Debates of 17 Nov 2018

MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
PRAYERS 8:45 a.m.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 8:45 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 8:45 a.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Members, we have the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 16th November, 2018 for correction.
Hon Members, any corrections?
Page 1…7
rose
Mr Agbodza 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 7, under the list of Hon Members who were absent, our Hon Colleague, Hon Richard Acheampong who was present in the Chamber yesterday has been reported to have been absent. Again, on that same list on page 8, Hon Bedzrah, who was present has also been reported to have been absent.
Page 7…8----
rose
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 6, under the list of Hon Members present yesterday, for Techiman South, I see the name “Yiadom-Boachie, Henry Yeboah”, but I am not too sure whether the name “Boachie” has been spelt rightly.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Member, which page are you referring to?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am referring to page 6, item “212”.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
We have the name “Yiadom-Boachie, Henry Yeboah”.
Hon Member, is that your full name?
Mr Henry Yeboah Yiadom-Boachie 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, yes.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Leader, that is the full name of the Hon Member.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the matter is not about the fullness of the name, but about whether the spelling of the “Boachie” is right.
Mr Yiadom-Boachie 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, that is the correct spelling.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Very well.
-- [Laughter] --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I noticed that yesterday he was the “212” person in the Chamber, and that is also very important.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Leader?
Mr Avedzi 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the point being raised by the Hon Majority Leader on what he had noticed is actually incorrect. The correct position is that he was the 212th person who signed yesterday, but he was not present in the Chamber.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Where then did he sign to be? Was it not to be present in Parliament? Very well, so the statement is correct. The number of Hon Members present yesterday was “212”.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is making a statement that is palpably false.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member, whose name I sought to correct is here in the Chamber. Indeed, he was in the Chamber yesterday. This observation cannot be true, as the Hon Deputy Minority Leader is saying, but it is a minority observation so --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Unless I am given the evidence that there was somebody whose name is on the Votes and Proceedings, who was not in the
Chamber I would take the record of the Votes and Proceedings as the true record of proceedings.
Page 8 --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu?
Mr Agbodza 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, as I said, the Hon Bedzrah who is number 20 on the absentee list was here; the Hon Kwabena Donkor who is number 23 on the absentee list was here, and the Hon Nii Lantey- Vanderpuye, who is number 40 on the absentee list, was also here. The CCTV can prove who was in the Chamber, so Hon Members should not worry about that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
What it means is that if what the Hon Member is saying is correct, then the number present was more than “212”.
Very well, that has been noted.
Page 9…15
Hon Members, the Votes and Pro- ceedings of Friday, 16th November, 2018 is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, we would move on to the Commencement of Public Business and there being no Statement before me this morning, I would move on to the presentation of Papers.
Hon Members, we would take item numbered 4(a), by the Hon Minister for Aviation.
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea — rose —
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Member, are you the Hon Minister for

