woman to continue her education in such a misfortune.

Very often, we also realise that, after all, when the men refuse to contribute towards the education and the growing up of the children, invariably, it -is left to women alone. And as a lawyer, sometimes I feel very ashamed about the inability of our law to bite hard enough to compel, I would say, not the men as such, but the other partner to also accept and contribute to the discontinuation that responsibilities come from both parties.

In this connection, as lawmakers, I think we should not just be very straight but we should at the end of the day, establish a committee that would re-visit our laws because we are supposed to be making the laws and despite some of the difficulties in terms of Private Members' Bill, we can seriously consider some of these things and make positive contributions to the Executive-in this regard; and this is the way that we can help make positive contributions in this regard.

Prof. Aaron M. Oquaye (NPP - Dome Kwabenya)

Madam Speaker, law on affirmative action in particular is long, long overdue. The law on affirmative action is long overdue. At the moment, I think we have 19 Hon Members of Parliament who are Women since we lost one Hon Member not too long ago and that certainly is not something to write home about.
In terms of affirmative action, the law can be used as an instrument of social engineering so as to provide additional Women, the 230 apart, universal adult suffrage, a special election regionally or whatever that would allow additional Women to come as Women to correct the imbalance. These are matters which if we do not seriously tackle, then we will continue to simply make statements or sentimental expression and yet the fundamental problem will remain unsolved.
Once more, I am respectfully saying that this Honourable House should establish a committee to look into this and come out with an appropriate recommendation.
Madam Speaker, our Constitution is soon to be re-visited. I believe this is an opportunity for women to come out with suggestions.
In fact, it has been said in many ways, that our Constitution itself is not gender sensitive. Apart from very serious omissions that all of us cannot go through at this moment, everything is ‘his' and there is never a "she" or "her" or gender neutral expressions in that regard and definitely, that is not good enough. I will call upon women to seriously stand up and be counted now that there is going to be a constitutional reform. We want to hear their voices.

Madam, Speaker, I will want to bring to the attention of this Honourable House and with your permission, I will quote a quotation from the current learned Attorney-General of the Republic, which she made in 2003, which was a very considered statement in a public lecture:

"It is my considered opinion, that there were not enough knowledgeable women in the drafting process of the 1992 Constitution. This is despite the fact that there were certain number of places specifically reserved for women's groups and the Assembly saw a preponderance of groups purportedly representing women's interest, such as the bakers, the hairdresser groups, at cetera who might have been unable to confidently articulate for a Bill of Rights for women.

It must be remembered that during those times certain elements in society were deemed un- revolutionary groups such as the Ghana Bar Association and the National Union of Ghana Students, who might have included more knowledgeable women representatives, boycotted the entire proceedings of the Consultative Assembly."

Madam Speaker, with this quotation as a hindsight, we believe that we have the knowledgeable women now and the present dispensation would give them the opportunity. So they should stand up and be counted.

I thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker

That is the end of Statement time.
Hon Members, we have to debate the President's Message. So we continue with the debate to thank His Excellency the President for his State of the Nation Address delivered on Thursday, 25th February, 2010.

Prof. George Y. Gyan-Baffour (NPP - Wenchi)

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the motion to thank His Excellency the President for the Message on the State of the Nation.
Madam Speaker, the tone of the President this year was more conciliatory than that of last year. It shows how much the President has moved from the campaign mood to governance mood and we applaud him.
Madam Speaker, while I applaud the President for a shift in rhetoric, this year's Address was too cryptic and sketchy and not much in terms of details. I will therefore stick my comment to a few contradictory statements, some cordial linkages that look a bit spurious and some pronouncements that in my opinion seemed out of think with the character of the Presidency.
Madam Speaker, I will begin on the economy. I have always brushed aside the public outcry that this Government is not seeing its way clear with regard to the economy, and when they say won nhunu

so, that is what they really mean. I have brushed it aside, Madam Speaker, because I have high regard for those who constitute the economic management team. But Madam Speaker, the President, in the State of the Nation Address, has confirmed what I was really dreading and indeed, had made me to re-think my position and to agree with the public that there is confusion in the economic minds of the Government.

Madam Speaker, earlier last year, a high powered Government representative characterized the economy as broke and quickly, the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning came back to say that no, it was not broke but it was challenged, and Madam Speaker, the President comes here and tells us now that the economy was overheated.

The economy is broke, the economy is challenged, the economy is overheated. Madam Speaker, these are three contradictory descriptive statements of the economy in 2008, which in my opinion is very worrisome, and makes me wonder whether the Government appreciates the economy of Ghana sufficiently to really ensure effective management.

Madam Speaker, if you go and see a doctor and you report of a headache and the doctor immediately gives you APC Without actually diagnosing it properly, the tendency is that your headache would not go away because fundamentally that is not the ailment that you are suffering from. And the more dangerous part of it is that maybe, you are not sick, maybe, you need to relax, then the doctor gives you some medication which has a very bad side effect. And Madam Speaker, what is happening now is exactly so. [Hear!] Hear!]

