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Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Wenesday, 14 July, 2010.
Page 1 ... 6 -

Mr Speaker, on page 6, item number 4 (16) - “Owusu-Bio, Benito”. Mr Speaker, the Hon Member was in the House yesterday. It seems to me that he has been marked absent and I believe that it is a wrong thing.
If my memory serves me right, I think Hon Amadu B, Sorogho (Alhaji) was also here. So we may have to look at that one also.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Very well.

Mr James K. Avedzi

Mr Speaker, on the same page, item 4 (7) - “Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah”, she was also present yesterday.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Table Office to take note.

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu

Mr Speaker, on the same page, item 4 (2) - “Ahi, Sampson”. Yesterday the House's

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu

attention was drawn to the fact that he was absent with permission and I think the permission runs through till now.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Very well. The Table Office to check up whether he got the permission officially from Madam Speaker.
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Very well.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Members, item 5 on the Order Paper.
Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Avoka

Mr Speaker, may I also
humbly urge Hon Members who have ideas on the grey areas that we are concerned about, to appear before the Committee and assist them so that they can bring a Report that takes on board the concerns of all Hon Members. Once we have the opportunity to revisit the Committee's Report and the Agreement, I am urging all Hon Members who have concerns to put them before the domain of the Committee so that they can look at them well.

Dr A. A. Osei

Mr Speaker, I just need
your guidance. Yesterday, you directed that two Agreements be made available to us.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

That still
stands.

Dr A. A. Osei

Yes, am I to assume
that at the appropriate time, those two would be laid?

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Absolutely.
Hon Members, thank you very much.
Hon Majority Leader, are you ready for Item number 7?

Mr Avoka

Mr Speaker, we will take item number 7.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon
Members, the background noise is too much.

Mr Avoka

Mr Speaker, we can
take item number 7, that the Education (Amendment) Bill, 2010 now be read a Second time.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to submit the Report of the Select Committee on Education on the Education (Amendment) Bill, 2010.
1.0 Introduction
Pursuant to articles 103 and 106 (4) of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 125 and 186 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, the Education (Amendment) Bill was referred to the Committee on Education on 25th June, 2010 for consideration and

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

report in accordance with Order 126 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

2.0 Deliberations

The Committee in considering the Bill first held a Stakeholders' Forum on the 2nd of July, 2010 to seek views on the proposed Act. The Committee also benefited from written memoranda and research work carried out by some individuals and groups, notably among them was the Anamuah-Mensah Committee's Report on the Review of Education Reforms in Ghana 2002.

The Committee is grateful to all stakeholders and personnel from the Ministry of Justice for providing the necessary information that assisted the Committee in taking a decision on the Bill.

3.0 References

In considering the Bill, the Committee made reference to the fol lowing documents:

i. The Education Act, 2008 (Act

778)

ii. Education (Amendment) Bill

iii. The background notes by the Ministry of Education

iv. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;

v. The Standing Orders of Parliament;

vi. Report of the President's Commission on Review of Education Reforms in Ghana (October 2002), (Anamuah- Mensah Committee's Report);

v i i . R e p o r t o f

the National Education Reform Implementation Com- mittee (NERIC), October 2007

viii . National Forum on the Duration of the Senior High School Programme in Ghana (May 27- 28, 2009);

ix. Presentations by Stakeholders

4.0 Background Information

The initial increase in the duration of second cycle education from three years to four years was to use the additional year as a remedial period for under- performance, poor quality of education and lack of proper foundation at the junior high school (JHS) level. It was also to enable programmes to be selected at the SHS formerly done at the junior high school level.

The Bill made changes based on the recommendations by the Minister and approved by Cabinet for the retention of the three year system. A consideration was the quality of education at the basic level which has a direct bearing on the quality at the SHS level. The mainstreaming of the two years of kindergarten as an integral part of basic education, coupled with improved facilities at the basic level, will have a positive effect on the quality of education at the SHS level.

The content of the senior high school curriculum was considered to be over- loaded for a three-year programme, hence the addition of another year. This is no longer justified since recommendations for improvement have been implemented.

One improvement is a reduction in the content of the senior high school curriculum to make the programme more manageable. There has also been significant improvement in the performance of students since the

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

and
Inadequate prepared junior high school (JHS) leavers.

However, the duration of SHS was not mentioned as a problem affecting the performance of students.

i i . The Government , in the accompanying memorandum, has outlined a number of initiatives targeted at solving these key issues to improve the education sector and hence the performance of students. The memorandum further states that the content of the SHS curriculum which was considered to be overloaded has been reduced as recommended.

i i i Also , the guidance and counselling services at JHS level have been strengthened and there has been a significant improvement in the performance of students since then.

iv The task of expanding facilities at the SHS level to take care of the fourth year is rather compounding the existing situation. Indeed, no major research on education has identified the length of stay in school as a factor for poor performance of students in Ghana. Research rather stresses the lack of a solid foundation

Prof. Dominic Fobih (NPP - Assin South)

Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Motion on the floor and to say that the amendment is premature, untimely and harmful to many students with weak academic backgrounds, especially from deprived rural schools.
I am saying so because the Presidential Commission on Education's Report, on which the issue of three-year or four-year argument is based, was made contingent upon certain conditions which needed to be satisfied and these conditions are clearly spelt out as the provision of infrastructure, human and material resources and several others.
The condition that if these needs or if these deficiencies are satisfied, then
there was no need to increase the duration. And then added that Government should provide the human and material resources to all senior high schools, so that no senior high school is disadvantaged.
Of course, knowing very well that there are many, many rural schools, sometimes without teachers, or sometimes we have just one or two teachers teaching primary or junior high school levels. But then you find that the basis of the amendment is futuristic, it is expectational in the sense that the main streaming of kindergarten (KG) is used something that is of a recent origin.
Even though there were KGs in the past, but these were informal and were not publicly supported. It is just quite recently that they have been made part of the public system and therefore, are attracting public funds for improvement. And almost everybody would agree with me that not much infrastructure has even been put in place yet. Not many provisions have been provided in the schools to promote teaching and learning at that level. Therefore, to expect that when even the first cohort are yet in Primary 1 (P1), that it is making the needed impact and have fulfilled the conditions that were set by the Commission and therefore, we should revert to a three-year programme, is really, really uncalled for, untimely and premature.
We also find that certain conditions have been mentioned by the Hon Minister, and those conditions having been provided, therefore, merits the change. These are efforts being made by stakeholders to provide human and material resources, measures being taken to address teacher capacity and teacher distribution. Then infrastructure and equipment issues are being taken care of; being addressed.
These are expectational efforts and have not started yielding results yet despite the modest performance of the previous government - the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government. Therefore, to base our argument now on this, when we know that we have not satisfied the main issue that the Commission recommended, that is the three year duration, is then to pre- empt what was expected and therefore it is premature and as I have said, untimely.
Mr Speaker, I think if we revert to the three-year duration, many of our junior high school students, as well as even presently, the senior high school students would be disadvantaged and we would infringe upon the condition that was set by the Commission. The reasons are these - that many resources are still not in place; we have many of our students at the junior high school failing their examinations and this is about 48 per cent cent (48%) of about 360 students who take the ho take the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), failing or dropping out. And if you have a system that about 52 per cent are only making it, especially at the first terminal point where you either leave for life or you continue, then there is a serious problem with the system that needs serious attention.
We also have about 40 per cent of even those who pass with aggregate 30 going to secondary schools and this is considered to be an over-burden on the present Government and therefore, it is suggested in your Committee's Report by the Majority that because of that the 60 per cent that is left uncared for and unable to further their education or even prepare well for life, should be ignored. I think this is suicidal and would create a social menace if we throw such people into the streets without adequate preparation.
I cannot really understand why the Majority should advocate for the retention of the 3-year, when in fact, 60 per cent of these junior high school students lack basic academic skills and basic literacy skills. Some of them cannot even write their names well, and we know this is real. Some of them cannot even speak basic English; some of them are very weak in mathematics.
We know that the results of an international educational body like the International Association for Educational Assessment, when they did a comparative assessment test in 43 countries including Ghana in 2003, among JHS students, Ghana came last. When the same test was repeated in 2007 with 56 countries including Ghana, again, the same result occurred - Ghana came last.