Aviation? Because I see the Hon Minister for Aviation seated to your right.
PAPERS 8:45 a.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Members, we would move on to item numbered 4(b), by the Hon Minister for Communications.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, may I crave the indulgence of the Chair and my Hon Colleagues to have the Minister for Works and Housing lay the Paper on behalf of the Minister for Communications who is out of the jurisdiction.
By the Minister for Works and Housing (on behalf of the Minister for Communications) --
(b) Audit Committee Annual Statement of the National Communications Authority in respect of 2017.
Referred to Committee on Communi- cations.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Hon Deputy Minority Leader, I would want to hear you.
Mr Avedzi 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I wonder if this Report should go to the sector Committee because it is an Audit Committee Annual Statement. It is in response to the Auditor- General's Report which was worked on by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and decision taken by the House.
Now, the audit committees of these various Ministries had to respond to these recommendations and then report to Parliament. If these Reports come back to Parliament, why should they not go to the PAC that worked on them but rather to the sector committees? That is my concern, so let us look at it.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, whatever the Audit Report Implemen- tation Committee (ARIC) does reverts to the sector committees. That is the convention. These Audit Committee Annual Statement are usually juxtaposed against the ARIC and so, whenever they have come here, we have referred them to the various sector Committees.
If the Hon Chairman of PAC now says that for purposes of congruence, maybe, we could as well serve the PAC with a copy, I have no objection at all. Conventionally, that is what we have always done; we have juxtaposed it with that of ARIC and then submitted same to the sector committees.
Mr Avedzi 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, this is Audit Committee under the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA). In the previous Financial Administration Act (FAA), ARIC is the Committee that is constituted at the sector level and the membership comes from that particular Ministry to respond to the audit queries, observations and recommendations.
With the coming out of PFMA, we had that changed to Audit Committees and the membership is five. Three members are
from outside that Ministry -- Actually, three members are from the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Internal Audit Agency and only two members are from the sector that the committee represents.
Mr Speaker, the issues are that the Auditor-General audits this Ministry or sector, raises issues and they are reported in the Auditor-General's Report and then the PAC works on the Report and submits a Report to the House.
We have been asked all the time about the follow-up we do and we said the Audit committees would have to bring their responses back to us and then we do a follow up. Now, the responses come and they go to a different committee. How do we track to know that what we have recommended have been satisfied?
So, if we still want it to go to the sector committee, I do not have any problem, but I believe that there is going to be some gap somewhere. We would not follow up to the conclusion and see whether the recommendations have actually been dealt with.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, first of all, this is not a Report from the Committee that Parliament sets up, arising out of consideration of the Auditor- General's Report. This is not from that Committee that all this while we have not set up. That is why I referred to ARIC.
When the ARIC reports came, we referred them to the sector committees. But as I said, if now we say that let us have a break from there, and maybe from now on refer these to PAC, that is a different ball game. But that is what we have always done. That is the issue I have been raising.
As I said, this Report does not ensue from that Committee mentioned in article 187(6) of the Constitution, but if the House should decide that from now on, we should have this arrangement, I will have no difficulty with it, except to say that the first ones that came, we referred them to the sector committees anyway.
Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, this particular referral is Audit Committee Annual Statement of the National Communications Authority (NCA) in respect of 2017. Any time we pass a Bill to establish an Authority, we have a reporting system. An annual report is to be presented by the Hon Minister with any audited accounts that he may add. That is one thing.
This other one, it is either we look at the NCA Act and see if we have provided for a statement to come from them or we have set up a Committee in it. Otherwise, what the Hon Majority Leader said is that it is something to do with audit. So if it goes to the sector committee, are they going to look at it and recommend to the House or the committee we already have, which deals with audit reports?
This one talks about statements, but if they had said reports, it would mean that the report that we require from NCA is always to be presented by the Hon Minister separate from the Auditor- General's Report. So, we need to find out exactly what the nature of this Report is. If the Report is a statement, what is the nature of this statement? Does it deal with audited accounts reports and reactions from ARIC, or it arises out of the Report of NCA?
Mr Ras Mubarak 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, looking at the controversy it has engendered, probably, you may direct that we step this particular item down, just so we can have clarity as to what it is. I am a member of
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
As at this stage, there is confusion as to which Report it is, so the referral I have done will stand. The Hon Leaders will look at the Report and advise me on Tuesday when we resume.
Hon Majority Leader, item numbered
5?
9. 05 a.m.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was just having some consultations with the Hon Deputy Minority Leader. He was seeking some clarification and I tried to proffer some explanation and I thought that we were getting somewhere with that. But the issue he raised may be raised at the proper forum for the clarification to be given and then the Question could be put.
This is because this Motion has already been debated and it is only left with the Question to be put. But the issue that he raised is very germane and I would want to have the proper forum for the issue to

