Debates of 10 Mar 2010

MADAM SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:25 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, 9th March, 2010.
Pages 1 10 --
Prof . (Emeri tus ) Samuel K. Amoako 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, page 9, under 1, “Opening”, the fourth line, “. . . Corporations and Other Statutory Institutions for the periods ended 31st December…” I think it should be “. . . ending 31st December . . .” or “. . . that ended 31st December . . .”
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon Member, so what should we put there? What is the correction?
Prof. (Emeritus) Amoako 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the correction should be “… periods ending 31st December . . .” or the “… periods that ended 31st December . . .” and not “…for the periods ended 31st December . . .”
Madam Speaker, and for page 10, under 3, “In Attendance”, “ (i) Hon J. S. Annan, MP & Deputy Minister of Education/MP”. I think the second “MP” is redundant.
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Hon Member,
which shall we cross, the first or the last?
Prof. (Emeritus) Amoako 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I believe the last.
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Thank you.
Page 11 --
Mr Benito Owusu-Bio 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, sorry. This is on page 7, under 7, “The following Questions were asked of and answered by the Minister for Education”.
On Question No. 432, my name, “Mr Benito Owuso-Bio”, the “Owusu” has been misspelt. Instead of “u”, there is ‘o' at the end.
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Correction taken.
Page 12 --
Dr Ahmed Y. Alhassan 10:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, sorry to take you back to page 10, under 3, “In Attendance” (ix). The name is “A. B. Salifu” and not “A. B. Salie”. He is the Chairman of the University of Development Studies (UDS) Board.
Madam Speaker 10:25 a.m.
Page 13 -- [Pause.]
The Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, 9th March, 2010 as corrected, is adopted as the true record of proceedings.
We now move on to the Official Report
of Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010.

Hon Members, in the absence of any corrections, the Official Report of Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010, is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.

There will be no Statements today. So

We now continue with the debate to thank His Excellency the President for the Message on the State of the Nation, which he delivered to this Honourable House on

Thursday, 25th February, 2010.

Yes, under the Majority side, we start with Hon Dr J. S. Annan.