Prof. Fobih

Mr Speaker, when we know that from all analysis made, the failure of the JHS pupils and their weak backgrounds to senior high schools is due to their weakness in their core subjects. And that they need to be given consolidation because some of them have not had good tuition. This is because of absence of sufficient qualified teachers at this level, hence the sufficient foundation textbooks have been prepared to cater for them during the first two years of the four-year programme. And the syllabus has been reviewed to take good care of them so that they are prepared well to take on their elective subjects and pass well.
An amount of US$98.5 has been spent to publish these textbooks which have been sent to the schools. Now, we are saying all these taxpayers' money should be wasted, should be set aside and then

and insert “not less than three years.”

The Chairman's responses to this is on column 2253. I therefore, quote:

Mr Speaker, I am
just saying that Ghanaian students, just like their counterparts in Nigeria or in The Gambia or in the Sierra Leone, would

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, on a point of order. Mr Speaker, I thought that the issue being raised by the Hon Minister for Communications, this House has gone past that. But now that he is talking about consistency and he cites profusely in his argument what obtains in Nigeria.
Mr Speaker, we do know that after the three years of high school education in Nigeria, they spend one year to do what they call Joint Admission Matriculation Board Examination (JAMB) -- [Interruptions.] Mr Speaker, is he saying that consistent with what obtains in Nigeria, we should also spend one year to do the JAMB examination? He is talking about consistency.

Mr Joe K. Gidisu

Mr Speaker, the
Hon Minority Leader has gone out of the way. Nigeria, just like most other countries all over the world, have 6-3-3-4 year programmes and this was what obtained all over the world. It is 6-3-3-4. That is the situation which obtains in Nigeria as well as what we have had before those black- out years between 2001 and 2008.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr

Mr Speaker, in the United States of America, it is not like that. And Mr Speaker, he is saying that I should take the United States of America away; he is now saying that I should take the United States of America away. Which “world”

was he talking about?

Mr Speaker, in respect of Nigeria, I am not disputing the fact that officially it is 6-3-3-4; I am not disputing that fact. I am only saying that further to the second 3, they have to do JAMB examination. And Mr Speaker, he has not disputed that. So what was the point in his intervention?

Mr Gershon K. B. Gbediame

Mr Speaker, those of us who had the opportunity of teaching in Nigeria -[Interruptions] - were the people who started the new system and the JAMB examination used to be written when they were operating the Odinary Level and Advanced Level systems. So with the new system, there is no JAMB examination.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon
Minister for Communications, you have the floor.

Mr H. Iddrisu

Mr Speaker, I am happy that the Hon Minority Leader has been reminded that he is seen to be living in the past -- Laughter ] -- when it comes to reforms affecting education in Nigeria. And it is also important for him to know that JAMB is an examination; it was an examination which was undertaken. I am referring to number of years of formal training in the classroom, which builds up the person at the basic education level.
But Mr Speaker, may I proceed? Mr Speaker, in the previous Administration, in 2002, the then President of the Republic commisioned the Anamuah-Mensah Committee under the reference, “Meeting the Challenges of Education in the 21st Century”, which subsequently submitted its report and to which Government issued the White Paper in October, 2004. I have a copy here.
Mr Speaker, if you look at the
Anamoah-Mensah Committee's Report, particularly in paragraph 3 (1) (22)
- “Recommendations”, and with your indulgence, I quote -
“Having critically examined the arguments for and against the extension of the Senior Secondary School programme to 4 years the Committee strongly recommends
. . .”
“Strongly recommends”, Mr Speaker, that is my emphasis.
“. . . the retention of the current 3-year programme in order to alleviate the attendant problems and cost involved in the extension for parents and government.”
Mr Speaker, therefore, the subsequent White Paper which was issued, I concede, makes far-reaching recommendations to address some of the imbalances to which some other contributors have availed themselves of, that there exists wide disparities in the provision of quality education between rural and urban Ghana and between so-called privileged and under-privileged institutions. Mr Speaker, perfectly within it.
But Mr Speaker, I have with me
another analysis shared by Prof. Jerome Djangmah and I want this to be the basis of my contribution to this debate, which must convince all of us that to save cost for government, for parents and for the people, it is only appropriate that we maintain four-year high school.
Mr Speaker, subsequent to the White Paper of 2007, the previous Government pledged that it would make adequate budgetary provision in the 2008 Budget to fix some of these problems for a speedy implementation of the very recommendations of Anamuah-Mensah Committee. But Mr Speaker, by the end of last year, not much had been done to prepare our educational institutions for the

Prof. Fobih

Mr Speaker, I rise on
a point of order. The Hon Minister is misleading this House. The infrastructure that are being built now were started by the New Patriotic Party NPP Government - [Uproar.] They should tell us which ones they have started - all the infrastructure going on now. So why is he saying -- When in the 2009 Budget Statement, item 633, they acknowledged that in that year alone the NPP Government built 627 infrastructure - school buildings --

Mr H. Iddrisu

Mr Speaker, the good Professor only reinforces my argument that not much -- I did not say that nothing was done; I said, “not much for a smooth take-off and a smooth implementation of the four-year programme”. Because Mr Speaker, at the end of 2009, the students were looking for an additional infrastructure which ought to have been made available for them to transit from year three to year four. That was not provided and that is now being considered. Initiative, I agree with.
Mr Speaker, I was quoting Professor Djangmah and with your indulgence, I do. He says that --
“ Our problem now is how to achieve higher standards for the majority of schools and students who attend poorer Senior High Schools and largely products of the poorer public basic schools. These are the children for whom the four- year SHS was intended.”

