Debates of 26 Jan 2018

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, Correction of Votes and Proceedings dated Thursday, 25th January, 2018.
Any correction?

Hon Members, we have the Official Report of Sunday, 21st January, 2018.

Hon Members any corrections?
  • [No correction was made to the Official Report of Sunday, 21st January, 2018]. Hon Members, item numbered 3 — Business Statement for the Second Week — Chairman of the Business Committee — Hon Majority Leader and Leader of the House.
    • BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 10:40 a.m.
    Majority Leader/Chairman of the Business Committee (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 10:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Committee met yesterday, Thursday, 25th January 2018 and arranged Business of the House for the Second Week ending Friday, 2nd February 2018.
    Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 10:40 a.m.
    Arrangement of Business
    Formal Communications by the Speaker
    Mr Speaker, you may read communications to the House whenever they are available.
    Question (s)
    Mr Speaker, the Business Committee has programmed the following Ministers to respond to Questions asked of them during the week:
    No. of Question(s)
    i. Minister for Local Government and Rural Development 1
    ii. Minister for Energy 2
    iii. Minister for Roads and Highways 5
    Total Number of Questions 8
    Mr Speaker, Three (3) Ministers are expected to attend upon the House to respond to eight (8) Questions during the week. The Questions are of the following types:
    i. Urgent - 1;
    ii. Oral - 7
    Statements
    Mr Speaker, pursuant to Order 70 (2), Ministers of State may be permitted to make Statements of Government policy. Statements duly admitted by the Rt Hon Speaker may be made in the House by Hon. Members, in accordance with Order
    72.
    Bills, Papers and Reports
    Mr Speaker, Bills may be presented to the House for First Reading and those of urgent nature may be taken through the various stages in one day, in accordance with Order 119. Papers and committee reports may also be presented to the House.
    Motions and Resolutions
    Mr Speaker, Motions may be debated and their consequential Resolutions, if any, taken during the week.
    Joint Caucus Meeting
    Mr Speaker, a joint caucus meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 30th January, 2018, after adjournment. Pertinent welfare matters would be discussed and Hon Members will be briefed by officials of State institutions providing auxiliary services in Parliament, including, in particular, the Ghana National Fire Service on safety measures. All Hon Members are therefore encouraged to avail themselves at the meeting.
    Conclusion
    Mr Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 160(2) and subject to Standing Order 53, the Committee submits to this Honourable House the order in which the Business of the House shall be
    taken during the week under considera- tion.

    Questions

    Statements

    Presentation of Papers --

    Motions --

    Committee sittings.

    Joint caucus meeting—Hon Members to be briefed by officials of State institutions providing auxiliary services in Parliament including, in particular, the Ghana National Fire Service on safety measures.

    Urgent Question
    Mr John Kwabena Bless Oti (Nkwanta North) 10:40 a.m.
    To ask the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development whether the districts that were created in 2007 without seed money for take-off would be considered in the 2018 formula.
    Statements --
    Presentation of Papers --
    Report of the Special Committee tasked to investigate the levy and collection by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Ghana Cedi equivalent of various sums of money in United States of American dollars from expatriate businesses and related matters during the
    Mr John Kwabena Bless Oti (Nkwanta North) 10:50 a.m.
    recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards in Accra.
    Motions --
    Committee sittings.

    Questions

    *263. Mr Shaibu Mahama (Daboya/ Mankarigu): To ask the Minister for Energy the progress of work on the extension of rural electrification to Mankarigu and its surrounding communities in the Daboya/Mankarigu Constituency.

    *274. Mr Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze (Central Tongu): To ask theMinister for Energy what plans the Ministry has to rehabilitate some lines, poles and transformers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Adidome, Mafi-Kumase and its environs, which have been connected to the national grid since 1984.

    Statements

    Presentation of Papers --

    Motions--

    Committee sittings.

    Questions

    *265. Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (North Tongu): To ask the Minister for Roads and Highways when work will commence on the Volivo to Dorfor Adidome bridge.

    *266. Mr Edward Abambire Bawa (Bongo): To ask the Minister for Roads and Highways when the Bongo -- Namoo road will be constructed.

    *267. Mr Albert Akuka Alalzuuga (Garu): To ask the Minister for Roads and Highways when the road from Garu to Bawku will be constructed.

    *268. Mr Albert Akuka Alalzuuga (Garu): To ask the Minister for Roads and Highways when the Garu township roads will be constructed.