If I may remind Hon Members, we

have a time limit also operating. It is 10 minutes for ordinary Hon Members, 15 minutes for Leaders.
MOTIONS 10:35 a.m.
rose
Dr Annan 10:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, so, let us be in no doubt that this Government's concern for the ordinary person is manifest in many ways. Yes, there remains difficulties, but in terms of our commitment -- [Interruption.]
Dr A.A. Osei 10:35 a.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, my Hon Colleague, in trying to impress the crowd, just made a statement that the basic wage increase was 18 per cent. This is far from the truth. He is a Member of Parliament who passed the Budget, and the basic wage increase was not 18 per cent. Doctors got less than 10 per cent; so how could he stand in this House and tell us that the basic wage increase -- [Interruption] -- He is misleading this House, and he should withdraw the Statement.
Dr Annan 10:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you. Madam Speaker, the minimum wage was increased by 18 per cent. Madam Speaker, the --
Madam Speaker 10:35 a.m.
The point of correction was not taken.
Dr A. A. Osei 10:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the minimum wage is not a basic wage, and he should correct himself.
Madam Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Another correction; minimum wage and basic wage --
Dr Annan 10:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I did
say “minimum wage”. I did repeat the
second time. I said the minimum wage was increased by 18 per cent, so I think my Hon Friend clearly heard that --
Madam Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, time is running. Go on.
Dr Annan 10:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, we also heard how the economy -- growth and development agenda, flagship projects, food and security, oil and gas, and employment are all being addressed in various ways.
But Madam Speaker, what I want to stress as I refer to the last point is that all of these are underpinned by getting it right in education. If we do not get it right in education, most of these aspirations and objectives would not be achieved. And as we heard, in education, we are clear that there have been significant achievements.
The distribution of school uniforms -- [Hear! Hear!] -- is now reaching countrywide. His Excellency the President did not even mention in his Address the vast distribution of 27 million free text books that is ongoing as we speak now. The refurbishment of science resource centres and the infrastructure facilities that have been provided are nothing to scoff at.
Madam Speaker, not only that; recently, we are aware, as all of you are, of the challenge that we faced with one of the unions involved in the education sector. Without hesitation and as had been promised, 10 million Ghana cedis was released for allowances for the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) -- [Hear! Hear!] -- And can we say that many of these were allowances that had not been paid over a long period of time, including the period when we were not in government -- [Interruption.]
rose
Dr Annan 10:35 a.m.
This is a backlog of
allowances that will enhance the well- being of education and the quality of education.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order that the Hon Member is misleading the House by saying that the allowances were allowances that were due as far back as December, 2008. That is a total falsehood and I repeat it.
He has been talking about science laboratories being refurbished. This was a contract that was signed under my watch as the then Minister for Education as far back as 2007. [Interruptions.] I am saying that the Hon Member, in his effort to laud His Excellency the President as a Deputy Minister must be fair and candid to this House and I am requesting that he produces evidence that allowances were due even as far back as December 2008 because that is entirely false.
Dr Annan 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, to illustrate the investments that are being made in the educational sector and as I have said, that “underpinned” the relentless march for development that we want to achieve as NDC Government. We know, for example, that a lot rest on the GETFund while the Act of 2000 (Act 581) stipulates that the GETfund is essentially supplementary to the investments that are being made in the education sector.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister
for Education is a new person in this House and he should -- [Interruptions.] I would want to caution that he resorts to temperate language.
First of all, he is misleading this House when he talks about over-expenditure and profligate expenditure. He knows for a fact that the expenditure which he characterizes as over-expenditure is no over-expenditure.
This House approves of the allocation to the GETFund. It is, indeed, true that over the years -- persistently, releases to the GETFund have never matched up to the 100 per cent level of the allocation from this House. Indeed, last year, persistently from 2001 to 2008, there have been shortfalls in the releases amounting to about 10 per cent over the years. He knows that in 2009, the shortfall in the releases amounted to 20 per cent of the allocation from this House.
Dr Annan 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, continuing -- [Interruption]
Madam Speaker 10:45 a.m.
Hon Minority Leader, I thought the objection was on the word “profligate”?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, profligate and reckless and of course, he also characterized the expenditure allocations and -- that is the shortfall between the allocation and the release as over-expenditure.
Madam Speaker 10:45 a.m.
I thought you were
Dr Annan 10:45 a.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. But our Hon Minority Leader is so well versed in the English Language that I know he understands the term “profligate”.
The point that I think is important to make is that with the evidence presented us as to the GETFund, what we know is that the law is laid down by this very august House. In the form of the formula, what we have is a litany of special projects outside what has been agreed by this august House, that has caused excessive over-expenditure. That is the evidence and that is what we are going to look at in terms of the forensic audit.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker -- Hon Deputy Minister, I have the floor --I have the floor so he better sits down.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, in an Answer to a Question, that was what the Hon Deputy Minister said. I hear a chorus of “No! No!” Perhaps, they did not understand. Perhaps, they did not understand what he said. Unfortunately, -- [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker 10:45 a.m.
Order!
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.
Madam
Speaker, the chorus is coming from those of them who were not in the House yesterday.
What is going to be the effect of the forensic audit if, indeed, the Hon Deputy Minister has already concluded that there is an excessive over-expenditure? Such kind of language usage would not be permitted in this House. He will not be allowed to jump-start this race; he will not be allowed to do that. Not until it is clearly established, he cannot be presumptuous and state categorically that it is an excessive over-expenditure. That is not permissible and the Hon Deputy Minister must withdraw it unconditionally.
Madam Speaker 10:45 a.m.
Hon Member, what must he withdraw? Excessive? The word “excessive”?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, a l i t any of “excess ive expenditure”; a litany of “special projects which were outside the approval leading to excessive over-expenditure” -- Clearly, he has not established anything.
Madam Speaker, when asked your direction for the withdrawal of the earlier language used, he said we understood it. It is because I understand it and I know that it has no place in this House that I called on Madam Speaker to direct him to withdraw it. If I did not understand those words, I would not have called on Madam Speaker to direct him to withdraw peacefully, in his own interest.
Madam Speaker, let me signal for the avoidance of doubt that nobody has a monopoly over the use of acerbic and acidic language --[Uproar] -- Madam Speaker, if people want to indulge, they will be put in their proper places [Inter- ruption.]
Mr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo 10:55 a.m.
Madam
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr Pelpuo 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, to
criticize and to say that there was an excessive spending, is not caustic language, it is just mere criticism. And to say that there is profligate expenditure, is not an insult, it is not against our Standing Orders.
Madam Speaker, I call on you not to rule him out of order and to allow him to continue speaking. He is perfectly in order and they should tolerate it and begin to allow to develop a tradition of acceptance and tolerance in this House.
Thank you Madam Speaker.
Mr Ambrose P. Dery 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I think that we on this side are open to criticism. Madam Speaker, what we should remember is that the Hon Deputy Minister for Education started his intervention very well by referring to the President's hand he had extended, and that it should not be met with a clenched fist and then just to remind us all -- [Interruption] -- We need to learn how to present -- [Interruptions] -- Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President himself did go there, at the last paragraph of page 4 that
“ it is also my prayer that all members of this House -- whatever their party -- will have a sense of fairness and balance in our discussions,
debates -- and arguments.”
Madam Speaker, that is in addition to the standard in this House that when an Hon Member makes an allegation, he is asked to substantiate or withdraw it. Madam Speaker, when one makes a sweeping statement and there is an objection and Madam Speaker gives the one the opportunity -- I would think that on the last day of debating the President's State of the Nation Address, we do not poison the atmosphere.
That would get us on the wrong side of the road . And I think this position that he has taken -- I think he has got a few “reinforcements” to go and sit by him. I think that it will not be in our interest. So we do not want the public to be misinformed or mis-educated. We have our children up here and sweeping statements should not be allowed.
Madam Speaker, it is only in that regard that I stand up to say that we should make sure that our debate today is not poisoned. He can make an allegation if he has the proof to substantiate it or withdraw and let us go on.
Madam Speaker, at this rate, I am afraid that we will not get anywhere. Language -- “telling a lie” and saying “it is not true” are the same thing, but saying “it is not true” will not give one trouble.
Madam Speaker, I will entreat my Hon Colleague on the other side to be careful the way he is debating so that we profit from the debate here.
Thank you .
Dr Annan 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, if I am not mistaken, the Hon Gentleman has called me a liar --
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
No. He has not called you a liar.
Dr Annan 10:55 a.m.
He used the term “stating a lie”. He must withdraw it.
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Deputy Minister, he has not called you a liar.
Dr Annan 10:55 a.m.
He said “stating a lie”. He
Mr Dery 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the problem is that we do not listen. I gave an example. I illustrated that language used in a particular manner would generate a different reaction, and that if he says “it is a lie” and “it is not true”, although materially they will mean the same thing -- “ it is a lie” would not be received well by the other side. I did not say that he is a liar. I know that I will never use such a language and I am encouraging him to follow my example and do the right thing.
Thank you.
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Members, what has happened is that we have all been cautioned about our language. So let us accept it, except he is saying that if you make an assertion, you must prove it. If there is no evidence to prove it, you do not make the assertion. So I think at this stage, let us accept the advice we have received. It affects all of us, the whole House, and let us move on from there.
Hon Deputy Minister, watch your words.
Dr Annan 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker -- [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Your time is about finished, so wind up.
Dr Annan 10:55 a.m.
Yes, I am going to wind up. I just wanted to mention that huge allocations were made for the tertiary sub- sector, especially universities when we have heard in this very House that 4,000 basic schools were under trees, 5,000 were completely dilapidated and 7,500 had no sanitation. And the commitment to technical and vocational education had not been met nor even the commitment to increase ICT in school.
Therefore, Madam Speaker, the work that is being done in support of what
His Excellency the President has said in this very House is to rationalize this Fund known as the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) this year so that the support to the education sector, as illustrated by what we saw on 6th March by the wonderful display of the school children, their discipline, the beauty which clearly illustrate the benefit of investing in the youth for a better Ghana, is what we are about.
So Madam Speaker, to conclude, I want to say that honest, transparent and accountable leadership are what are going to drive this country forward and in the education sector, we are going to underscore this by working assiduously to correct the wrongs that have happened in the GETFund.
Madam Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu (NPP -- Dormaa West) 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity and with your permission, I will just want to quote a very small portion of the President's State of the Nation Address, page 3, paragraph 5:
“. . . I am proud to stand before you and say with confidence --”The State of the Nation is good!”
Madam Speaker, I admire the bravery and the courage of His Excellency President John Atta Mills for making that assessment for this country. What is the basis? What is the basis of this assessment?
Let us go to page 7, paragraph 1 and I will want everybody here to listen attentively -- “Food and Food Security”. Madam Speaker, with your permission. I will quote again. These are the President's own words:
“But, Madam Speaker, for most Ghanaians, simply getting enough good quality food is both the highest
priority and the highest cost item.”
This is what our President sees as a good state of the nation. [Some Hon Members: Oh!] The fact is that most of us Ghanaians cannot afford two square meals and the President has underscored it even in his own State of the Nation Address. [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker, does the President
know, or is he aware that presently in this country, we are queuing not only for water but for gas, for kerosene, for almost everything that we need in our homes? With this, he continues to say that the nation is in a state that is good when people are queuing for gas.
Madam Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order!
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the sad aspect of it was that when the President was standing here on the floor of the House, telling us that the state of the nation was good, a cross-section of teachers in our country were preparing for a strike and five days, just five days after his Address there was a strike in this country. Teachers were calling for a pound of flesh to better their service conditions.
Madam Speaker, I have not finished. I want to ask whether the President knows that revenue that accrued to the State has reduced to the extent that almost all statutory funds that should be fuelled with funds from the Exchequer, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning could not receive the amounts that were supposed to be due them. GETFund transferred just about 25 per cent; Health Insurance is in arrears; District Assemblies
Common Fund -- a whole quarter was never transferred. Is this the state that we describe as a “good state of the nation”?
The President refused to talk about Health Insurance. If we look at the health sector in the President's State of the Nation Address, all the President said there was that he will review the Health Insurance Bill; that was the end of it.
Madam Speaker, I want somebody here, maybe, the Hon Majority Leader to try to ring the President that the state of the health insurance programme that was introduced by President Kufuor is at a stage that almost every drug that people are supposed to be given are bought from individual pockets. Health insurance is on the verge of collapse and that is what we describe as “a good state of this nation”.
Madam Speaker, is the President aware that as I speak, several companies have filed for redundancy in their various institutional obligations? People are going to be laid off this year and that is “a good state of this nation”.
Madam Speaker, the National Youth Employment Programme -- Is the President aware that they have not got their salaries for five good months?
Mr Gershon K.B. Gbediame 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, it is the practice in this House that when one makes a statement, he or she must produce or provide evidence. We want the Hon Member contributing to mention some of the companies that are folding up so that we do not just make sweeping statements like, “The companies are folding up and filing for redundancy”.
Mr Gbediame 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, it is the practice that in the issue that one does not have the evidence now, one withdraws and produces, the evidence subsequently. We want the evidence. If he has not got the information now, he should withdraw until the evidence is produced.
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, at least, I know of all the textile companies in my country, including Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL); they are folding up; they have filed for redundancy and all their staff are going to go home within the next few months. [Hear! Hear!]
Some Hon Members 11:05 a.m.
Shame! Shame!
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, my Hon Friend would not let me talk. I am trying to give the real state of the nation issues.
Madam Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, over the last few weeks -- and I want anybody sitting here to challenge me -- prices have started escalating in our country. Now, we buy one tin of milk for 9,500 old Ghana cedis. Is this
something that we can talk about? A bottle of akpeteshie now costs 28,000 old Ghana cedis in the country. [Interruption.] Madam Speaker, with all these challenges that Ghanaians are facing, our President would not sympathise with us and he tries to make a mockery of us and tells us that this country is in a good state -- [Interruption.]
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 11:05 a.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, earlier my Hon Colleague made a lot of sweeping statements. One, that he refered to the State of the Nation Address on health and said that the President said virtually nothing about the health of the country. I want to refer him to the same State of the Nation Address, page 5, paragraph 5. The President emphatically stated that, and with your permission, I beg to quote:
“The Minister of Finance addressed sectoral performances in his 2010 Budget Statement last November.”
Madam Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Order!
Alhaji Muntaka 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, he said that the health state of our country was in a complete mess. I am referring him to what the Hon Minority Leader just said, that one could not just be allowed to make sweeping statements and get away with them. I would want to challenge him. If he is saying that the state of our health in Ghana today is in a mess, he must produce statistics to support what he is saying. Other than that he should withdraw what he is saying. That supports the same thing the Hon Minority Leader was saying. So Madam Speaker, please, call him to order.
Most of the statements that he is making, he should substantiate them or he should tread carefully with the statement that he is making.
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Hon Dery, are you
advising us again? Did you not say that?
Mr Dery 11:15 a.m.
I just wanted to advise my
younger brother on the other side of the House. As for the mess in the Ministry of Health, we already know it. [Inter- ruptions.] The debate is public, so do not worry.
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Hon Members, it has been said before that we should watch our words --
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:15 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I was going to tell my Hon Colleague, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak -- [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Hon Member, can I finish speaking?
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:15 a.m.
Madam Speaker, pardon?
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Let me finish speaking. I think we have all been advised to go slow on things we cannot prove and making sweeping statements. It affects all of us. Let us abide by that advice and carry on.
Hon Member, you have only one minute left. I feel for Members whose time is taken up by objections. But then if you make certain statements that will bring these objections, I do not know whether you should not bear the results of them.
Hon Member, I will give you three minutes to wind up.
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:15 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I do not think I want to give so much time to Alhaji Muntaka's interjection, but I just want him to note that I never said that the state of health in our country is in a mess. When did I say that? What I said was that, “does the President know that people are buying drugs with cash for prescriptions under health insurance?” That was what I said. This is English. [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker, I am a Member of Parliament, and much as the President is very worried about poor conditions that we all live in in our country, I have an obligation, I have a stake in his worry, and when I am making certain pronouncements, I am not just talking for nothing. Madam Speaker, I am telling the facts as I see them, as I read them, the facts as I hear from the news and the facts as my constituents come to tell me. Why would they want to gag me? Can I not say these things? These are things happening.
Madam Speaker, I want you to constitute a committee of the Opposition; let them go to Dormaa West in my constituency, and let them ask people in the farms, since when they got a gallon of kerosene to buy to use in the villages. It is not there and you do not want me to mention this.
Madam Speaker, I am very worried
about the rate at which our revenues are drippling.Cocoa smuggling is not anything good for any country, especially Ghana. This is on the ascendency and you do not want us to talk about that. The President is telling us that the state of this nation is good, when we have these things going on there. All our cocoa is going and we are losing revenues by the day. What is this politics? Let us begin to speak facts; let people know that we are worried about what is happening in our country and let us talk about them.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for this opportunity but unfortunately, I want to end by saying that the President should