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker, that comment is out of place. Mr Speaker, we are talking about an amendment now; amendment to - [Interruptions] - amendment to an Act that was passed in 2008. Mr Speaker, it is precisely because of my experience that I need to enlighten some of them. [Hear! Hear!] --

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon
Member, the use of the expression that you are enlightening other Hon Members is unparliamentary.

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker, I would replace that word - to try and walk people like my Hon Friend, through certain motions which have gone on in the Ghana Education Service.
Mr Speaker, I am referring to the 1994 Report by Prof. De Heer-Amissah in which a strong recommendation was made then to have the duration increased to four years. That was not accepted.

Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh

Mr Speaker, the Professor said something; I want to correct him. He was talking about experience. If it is experience, then I think we began the three years long before he came in and that is why we are saying that we have seen the challenges. So they should allow us to continue to implement the good things so that we win -- [Interruptions.]

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker, again, because of my long stay in the Ministry and the association I have had with education, I think it is my responsibility to throw some light on some of these developments in the industry and that is precisely what I am trying to do.
Now, Mr Speaker, we keep referring to Anamuah -Mensah's Report and if we look at the Executive Summary, which is the same as in the main Report - 311 - on duration of SSS. Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would read:
“A lot of public concern expressed
during the regional tour and oral presentations made to the Committee indicated that a number of people wanted an extension of senior secondary education to four years. The Committee has discussed these at length and noted that factors accounting for the low achievement at the SSS are multi- faceted.
Some of these are:
lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities;
poor infrastructure facilities;
lack of well-motivated and committed teachers;
absence of proper guidance and counselling services,
p o o r m a n a g e m e n t a n d supervision;
inadequately prepared JSS leavers; and
a b s e n c e o f p e r f o r m a n c e standards for each subject.”
Mr Speaker, these are the conditions. Are we being told that these conditions have been met for us to continue? Mr Speaker, it is very critical that we examine these conditions. The argument is that if these have not been met, then it is important that we take Prof. Anamuah- Mensah's comment on the duration in the right context, “do these things so that we can continue with the three year programme.” We have not done them.

Alhaj i Mohammed-Mubarak

Muntaka: On a point of order. Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague opposite is misleading this House. He read a section of the Report and it is only fair that he reads to the end of that paragraph. This is because Mr Speaker, when he mentioned that this is how it continued. [Interruptions.] Mr Speaker, this is how it continued. Mr Speaker, it is here, this is how they concluded: “that if these deficiencies are addressed, there will be no need to increase the duration”. That is what they said. So why did he not read that? - [Interruptions.]

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Members, order!

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker,

Mr Inusah A. B. Fuseini

Mr Speaker,
thank you very much for the opportunity. I thought the good old Professor who was the Director-General of Ghana Education Service and former Minister for Education and now Member of Parliament will move away from the argument. Actually, he is deeply aware of the recommendations of the Committee having considered all the factors that he read; and if he has forgotten, let me remind him. They said:
“Having critically examined the arguments for and against the extension of the senior secondary school programme to four years, the Committee strongly recommends the retention of the current three- year programme in order to alleviate the attendant problems and cost involved in the extension for parents and government.”
Mr Speaker, I am quite aware that the former Minster for Education looked at this

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker,
that from my very good Friend is highly speculative -- clearly. The final recommendation from Government was fully discussed at Cabinet. He cannot sit here to declare that I also argued against the three-year programme. In fact, the four-year programme came into being after the following -- and I am ready to give him reasons the President and Cabinet opted for the four-year programme.
Mr Speaker, prior to 2002, when Prof.
Anamuah-Mensah and others presented their report, some basic research had not been done in terms of analysing most of the data. Mr Speaker, from 2006 to 2008, there was enough data and there was considerable analysis for all of us to be told in clear terms about the performance of students in senior high schools.
This is again from the work of Prof. Djangmah, Prof. Addae-Mensah and others. In 2006, Mr Speaker, if you take the 20 per cent of the schools that took the examination, 75.7 per cent qualified for the universities and tertiary institutions. We are talking about those that obtained 24 or better. In 2007, this figure came to 76 per cent and in 2008, it dropped to 71.8 per cent.

Mr Fuseini

On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I am quite interested in the argument of the former Minister for Education and he is grossly misleading this House. As a former Minister, I know he is quite aware that successes at examination are not a function of the number of years that one stays in school but the function of the studies that one does in school. Does he know that? -

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon
Member, continue.

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker,
I take this exercise rather seriously. This is because looking at the data -- the point I am going to make is that even looking at the performance of only 20 per cent, we have 14 per cent qualifying with aggregate 24 and you and I know that for most of our universities, 24 will not get one entrance. Mr Speaker, again, if you look at 2007, we had 13 per cent of the lot and for 2008, close to 17 per cent.
Mr Speaker, what this shows is that a large number of our institutions are simply not being able to produce material that will get into our tertiary institutions. You and I, all of us here struggled very hard to get our wards into these top 20 per cent schools. Somebody should tell me I am lying.
Pressure is put on the Minister for Education, Ghana Education Service to get our kids into these schools but we are representing the people. Hon Colleagues are representing the people and if the bulk of the institutions are unable to produce material that should get us into the tertiary institutions, then we have a problem.
That is the problem that ought to be addressed, given the facts and based on Prof. Anamuah-Mensah's Report that most of these conditions have not been met. If we meet them there would not be any problem.

Mr Speaker,
this point is very important that if we have over 500 secondary institutions and only 20 per cent are producing the number of students that could get into our tertiary institutions, then it is cause for worry and that is the point being made by Prof. Djangmah and Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah including Prof. D. K. Agyemang that “look, this number is incredibly low, let us find ways of improving the schools”.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon
Prempeh, I thought you will take the advice of the Hon Member for Sekondi.

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi

Mr Speaker,
so the point being made is not that the duration cannot be decreased to three years, no. The point being made is that most of these institutions, for lack of all the facilities that have been mentioned, are simply unable to produce the material that we expect to move on and hence we need a period of stabilisation. We need a period when all these things would be improved so that we can improve the lot of most of the kids. Asking for a four-year period also means that we have to take a look at the university level.
Mr Speaker, we know that our universities run four-year programmes. The intention of doing the four-year programmes originally was also to enable us prepare the material in such a way that we would then reduce the number of years we spend in our tertiary institutions. Mr Speaker, the cost of preparing a student at the university level is 30 times the cost at the senior high school level. People have been talking about cost to the parent.
Mr Speaker, I find the argument rather weak. A parent whose child is unable to gain admission into a tertiary institution is forced to spend money to run remedial classes for the child to maintain the child in the home. If this period had been spent at school, the burden on the parent would have been lower and therefore, this cost element to parents is neither here nor there. They are spending more and some of them write about three times before they improve on their grade.
So Mr Speaker, the argument that we are going to spend more if we add that additional year to the current system does not hold. Parents are spending more even now. All those in the last 80 per cent of our schools have their parents spending money to run remedial schools.
Mr Speaker, we are looking at the future of our future generations. Getting
them proper education, quality education is the key to their future. I think that by altering this duration, we would be causing considerable damage to the success of the pupils. I would urge us, in the interim, to stay with the four-year period as we look at the various recommendations by the Committee. We are going to take time to put all these in place. But in the meantime, I suggest strongly that we stay with the four-year period.
I thank you very much.