These economic physicians have not been able to diagnose the alleged ills to the economy, if there was any at all, they

Prof. George Y. Gyan-Baffour (NPP - Wenchi)

do not seem to know whether the economy is ill or is sick, they are not very sure What it is and they have started prescribing medicine and what we are seeing is the side effects.

So Madam Speaker, the medication that has been given is actually translating into a side effect, that if we are not very careful, we cannot arrest the situation. Madam Speaker, "the economy is overheated" and that is what the President said, but when we say the economy is overheated, we are not saying that it is broke.

So what I am sure, Madam Speaker, is happening is that, now, the President has come to the realization that maybe, the economic management team is saying that it was an overheated economy, so let us get a prescription for overheating.

Madam Speaker, when you misdiagnose and really the economy, to my opinion; is not overheated, and you try to cool it down, you are cooling down an already cooled economy and what you

get is a frozen economy -. [Uproar] They have frozen the economy of this country and unless the President decides to defreeze this economy -- what the people are saying is that, they do not have money in their pockets, which the President does not want to hear because he did not promise them, will actually become the order of the day. [Interruption.]

Madam Speaker, I Wish to contribute to the motion that this Honourable House thanks His Excellency the President for the Message he delivered to this House.
Madam Speaker, I want to state in the first instance that this Address by H.E. the President is, indeed, a welcome Address. Welcome in the sense that the President has given us hope. The

Madam Speaker

Yes, any point of order?

Hon Member for Bimbilla, you have 10 minutes.

Order!

Mr Baidoe-Ansah

Mr Speaker, concerning revenue from the oil industry and the way we are going to spend it, he said he had directed that a formula should be found. I would want to say that When they are considering that, how the revenue should be spent, they should know that they have made a promise to the Western Region, that 10 percent of the oil revenue Would be used for the Western Region.

I am quoting from the Hansard -

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, I am afraid. Hon Member, We have a tall list here and I am sure everybody wants to have an opportunity to contribute. That being so, we have to conclude at this stage.
The next speaker will be Hon Haruna Bayirga, Member of Parliament for Sissala West. And please, no interruptions unless imperative.
Hon Members, I think we can do away with the introductions and go to our points and then we do not need to be stopped. Very often, Hon members start with a long introduction. We knew what you are talking about.
Hon member, please, make your contribution.

Mr Haruna H. Bayirga (PNC -- Sissala West)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the State of the Nation Address by H.E. the President.
If you compare this year's State of the Nation Address to that of last year it is very very clear that there is an improvement in the way the President presented his State of the Nation Address. Indeed, he called on all Ghanaians to come on board to help move the country forward.
Mr Speaker, I would want to touch on only three areas, very briefly and one is on education. The free distribution of school uniforms, which is very laudable but it is at a slow pace and the President has indicated that hopefully, by the end of the year, it would have covered the whole country.

Mr Haruna H. Bayirga (PNC -- Sissala West)

Mr Speaker, I have observed that these school uniforms are sewn in the metropolitan areas. I would wish that the sewing of these school uniforms should be done at the district level. At the communities where these schools are situated, we have thousand and one tailors and seamstresses spread across the Whole country.
We are doing this so that we can generate employment in the districts, in the rural areas and at the community level so that this category of seamstresses and tailors would also improve on their conditions and financial standing. So I would want to suggest that the sewing of the school uniforms should not be based in the regional capitals, should not be based in the metropolitan areas but then materials should be supplied to the districts to enable them engage the artisans that we have there to sew the uniforms.
I have also noted with happiness that the President said the schools under trees, he is tackling them very seriously and we hope that by getting to the end of the year, he would have done 90 per cent or more of that.
The other area I want to touch on is housing. It is the responsibility of every government to provide affordable housing to its people. I have found out years on that this is an area that various governments are finding very difficult and I would want to urge the Government to take it very seriously. In Ghana here, we are too much based on cement, cement, cement.
I have been always saying it year in, year out that if you go to the Building and Road Research Institute, they have come out with a lot of technologies, a lot of

improved traditional housing technologies that we can apply to make housing affordable - meeting the climatic conditions, not the cement that any small sun, it is very hot, using the mud, using the local building materials that We can improve upon. These are areas that we tend to look down upon and we do not pay much attention to.

I would like to urge the Government that coming to say they have asked the various District Assemblies to make sure that all the affordable projects that were started by the previous Government are completed, they should also look at improved technology using local materials in housing projects.

I have also noted on the housing that the Government would Want to engage the military so that they could help with some of the infrastructural works in the country which in my opinion are very much in the right direction with the happy note that at the moment, if you go to the areas where we have our borders, inter-border crime is on the increase. In my area, you would get people crossing to come and rob people.

Also, it would provide security in the areas and it will combat crime and help combat cross-border crime, and I would urge the Government that as quickly as possible, if it is starting, we should start from the communities that have boundaries with other countries round us.