sit back again and do a re-assessment. If this is what he claims is a good state of the nation, I beg to differ and may God save our country.
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Thank you.
The next Member to speak is Hon Aquinas Quansah, Member for Mfan- tseman West.
Mr Aquinas Quansah (NDC -- Mfantseman West) 11:15 a.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to thank our President for a brilliant State of the Nation Address.
Madam Speaker, I will touch more on
agriculture. I was pleased when I heard the President saying that we increased our food production by 30 per cent. I think if all successive Governments gave credence to agriculture, by now, we should be self- sufficient in food production, especially rice and other cereals.
Madam Speaker, we all know about the Quality Grain Project; this project was initiated by the NDC (1) Government. Our Hon Brothers on the opposite side of the House came and nothing was done about the project. We all saw US$10 million worth of equipment going rusty.
Madam Speaker, all our energies were directed into prosecuting people perceived to be -- [ Interruptions.] Madam Speaker, if we all behaved like the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is behaving, by now, rice production would be high up there.
Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah 11:15 a.m.
On a point of
order. Madam Speaker, the Hon Member just made a statement that is factually incorrect. He said that the Quality Grain Project was left by the last Government and it did nothing about it.
Madam Speaker, the truth is that, the company that is working there was brought by the last Government. They started working when the last Government was in place. So the last Government did something about it.
Madam Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Hon Member, after correction, let us move on.
Mr Quansah 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, we
spent six and a half years prosecuting people, forgetting about the project in mention. Madam Speaker, I believe what we, as a Government, have to also keep in mind, is to improve it further. Next year, I know the President will come here and we will all hear him say we have increased our food stock by 50 per cent.
Madam Speaker, by so saying, I would
like to also remind our Hon Minister for Food and Agriculture and the President that -- especially rice production is expensive and most of these cost come from land preparation. Madam Speaker, we thank God for having a good traditional rice crop land scattered all over the country, which is irrigable. So I will also encourage the President to look at these areas, especially, if you go to the Afram Plains --
Madam Speaker, all we need there, is to create a canal from the Volta to the Accra plains. We have over 150 hecters of land lying fallow, so I will say that in connection with the Savannah Accelera- ted Programme that we have --
Madam Speaker, I will also urge the President to take a very serious look at
the valleys we have up North; we have the Fumbisi Valley lying fallow and we have the Katanga Valley, and we have a lot of very very good rice lands lying fallow at Mpaha near Yapei.
Madam Speaker, I will also urge the Hon Minister to make sure we increase this production. I know we could have made about forty per cent increase but because of the poor way we do our agriculture -- the culture of doing agriculture in this country is not the best. We know our farmers have to wait for their rice to dry on the field before they go to harvest them. Madam Speaker, those times have passed; we need good and up-to-date equipment that will help us harvest our rice when they are wet, so that at least, we would have what we call a “long grain” in this country.
Madam Speaker, I will also use this opportunity to touch on the fishery sector. Madam Speaker, we all know that the President or the NDC Government is doing very well to maintain our fish production or even increase it to the maximum. Madam Speaker, we thank the President and his men for at least, fighting against pair trawling. All I will urge the President is that, he should see to it that the amendment to the Fishery Act be brought to Parliament early so that other forms of unfriendly fishing activities would be curtailed for our fishermen and our fisherfolk to have a better working condition.
Madam Speaker, yesterday, a friend of mine in this House was talking about the problems the fishermen are facing here and there. He was mentioning about 180 horse power outboard motors and whatever; I realized that he did not know what he was talking about. If we allow
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, on a point of elucidation. Madam Speaker, actually, I represent one of the biggest fishing communities in this country and I am unaware that the President has made provision for outboard motors. Madam Speaker, if the Hon Member on the floor can tell this House when and how many, so that I can tell the chief fisherman at Sekondi to go there and not to always complain to me. Please, I am surprised.
Mr Quansah 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I think the best place for him is to go and check it up at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and if he needs help, he should contact me, I will take him to where he has to go. [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker, I think I do not have enough to say but to thank the President for a visionary Statement made, and also pray that both sides of the House would co-operate with the President for him to achieve his aim.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
Nana Akomea (NPP -- Okaikoi South) 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise to support the motion to thank the President for delivering the State of the Nation Address to this House.
Madam Speaker, the tone of the President, in my view, was not bombastic, not too accusatory, but was quite statesmanlike. Indeed, both sides of the House acknowledged the tone of the
Mr Alfred W. G. Abayateye 11:25 a.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, my Hon Friend on the other side of the House just made a statement which is factually wrong. He said that and I quote:
“The former President has not been given vehicle and whatever ….”
Dr A. A. Osei 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, early on this morning, our Leader, in speaking to the Hon Deputy Minister, addressed this House about the fact that if you do not have facts, you should not speak off hand. The Hon Member is not even in the Executive and he purports to have evidence that the former President was given two Mercedes cars.
Madam Speaker, because he does not have the evidence, I think he should just withdraw the Statement so that we can move on properly. The Hon Member is a Member of Parliament, hoping to be in the Executive; he has not got there yet but he purports to have evidence from the Castle. Madam Speaker, this is an august House, he should either produce the evidence now or immediately withdraw the Statement.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Member, two Hon Members of Parliament have made different statements -- two sides have made different statements. Hon Akomea said it has not been done; Hon Abayateye said it has been done, he is correcting it. What do we do? We did not ask Hon Akomea to show us the evidence that it was not done. So can we -- are we going to also ask him to show the evidence that it was not done?
Dr A. A. Osei 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, my
Hon Colleague talked about a meeting that was held -- he was categorical. A meeting that was held in the Castle where the former President was offered two cars --
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Member, did
you attend the meeting?
Mr Abayateye 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker,
Mr Ambrose Dery 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker,
I think that we should try to make progress.
First of all, all what my Hon Colleague on the other side of the House is saying, appears to be an explanation why the President does not have the cars. He does not tell us the cars have been given. He does not tell us he has been given accommodation, Madam Speaker, he has not told us ex gratia has been paid. Madam
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Members, I think that is what Hon Akomea was doing. If there is a controversy about the final settlement he is urging -- that is the impression I get -- that it be resolved. And if it is so, then Hon Member, state it and let us get on.
Nana Akomea 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, as
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:35 a.m.
Madam
Speaker, I agree with the education that you have given. I thought that we should not even have gone on litigating this matter because the Colleague who made the intervention said that the Office of the former President was invited. I do not know how the Office of the former President could have been invited. If officers have been invited, that would have been good.
But he gets up and says that the Office of the former President was invited -- [Interruption] -- Madam Speaker, I