Mr Theophilus T. Chaie (NDC - Ablekuma Central)

Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the debate on the floor of the House and I urge Hon Colleagues here present to actually support the Motion on the floor.
Mr Speaker, Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi did indicate that out of about 505 secondary schools that we have in this country only 20 per cent produce students for our universities. I want to pose a question that all of us over here, which one of us will allow his or her ward to be placed in a school like Namon Senior Secondary School?

Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu

Mr Chaie

Mr Speaker, the reasons
are very, very simple. These schools that I have mentioned do not have the infrastructure.

Mr Speaker, the problem of our education -

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Members, I think we have had enough, so please, we have to - at least, the first two people who spoke from both sides devoted a lot of time to this debate. We have a lot of things on the Order Paper. As far as this debate is concerned, the battle lines have been drawn. So Hon Members, I have taken the mood of the House into account.
Hon Member, conclude.

Mr Chaie

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, this is what the Government has done and is still doing. At the basic level, we realize that about 50 to 60 per cent of the students who normally do not qualify for the SHS

Hon

Very well. If you insist on two, I will give you five minutes each, exactly five minutes, not more than five minutes. Hon Members, I will take the two from both sides but only five minutes --

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon K.T.
Hammond, your name is not on the list; they have not submitted your name.

Ms Beatrice B. Boateng (NPP - New Juaben South)

Mr Fuseini

On a point of order. Mr
Speaker, just for the Hon Member to take on board. Indeed, we have considered that the four-year programme will start in three months' time. Indeed, contracts have been awarded for the construction of schools to house them. Indeed, we are aware, the Government is aware, that the snowball effect of increasing the educational system to four years will be made more manifest this year and next year, so she can be rest assured -

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, that is not a point of order.

Ms Boateng

Thank you very much,

Mr Speaker, is the funding commitment that I am talking about.
Mr Speaker, to wind up, I want to drive home the point and to remind the House that we are not limiting ourselves to the duration. As part of the Amendment Bill, we are saying that there is the need for more serious attention to be given to technical, vocational, business and agriculture education or apprenticeship training of not less than one year. This is to take care of those marginalised groups that we are talking about.
Mr Speaker, we have demonstrated, this Government has demonstrated through this by revamping some major technical schools in this country. So, I want to say that there is the need for us to give this amendment the needed support so that at the end of the day, we would be

supporting a worthy cause which would improve the quality of education in the country.

With these comments, I want to urge Hon Colleagues to support the Motion.

Prof. (Emeritus) Samuel K. Amoako (NPP - Akim Abuakwa North)

Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the debate on this amendment on the Education Bill.
Mr Speaker, when this Committee met on the amendment, we started our discussion based on the memorandum submitted by the Minister for Education. And in passing my comment, I commended the Hon Minister for Education for his memorandum. I commended him because he was very frank and tacit in the memorandum he submitted. He said in paragraph 3 of page 1, and I beg to quote:
“The mainstreaming of the two years of kindergarten as an integral part of basic education, coupled with improved facilities at the basic level, will be a positive effect ….”
Not that they are a positive effect.
Secondly, in paragraph 5, he said:
“Serious efforts are being made…”
Not that they have been made. Again, on page 2, in paragraph 3, he said primary and senior school level teachers will be strengthened and are being strengthened with the provision of qualified teachers.

On a point of order. Mr
Speaker, my good Friend and Brother just showed us a piece of paper and said “This is the White Paper”. It is a piece of paper; it is not the White Paper. He should have said “extracts”.

Motion number 9 at page 23.
Hon Members, at this stage, I would let the Hon Second Deputy Speaker take
the Chair.
1.57 p.m. -- [MR SECOND DEPUTY

Thank you, Mr
Speaker and I thank you for your ruling. Mr Speaker, I do not want to comment on the dress again because you have given a ruling --

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, you are not in a position to make any such comment on that matter, otherwise, you will be compelling me to make a ruling.

Mr G. K. Arthur

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the trespassing of these Ramsar sites has so many effects on the society. One, they block water ways and as more people move to these Ramsar sites, deposits, that is, wastes which they deposit also block these water ways. So, in times of rain and natural disasters, the effects on the society and the people are very, very high as what happened just recently where lives were lost.
With these few words, Mr Speaker, I support the motion.
Question proposed.

Mr David Oppon-Kusi (NPP - Ofoase- Ayirebi)

Mr Speaker, before I make the contribution, I would want to reiterate some points made early on, on how this House should treat the reports of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Speaker, most of our sittings are in public and they do generate a lot of excitement from the media and the public. But what we do is to only bring our reports to the plenary here. The realisation is that after all the excitements generated there, when we come here, the report are carried out as business as usual and they do not generate the kind of interest that is expected to be generated because this is sensitive and it is on public accounts.
So, it is my hope that this House will, like an Hon Member did suggest the last time, set aside special days when we will consider the reports of the Public Accounts Committee, so that we can bring to bear on the debate here all the importance that we attach to the Public Accounts Committee's reports.
Mr Speaker, on the issue of the Ramsar
sites, I find it sad that this country has a rather poor approach to the management of its most important assets, which are natural resources-- land and other resources in and below the land. Mr Speaker, Ramsar sites are not something strange. It is only an adoption by the United Nations that certain wetlands are of national or international importance.
But quite apart from that, we do know that wetlands, big or small in this country are of national importance. And even without the intervention of the United Nations, we as a country should find ways to properly manage our natural resources. If it does happen that until a funding agency comes in and when that funding agency leaves, we do not continue to do what somebody has proposed, we do to our own natural resources, it is a sad day.
Mr Speaker, quite apart from the ones we know, Weija and the other popular ones, there are a lot of wetlands here that are being mismanaged to the extent that even in our villages, the preferred dumping sites for refuse are wetlands. Back in the old days, wetlands in our villages and towns were the direct responsibility of the chiefs because we knew that they were very, very important, even far more important than dry land.
The wetlands are the transition between dry land and our natural water reserves. They form an ecosystem which is very important to our continuing survival as a people. We do not need somebody to come out and bring us money before we do realise that we need to manage our wetlands properly.
Today, when you go to the Weija wetlands, just behind the Mallam Market, it is an eyesore. Again, the rate at which people are rushing just to fill wetlands so that they can build, is unprecedented. I think the time has come, Mr Speaker, when this Parliament must impress upon the Executive, to have a special body to
take care of our wetlands because if you put them together, they form almost a quarter of our natural resource base in this country.
So, to allow the WD, which apart from the wetlands, has also the mandate to look at our forests and then our other wildlife, is to belittle the problem facing us. The fact really is that, there is very little attention paid to that aspect of their work. WD is more interested in the forest resources and the wildlife resources and they pay very little attention to wetlands. Otherwise, I cannot see a situation where even District Assemblies have chosen to use wetlands as their dumping ground for refuse. I think this country must wake up.
When you travel round the country, you can only be sad about the sort of things you see and then cry for generations yet unborn. What are we leaving for them? It is about time we had stringent laws to make sure that nobody can dump in wetlands. People are building very close to rivers and water bodies and we all sit down, even including District Assemblies who have the responsibility to manage these resources.
Mr Speaker, I think we need to have a better forum or a higher forum to press this home, otherwise, the future of this country, the future of our modern generation is at risk. We are not paying enough attention to wetlands.
Mr Speaker, with this, I support the Motion.

Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources (Henry F. Kamel) (MP): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.

I would like to start by thanking the Public Accounts Committee, which is your committee for the good work that they have done. If one goes through the recommendations, one would realise that they have deliberated very extensively on

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Thank
you very much, Hon Member.
Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi
(NPP - Techiman North): Mr Speaker, I thank you. I wish I had been given the opportunity before the Hon Minister because I was going to touch on a few issues concerning wetlands and specifically those that have been labelled as Ramsar sites.
Mr Speaker, it is regrettable that when
issues of this nature come out in the House, we see a mere emptiness. When people are provided an opportunity to be educated on issues -- [Laughter] - they just disappear. I am sure, just as the Committee is pointing out the fact that about 90 per cent of them did not even know what a Ramsar site was, if we took a count in the House here, with due respect, even to the Speakers, many of us will claim ignorance of what we mean by Ramsar sites. That is regrettable because it is a major ecological issue.
Our wetlands are disappearing because wetlands by definition simply admit inflows from outline and very often they tend to be quite close to the oceans. One that comes to mind is the one just after Winneba Junction. There, there is a billboard indicating it but in other places, we do not have that. We are throwing the management, monitoring to our District Assemblies - there, you even have the higher level of ignorance. So leaving our Assemblies to take care of these, is actually doing nothing.
I will suggest as the Committee is saying that we try to empower the agency that is involved in monitoring of these sites, to do their job because in several places, these sites become tourist attractions. I am sure Prof. Baidu did educate Hon Members on the attraction to birds that are foreign, they move out in winter and try and locate themselves here and go back. Some of these species are quite rare and people do

follow them all the way from Europe into the tropics to find out precisely where they are, and they also give us an opportunity for serious research because when they come here, there is mating. We observe mating behaviour, sometimes if they are birds, we have the eggs and so on, over there. They are major sites for studies.

I think that in this country, we have not

been paying considerable attention to these sites and I hope that the recommendations of the Committee would be taken up seriously so that we preserve our wetlands, especially those that have been labelled as Ramsar sites. I hope that the Ministry would find a way of getting the WD to educate the general public on Ramsar sites and wetlands in general.

Mrs Gifty E. Kusi (NPP

None

Nsuaem): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the floor.

Mr Speaker, looking at page 7 of

the Committee's recommendations, the recommendations are well thought and enumerated but they are appealing to the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.

Mr Speaker, I am wondering the role that the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology plays in this. Because most of the time there are environmental issues involved and I just want to find out if the Ministry is liaising with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology to ensure that most of these places are safe and human beings living around these areas may not catch the diseases associated with wetlands that are not well kept.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that it is not enough to address the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources but I think the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology should be taken on board for these issues to be ironed out.

With this short intervention, I support

the Motion.

Mr Joseph Osei

None

Bekwai): Mr Speaker, Hon Members who have spoken are all lamenting the loss of our wetlands. But in my view, our lamentation is very typical. We never take legal steps to protect any of environmental sites, anything that relates to the environment. Either we make laws we do not implement or we do not make any at all.

Looking at the Report, shows that we declare certain areas as wetlands and we are appealing to people to respect them as such. But Mr Speaker, I think that is not enough. The areas we declare as wetlands are otherwise the property of some people. If we want them to remain as wetlands, then we must take the next step and acquire them properly as a country and then we can take legal steps to protect them.

But generally, as a country, we allow all kinds of encroachment at all levels. Proposed sites for State properties, even roads, metropolitan and urban roads are built upon. These lamentations are the same that we do all across.

I think it is time the Executive took steps, very serious steps in enforcing the laws of the land. I am always for brutal enforcement of the laws. That is the only way we can ensure a culture of voluntary obeisance to the laws of the land. Wetlands are very important, the zoologists and the others have talked about the importance to us as a country, but they will not be protected unless we take the legal steps and we are serious to implement the legal regime that protects them.

Mr Speaker, that is my contribution.

I thank you very much.

Minister for Lands and Natural Resources (Alhaji Collins Dauda) (MP)

Mr Speaker, first of all, I wish to thank my Hon Colleagues who have made contributions to this Motion, particularly with regard to how best we can manage our wetlands in the country.
Importantly, is the point made by the last Hon Member who contributed regarding land ownership and how these sites are acquired. What Government has done is to declare some sites, Ramsar sites under Legislative Instruments but no efforts have been made to acquire the sites and therefore, the landowners clearly would have a stake in the management of these sites.
So, if they decide to manage, help me in managing these sites other than what you propose, that creates a problem, and that is what has resulted in the number of encroachments on our Ramsar sites. The recent one that everybody in this House knows about, is the one at Sakumo, where some demolition exercises were carried out by the Tema Municipal Assembly, which raised a lot of public attention particularly in this House.
Because we have not acquired these sites, landowners particularly in the urban areas -- in Accra for instance, are beginning to sell out these lands and we are helpless in asking them not to do so.
The only thing we will do is probably, occasionally going out to carry out demolition exercises as we did in the Sakumo Ramsar Site.
I agree with him that maybe, we need to take one step forward by acquiring these sites and therefore having the capacity and the strength to be able to protect them than we have been doing over the years.
While I concede that we need to take that step, I still would want to say that the way to protect a natural resource is to go for the collaborative effort, that is, asking all stakeholders involved to participate in the management of such a resource. The Ramsar sites are not different from other resources. We need the collaboration of the landowners, the District Assemblies and the Ministry of
Environment, Science and Technology in protecting and managing these sites. If we do not get the collaboration of these stakeholders, the management of our wetlands would be very, very difficult for us, particularly in an area where there is much indiscipline in this country.
In view of the interest shown by Hon Members on this subject, I would crave your indulgence and come by way of a Statement to brief this House very well on how we propose to deal with these issues and take a lot of suggestions on board, that will help us provide a strategic plan of managing our wetlands in the country.
I thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr Speaker.