    *269. Mr Shaibu Mahama (Daboya/ Mankarigu): To ask the Minister for Roads and Highways the progress of construction works on the Daboya to Busunu and Daboya to Mankarigu roads.

    Statements

    Presentation of Papers --

    Motions --

    Committee sittings.

    Mr Speaker, I would also want to tell Hon Colleagues that tomorrow, the House shall be required to Sit at 8.30 a.m. It is likely that we would not be here for more than an hour and a half. And so we shall have sufficient time to attend our other social activities, including funerals.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Thank you very much Hon Leader of the House.
    Mr Ras Mubarak 10:50 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am very grateful.
    Mr Ras Mubarak 10:50 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I was hoping that the Hon Majority Leader and Leader of the House, Sumpahene, would give an indication whether we would have
    Statements by the Ministers for Defence and the Interior. We have had a lot of cause for worry; last week, the Hon Minority Leader raised an incident where grenades were found in civilian hands.
    A lot of constituents and the general public are exceedingly worried about it and they are asking questions on exactly what is going on. So, if we could get an indication on exactly what the case is and on whether we should not be worried.
    Also, as far as the Minister for the Interior is concerned, in respect of the shooting of the police officer in Kwabenya. It would be interesting if we could get some briefing from the Hon Minister on these two issues.
    Thank you.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Yes, Leadership?
    Mr Haruna Iddrisu 10:50 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I believe we can adopt the Business of the House.
    I see the Hon Chairman and the Hon Deputy Minority Leader conferring. I thought we may indulge you, if the Special Committee sitting on the sale of seats and the Ministry of Trade and Industry could be given additional days. I know it has been programmed and tabled, but since I do not have a conclusive indication from them, probably, they are satisfied with the time period that Mr Speaker gave them.
    Also, as the Hon Leader has mentioned, I wish to urge Hon Members to rise up to tomorrow. We do have a constitutional obligation to perform. Ghana is a country governed by law. We are living it! We are respected in terms of what we have added to our good
    governance ethos. Therefore, even though it is a weekend, Hon Members should endeavour to be here early so that we would do what is appropriate to keep the State and the business of the State in good hands as we are being told.
    Thank you.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:50 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, Mr Ras Mubarak, the Hon Member for Kumbungu, has raised certain issues relating to internal security. I would liaise with the Hon Minister to know his own thoughts about that and we would take it from there.
    It was not part of the business that came before the Business Committee, so we could not have programmed it. But to the extent that it may be a subject of interest to Hon Members, and indeed to Ghanaians, as I said, I would liaise with the Hon Minister and we see how to prosecute that.
    Mr Speaker, the mini-conference involving the Hon Members of the Special Committee, I am not sure the theme for the conference was for an extension of time. But we would see how it goes; I have been assured that they could work to the time frame given. But it is within their own remit and I believe when we get there, we would see what we ought to do.
    Thank you.
    Mr Speaker 10:50 a.m.
    Hon Members, that brings the Business of the House for the week to an end.
    Hon Members, the Business Statement for the week as presented is accordingly adopted.
    Item numbered 4 -- Statements.
    We have a joint Statement by the Hon Majority and Minority Leaders regarding
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:50 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
    Mr Speaker, respectfully, just to make the decision that this is a Statement that has been adopted by the House to be read as such. It is not really a joint Statement but a Statement that is being made for and on behalf of this House to which the Hon Minority Leader may also contribute.
    STATEMENTS 10:50 a.m.
    Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- mensah-Bonsu) 11 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is with a deep sense of misty feeling feeling that the Parliament of Ghana pays this tribute to a patriotic and illustrious son of this nation, Lt. General Lawrence Aboagye Okai, whose mortal remains lay within the precincts of Parliament as we speak.
    Mr Speaker, Lt. General Lawrence Aboagye Okai, was born on the 19th of October 1931, to Mr Charles Edmeston Okai and his wife Felicia Atwumwa Amankwa (both of blessed memory) who welcomed him as their third son into their home in Akyem Maase, located in the Akyem Abuakwa State. Mr Charles Okai was a hardworking cocoa farmer and the mother, a dedicated wife and stalwart of the local Methodist church.
    His formal elementary education began at Akyem Maase and continued at the
    Asafo Akyem Presbyterian School from 1939-1946. This was balanced with his work on the family farm and other family responsibilities alongside his siblings, but with firm and steady encouragement from his mother's quest for an exemplary education of her son. It soon became clear that his ambition and perspectives were not to be limited to his bucolic surroundings.
    His own father, a product of Richmond College (now Mfantispim School), who hoped his son would become a lawyer or a teacher, made a defining decision of sending him to Achimota School though Aboagye believed that he would make a good agricultural scientist.
    Mr Speaker, Lawrence entered the College of Technology (now KNUST) in Kumasi as a pioneer student in 1952. It was at Achimota though, that he happened to attend a lecture given by the late Achie Casely-Hayford, then Hon Minister for Agriculture, on emerging career opportunities in the Ghana Armed Forces for graduates; an official recruitment drive aimed at training Ghanaians to take over commanding positions as officers from the soon-to- depart colonial government's Royal West African Frontier Force, then made up of British officers.
    Purely on a whim, according to his own account, he put his name down for an interview but soon forgot about it while concentrating on his studies in Kumasi. Unknown to his parents, however, this latent ambition of becoming a military personnel during those early days when the reputation of the Ghana Army suffered from a public perception of buga-buga boys, carrying out the external policy objectives of Her Majesty's Government, and lacked an appreciation and understanding of its indigenous mandate was being covertly nurtured by Aboagye.
    Lawrence had been invited for an interview in Accra but his father disapproved of this career direction and now the last interviews were long over.