do not think that it was worth engaging our attention. So if you allow the Hon Member on the floor to proceed, it would save the time of this House.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Well, I thank you,
I thank you all.
Hon Member, please, your time is running. Can you urge it forcefully now?
Nana Akomea 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, it
should be an embarrassment to all of us, that one year after the peaceful and democratic transfer of power, the Office of the Ex-President is not functioning, his official cars have not been provided, the ex gratia has not been settled. And I am saying that we should resolved these matters quickly -- the President and Parliament, otherwise, the treatment meted out to the ex-President would smack of vengeance. The President may not mean to be vindictive, but if after one year, these facilities have not been provided, then it would give cause to the sentiment of vengeance and vindictiveness. And that all of us should urge the President to have these matters resolved quickly. It is good for our democracy.
Madam Speaker, the President also
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Dauda, is it
a new point of order?
Alhaji Dauda 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, in
the submission of my Hon Colleague, he said the President instructed his Ministers that they must serve people who come to them with party cards. Madam Speaker, first, the Hon Friend may have to provide evidence of this.
Madam Speaker, again, I am one of the appointees of the President in the capacity of a Minister. The President has never on any occasion given me any such instruction and therefore, this statement certainly, is untrue and can never stand -- [Interruptions] -- It must be expunged from our records. Madam Speaker, the nature of our President is such that he will never give such instructions to his Ministers.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Member, was it a rumour you heard?
Nana Akomea 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker,
the Spokesman for the President at that time, Mr Mahama Ayariga made a public statement on behalf of the President, urging Hon Ministers of State to ensure that when party supporters with NDC cards call on them, they should be treated speedily -- [Interruptions] But Madam Speaker, this is a matter of public knowledge. If the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources does not know, then that is his own matter.
But Madam Speaker, like I said, the
rose
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member,
we have finished with that, is it another issue?
Alhaji Dauda 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, on the
same issue. Madam Speaker, this matter, certainly, cannot remain on the records of this House. I have given an indication that I am a Minister and the President has never on any occasion given these instructions to me and therefore, what he
is saying, clearly, represents falsehood and therefore, must be withdrawn. Madam Speaker, with your indulgence, it cannot stay on the records of this House, it must be withdrawn.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
Hon Akomea,
you have explained that somebody said when party members come, they were to be attended to. But it did not say that the other members should not be attended to. Is it? So if that is the correction, then let us have it.
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, everybody in this country should be attended to when they call on public officials paid with public funds. If you make a distinction that those people with party cards should be treated in a certain manner, then what you are doing is introducing “exclusivity” and that is all that I am saying --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon Nana Akomea,
he said the President did not say so. If somebody said so, was it the President who said so?
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, that statement was made by the Spokesman for the President, Mahama Ayariga. As we speak, the President has not denied that statement, so that statement was made. So, if the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources did not hear Mahama Ayariga making that statement, that is his matter --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon Member, I refuse to make assumptions that because somebody he works with says it, then he said it. What we need to do is to find out whether he said it. If we cannot prove that the President said it -- the explanation has been given that because somebody said it,
we assume he said it. But if he was not heard to have said it, then we should not say he said it.
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, very
well --
rose
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minority
Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
I have not ruled
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam
Speaker, I am only assisting you.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
I think you are
anticipating something?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I only want to assist.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
All right.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, what exercise are we engaged in today? We are debating the President's State of the Nation Address. Madam Speaker, when the President appeared before us, he spoke to the nation in this House. The document that is before us, there are so many items in this document that the President did not say. Are we not to attribute this to the President?
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
We are lugging what he said.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the issue is whether in view of the fact that the President did not make certain statements in this booklet, we are
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon Member, that is not what I said.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I perfectly understand you. But the import of it is, if a spokesperson for the President makes a categorical statement and it is captured in official publication -- [Some Hon Members: When and where?] -- Madam Speaker, I hear a chorus of “Where”, “When” and so on.
Madam Speaker, our Standing Orders, if I should remind my Hon Colleagues, the very clear on this -- Order 67(1) (h):
“a Question shall not be asked the answer to which is readily available in official publications;”
Madam Speaker, this one appeared in an official publication, the Daily Graphic, The Ghanaian Times and they were debated on the airwaves.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
What official
publication?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam
Speaker, I mentioned --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Is a newspaper an official publication?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Precisely.
Madam Speaker, by our Standing Orders, yes, it is.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
All right. And Hon Minority Leader, I thought according to Hon Nana Akomea, it is somebody else who said it but because he works for the President, we assume -- what if we are wrong in that assumption? That the President did not say that, should
we attribute it to the President himself having said so? He has explained that that is where he heard it from, which is good enough. But then, if it is not the President who said so to his hearing or in any document, he must say so. That is all I am saying.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
That might as well be so, Madam Speaker. The President has made a statement and he was taken on by the foot soldiers at the party and in response to the President's statement, the Spokesperson of the President comes out with this further explanation. Madam Speaker, are we to assume that because those words did not emanate from the mouth of the President, did he not say so?
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Leader, in this particular case where he is alleged to have said that when his people come, they were to see him, which presupposes that when the other side comes, then they were not to be attended to. I think we should stick to what the President -- if that is the impression, then we should really stick to what the President said.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon Nana Akomea has explained that he heard it from somebody else. He said it is Mahama Ayariga who said it.
Alhaji Dauda 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, his explanation rather introduces contradictions. In the submission he made at first, he said that the President had instructed his Ministers. Then he followed up with an explanation that the Spokesperson made a statement. An instruction and statements are two different things. [Uproar.] And therefore
-- 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
What you are saying is the earlier statement?
Alhaji Dauda 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I am a Minister appointed by the President and I have said that on no occasion had the President given me any such instruction. Therefore, this statement cannot remain on the record of Parliament.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member, he is saying there were two statements. The first was that the President had instructed his Ministers before you elaborated on that.
So, Hon Member, be honourable, withdraw that first statement that the President said it, if there is no evidence that you could say he instructed.
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I withdraw that the President made that statement. But Madam Speaker, I insist that the Spokesman of the President, the Hon Ayariga made that statement. If he did not make it on behalf of the President, then that is his own matter. But he made that categorical statement --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
I have not asked you to withdraw that. It is the statement that the President had instructed the Ministers. So, let us now carry on, you have withdrawn it.
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
My assumption is that if the Spokesperson --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
You have a few more minutes left.
Nana Akomea 11:45 a.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker --
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Hon Member, time is running, we should be putting the Question soon.
Thank you.
rose
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
He has withdrawn it, what else do you have to say? Even the Hon Minority Leader has taken it.
Mr H. Iddrisu 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of order because my Hon Colleague, the Hon Ranking Member of the Committee on Communications has made a very important suggestion but not on the basis of fact.
In matters relating to the settlement of former President, John Agyekum, I know for a fact that His Excellency the President directed the Chief of Staff over a fortnight ago to deliver a cheque to him which was done. [Interruption.] But former President, J. A. Kuffuor demanded some explanation and clarification as to the details and accordingly, nominated two persons to engage with the current Administration to resolve matters relating to his settlement and his ex gratia.
Madam Speaker, former President, J. A. Kuffuor is also aware that Government has identified an office at the Airport Residential area which is to be refurbished for his use as office as a former President of the Republic of Ghana. Indeed, I am aware that one Mr Dankwa and one other nominee of Mr Kufuor have inspected the said facility.
Madam Speaker, in respect of vehicles, Government procured two four-wheeled drives and two Mercedes Benz cars; but it was at the request of former President J. A. Kufuor that he wanted the issues dealt with holistically. Therefore, it is important for me to state that it is not in the character of President Mills to be vengeful, but we take his suggestion on board.
I just wanted to set the records straight. That Government is taking appropriate measures and steps to rehabilitate all former Presidents, in particular, President
Mr Dery 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I think that all this just confirms the status quo that former President J. A. Kufuor has not been given his benefits and therefore, whatever the Hon Member for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea is saying is spot-on. All this work in progress after one year, is curious and I would rather that we allowed this to rest for now. [Hear! Hear!]
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Well, I thought Hon Akomea was urging that it be done quickly; he did not say no attempts had been made. So it takes us back to the point and it is just an urging that we all help so that it is quickly done.
Hon Akomea, I think now your time is finished; I would give you five minutes to wind up. [Interruptions.] We need to close at a certain hour; if you are quick, you would get a lot in five minutes.
Nana Akomea 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, when you announced the five minutes -- all this shouting, one minute is gone.
But Madam Speaker, the President also said to us that he is developing an atmosphere where criticism is tolerated and criticism is not seen as enemy action. Madam Speaker, he goes on to say that he is even pleased, that even members of the NDC feel free to criticize their own Government. But Madam Speaker, the evidence on the ground is much more stranger than what the President says.
Madam Speaker, we were all here when Spio Garbrah criticized the Government; what happened to him? He was set upon by Mr Ahwoi and Koku Anyidoho; he was described as having a fake PhD; he was described as somebody who would never be a Minister. Madam Speaker, we were
here when the Hon Member for Lower Manya, Mr Teye Nyaunu made some little criticism about the Government; he was immediately set upon by Nii Lamptey Vanderpuye.
Even the Hon Member for Nadowli West, Mr Alban Bagbin made a little criticism; he was immediately set upon by the Minister for Information. Madam Speaker, the list goes on. It looks like -- And Madam Speaker, if you look at the words that the NDC members used on NDC members because of criticism, words like “team B”; “fake PhD”; “greedy bastards”; “who born dog”; -- [Laughter.] Madam Speaker, even words like “cockroach” and “dogs” and “twitch” and “sycophants” have all been used. Madam Speaker, this is not criticism which is meant to engender good governance; this is civil war. [Laughter.]