be raised and the relevant person to respond adequately to that and then the Question could be put.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Leader?
Mr Avedzi 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the issue I was discussing with the Hon Majority Leader on the US$1.5 billion facility is the issue about -- first, it has been corrected by the Hon Chairman of the Committee, that the all-in cost for the facility is 20.5 per cent per annum. That is correct.
The issue, however, is that a first tranche would be drawn down in 2018, and then in 2020, another tranche of US$500 would be drawn down. The third and last tranche would be drawn down in 2023.
My concern, first of all, which is not clear in the Report, is that if we commit the entire US$1.5 billion and then the cost that we would be paying for servicing the debt is 20.5 per cent, are we going to pay interest on the entire US$1.5 billion starting from now, or it would be limited only to the amount drawn down ?
That is not clear and I need that to be clarified so that we do not pay interest for funds that we do not utilise. If we are not going to pay interest on the entire US$1.5 billion but on only US$500, then we should limit ourselves to US$500 for now.
Mr Speaker, the other issue is that in 2023 would this rate that we approve now be applicable? In 2023, situations might change and we might have a better rate, probably, 10 per cent or 15 per cent lower than the 20.5 per cent.
So, if we commit US$1.5 billion now, even though if we are not going to pay interest on the entire money but only on the drawn down figure, in 2023 when the
conditions improve and we could get a better deal, we would be locked up to pay the 20.5 per cent. That is another issue.
Mr Speaker, the third issue is that the Facility is for ten years so, in 2023, we would have done about five years into it already. So, does it mean that the drawn down figure in 2023 would only last five years? That is also not clear.
The last point is that when is the repayment going to start? The Facility is for 10 years, we are taking it in 2018, when are we going to start the repayment? That is also not clear in the Report.
Mr Speaker, if answers to all these questions are provided, you could put the Question.
Thank you.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
What new are you adding? We have closed debate on this matter and this is a decision by the Leaders, so I am not re-opening the debate. I am sorry.
Hon Majority Leader, I would like to be clear; what is your suggestion at this stage?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, as my Hon Colleague said, we held some discussions and I told him that as it is usual with all other loans that we have been taking, not until you draw down, you do not pay interest. That is a matter of common knowledge.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Well, let the Report reflect that so that—
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
It was part of the discussion but his argument was that, it did not reflect in the Report. That which is true; it was not covered in the Report.
Mr Speaker, I have always lamented that because plenary is supposed to take a decision on this Report, the Committee should endeavour to capture, as much as possible, the critical issues to enable us take the decisions. Unfortunately, many of the Reports that we see are very scanty. So the Hon Member is right to raise the issue, even though at the Committee level, that was resolved.
But for the purpose of the rest of us who are going to take the decision, it is important that we are served with such notices and such important issues should reflect in the Report.
Mr Speaker, the other concerns; the terms and conditions of the loan. Mr Speaker, we take loans which spread over thirty years in this House. The terms and conditions are given at the time of taking the loan.
That is how it is done in every loan that we have taken. Would anybody say, for instance, let us take a loan and leave every year because we cannot even predict what would be happening next year so, take one year and wait for the next year and then, you would take another?
Mr Speaker, I believe that would really not come up for discussion. So I would think that in that context, and because we have already finished deliberating on the Motion, we are now barred by time to re- visit these matters. But I believe the issues were explained at the Committee level and we could move on.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Very well
rose
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 8:45 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thought with the explanation, you were going to put the Question. But my understanding is that you have ruled that the Report should now reflect these things for us to be fully seized of the facts and I believe that should be appreciated so that on Tuesday, the Question could be put.
But we should urge the Committee in that case, to reflect these issues in the Report and have them laid on Tuesday early morning before the Question is put.
Mr Speaker, I guess we could bring the curtain down on this, except to remind the Subsidiary Legislation Committee that they have an appointment with the Attorney-General and Minster for Justice and some other stakeholders on these two referrals in respect of the Instruments on the Special Prosecutor.
There are two of them; the first is going to be considered on Monday and then, perhaps, the second one on Tuesday if they are not able to combine the two — one is on operations and the other is on the terms of engagement.
Mr Speaker, so just to remind them again, that they should avail themselves on Monday to consider the two Instruments.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 8:45 a.m.
Before we bring down the curtain, I have seen the copy of the Report that was laid earlier; the Audit Report. Clearly it is a response
to the Public Accounts Committee's work. And in the circumstance, I would direct that the Report goes to the Joint Committees of Public Accounts and the respective sector committees to consider and report.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 9:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe that given the circumstance, until we define and determine for ourselves a much more proper route, we should resort to this vehicle.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 9:15 a.m.
I would take your application.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 9:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this House adjourns until Tuesday, 20th November, 2018 at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr Avedzi 9:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, in seconding the Motion for adjournment, I would want to remind the Hon Majority Leader that copies of the Budget Statement are not ready for Hon Members. We are going to have the Post-Budget Workshop, so we need the documents. We do not have copies, so he should take note of that.
I beg to second the Motion.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 9:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we ran into some technical problems at the Ghana Publishing Company and we were then forced to use another outfit to do the printing. I hope that they would be ready by close of day.

Mr Speaker, I have a copy on my device. I have been told to provide the relevant equipment which would ferry the softcopy. [Laughter] As I said, certainly, everyone would have the softcopy now; but by the time we get there, I think that everyone would have the hardcopy.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 9:15 a.m.
The Motion for adjournment has been moved and seconded. I am only thrilled by a

Question put and Motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 9:15 a.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 9.20 a.m. till Tuesday, 20th November, 2018 at 10.00 a.m.