    His mother was undeterred and convinced him to go to Accra and make his case for a late interview. Lawrence went and spoke to the Minister, Mr. Tachie- Menson and a Sergeant-Major in the RWAFF, who would later become Lt. General Ankrah, Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. With their help and with the help of a few others in the Civil Service and RWAFF, he was able to get a late interview arranged and passed easily. His father sought to curtail this vision but with the intervention of others the father eventually relented and accepted his son's choice.

    Lawrence was made an officer in the new Army with a re-designation (GH-21). He rose through the various levels of responsibility and command until September 1968 when he left with his family for the United States of America to become first the Deputy and subsequently the substantive Defence and Armed Forces Attache at the Ghana Embassy in Washington D.C. till November 1971. His exemplary conduct earned him the United States Legion of Merit (Officer Class) from the American Government. He returned to Ghana to become the Military Aide/ADC to President Edward Akufo-Addo until 1972. In 1978, he was honourably discharged from the Armed Forces with the rank of Lieutenant-General.

    The military-civilian dichotomy undoubtedly posed some challenges to the General in his transition to a civilian life. He took up a non-descript senior management position with a manufacturing firm in Accra called Freedom Textiles Ltd.
    Mr Speaker 11 a.m.
    Thank you very much, Hon Majority Leader.
    Yes, Hon Minority Leader?
    Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 11:10 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the eulogy of Lt Gen. Lawrence Okai (Rtd) and to state, as the Hon Majority Leader has made us understand, that he was sent to the Eastern Hall Office Cadet Training Unit in Chester, England from January to May 1954 and then to the Royal Military Academy in England from June 1954 to December, 1955. He later returned to the First Junior Staff Course at the Junior Defence College at Teshie.
    Mr Speaker, we are again told that the fine gentle military man with astuteness and discipline returned to Ghana to become the Military Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to President Edward Akuffo Addo until February 1972 and between March, 1972 and January, 1973 when he was Director
    of Military Intelligence, until he was seconded to the National Redemption Council (NRC).
    Mr Speaker, to his family and the Ghana Armed Forces, it is a collective loss and a tragic loss to the country. What is instructive is that even on his return, he and his family had no home and they had lost many family possessions that were destroyed in some of the developments within that particular period. Therefore, he became patron and was twice elected as the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) President alongside his close pal.

    As was said, in his younger days, he became a Freemason in both the English and Scottish dispensations. He served his country well and I should conclude by saying that the final quarter of the General's life, as we are told, largely featured him as a grandfather, to 13 grandchildren. He loved his role as husband, father and grandfather and as a patriarch, he loved being pampered by his wife and children. They would not have that opportunity again.

    Mr Speaker, we would want to extend our profound sympathies and condolences to the Ghana Armed Forces, and to the entire Ghanaian community for the loss of a fine military gentleman - General Lawrence Okai.

    Mr Speaker, we are told that the General made a nostalgic return to Sandhurst in the year 1991 to attend the 250th Anniversary of the Royal Military Academy in the company of other notable alumni including the present Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Lieutenant General Obed Akwa and that it was a wonderful trip down memory lane.