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Was he not entitled to his opinion?
Nana Akomea 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the President said a lot about agriculture. He said that he has introduced a Buffer Stock Management Agency, the Youth in Agriculture Programme and also an Agricultural Development and Investment Fund. All of those things are good, Madam Speaker, but these things are not new.
How do they gel with the agenda for change? Because Madam Speaker, as we speak, our agriculture in this country is still dominated by peasant production; it is still rain-fed; it is still based on the hoe and the cutlass and it is still characterized by price crashes after harvest and the poor farmers lose and so the youth feel discouraged and they migrate to the cities.
This has been the way our food agriculture has been since Don Diego d'Azambuja in the 1400s. So where is the agenda for change as far as agriculture is concerned?
Madam Speaker, the President spoke about employment and he said that employment is very dear to his heart. He acknowledged that there are large numbers of unemployed people on the streets and that young people leave senior high school with no practical qualifications and there are also thousands of jobless university graduates.
He said also that the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) has been a response to the youth employment problem in the last three years or so. But Madam Speaker, the President says he has been elected on the agenda for change. How has it manifested in the employment situation? Madam Speaker, people employed under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have been replaced with other people. Is that creating employment? Madam Speaker -- [An Hon Member -- rose --] Oh, but I have not mentioned your name; sit down --
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
The Hon Member is
almost finished; why do we not allow him to -- Hon Member, you have about one minute. Kindly wind up. Let him wind up and then we move on; it is already 12 o'clock.
Nana Akomea 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the President also mentioned that he has instructed Ministers to prepare blueprints on how to mainstream employment in their sectoral plans. Madam Speaker, I would like to inform you that since December, 2008, we have had in this country a National Employment Policy and an action plan, copy of which I hold in my hands. In this plan, it talks about how to mainstream employment in the national development agenda. One and a half years down the line, this blueprint
has been neglected and Ministers are now being asked to prepare blueprints.
Madam Speaker, let me conclude according to your direction, and I would like to conclude on the economy.
Mr James K. Avedzi 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker --
Nana Akomea 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker -- But he has not been called --.
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Yes, is it a point of order?
Mr Avedzi 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the Hon Member -- [Interruptions] -- made a statement that the President said he -- [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Are you sitting on the correct side of the House? [Laughter.] [The Hon Member moved to the Majority side.]
Mr Avedzi 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, the Hon Member said the President said he did not promise that he would put money in the pockets of Ghanaians and he posed a question -- “what then did the President say?” Madam Speaker, I just want to tell him that the President was very clear, that good environment would be created for people to make money into their pockets.
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Hon Member, you have less than a minute; kindly finish.
Nana Akomea 12:05 p.m.
You are very generous Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon Member, your time is now up.
Nana Akomea 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I am just winding up --
Madam Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon Member, your
last sentence.
Nana Akomea 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I would wind up by bringing to your notice the level of prices since January, 2009.
Madam Speaker, as we speak, a tin of milk from 65 pesewas is now 100 pesewas; an olonka of gari, from GH¢1.20, is now GH¢2. An olonka of rice from GH¢3.50, is now GH¢4.50p. Madam Speaker, exercise book, note 1, from GH¢1.50, it is now GH¢3.50. Madam Speaker,
chalewote, from 60 pesewas, it is now GH¢1.20. Madam Speaker, a chamber and a hall room at Bubiashie, GH¢20, it is now --
Madam Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon Akomea, your time is up. Hon Akomea, one last sentence.
Nana Akomea 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, to conclude, a chamber and a hall at Bubiashie, from GH¢20 it is now GH¢40 and one single room at Bubiashie from GH¢10, it is now GH¢ 25. So Madam Speaker, what is the state of the nation?
President Rawlings, the former boss of the President. He says that if you want to know the state of the nation, go and sit in the trotros and listen to the people. That is the real state of the nation. And of these Ministers, my Hon Good Friends, please, go and sit in the trotros and listen to what the people are saying. Instead of listening to good advice, they are heckling me. Look at that man, Hon so and so -- Look at him.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much.
Madam Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Thank you, Hon Akomea.
There are two more Hon Members to contribute. We have Hon Opare-Ansah and Hon Majority Leader.
Please, you have 15 minutes each.
Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah (NPP -- Suhum) 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, my understanding had been that I have 20 minutes but I would try to squeeze it down.
Madam Speaker, I rise to support the motion that this Honourable House thanks His Excellency the President for the Message on the State of the Nation, which he delivered to this Honourable House on Thursday, 25th February, 2010 and as was indicated by the Hon Member who
seconded the motion, I do this only for the fact that the President has duly fulfilled his obligations under articles 67 and 34(2) of the 1992 Constitution but not necessarily for the substance of the Address which has been the subject of debate over the last 13 days inside and outside of Parliament.
Madam Speaker, it has been argued during this debate that the presence of the President in this Chamber is only in fulfilment of article 67. Indeed, it has even been stretched beyond reasonable imagination that the requirements of article 34(2) can be presented in the form of a written report to this House. Madam Speaker, to those who make this argument, we wish to indicate that we in the Minority are awaiting the day the President would submit such a report to this House. But in the meantime, we would continue to subject his messages on the state of the nation to scrutiny, bearing in our minds, the provision of article 34 (2).
Madam Speaker, the objective of the State of the Nation Address as pertains in article 67 is unambiguous and with your permission, I will quote for emphasis:
“The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the state of the nation.”
Madam Speaker, this is clearly different from the provisions of article 179 which provides for the presentation of the Budget Statement. It is, therefore, worrying to us when the President decided to take refuge in the fact that the Budget Statement had early on been presented before Parliament.
Madam Speaker, the framers of the 1992 Constitution were very well aware that the Budget Statement would be
presented to Parliamen, at least, one month before the end of the financial year. They must therefore have anticipated that the two messages would be distinctively different in content and even in structure.
Madam Speaker, as we can all be seen to be fair to His Excellency the President, we have decided in our debate on his message, to use the yardstick that he himself provided and that is to measure him by job creation, investing in people, expansion in infrastructure and providing an open and honest Government.
Madam Speaker, we welcome His Excellency's invitation to be partners as captured in the title of his Address. However, as he himself said, and I quote:
“Nobody has a monopoly of vision and wisdom and we will take honest criticism in good faith.”
We would like to say that from where we and the majority of Ghanaians stand, the state of the nation is worse. Madam Speaker, we arrived at this conclusion by examining critically what the President meant when he referred to the current times as “these times of great uncertainty”.
Madam Speaker, how do you juxtapose the statement the President had made early on that “the state of the nation is good”, only for him to proceed a few paragraphs down the line to say that these are times of great uncertainty and indeed, if you read carefully, you would realize that he was then not speaking from the written speech, he was speaking from what he felt within.
He was speaking extempore and that was when he told us that these are times of great uncertainty. Madam Speaker, we must be reading between the lines -- what is not written in the speech but what came out of the heart of the President.
Madam Speaker, a lot of blame has been
Madam Speaker 12:05 p.m.
You do not know who Nana Akufo-Addo is?
Mr Opare-Ansah 12:15 p.m.
It is on that note that I would urge him and his Ministers for Finance and Economic Planning to be candid with Ghanaians about their approach to financial management -- [Interruption.] I said “in the spirit of Proverbs 6:6; go and listen to Nana Akufo- Addo”, and he said:
“If the economy is broke, fix it.”
That was why you were elected into office. [Hear! Hear!] Madam Speaker, I am calling on the Government to be candid with Ghanaians about their approach to financial management.
Madam Speaker, whereas the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Administration believed that the nation could capitalize on its goodwill to attract the much needed development -- and those same infrastructural projects that would be built out of that capital could then, in future, pay for themselves while the citizenry pursue their various vocation in relative comfort -- the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the other hand, has decided to resort to the imposition of heavy taxes.
Madam Speaker, while the total relative increase in the volumes of revenue due
to these taxes is almost insignificant, it brings untold hardships to many people, especially those in the lower income bracket of the society. Madam Speaker, consider the case of the trotro driver who plies his trade between Weija and Kasoa; this poor driver used to buy petrol at GH¢3.60 pre-NDC Government days.
Today, after the removal of taxes and levies and after drastic reduction in petrol prices, he now buys petrol at GH¢5.20. [Some Hon Members: Oh!] Madam Speaker, if this poor driver uses five gallons of petrol a day and works 28 days a month, this would represent a direct increase of GH¢224.00 per month in the cost of this driver doing his business.
Madam Speaker, if this same trotro driver does five return trips between Weija and Kasoa a day, in a month, he will currently have to pay GH¢280.00 in tolls as opposed to the GH¢22.40 that he used to pay before the legislation, which according to the NDC Manifesto, on various taxes and tariff measures designed to provide relief for Ghanaians were prepared and presented to Parliament by the Government.
Madam Speaker, I hope that as members of the Executive go round this country inaugurating projects, they bear in mind and remind themselves that those same projects that they are happily inaugurating were mostly funded from sources which contributed to the deficit that they are daily complaining about. We should not mislead the public into thinking that deficit-financing is necessarily a bad thing.
Madam Speaker, on employment, the least said about it, the better. After almost 14 months in office, His Excellency now tells, and I quote:
“Ministers are required by the middle of the year to produce sector
Majority Leader (Mr. Cletus Apul Avoka) 12:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I want to join my Colleagues in supporting the motion on the floor, that is to thank His Excellency the President for delivering the State of
the Nation Address to Ghanaians through Parliament.
Madam Speaker, I commend His Excellency the President for delivering what I will describe as a very matured Address. Madam Speaker, the language was civil and devoid of antagonism, acrimony, rancour and bitterness and homeboyism. It was a very civil language and I commend him highly for that.
In the same vein, Madam Speaker, I commend my Colleagues for the comportment and decorum we exhibited on that day during the course of the delivery. Madam Speaker, that day, the attitude -- the comportment we exhibited has given us a lot of respect and has demonstrated that we are role models in this country. It is my prayer that this spirit will permeate the proceedings of this House at all material time. Madam Speaker, I also want to commend you for being part of this healthy development in the House during the Address.
Madam Speaker, kindly permit me to start my contribution by making some few preliminary observations and my first observation is this, that the State of the Nation Address is based on article 67 of the l992 Constitution and not on article 34 (2) as some of our Colleagues would want us to believe. Madam Speaker, article 67 states and I quote:
“The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the state of the nation.”
That is what the President came under. It is different from article 34 (2) which says and I quote:
“The President shall report to
Parliament at least once a year all the steps taken to ensure the realization of the policy objectives contained in this Chapter; …”
That is a limited objective, that he should come and indicate to this House what he has done with reference to the provisions of Chapter 6 -- So it has a limited objective. So even though issues raised under article 67 will find their way under some of the provisions under article 34 (2), the President is coming under article 67 and not under article 34 (2).
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:15 p.m.
Madam