Mr Mathias K. Ntow (NDC - Aowin)

Thank you very much Mr Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to the Motion on the floor.
As somebody who was brought up in the forest area, you look round and become very, very much saddened by the fact that some Ghanaians do not see the importance of Ramsar sites, more specially with the forest reserves that we have in this country. I am glad the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources is also here. If you happen to be in my constituency in the Western Region, one will discover that a lot of the lands that were reserved some years ago are now being depleted completely.
So, I do not know what will happen to us in the near future because it is always said that when the last tree dies, the last man dies. And people are breaking the laws of this country with impunity. Excuse me, Mr Speaker, the so- called big men in this country are the brains behind the encroachment on these important sites in this country.
If you indeed, investigate, you will find that there is somebody who is in

Mr Mathias K. Ntow (NDC - Aowin)

government -- I am not talking of the NDC Government alone, previous governments, right from the time of independence to this time -- So, I think laws are made to be obeyed to ensure that good things in this country or natural resources in this country are protected.

I would like to suggest to this Honourable House that stringent measures should be taken against those who vehemently and knowingly encroach these sites that have been preserved over these years. Very soon, what will happen is that all these important sites, Ramsar sites and the forest reserves and those areas will no more be there, and where would we be heading towards?

Let me also used the opportunity to thank the Committee for that great work done and it is my firm belief that laws that are made to protect these sites would be reinforced to ensure that they are used to prevent people from further encroaching and destroying these Ramsar sites.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Hon Chairman, would you want to conclude?

Mr Kan-Dapaah

Mr Speaker, I just
want to thank Hon Members for the very, very useful contributions and interventions that they have made. I would also want to reiterate a point that was made by an Hon Member with regard to the importance of the Auditor-General's Report once they are presented to the House.
A major responsibility is placed on Parliament in the budget cycle. Mr Speaker, the budget cycle is in four phases. There is the drafting phase where the Executive puts together the Budget documents. Then there is the second phase which is the legislation phase when the budget estimates and the budget documents are approved by this House.
The third phase is the implementation where monies are released to the MDAs and other government institutions. The last phase is the auditing phase, where the Auditor-General reports that monies that were given to the MDAs have been properly accounted for and that beyond that there was value for money.
It is important that Parliament takes this oversight function very seriously and when it comes to discussing audit reports, the attendance can be better than what we have now.
This afternoon, we have had the pleasure of listening to the Report on Ramsar sites and our attention has been drawn to the importance of it. I hope that we will be able to go beyond the comments that have been made here and get the Government to act by giving sufficient funding to the agencies involved so that we can protect our wetlands.
Mr Speaker, I want to thank Hon Members who intervened and made very useful contributions.
Thank you.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Chairman.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
That this House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on the Management of Wetlands (Ramsar Sites) in Ghana.
Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Report of the Auditor-General on IT Mapping

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah)

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Report of the Auditor-General on IT Mapping Exercise at Key MDAs, MMDAs and Educational Institutions between October, 2006 and March 2007.
1.0 Introduction
The above Audit Report was laid in the House on Wednesday 2nd March, 2010 in accordance with article 184 of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
This Audit Report was referred to the Public Accounts Committee in accordance with Standing Order 165 for examination and report.
To consider this Report, the Committee met with the Acting Deputy Auditor- General, Mr. Richard Asiedu and a technical team from the Ghana Audit Service and report as follows: 2.0 References
The Committee referred to the following relevant documents:
1. The 1992 Constitution;
2. T h e S t a n d i n g O r d e r s o f the House;
3. National ICT Policy;
4. F inanc ia l Admin is t ra t ion Act, 2003;
5. F i n a n c i a l Administration Regulations, 2003; and
6. Audit Service Act, 2000.
3.0 Reason for the Audit
Section 11 (1) and (3) of the Audit Service Act, 2000 Act 584 (1) requires the Auditor-General to review computerized financial and accounting systems and approve the form in which these are kept.
Section 16 of the Audit Service Act states that the Auditor General may carry out in the public interest such special audits or reviews as he considers necessary.
In recent times, the Auditor-General has observed that many of its auditees are computerizing their accounting systems to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in their work. It is also to ensure timely preparation of their financial statements.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y, a n u m b e r o f organizations are computerizing without due regard to the laid- down provisions of the Financial Administration Regulations.
In line with his mandate, the Auditor- General conducted an IT census to:
determine the status of computer systems acquisition, installation and operation to ascertain whether existing policies are adequate and consistent with legislative framework and best international practices; and

use the outcome of the exercise to carry out audits to determine the integrity of the systems and for identification of risks of manipulation or illegal practices that compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availabil i ty of corporate data.

4.0 Summary of Audit Findings

The mapping exercise identified non- compliance with the Audit Service Act that requires the Auditor-General to be informed of new and/or changes to existing systems. None of the business critical systems in use by the selected organisations during the mapping exercise had been approved by the Auditor-General. Indeed, many of those interviewed stated that they were not aware of this requirement of the Audit Service Act.

The audit also found no evidence of proper implementation of the individual elements of the policy statements in practice. Many of those interviewed did not have documented IT policies and procedures that would facilitate implementation of the policy statements. Those who had documented policies were yet to implement them in practice. The policy statements mentioned are relevant to the operations of MDAs.

The exercise identified inadequate level of investment in IT infrastructure and showed the need for the organisations to improve their communication links, upgrade their office and back-office systems and enhance their networks. In some of the organisations visited, the hardware and software in use had exceeded their economic useful lives and were on the brink of breaking down. Versions of software in use by some of the organisations were no longer supported by vendors.

Additionally, many had not made arrangements to replace their obsolete equipment due to budgetary constraints. The norm has been to “use it until it breaks”. If the current trend continues, there is a risk that business critical systems may fail, leading to severe disruption of business critical activities in those organisations.

The exercise identified an urgent need

for the organisations to take prompt action in ensuring that only licensed software is installed on their computers. The practice has been for vendors to supply computers with unlicensed copies of Microsoft office software to public sector bodies.

The exercise further disclosed a general lack of proper arrangements for ensuring the continuity of business operations, should there be a failure of the IT systems or in the event of a disaster. Only 5 per cent of the organisations interviewed had proper business continuity/disaster recovery plans in place.

On a positive note, it was observed that environmental controls and controls for preventing damage or loss of equipment were generally satisfactory. Many had fire detection and suppression systems, air conditioners, uninterruptible power supply units for controlled shut down and stand-by generators. Again, virus protection software was generally in use. These were automatically updated from the vendors' websites.

5.0 Observations and Recommendations

The Deputy Auditor-General informed the Committee that this audit was a mapping exercise to gather information to ascertain whether MDAs were complying with Financial Administration Regulations with respect to accounting systems. The Regulations require that the Auditor- General should approve all accounting systems of the MDAs.