    Mr Speaker, we are again told that in the life of this fine gentleman of a soldier as the Hon Majority Leader led us, he also at some point, had to enroll in a Master of International Affairs programme at the Columbia University in the United States of America.

    Therefore his death must inspire the Military to acquire higher academic laurels. Gone are the days, when we referred to them as, (pardon my word) the “abongo boys”, no. This was a person of high intellectual standing and there are many within the Military today of similar intellectual standing in terms of the acquisition of knowledge.

    He served his country well and I am told that at the United Nations International Peace Academy, he worked alongside with His Excellency, Kofi Annan and his responsibilities included planning of major international peacekeeping and conflict resolution seminars such as the setting up of the United Nations Transition team for Namibia in the year 1980.

    Mr Speaker, he has played his part and paid his dues to the GAF and to the people of Ghana. To his wife and children, we say, our deepest sympathies and condolences. To the GAF, we say, take heart that his sense of discipline - and I say so without fear of contradiction, that today, in this country, it is only within the GAF that discipline is practiced to the core, both in its spirit and its letter and we must all learn from the likes of Lieutenant General Lawrence Okai.

    So to the family, may his soul rest in perfect peace. He is a loss to the country and the Parliament of Ghana mourns with you.
    Mr Speaker 11:10 a.m.
    Thank you Hon Minority Leader. Hon Members, contributions?
    Mr Speaker 11:10 a.m.
    Thank you, Hon Ayariga.
    [Pause] --
    Hon Members, we shall rise to a minute silence.
    A minute silence was observed.
    May the soul of the late Lt Gen Lawrence Okai and those of the faithfully departed rest in perfect peace. Amen.
    Mr Speaker 11:20 a.m.
    Hon Members, at the commencement of Public Business, item numbered 5.
    Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11:20 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, before the Commencement of Public Business, I wanted to indulge you and draw your attention to a matter of public interest. I have with me the Daily Heritage newspaper of Friday, January 26th, 2018 with a caption headline: “Ghanaians angry over ban on names such as Nana, Nii, “Junior” by Births and Deaths Registry.”
    Mr Speaker, and probably Togbe 11:20 a.m.
    None

    Mr Speaker, I am raising this so that this House would summon the Hon Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and the management of the Births and Deaths Registry, to explain to this House, where the source of their power is, for them to say that our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo - that is his name accordingly.

    Mr Speaker, in this House there are many “Nanas” and “Niis”. I see Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, Dr Nana Ayew Afriye - what happens? Mr Speaker, it means that when I give birth someone sitting somewhere wants to determine the name I should give to my son or daughter. If I decide that he should be Haruna Junior, then it should be Haruna Junior. If I decide that he should be Chirifo Aduna -- that is a name.

    Mr Speaker, I have looked at the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1965 (Act 301), and I have looked at the section in relation to the registration of births, particularly Section (10) -- Registration of name subsequent to registration of birth. Once it has been established that there is a birth and a person has gone through the process --

    Mr Speaker, if the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation chooses to name his son or daughter “Nana”, why should he be prevented? Mr Speaker, if they want a revision of the law then this is the appropriate institution. I am not sure Parliament would even be amenable to give them a hearing or consider a revision of it. This is because “Niis” and “Nanas” are part of us and part of our culture.

    Mr Speaker, so I am raising this to invite the Hon Majority Leader who is also the Leader of Government Business -- that the Hon Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and the Births and Deaths Registry should give us cause as to why they should not

    stop this illegality because they do not have the authority under the laws of Ghana to ban those names. They must give us reasons why they are proceeding on this lawlessness.