Madam Speaker, what we are saying is that, to the extent that the President is not going to come to this House on two occasions, his appearing in this House under article 67 as he has rightly alluded to, necessarily, should capture what he is supposed to do under article 34 (2) and that is what they have been doing throughout the Fourth Republic. So we drew the attention that, yes, he comes under article 67 but he should be mindful of the contents of article 34 (2) to the extent that he is not going to come back to this House again.

Madam Speaker, that is the import of the statement that we have made.
Mr Avoka 12:35 p.m.
Madam Speaker, my Colleague on the other side is belabouring the point. Article 67 encompasses the provision of article 34(2), which says:
“… and, in particular, the realization of basic human rights, a healthy economy, the right to work, the right to good health care and the right to education.”
Madam Speaker, the other example one can give to buttress this point is this 12:35 p.m.
In the sports field, I recall that the Black Satellites were not given a dog's chance to play in the finals against Brazil. We lost a player in the 35th or 38th minute, so we played the match including extra time for 90 minutes, 10 men against 11 men from Brazil, yet, we were able to win the match. Because these young men, these young lads, these young Ghanaians had
faith in themselves, they had trust and confidence in themselves, they were able to achieve what many people, including the book makers did not give them chance to achieve. So it is important for us to have this at the back of our minds.
Secondly, we sent a makeshift team to the African Cup of Nations in Angola. Nobody gave us a dog's chance even to go through the preliminary or the group stage, yet, Madam Speaker, we were able to go to the finals and we lost narrowly to Egypt. This tells you that as a people, if we are committed to, if we are prepared to sacrifice and die a little for the country, we will achieve our objective as a nation.
Finally, on this point, Madam Speaker will recall the economic situation that engulfed the whole world -- the meltdown like the President referred to it. We were met with challenges. No wonder, and during an election year, Government's expenditure goes high, so at the time that we took the reigns of government in January 2009, as the President indicated, we had huge deficits. We had arrears to pay for Road Fund, arrears for GETFund, arrears for District Assemblies Common Fund, et cetera. We have been able to manage that successfully and we are moving ahead as a people.

Madam Speaker, let me go to the issue of food and food security for the country, His Excellency referred to in the State of the Nation Address. Agriculture -- His Excellency the President indicated at

page 7 of the Address, the Government's commitment to ensure the provision of good quality food to feed the population and I think that this is welcome news.

It is my humble opinion that if Ghanaians are able to get food at affordable prices and good quality food too, the antagonism we have in the country, the despondency that we have in the country, would be a thing of the past and the Government of NDC is committed to ensuring that food is available and it is affordable to the masses of this country and we shall do so within the mandate that has been given to us.

The Government has introduced the following measures: establishment of a Buffer Stock Management Agency and it will purchase food during the harvesting period, stores same and when there is hunger, it would release the food to the market at affordable prices. This is a very good policy.

By this, there will be ready market for farmers so that there will be incentive to farm. Many of the farmers have been having difficulties in producing because they say there is no market and if you take the production of tomatoes and onions, particularly in the North, sometimes you have no market and it is a challenge to them and a disincentive.

I think that if we are able to create security food stocks and if we are able to provide ready market, then there will be abundance of food in the country for us to feed our population.

Madam Speaker, I recall that on or about 2007, a tomato farmer committed suicide because he had produced and there was no market, there was a glut, and that is a disincentive to farming in the country and I am confident that with the measures that the President addressed, they will go a long way to address this problem and to cure it.

I will also want to appeal to Government

against this backdrop, to provide simple farmhouse agro-processing equipment and machinery so that we can process some of these perishable commodities at farmhouses and we can store them for about two, three, four months so that when the market is good, they can resell.

We should be able to improve the variety of seeds and subsidise farm inputs -- fertiliser and the chemicals. We should be able to de-silt dams and to provide mechanised farming to take care of the long, dry season span. The NDC Government would be in government forever, I know, if we are able to address these concerns that I am talking about.

Madam Speaker, let me briefly address the issue of housing. One issue that settled my mind was the President's directive to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to use part of the District Assemblies Common Fund to provide accommodation for the workers or for the people living in those areas.

Madam Speaker will recall, that on several occasions on the floor of this House, I had the opportunity to appeal to my Hon Colleagues to try to persuade their District Assemblies to be able to provide accommodation for their security personnel -- Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service, et cetera -- and I am very happy that it is no more an appeal but it is now a directive by His Excellency the President. Madam Speaker, I submit that --
Madam Speaker 12:35 p.m.
20 minutes is about --
Mr Avoka 12:35 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I submit that if the District Assemblies Common Fund is used judiciously, we would be able to achieve this objective of providing
low cost houses for the people of the area.
I, however, have the following suggestions to make: I suggest that the numerous deductions of the District Assemblies Common Fund at the national level, at the Ministry's level, should come to an end. If we are able to stop these deductions and the moneys holistically go to the District Assemblies, they would be able to provide housing as the President has directed.
Secondly, we should also revise the cost of putting up buildings in the districts and standardise them. We should have model building plans so that the plans in one district can be similar to another district and we should have a reasonable cost of inputs. At the moment, some of the building costs are so high that it is a disincentive and I know that if we are able to monitor and supervise effectively, it will reduce the cost of building in the country.
We should also improve on our culture of maintenance, otherwise, the exercise will be an exercise in futility. We might build many of them but they will go to waste if we do not have a culture of maintaining them.
I am happy to inform my Hon Colleagues, Madam Speaker, that the 2010 Budget has made provision to complete all abandoned projects for the security services in the various districts and regions of the country. I will appeal to Hon Colleagues to monitor this to ensure that while budgetary allocations have been made to complete uncompleted projects, they are actually done.
Madam Speaker, let me go to good governance and the issue of ROPAA --
Madam Speaker 12:35 p.m.
You have about five more minutes.
Mr Avoka 12:35 p.m.
Oh, how?
Madam Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Your twenty is off.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
He spoke for 20 minutes, I spoke for 10 minutes -- Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, the Nat ional Democratic Congress (NDC) as a party and now as a Government did not and has not opposed ROPAA in principle. We were only concerned about the hasty manner in which the law was being passed. We were concerned that election matters are very delicate, election matters have led to crisis, have led to collapse of countries and governments, and we are saying that there should be adequate stakeholder consultation to address all the issues before ROPAB was passed and not that we hate ROPAA.
Indeed, I want to draw the attention of Hon Members of this House that the NDC Government loves Ghanaians in the diaspora, those Ghanaians outside the country, such that in 1996, we amended the Constitution to allow for dual citizenship and other areas. That is a healthy mark. So the NDC as a Government or as a party, does not oppose ROPAA, but we did not want the manner in which it was done.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:45 p.m.
On a point of order. Madam Speaker, my Hon Colleague is misleading this House in respect of the response of the NDC to the ROPAA. Today, they are saying that they were rather uncomfortable with the processes of fashioning the Bill.
Madam Speaker, nothing can be further from the truth because immediately after the Bill was introduced into this House -- at the time the then Chief Whip and Majority Leader, my goodself and the then Minority Leader had travelled outside -- we were negotiating for the
Parliamentary, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to travel outside to engage our citizens. There and then, they held a press conference denouncing the Bill. Today, they turn round saying that they were against the process.
Please, come clean with Ghanaians and
stop misleading this House.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, this is not a point of order. This is a statement he has made.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, because this is a statement of fact, I believe Ghanaians do not have short memories. Madam Speaker, the person who addressed that press conference on behalf of the NDC is here with us in the House; let him tell us the import of the press conference.
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Members, I am not going to go that far.
Hon Member, your time is running out. We have to call on the Hon Member who moved the motion too for his inputs before we put the Question, and it is getting to 1.00 o'clock.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, you see the unwarranted interjections that my Hon Colleague is making.
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Honourable let us get on, please. You have five minutes.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I am making the point -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I take a strong exception to the use of “unwarranted interjection”.
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Leader, nothing is “unwarranted” here.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Well , I wi thdraw “unwarranted” and say it was “most unfortunate”.
Madam Speaker, I am making the
point that when you rush and make a law without an adequate and proper con- sultation, you find it difficult to implement that law and that had been the fate of the ROPAA. That has been the fate of that law that, there are more questions to answer as far as this law is concerned than seeks to solve the problem. That is what I am talking about.
Madam Speaker, the President also
referred to the Constitutional Review Committee that he has put in place. We appreciate that but I want to caution that the 1992 Constitution is one of the best Constitutions that this country has had. It is the longest surviving Constitution. The 1957 Constitution lasted only three years, the 1960 Constitution lasted only six years; and then the 1969 and the 1979 Constitutions lasted 27 months each. This Constitution has lasted 18 years.
I think that I want to commend the Committee of experts and the Consultative Assembly that drew the Constitution.
Fortunately, I was one of them.
Madam Speaker, I pray that very soon, the Leadership of this House under your leadership will be able to make some proposals to the Constitutional Commission, so that they can address some of the concerns that we the practitioners of the Constitution have developed --
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Member, wind up.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I
Mr Dery 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise under
serious misstatement when the Majority Leader and Leader of the House says that “ . . .and creating an office for the Members of Parliament; he has not created an office at all. And I am concerned because I have my office at my constituency and I do not want my constituents to think that office was created by the President. It is a serious misrepresentation. It was just a statement of intent and we hope that this time, as he said, he is more serious than before. He has not created any office yet.
Mr Avoka 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, my
position is that, it is a very good policy and it will go a long way to help Hon Members of Parliament and I am saying that the MP used to be the centre of development, the pivot of development but with the introduction of the 1992 Constitution, this has been taken away from the MPs.
But many of our constituents and Ghanaians do not appreciate this. They
still think that the MP must be a symbol of development. So when the President talks about instituting the Constituency Development Fund, I think it is in the right direction and we should support it.
Madam Speaker, let me now conclude
by talking about security. It is very critical for our purposes in this country.
Madam Speaker, as far as security is concerned, so far, much better.
Madam Speaker, on or about 2009, when the NDC took over the reigns of government, this country was engulfed by armed robbery and virtually overwhelmed by narcotics.
Madam Speaker will recall the period before 2009 when filling stations, forex bureau and other financial institutions used to close their businesses around 6 p.m. for fear of armed robbery. Everyday, every night, we had about 10 or 20 houses being attacked in the residential areas through armed robbery. Everyday, every other week, we had highway armed robbery.
Madam Speaker, this led to even members of the European Union inviting me to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in my capacity as the Minister for the Interior -- the Lebanese Community, indeed, Ghanaians living in the diaspora had petitioned His Excellency the President to do something about minimizing the incidents of armed robbery in the country.
We took the bull by the horns. We adopted various strategies, we adopted proactive and innovated strategies: we brought about intelligence gathering; we created reward systems for informants; we adopted tent city systems where there were no police stations; we created camps, we introduced patrols day and night, et cetera. And we have minimized the incidents of armed robbery in the country.
Mr Dery 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, on a point of order. Madam Speaker, while acknowledging an improvement in the security, we should be careful not to mislead the country. The Hon Majority Leader, probably, because of his background as the former Minister for the Interior, is rather overflogging the horse and giving the impression that before 2009, nothing had been done. [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker, the past Government had been fighting armed robbery, and it was under the previous Government that people were convicted and sentenced through due process and I also want to remind us that Ataa Ayi, one of the most notorious armed robbers was arrested during the NPP regime.
Madam Speaker, we should be careful not to behave as if nothing happened before 2009 and that everything started happening -- Madam Speaker, we should correct the impression. As for the armed robbery, they are still continuing. Even in my area, one occured two days ago. Madam Speaker, I want the records corrected.
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Member, I do not think he was comparing it to the other regime. I thought he was narrating what they have been able to do. I did not think he was denigrating the effort of the other
Mr Dery 12:55 p.m.
But Madam Speaker, he said they were acting professionally last year, suggesting that before then the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service did not act professionally. Madam Speaker, that is unacceptable and he should correct it.
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Member, your time is now up. It is one o'clock and your time is up.
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I have statistics from the Ghana Police Service just to show that so far, so much better. I know we still have security challenges; I know that the previous Government fought on these lines. But I am talking about the results. I am not comparing them; I am just giving the situation as it is.
Madam Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt, let me update my Hon Colleagues with this information. There are some of the areas which we have done well, there are some of the areas which we are not improving at all and we should, as a country, accept these facts so that we can do better. Madam Speaker, for example, if you take --
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much. I will not touch on that.
Madam Speaker, on the issue of drug menace that afflicted this country, it came to the extent that the international community even described Ghana as a “Cocaine Coast” and no more “Gold Coast.” [Interruptions.] Madam Speaker, at an international conference -- this is the document, I have the document --
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Leader, your time is up.
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, at an international conference held in Cape Verde in 2008, the international community commented on how the drug menace was threatening the countries in West Africa and they said, to the extent that Ghana that used to have the accolade of Gold Coast was now “Cocaine Coast”. [Uproar.] They said it at an international conference and not me. Madam Speaker, as a result of that, we have fought as a country and the image of Ghana at the international level now is very, very high. [Hear! Hear!] For the past twelve months, the image of Ghana has been very, very high --
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Leader, conclude.
Mr Dery 12:55 p.m.
None