He said the Audit Service would be using the outcome of the audit to carry out future audits. The technical team from the Ghana Audit Service indicated that the survey covered 234 institutions including MDAs and educational institutions. The survey at Kumasi revealed that, only St. Louis High School, Kumasi, which was not part of this sample sought approval from the Auditor-General before it established its IT systems.

The audit exercise also highlighted a general lack of IT service management expertise and a lack of awareness of the benefits and savings that a structured approach to IT service management can bring. Many of the organisations did not have properly managed and well- structured IT departments.

It was observed that many of the IT departments were run by individuals who were consultants.

The Committee noted that there is the need for organisations to balance their craving for better and faster IT systems with their ability to manage such systems and the actual needs of the business. This is to ensure that organisations do not sink in huge sums of money into ICT when they cannot manage it.

There was evidence of procurement of IT systems which were not well - thought through and did not meet the needs of the business. There was also evidence of absence of a structured approach to IT deployment. Consequently, some of the IT systems were installed by consultants but not supported, while some were simply held in storage as there was neither a business case to support their procurement nor a clear policy on their deployment.

The Committee observed that a number

of these lapses are occurring because the IT systems are being implemented without recourse to the national ICT Policy.

Recommendations

The Committee recommends that all MDAs should liaise with the Ministry of Communications before setting up any IT systems in their various institutions to ensure that it reflects the National ICT Policy Statement.

Furthermore, all public institutions should seek approval from the Auditor- General before using or continue to use any computerised systems for their operations.

The Commit tee demands tha t institutions currently using IT systems for their operations consult with the Ministry of Communications and implement the findings of the Auditor-General. They should also submit a report of compliance to the Auditor-General within 60 days from the adoption of this Report. This is to ensure that what happened to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration is not repeated.

MDAs should create an ICT department or section fully headed by a director.

6.0 Conclusion

In this era of ICT, the Committee appreciates the need for institutions to opt for computerization of their systems including their accounting systems.

However, given the findings of the Auditor-General and the unfortunate event at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, there is the need for strict compliance to the laid down regulations.

The Committee, therefore, directs the Controller and Accountant General to inform all government institutions to seek approval for their IT systems from

the Auditor-General in line with Financial Administration Act. Furthermore, copies of the Auditor-General's Report as well as the Committee's Report should be circulated to every public institution.

The Committee also recommends to the Auditor-General to undertake sensitization programmes on the provisions of the Audit Service Act.

It is a matter of concern that the Ministry of Communications which is sufficiently resourced to direct the computerisation efforts of government institutions is not asserting itself and has allowed many government institutions to embark on fanciful and ill-planned computerisation projects. The Committee demands that the Ministry of Communications should be more proactive.

The Committee recommends to the House to adopt and approve this Report on the Report of the Auditor-General on the Information Technology Mapping Exercise at key MDAS, MMDAS and educational institutions between October 2006 & March 2007.

Respectfully submitted

Alhaji Seidu Amadu (NDC - Yapei/ Kusawgu)

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the Motion as ably presented by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Speaker, it is indeed true that for quite sometime now, ICT has been the most important topic that affects public policy all over the world. And for me, it is gratifying to note from the Report of the auditors that most of our MDAs and educational institutions are actually complying with Government's directive to ensure that all of them become not only ICT compliant but that they should move to streamline their activities to conform to international ICT policy.
Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, if you look at the Report of the auditors, there is still inadequate investment in the ICT infrastructure as it relates to the MDAs. But I think that the relevant Ministries should do well to provide adequate budgetary resources for them to be able to upgrade their systems.
Mr Speaker, the Report also indicates that most of the systems are not properly upgraded or they have not been upgraded, they are very, very obsolete and some of them are even out of manufacture. Therefore, if we continue to operate with obsolete equipment, it is going to affect the type of information that you are going to store or keep or operate on the computers that are installed.
Here again, I think that the Ministries would need to support the various MDAs with the necessary resources to be able to upgrade their systems so that they can conform to the modern systems that are in use everywhere.
Most of the software and the hardware that we have are very, very old and obsolete equipment and if we really want to take information retrieval, information keeping and whatever seriously, then we need to change or replace all these obsolete equipment so that we can have modern equipment to be able to do the job that we are supposed to do.
In recent times, there have been a lot of fire outbreaks, not only in our markets but in government offices and if we allow these things to continue, what is simply going to happen is that a lot of information that is supposed to be captured on these computer systems, is going to be lost. Therefore, there is a need for a back-up in such a way that in case the main systems are destroyed, at least, we would have some other alternative source that we can retrieve the information.
But here, the bottom line again, is the necessary investment in this sector and

Definitely, this goes to the very root of
our oversight responsibility, and that is why I posed these questions to the two Hon Members.
I would want to hear from the Majority Leader before we can close this aspect of the matter, so that we could have the appropriate recommendation and directive duly crafted by Leadership, with the appropriate consultation so that we avoid this obvious waste of public expenditure.

Mr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo

Mr Speaker, I am guided by the fact that this House does business with the recommendation and directive by the Executive that gives us the direction in which we want to move. It is also important that we sometimes, upon looking at issues, for example, on the Auditor-General's Report, presented by the Public Accounts Committee, it is important that for the sake of exercising our oversight responsibility, we make certain specific recommendations that would go to finalise our approach to oversight. To that extent, I know because I talk about directives from the Executive, it is not just directive but because we get Bills from them for us to work on and to that extent, we often deal with those ones.
Mr Speaker, it would then give us the
real functional duty of this House, if we are able to go beyond just reading a report and commenting on it, to making concrete recommendations as to what to do with the reports we get. To that extent, I think it is only proper that we do so, bearing in mind that we are doing it as legislators within the confines of our responsibility.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Thank
you very much.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Report of the Auditor-General on IT Mapping Exercise at key MDAs and MMDAs and Educational Insti tutions between October, 2006 and March,
2007.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

It is further directed that appropriate directive should be communicated to all MDAs, et cetera, to seek the approval of the Ministry of Communications before embarking on any of the purchases, et cetera, that relate to IT and IT related services.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Report of the Auditor- General on the Audit of the Information Technology Systems of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I present the Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
The above IT Audit Report was laid in the House on Wednesday, 2nd March, 2010 in accordance with article 184 of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
This Audit Report was referred to the Public Accounts Committee in accordance with Standing Order 165 for examination and report.
To consider this Report, the Committee met with the Deputy Minister for Communications, Hon. Gideon Quarcoo, Mr. Lawrence R. A. Satuh, the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs amd Regional Integration, the technical team from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the Ghana Audit Service and report as follows:
2.0 Reference
The Committee referred to the following relevant documents:
1. The 1992 Constitution;
2. T h e S t a n d i n g O r d e r s o f the House;
3. National ICT Policy;
4. Financial Administration Act;
5. F i n a n c i a l Administration Regulation
6. Audit Service Act, 2000.
3.0 Reason for the Audit
Section 11 (1) and (3) of the Audit Service Act, 2000, Act 584 (1) requires that the Auditor-General reviews computerized financial and accounting systems and approve the form in which these are kept.
Section 16 of the Audit Service Act also states that the Auditor General may carry out in the public interest such special audits or reviews as he considers necessary.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration(MFA's) vision is to ensure effective co-ordination between the Ministry and its overseas Missions on one hand and between the Ministry and other stakeholders to promote Ghana's interests abroad on the other hand.
In furtherance of this vision, MFA has acquired a number of computers and set up an Information Technology (IT) unit.
In line with his mandate, the Auditor-

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah)

General undertook an IT audit to:

review and appraise the controls and procedures operated by management to ensure that information is reliable and the continued integrity of the business critical systems are safeguarded;

assess the effectiveness of the overall management control over the IT functions of the organisation; and

provide a report highlighting a n y w e a k n e s s e s a n d m a k e recommendations for corrective action.