    Mr Speaker, I thank you.
    Mr Speaker 11:20 a.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, thank you very much.
    Hon First Deputy Speaker?
    Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 11:20 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Firstly, I wish to recall that the Registrar apparently attempted to bring an amendment to the Act and the Committee on Local Government at the time flatly refused to deal with that -- it should not bring any controversy into our country. I think that it must be understood that the names “Nii”, “Nana”, “Togbe” and others have relevance in our culture.
    Mr Speaker, I call my father “Papa” so if I name my son after my father then I cannot call him by his raw name. It is reverence to my father and so if I call my father “Papa” and I name my son after him then I would call him Papa Osei and it becomes part of his name. One cannot decide that he has refused to recognise the name that I have given to my son.
    I think it is time that the public and civil servants understood that the powers given to them are all written in codes and they are not entitled to exercise any powers that Parliament has not given to them. They are not given any discretions in these matters, but if they think that there is the need to amend the law then the appropriate thing is to go through the respective ministries and bring the Bills before the House for the amendments to be done. They are generating needless tension in the country.
    Mr Speaker, I have just read that a group have served notice to the Attorney-
    Mr Speaker 11:20 a.m.
    Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:30 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I agree with the sentiments expressed by both the Hon Minority Leader and the Hon First Deputy Speaker about these matters. I think they are very genuine.
    Mr Speaker, names in Ghana have significance. The names that we confer on our children have cultural values. And they in themselves represent some identification of where a person is comes from.
    I do not think that it lies in the power of anybody to determine a name that should be given to somebody from a different cultural setting. It does not lie in the mouth, and indeed, in the power of the Registrar of Births and Deaths, that a name should be given or it should not be given.
    Mr Speaker, the first citizen of this country bears the name “Nana” and it is not an accolade or a title. The President of this country is Nana Addo Dankwa
    Akufo Addo and that is his name. One cannot sit somewhere and say that he would not allow him to use that name.
    Mr Speaker, I am wondering where he thinks he derives his powers from. A former first Lady was called Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and that is her name. One cannot sit somewhere and say that he would not allow her to use Nana as part of her name.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader drew our attention to some names in Parliament, and I was just going through the first few pages of our Votes and Proceedings for Thursday, 25th January, 2018, and as he said, I noticed Nana Ayew Afriye, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, Nana Amoako, the Hon Member for Upper Denkyira East, who is to get married soon. [Laughter.] I believe he is getting married in two weeks.
    Mr Speaker, there is a Kofi Amoakohene. I believe very soon, the man would be descending on that territory as well.
    Mr Speaker, if one bears the name “Ohene”, we should not use it?
    Mr Speaker, I see Nana Dokua Asiamah- Adjei, so she should also not be allowed use the name?
    Nii Lantey Vanderpuye. Nii is Nana.
    I see Baba Benson Tongo. Baba is father. It is part of his name. I guess very soon if we do not restrain this man, he would descend into those territories and begin to tell them that they cannot use their names. There used to be an Hon Colleague of ours in this House who was called Papa Owusu-Ankomah.
    Here with us is Nii Narh Nartey Ebenezer.

    Mr Speaker, my “Nana” is a title. It is not part of my name. He is talking about those of them who bear those names originally.

    Mr Speaker, I agree with the Hon Minority Leader, that confusion should not be introduced where there is no confusion. So we would want to invite the Registrar. Should I also add Tina Gifty Naa Ayeley Mensah. Naa is Nana.

    Mr Speaker, confusion is not to be introduced where there is no confusion. I believe we should invite the Registrar in the company of his superintending Minister, to come and explain to us what the meaning of this is and where he thinks he is deriving his authority from? Maybe he is misconstruing some law somewhere that is unknown to us.

    Mr Speaker, so let him come. This is because there are too many people populating this House. I have just seen Emmanuel Nii Okai Laryea. So many of us bear such names and it would be important for us to know, going forward, if his own prescription should hold what appropriate names those people should bear, including the name of the first gentleman of this land.

    Mr Speaker, I thought the man would be timorous trying to invoke this when the first gentleman of this nation bears the name “Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.” So he should hold sway, what should be the name of the first gentleman of this land?

    Mr Speaker, Titus-Glover. Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover. Many of us. So as I said, I agree with the Hon Minority Leader and also the Hon First Deputy Speaker, that we should invite the Registrar in the company of the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development.