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu -- rose
-- 12:55 p.m.
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, let me conclude by saying that I thank my Hon Colleagues as I said earlier, and I pray that we would try to implement the policies that the President has enumerated in the State of the Nation Address.
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
The Hon Member
has sat down.
Mr Dery 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I think that these are very serious allegations. Madam Speaker, I was privileged as Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice to be privy to efforts that were made at the time. I was part of meetings with the American Embassy then and I went to Vienna to attend a meeting, and there was -- Madam Speaker, there were other countries in West Africa which were considered to have more serious problems than Ghana.
Madam Speaker, I will want that
document to be laid; what is the authenticity of that document? He cannot make such sweeping remarks. Madam Speaker, these are very serious allegations and I think that as it is coming from the Leader of the House, he should lay the paper and let us see the nature of the paper that he has got.
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Leader, were you quoting from a paper?
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I have not castigated any government; I am talking about an opinion held about Ghana at a certain point in time, and I am saying, as a country --[Interruption.]
Some Hon Members 12:55 p.m.
Lay it.
Mr Avoka 12:55 p.m.
I should lay it for what? Show me the authority for that. Madam Speaker, I have the document, why should I lay it? I cannot give it to them. This is the document and I have it. Madam Speaker, I am stating a fact -- [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Order! Order! He has a document that he is relying on.
Mr Dery 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, this is a serious allegation. The Leader of the House is making reference, so let him lay the paper so that we can deal with it.
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Hon Leader, can I have a look at the document? [Inter- ruptions.] Order! Order!
Hon Dery, would you want to see it? He said he was quoting from a document which he has. Would you want to see it?

Hon Dery, he has a document which he quoted from, what Order permits the laying of such a document? I thought he had it to show you?
Prof. Michael A. Oquaye 1:05 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, if in any serious discourse, a person makes an allegation and especially when -- [Interruption.] This House will not be a House of noise --[Interruptions.] A person makes an allegation and relies on a document which he flouts in the face of all. Madam Speaker, whether it is a court of law or a discourse at an arbitration or any serious counsel, that person must make that document on which he relies available -- [Interruptions] Madam Speaker, if that were not so, anybody could come here, talk about cocaine, talk about drugs, talk about anything like he is saying.
Madam Speaker, if that were to be allowed in this Honourable House, we would have done the most dishonourable act, and he who alleges must establish. Particularly when you say you are relying on a document, you cannot privately take that document away and be taken very seriously. Otherwise, this will be very disreputable for this Honourable House.
I thank you, Madam Speaker. Just make it available. And if I may
add, he is not on a campaign platform in this Honourable House --
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes, Hon Members, can I now rule on this matter? Yes, and that is why I asked the Hon Majority Leader to show me the document; I could have referred to the title and the author and even if you wanted a copy, would you have got it?
Hon Member, can I see the document? Can you give it to him? We do not need to lay it, he should show it to him because he is querying it.
Hon Dery, he says he has the document -- [Interruptions] Clerk , can you show the document to the Hon Member?
Mr Dery 1:05 p.m.
Yes, that is the way I can
have access.
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes, that was what I said.
Mr Avoka 1:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I yield and respect your opinion on the matter -- or your ruling. But precedent is precedent. An Hon Colleague quoted extensor from the Wall Street Journal. There were these statements and demands -- [Interruptions] -- it was not laid -- [Uproar.] My Hon Friend also did it; nothing happened. Madam Speaker, for the record purposes, this is the title of the document, I will hand it over to you to be given to them.
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
The title is?
Mr Avoka 1:05 p.m.
This is the title of the
document for the record:
“UNODC Warns of NARCO -- Trafficking Threat to Security in West Africa”.
It is dated 24th October, 2008. And let me read the first paragraph:
“Vienna, 28 th October -- (UN Information Service. -- At a high - level conference on drug trafficking as a security threat to West Africa in Praia, Cape Verde, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa warned that ‘West Africa is at the risk of becoming an epicenter for drug trafficking and the crime and corruption associated with it.”
Then paragraph 4:
“Time is running out”, warned Mr Costa. “The threat is spreading
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Order!
rose
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes, Hon Oquaye.
Prof. Oquaye 1:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I am obliged to put on record that the Hon Member for Effia-Kwesimintsim (Mr Baidoe-Ansah), the reference he made yesterday, was duly laid upon my instructions and the Clerks will verify that. I did the right thing for the record and it was duly laid. The Hon Majority Leader must not mislead this House.
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
No, Hon Prof. Oquaye, that was why I asked, “under what Order it was laid?” so I could have looked at it and also -- because I was not here yesterday. Under which Order was it laid?
Mr E. K. D. Adjaho 1:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, there is no Order dealing specifically with the matter, so you are absolutely right. There is no Order. But the practice is that when you quote from a document and your Colleagues want to look at it or to check the authenticity of it, you are referring to, you make it available to them. But not the technical laying, it is not laid. So you are absolutely right that there is no Order dealing with that matter -- [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Order! Hon Member, we will give you the document. Will you not be satisfied with the document being given to you?
Mr Dery 1:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, you see, what the Majority Leader has said, was talking about declaring Ghana now a Cocaine Coast as a result of a conference -- [Interruptions] -- And Madam
Speaker, the conference was at Cape Verde. Madam Speaker, what he has read to us is an individual person's rendition -- [Interruptions.] It is quite different. Madam Speaker, it says “West Africa”. What he has read is on West Africa.

