Debates of 11 Jun 2013

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:40 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon Members, Correc- tion of the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 7th June, 2013.
Page 1…8 --
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was unavoidably absent on Friday. I thought I had submitted a leave of absence form to your office, but I have been marked as “Absent without permission”. So, I would want the Table Office to correct the anomaly.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Very well. Table Office should take note.
Mr Sanja Nanja 10:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, page 7, number 50, “Nanja Sanja”. I was absent with permission, but I have been recorded “absent without permission”.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Very well. Table Office to crosscheck.
Any other corrections?
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 7th June, 2013 as corrected, are hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 10:53 a.m.
OFFICIAL REPORT 10:53 a.m.
CONTENTS 10:53 a.m.
PAPERS -- 10:53 a.m.
THE 10:53 a.m.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 10:53 a.m.
OF GHANA 10:53 a.m.
MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:40 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon Members, Correc- tion of the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 7th June, 2013.
Page 1…8 --
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was unavoidably absent on Friday. I thought I had submitted a leave of absence form to your office, but I have been marked as “Absent without permission”. So, I would want the Table Office to correct the anomaly.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Very well. Table Office should take note.
Mr Sanja Nanja 10:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, page 7, number 50, “Nanja Sanja”. I was absent with permission, but I have been recorded “absent without permission”.
Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Very well. Table Office to crosscheck.
Any other corrections?
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 7th June, 2013 as corrected, are hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
  • [No correction was made to the Official Report of Thursday, 6th June, 2013]
  • [No correction was made to the Official Report of Friday, 7th June, 2013]
    • Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    At the Commencement of Public Business -- Presentation of Papers.
    Hon Majority Leader?
    Dr Benjamin B. Kunbuor 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would want us to take item 4 (b) (ii).
    Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    Very well. What about item 4(a)? Are you deferring it?
    Dr Kunbuor 10:40 a.m.
    That is so, Mr Speaker-- item 4(a) and (b). In the case of item 4(b), I would want the Hon Chairman and members of the Committee to have some further discussions. This is because the nature of the draft Report shows it is a majority report and we would want to have a clearer position.
    Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    No! I am not getting you. Are we deferring item 4(a) or it is not ready to be laid?
    Dr Kunbuor 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is not ready to be laid.
    Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    Very well. So, are we taking item 4(b)(i) or it is also being deffered?
    Dr Kunbuor 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, yes. It would be deferred to tomorrow. I need to hold some other consultations with very senior Hon Members of this House on some aspects of the Report.
    Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    Very well.
    Hon Members, item 4(b)(ii) -- Chairman of the Committee.
    PAPERS 10:40 a.m.
    Dr Benjamin B. Kunbuor 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that in the absence of any other matter on the Order Paper, the House be adjourned to the 12th of June, 2013 in the forenoon.
    Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, before seconding the Motion for adjournment, I would want to plead with Government to let us have Government Business transacted in this House very early in the course of this Meeting. As we are all aware, I think we have given some indication that because of the necessity to reconfigure the Chamber, Parliament may have to rise early next month, perhaps, not going beyond the 19th of July 2013, to enable the contractors have the required number of weeks to refurbish this Chamber.
    Mr Speaker, that being the case, we would not want the situation where, entering July, Parliament becomes over saturated with activities that ought to have been done much earlier, and so, we
    would plead with the Executive. This is because the far greater proportion of work that is transacted in this House is Government Business. So, we would entreat them to work expeditiously, especially on the Financial Bills that the Hon Minister for Finance spoke about, so that we would have time to deal with them before we adjourn.
    The Hon Leader of Government Business is here. I believe he has been knocking on the doors of Government. The Hon Minister for Information and Media Relations is also here. I do not know him to be a “Minister of Mis- information”. He is the Minister for Information and Media Relations. He would communicate the sentiment of this House to the Presidency.
    Mr Speaker, thankfully, we have one wise man here, so, he would relay the sentiments --
    Mr Speaker 10:40 a.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, how do we refer to Hon Members of this House?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, we are Hon Members of this House. But among us, some have been elevated to the council of wise men and among the group of wise men, is a dear Hon Colleague of mine in whom I am well pleased -- [Laughter] -- The Hon Cletus Avoka, a former Majority Leader.
    So, Mr Speaker, Government should not be pussyfooting. They should come early with their businesses, so that Parliament's calendar is not overcrowded.
    Mr Speaker, that is a humble appeal and I hope we would be furnished with the activities or the plans and programmes of Government early enough.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you and I beg to second the Motion moved by the Hon Majority Leader for adjournment.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Hon Members, Motion moved and seconded. But I do not know whether the Hon Majority Leader would want to have any response before I put the Question.
    Dr Kunbuor 10:50 a.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    At the level of Leadership, I do know this has been a matter of concern. We have been on our own trying to make sure that the appropriate Ministries that have business in the House come up. We have also had informal discussions. But Mr Speaker, I will assure you that I shall not hesitate to make a very serious Statement on the floor of this House at the appropriate time on this matter.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Very well. But before I put the Question -- The issue raised by the Hon Minority Leader is a very important one -- so that Government does not put undue pressure on the House when we are about to rise -- so that we can perform our oversight responsibility effectively.
    But equally, I would want to make an appeal to Hon Members of both sides of
    the House that while agreeing that the greater part of the business that we do in this House is from the Executive, the House is also supposed to bring up its own business. For example, Question time is one of the tools available or at the disposal of Hon Members to use to put Government on its toes but Questions have not been coming.
    So, while we call on Government, I am also calling on Hon Members to discharge their duties and responsibilities effectively.
    Hon Members, on that note, I will now put the Question.
    Question put and Motion negatived.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Hon Members, I will put the Question again.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    ADJOURNMENT 10:50 a.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 10.53a.m. till Wednesday, 12th June, 2013 at 10.00 a.m