The other one, of course, is about Members of Parliament. The President has come out to say that Members of Parliament are going to enjoy some benefits. That is quite apart from the District Assemblies Common Fund, there is going to be an MPs Development Fund. I would want to say that it should not be as it happened last year. We need it now

Mr Isaac Osei(NPP--Subin)

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the State of the Nation Address, 2010.
Mr Speaker, a lot has been said already, so I would like to concentrate on areas which would inure to the benefit of Ghanaian industry. But let me preface this by saying that all of us today recognize the importance of democratic governance as a prerequisite for the development of the private business sector in our country.
Indeed, the President Went ahead to say that Ghana, under the new atmosphere, has become an example of African democracy of which all Ghanaians

should be proud. Mr Speaker, I would like to say that Ghana has not just become an example of African democracy. We know that after the metamorphosis of the PNDC into NDC in 1992, we started the process of democratic governance and this was deepened during the last eight years, that is 2000 to 2008 under President Kufuor and we are continuing that process. So it has been a process and it is not something which has just come in as a result of the ascension of President Mills to power.

Mr Speaker, another aspect of democracy which I have to emphasise and which inures to the benefit of the business sector, is the element of competition which we find in the political arena but which we also find in the business sector.

Mr Speaker, I would like, under the new atmosphere also to mention what the President said. He says he would always try to make a right decision rather than a quick decision. I would argue that the right decision needs not be a slow decision - needs not be a slow decision. But I would say that the President indicated that in his view, the state of the nation was good but he could not proceed to tell us about the state of the various sectors of the economy.

He, however, takes refuge in the statement that the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning addressed sectoral performances in his 2010 Budget and therefore, he was concentrating on a few areas.

However, under the flagship projects, I believe that a litany of promises have been made. And if these promises are fulfilled, then the country stands in very good stead. The President said, under Food and Food Security, that good quality

Mr Isaac Osei(NPP--Subin)

food is both the highest priority and the highest cost item and that he is determined to make it easier for everyone. He even goes further to say that he will marshal all resources at Ghana's disposal to meet this end, and end by saying that when We seek the people's mandate, they will judge our success in this task.
So, clearly, the President is telling us that during his tenure of office, he will ensure that Ghanaians are very well fed. For me, this is also a pre-requisite for industrial production, as a well-fed force, properly looked after, will be a healthy Workforce for our people.
But even though the President attempted to open his arms to all shades of opinion in the country, he was rather uncharitable when he talked, once again, about a run-down economy. And then as an apposite, he said that everybody knew the difficulties of the world financial system.
Under oil and gas for industrial take off, the President announces that there will be an Oil and Gas Revenue Management Bill which is to be submitted to Parliament. I think this is very good. But I believe that What is required is a national consensus on the incidence of expenditure to be financed from oil resources. I think this is critical. And it is my contention that a multi-party approach, which should include all political parties and civil society groups, could assist us to reach this national consensus on the "use of oil revenues.
To this, Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that a National Development Plan will be commissioned to enable Ghanaians to know where we should be in the next five years, ten years or even fifty years from now depending on the curve on which we expect to see our oil revenues.

Many more promises are made for the industrial sector. The President said he would position the country in such a way as to develop an integrated aluminum industry, which I believe will be based on bauxite deposit at Nyinahin and also at Kyebi. He also talked about petrochemicals industry on the basis of natural gas and salt as well as fertiliser and caustic soda. So", these are major promises of government.

Having said that, let me say that the business community requires stability of both political and economic conditions. And gradually, I think we are getting out of the period of instability, which he had in the immediate post-election phase. The business community also requires a regulatory and legal framework, which will enable businesses to expand and grow. We are worried about the influx of foreigners in retail trade.

Today, we even see non-Ghanaians owning and driving taxis. Not only are Ghanaians losing jobs but the security implications are all too clear for all of us. And this is an area which I believe that Government will seek to address.

In the Government's Budget for 2010, it was announced that the Tariffs Advisory Board had been set up. This, I believe, is good, But it remains an advisory

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, you have two minutes remaining.

Mr Isaac Osei

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Let me also say that the cost of doing business is very important to our people, especially both the availability and the access to utilities such as water and electricity. A lot of promises have been made here seeking to address this particular issue. But there is also, underlying all this cost of doing business, the increases in taxes and levies which the business community, especially those who are just on the mark-on the edge of the profit line are complaining about.
So I would hope that the promises made by the President -- he would not, once again, refer to the remarks of Dr Akoto Osei and tell us that "man proposes but God disposes" as he said on that day. We

hope that this time, he will mean What he says.

He also indicated to us that considering all things, in his view, "so far, so much better".

I thank you sincerely, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Member, particularly for keeping to the time.
Hon Member for Nalerigu (Dr Tia Sugri) -- [Pause] The Hon Member is not here?
Hon Member for Jomoro?
In fact, we are moving to the last contributor, I believe.
Hon Member for Gomoa West (Mr Francis Arthur)?

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