4.0 Summary of Audit Finding

The audit revealed that there was the absence of an IT Policy and Strategy approved by management . Th i s defect could lead to the acquisition or development of systems which would be incompatible with business needs of the institution or not conform to corporate objectives

There was also lack of proper controls over user access. Users were able to access any site on the internet and also download unauthorised software. This could lead to unauthorised and inappropriate access gained to the application of client data. This poses risk to confidentiality, integrity and availability of data

There were poor environmental controls. This would reduce the life- span of the assets, thereby increasing maintenance cost. There were no fire hydrants in place to check fire outbreak.

The Ministry did not have a Business Case and/or Functional Specification to

Alhaji Seidu Amadu (NDC - Yapei/ Kusawgu)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion as ably moved by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Speaker, I just wish to make some brief comments on two critical findings as stated by the auditors in the Report.
The first one has to do with poor environmental controls. Mr Speaker, when we talk of poor environmental controls, what do we really mean or what are we looking for? We are talking about installation of air-conditioners, we are talking about fire hydrants, we are talking about fire detection and suppression systems, uninterrupted power supply, stand-by generators, and valve protection software. These are the key things that constitute poor environmental controls and all these things most of them do not exist.
It is, indeed, true that the computers are very fragile and sensitive pieces of equipment and therefore, you cannot install a computer without creating the congenial atmosphere for that piece of equipment to function very, very well. I would therefore, want to call on MDAs that they should take into consideration a very close look at these environmental conditions when it comes to the installation of computers in their various offices.

Mr William O. Boafo (NPP - Akropong)

Mr Speaker, listening to the Report of the Committee, it appears that the Ministry of Communications, once they formulate the policies and give the directives, then that is the end. But I believe there should be a follow-up programme. If the Ministry of
Communications can take it upon itself to constitute a monitoring team to monitor the various Ministries whether or not they are actually implementing the decisions or the directives of the Ministry. That would go a long way to help.
With regard to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration , it is very sympathetic to note the fact that the fire outbreak had affected the IT system over there. This particular information having come to the notice of this august House, I would urge the Leadership to take some steps to see whether we can help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to upgrade their stock of the computers.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration is a very important Ministry as far as we are concerned. They have more contact with the outside world than any other office, apart from the Office of the President and it is necessary that we ensure that so far as the IT system in that Ministry is concerned, it is up to standard, so that they would not be found wanting when they are confronted with issues at the international level.
Mr Speaker, I also would like to commend the Committee for the thorough work that they have done so far as this Report is concerned.
With that I thank you for the opportunity.
Question put and Motion agreed to
Resolved accordingly.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Once more, as a House, we want to reiterate our earlier directive and definitely, this House, with its oversight responsibilities, would not sit aloof as public funds are lost by

fighting over turf and when appropriate Ministries will not co-operate so that we would have appropriate results - for example, with the help of the Ministry of Communications, we could have an appropriate backup for documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. And IT is a fast-growing area, we do not want obsolete equipment to be purchased just because Ministries are operating singularly without reference to the Ministry of Communications. So definitely, this would have to be appropriately sent as directives to the appropriate quarters.

Hon Majority Leader, the time does not require a Motion but just in case the Hon Leader has any indications.

Mr Cletus A. Avoka

Mr Speaker, given the numbers that we have in the Chamber and the amount of work we have done since 10.00 a.m., we also have winnowing to do in respect of the Economic and Organised Crime Bill, so I would rather pray that we take an adjournment till tomorrow at 10.00 o'clock in the forenoon.
Then at the same time, to humbly request those who have filed amendments in respect of the Economic and Organised Crime Bill, to come to my office at 4.00 o'clock for winnowing.
I thank you.

Debates of 15 Jul 2010

PRAYERS 10:25 a.m.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Mr James K. Avedzi 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 10:25 a.m.

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Prof. (Emeritus) Samuel K. Amoako 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Prof. (Emeritus) Amoako 10:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:25 a.m.

Prof . (Emeritus) Amoako 10:25 a.m.

Mr First DeputySpeaker 10:35 a.m.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:35 a.m.

PAPERS 10:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.

Mr Cletus A. Avoka 10:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.

MOTIONS 10:35 a.m.

Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr A. S. K. Bagbin) 10:35 a.m.

Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr A. S. K. Bagbin) 10:35 a.m.

Mr Cletus A. Avoka 10:35 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi) 10:45 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi) 10:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei 10:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Mr Ambrose P. Dery 10:55 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Mr Avoka 10:55 a.m.

Dr A. A. Osei 10:55 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Dr A. A. Osei 10:55 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Mr Avoka 10:55 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Mr Avoka 10:55 a.m.

BILLS -- SECOND READING 10:55 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa) 11:05 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa) 11:05 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa) 11:15 a.m.

Prof. Dominic Fobih (NPP - Assin South) 11:25 a.m.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.

Prof. Fobih 11:25 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Prof. Fobih 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Prof. Fobih 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Prof. Fobih 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Some Hon Members 11:35 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Prof Fobih 11:35 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:35 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.

Mr Avoka 11:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.

Mr Tettey-Enyo 11:45 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:45 a.m.

PRAYERS

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr James K. Avedzi

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. (Emeritus) Samuel K. Amoako

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. (Emeritus) Amoako

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof . (Emeritus) Amoako

Mr First DeputySpeaker

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

PAPERS

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Cletus A. Avoka

Mr First Deputy Speaker

MOTIONS

Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr A. S. K. Bagbin)

Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr A. S. K. Bagbin)

Mr Cletus A. Avoka

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi)

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Ambrose P. Dery

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Avoka

Dr A. A. Osei

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Dr A. A. Osei

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Avoka

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Avoka

BILLS -- SECOND READING

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Mathias A. Puozaa)

Prof. Dominic Fobih (NPP - Assin South)

Mr Haruna Iddrisu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. Fobih

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. Fobih

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. Fobih

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof. Fobih

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Some Hon Members

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Prof Fobih

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Avoka

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Tettey-Enyo