    Indeed, on Tuesday, there is a joint caucus that has been programmed. So perhaps, the House would extend an invitation to him to appear before us to explain to us the intendment of that order that he is issuing.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
    Thank you very much. The Hon Minister for Local Government is hereby requested to appear before Parliament and explain matters relating to the limitations reportedly issued against the free registration of names by Ghanaians. Parliament is considering this matter as very serious because it is an essential part of constitutionalism, that there should be limitation of powers and we do not want to be surprised by the day in terms of such directives.
    On Tuesday, as Parliament Sits, we require the Hon Minister, to, come and justify this or let Parliament know what steps has been taken to reverse this directive.
    Under the English legal system, a writ of Quo warranto would have been issued immediately by Parliament against such an official. So we thank the Hon Minority Leader for bringing this to the attention of the House. It is a matter of great importance. We must act within the parameters of the limited authority and power.
    For now, we would simply invite the Hon Minister to seek the relevant advice and let Parliament know what has been done to reverse this or to justify it before this House.
    Thank you very much.
    rose
    Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
    Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
    Ms Safo 11:30 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the indication I am getting is that we move to the Motion numbered 6, which has not been moved yet.
    Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
    There is something about Motion numbered 5 and that is what we are moving on to. If you would kindly wait a moment, we would make progress.
    Motion listed 5 was moved on Thursday, 25th January by the Hon Chairman of the Committee, Mr Avedzi and duly seconded by Hon Okyere- Agyekum. The debate on it would continue.
    Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
    Ms Safo 11:30 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, rightly so. Yesterday, when the First Deputy Speaker was in the Chair, he actually requested that the Committee goes back and present a more comprehensive report where sanctions are properly spelt out for the persons who were named in the Report to have infringed or violated the laws of this country.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Chairman of the Committee, the Hon Deputy Minority Leader indicates that the Report would be the revised a Report because they had to take it back yesterday because it was not ready. So, we would be taking Motion numbered 6.
    Therefore with that Motion, he would move it and because we are time-bound by the activities that would be happening on our grounds by the Military, the indication I got at pre-Sitting is that he moves the Motion, which would be seconded but the debate would be deferred to Tuesday.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Avedzi 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    I am going to move the Motion numbered 6, but I think I need to do a bit of correction.
    Mr Speaker, I did not make any indication that there was going to be a new Report. In actual fact, I was not on the Floor yesterday when Mr Speaker made the ruling.
    I believe we should hold on with that and then take it later, not that we are going to come back with a new Report.
    Mr Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Hon Members, shall we finish with 5 before going to 6, lest we have a mix up?
    Hon Members, and with particular reference to the Hon Deputy Minority Leader, item listed 5, what was expected to be done, is it done?
    Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, at the time the matter happened, the Hon Deputy Minority Leader after moving the Motion sought permission to go and attend to another Committee meeting, so he was not in the Chamber when the issue happened.
    Ordinarily, I should have briefed him, but I asked the Hon First Deputy Speaker whether after giving that directive he would also brief you on the directive that was given, and truly, when we got there, there were certain issues that were raised on the floor, and the directive was that the Report be sent back to the Committee for the Committee to revisit it.
    There were certain issues that were whispered to the Leadership by some of the Members, and those issues were not in the Report, so it was in the collective wisdom of the House that those issues that were raised should all be included in the Report for the Report to be brought back to the House. That was the directive that was given by the Hon First Deputy Speaker yesterday. I should have briefed him on it.
    Thank you Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    In the circumstances, item listed 5 would continue to be stood down for the Report to reach the House.
    Item listed 6, Motion. Hon Chairman of the Committee?
    Mr Avedzi 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, my understanding is that the item numbered 6 should also be stood down, to be taken another day.
    Mr Speaker 11:40 a.m.
    Definitely, we proceed.
    COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the indication as I sounded this morning -- of course I could not expatiate at the time because we had not had the official communication from the President -- that arising out of this, the House would Sit at 08:30 tomorrow in the forenoon.
    Mr Speaker, as we have been informed, the President is programmed to leave between 08:30 a.m. and 09:00 a.m. If he should leave at 08:30 a.m., we shall be ready to have the Speaker sworn in before Parliament and in Parliament.
    Mr Speaker, so we would meet here tomorrow at 08 11:40 a.m.
    30a.m., and hopefully by 10.00 am, we would have finished the Business to enable Hon Members, tomorrow being Saturday, to attend to their
    other social functions. That is the indication that I would want to give Hon Colleagues.
    Mr Speaker, having said so, on page 3 of the Order Paper for today, there is a minor typographical error. The Appoint- ments Committee is supposed to meet upon adjournment. I think we rather have the Public Accounts Committee. It should read Appointments Committee to meet and then consider their programme for the consideration of the nomination of Mr Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu as Special Prosecutor.
    Mr Speaker, there being no other Business before us I beg to move, that this House adjourns proceedings until tomorrow, Saturday 27th January, 2018 at 8.30 in the forenoon.
    Mr Avedzi 11:40 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to second.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    ADJOURNMENT 11:40 a.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 11:50 a.m. till Saturday 27th, January, 2018 at 08:30 a.m.