Yes! Madam Speaker, even before he tended the document, I did indicate before this august House that I was privileged to attend a conference in Vienna on the drugs matter. But he has said he is referring to the specific case of Ghana -- [Interruption] Yes! So Madam Speaker, can I have a copy? Is it in reference to Ghana or West Africa? That is all -- [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes, Order! Order please.
Yes Minority Leader, anything to help us along?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I agree with the First Deputy Speaker when he says that there are no clear provisions in the Standing Orders indicating the manner in which a paper, as under discussion, may be laid in this House. There is no clear provision when such occurs in the course of a debate. But Madam Speaker, clearly, as he alluded to, as per Order 74 --
“A Paper may be presented to the House only by Mr. Speaker, the Chairman of a Committee, a
Member or a Minister.”
Madam Speaker, and how is the paper presented? Standing Order 75(3) says 1:15 p.m.
“Every Paper presented to the House shall be recorded as so presented in the Votes and Proceedings of the Sitting at which it is presented.”
Madam Speaker, if the Paper is not presented on the Table but is imported and exported to another person through whatever means, how can it be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings? Madam Speaker, it can only be deemed to have been presented to this House if it is laid on the Table and that is what is captured in Order 75(3).
Madam Speaker, so that is the practice of this House. It is not the Paper being smuggled to the Chair by the person making the allegation.
In any event, Madam Speaker, the
point that was articulated by the Hon Majority Leader was the conclusion of a conference in South Africa. [Uproar.] He himself said so. He is nodding his head profusely and saying, no. [An Hon Member: Cape Verde.] Madam Speaker, he said “Cape Verde” but he said “South Africa”. [Uproar.] Yes, but let us even decouple him from South Africa
He was saying that it was a conference decision or conclusion in Cape Verde. It turns out that the paper that he presented is somebody's opinion expressed in a document from Vienna. The two are different. And Madam Speaker, if we heard him correctly, it was to West Africa in a generic term. And clearly -- [Uproar] -- Madam Speaker, anybody who has any understanding of what the Hon Majority Leader read, would not conclude that it refers specifically to Ghana.
Madam Speaker, we would need the
paper to be laid. That is the proper thing to do. And if anybody has to come by way of challenge, then it could be done.
Madam Speaker 1:15 p.m.
The whole effort in
getting to the time is gone.
Mr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo 1:15 p.m.
Madam
Speaker, I make reference to the same Orders 74 and 75.
A Paper (Paper in capital “P” does not represent a reference being made in the course of the presentation of a paper or a presentation that is made to this House. That reference made to that Paper does not represent a paper. A Paper symbolically does not just mean a paper like this. [Shows a paper.] It represents a whole presentation to Parliament. Madam Speaker, and laying of the Paper means that it is presented to the House for future discussions and perhaps, a position will be taken on it.
Madam Speaker, on Order 75 --
[Interruptions]-- it is so curious that the harmless presentation made by the Hon Majority Leader in reference to a situation that gave a bad impression about this whole nation, and a change from that situation to a positive one, is raising a lot of emotions and sensibilities in our Friends at the opposite side
I think that this is about Ghana; it is not about them at all. It is about Ghana and it is about a transition -- a migration from a state of non-respect in our fight against
drugs to a situation of respect in our fight against drugs. And we should all be happy.
They should not imagine that it is an attack on them. And if they do imagine so, Madam Speaker, we are forced to think that there is something wrong. But for us, we do not think there is anything wrong, and that they must concede and accept it as a situation that we all have interest in, not just them.
So Madam Speaker, I believe very
strongly that this is not the situation we should take a very strong opinion on. The matter refers to the Gold Coast and we all know Gold Coast represents Ghana. They talk about West Africa and they talk about Gold Coast, now turned into “Cocaine Coast” and it is a sad spectacle, a sad spectacle to behold that we can be referred to as such.
Madam Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Leaders, you knew at the beginning that I had an appointment with the Constitutional Review Committee -- very urgent. They have been waiting for more than an hour. I cannot continue even though I want to put the Question myself. So, either we adjourn this particular matter to tomorrow and then carry on if we say so or -- Because I also need to meet those people for the benefit of this House --
Unless if I give my ruling now, we can finish the matter and then -- Otherwise, I do not think it will be fair for the Speaker to keep the Constitutional Review Committee, whom I have agreed to meet waiting.
Mr Avoka 1:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I just want to put in perspective, that the contribution I made, right from the word go till that point, is harmonious. I did not intend to indict any individual or government in this country. -- [Inter-ruptions.]
Madam Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Let us listen to him.
Mr Avoka 1:15 p.m.
I just tried to explain by being privy to the fact that I was the Hon Minister for the Interior and these matters came before me and they were hurting the country as a whole. When we leave this country, they do not know who is ‘A' or ‘B', who is this government or who belongs to this party, they do not know. I am just informing us about the state of Ghana or how people perceive the state of Ghana to be. And I am saying that happily, we are emerging from that negative image. That is all.
I do not know why we are splitting hairs over it. I do not know. I did not accuse any government. I did not accuse any individual. We all know that it is foreigners who are overwhelming the country with drugs. We have a collective responsibility to fight the drug menace and we must work as a team.
So, should I gloss over it and pretend that everything is fine when that was a negative image of the country? With the greatest respect, I would be the last fellow to split hairs in this forum. I need everybody.
Against that background, Madam Speaker, I know you told us about the programme we have this afternoon. We should wind up this debate because we have so many things to do and then take a decision rather than come back tomorrow to wind up the debate and the rest of them. I pray -- And I know my Hon Colleagues on the other side understand what I am saying --
Madam Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Dery, I think
Mr Dery 1:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I am
flattered. Madam Speaker, I would just ask the Hon Majority Leader, since we have not seen the paper, to withdraw his reference to the paper and then we take the vote -- [Interruptions] -- I have not got it. I have not seen it. Withdraw the reference to the paper or we see it. I have not seen
the paper. So withdraw it and that is it.
Mr Avoka 1:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, you have
a copy and you can make it available to my Hon Colleague.
Madam Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Member,
let us strike a middle line. He said that withdraw that you had the paper, we go on and that is the end of the matter. Because they are referring to a second paper, so it is easier. Let us have cordiality at the end of the day. Withdraw that reference to the paper, let us finish this, please.
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, either I do not understand you or I do not appreciate the line of action we are taking. My Hon Colleagues requested that they want to see the document and I have made it available to the Clerks to make it available to them --
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
They said you have
referred to two different papers.
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.
Are we withdrawing the contents or we are withdrawing the paper physically? Because -- [Inter-ruptions.] -- The content is a fact; I cannot withdraw the content. [Inter-ruptions.] No! No! --
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, let me brief you. The objection that was raised by Hon Dery was that you referred to a certain document and then went on to another document, and they are saying that bring the two documents but you have only one document. And he is saying that let us talk about the matter without documents and we finish the matter today or we debate it till tomorrow. And I would think that it is in our interest to finish the work of this House on time.
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I made
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.


the point without referring to a paper, but they insisted on the source and this is why I read it out --
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
They say withdraw the paper.
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.
I should withdraw the paper?
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Yes.
Mr Avoka 1:25 p.m.
But the contents are available -- have been known. Madam Speaker, I withdraw the paper, but I stand by my words. I stand by the facts there, but I withdraw the paper.
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Thank you, Hon Majority Leader. [Interruptions.]
[Some Hon Members: -- rose --] Madam Speaker,
No, I am not hearing any other person. Please, can you sit down? The paper has been withdrawn, peace has been restored.
Hon Azumah, if you want to reply, the motion was yours, you have five minutes before I put the Question.
Mr Dominic A. Azumah 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, thank you so much. I am sure the debate is so lively, that is why.
Madam Speaker, I just want to thank my Hon Colleagues for the useful contributions, the criticisms they have put forward to enrich the Address.
Madam Speaker, they raised a number of issues and I believe His Excellency will put an ear to them and be able to capture those that will fit in to his vision and mission to be able to develop this country.
Madam Speaker, it was very lively, very useful, very constructive and I want to thank everybody for all the pieces of information they have put during the course of this debate.
On that note, Madam Speaker, I thank you so much.
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Thank you, Hon Azumah.
Hon Members, this has been a very lively and quality debate. I thank you very much.
We have come to the conclusion of the debate. Hon Members, what is left for me now, is to put the Question to you.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved: That this Honourable House thanks HIs Excellency the President for the message on the State of the Nation.
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Hon Members, the motion is accordingly adopted. I shall in accordance with Standing Order 52(a) formally convey the decision of this Honourable House to His Excellency the President.
Thank you, Hon Members.
Hon Leader, are you going on with the --
Mr Cletus A. Avoka 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, in view of our other commitments this afternoon, I pray that you may use your discretion and then adjourn the House.
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Hon Leader, I did not quite hear you.
Mr Cletus A. Avoka 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to move that the proceedings of the House be brought to an end until tomorrow at 10.00 o'clock in the forenoon.
Madam Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, do you second the motion?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I will, with the due alacrity
second the motion, knowing very well that if I do not second it for adjournment, the Majority Leader, by the innovation that he is introducing into this House by clapping -- [Laughter] -- would on his own bring proceedings to an end, and I do not want to engage him and indulge him in that. So Madam Speaker, with haste, I want to second this motion for adjournment.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 1:25 p.m.