Debates of 30 Nov 2018

MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:35 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:35 a.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Hon Members, correction of Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, 29th November,
2018.
Page 1…16 --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for North Tongu?
Mr Ablakwa 10:35 a.m.
I am very sorry, Mr Speaker. I tried to catch your eye when you were on page 15. Item numbered 1, paragraph (i), it should read: “Third Ad- dendum Supplemental to the Master Fa- cility Agreement …” not “… Mater Facil- ity Agreement…” The “s” in “Master” is omitted so it should be kindly corrected.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Very well.
Page 16 …19.
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, 29th November, 2018, as corrected is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
We have the Official Report of Thurs- day, 15th November, 2018.
Mr Ablakwa 10:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I noticed one item which needs to be corrected in col- umn 1406. The name of His Excellency the President, “Akufo-Addo” is hyphenated but this is not hyphenated. So if it could be corrected accordingly.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Any other corrections?
Hon Members, the Official Report of Thursday, 15th November, 2018 as cor- rected is adopted as the true record of pro- ceedings.
Hon Second Deputy Majority Whip, are you ready to present the Business Statement or we should vary the order of business?
Mr Moses Anim 10:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am ready to present the Business Statement on behalf of the Chairman of the Business Committee.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Very well. You may do it now.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 10:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 10:35 a.m.
Arrangement of Business
Formal Communications by the Speaker
Mr Speaker, you may read any avail- able communication to the House if there are any.
Question(s)
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee has scheduled the following Ministers to respond to Questions asked of them during the Week:
Mr Speaker, submission of Budget Es 10:35 a.m.
None

ness Committee accordingly entreats com- mittees to expedite work on the Estimates of MDAs and other Institutions and re- port on same in good time for considera- tion at plenary.

In this regard, a schedule has been pre- pared to guide committees on dates for submission of the reports (schedule is at- tached). It is recommended that commit- tees work within the proposed time frame.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, in accordance with Stand- ing 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 dur- ing the Week under consideration

Urgent Question --
Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamekpor (South Dayi) 10:35 a.m.
To ask the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice why the General Legal Council has not issued and/or re- newed licences of lawyers who were formally Circuit Court Judges and Magistrates.
Statements
Presentation of Papers --
(a) Annual Budget Estimates of the Audit Service for the year 2019.
(b) Annual Budget Estimates of Par- liament and the Parliamentary Service for the year 2019.
(c) Annual Budget Estimates of the Judiciary and the Judicial Serv- ice for the year 2019.
(d) Report of the Finance Committee on the Deferred Payment Agree- ments between the Republic of Ghana represented by the Min- istry of Finance and Ministry of Roads and Highways and Synohydro Corporation Limited setting the terms and conditions of the deferral of payments un- der the EPC Contract Agreement in respect of Construction/Reha- bilitation of Selected Roads and Interchanges in Ghana - Phase
1.
(e) Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Addenda to the Commercial Agreements.
(f) Report of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Develop- ment on the Annual Budget Esti- mates of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Develop- ment for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(g) Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Transport for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(h) Report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney- General's Department for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(i) Report of the Committee on Finance on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Office of the Head of Civil Service for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(j) Report of the Joint Committee on Lands and Forestry and Mines & Energy on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for the year ending 31st December,
2019.
(k) Report of the Committee on Finance on the Annual Budget Estimates of the National Development Planning Commission for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(l) Report of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Minis- try of Youth and Sports for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(m) Report of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Reli- gious Affairs for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(n) Report of the Special Budget Committee on the Annual Budget Estimates for the year ending 31st December, 2019, of the following:
i. Public Services Commission
(PSC).
ii. National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).
iii. District Assemblies' Common Fund Administrator.
(o) Report of the Joint Committee on Gender and Children and Employ- ment, Social Welfare & State En- terprises on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Gen- der, Children and Social Protec- tion for the year ending 31st De- cember, 2019.
Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamekpor (South Dayi) 10:35 a.m.
Budget Estimates of the Minis- try of Environment, Science Technology and Innovation for the year ending 31st December,
2019.
(e) Report of the Committee on Works and Housing on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(f) Report of the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture for the year ending 31st December,
2019.
(g) Report of the Joint Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism and Youth, Sports and Culture on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(h) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(i) Report of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
Motions
(a) Second Reading of Bills --
Payment Systems and Services Bill,
2018.
(b) Adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Financ- ing Agreement between the Gov- ernment of the Republic of Ghana and the International Develop- ment Association (IDA) for an amount of fourteen million, two hundred thousand Special Draw- ing Rights (SDR 14,200,000) [equivalent to US$20.00 million] to finance the proposed Ghana Energy Sector Transformation Initiative Project.
Consequential Resolution
Consideration Stage of Bills --
Right to Information Bill, 2018. (Continuation)
Committee sittings.

Questions --

*424. Mr Michael Yaw Gyato (Krachi East): To ask the Minister for Finance the amount paid on every GH¢100 transaction on mobile money transfer, whether the payment is made at the point of deposit, withdrawal or both.

*480. Dr (Mrs) Bernice Adiku Heloo (Hohoe): To ask the Minister for the Interior whether there were demotions of some directors of NADMO who were recently trans- ferred, and if so, why.

*481. Mr Yusif Sulemana (Bole/ Bamboi): To ask the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection how much the Ministry received from the sale of school feeding forms in 2017.

*482. Mr Simon Acheampong Tampi (Tatale/Sanguli): To ask the Minis- ter for Gender, Children and Social Protection whether the Ministry is aware of trafficking of children from Tatale in the Northern Region to Nigeria and the Gulf States, and if so, what measures the Ministry is putting in place to curb this illegal act.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(a) Report of the Special Budget Committee on the Annual Budget Estimates for the year ending 31st December, 2019, of the following:

i. National Media Commission

(NMC).

ii. Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice

(CHRAJ).

iii. Electoral Commission (EC).

(b) Report of the Committee on Communications on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Communications for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(c) Report of the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(d) Report of the Committee on Defence and Interior on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of the Interior for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(h) Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Minis- try of Roads and Highways for the year ending 31st December,

2019.

(i) Report of the Committee on Finance on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Finance for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(j) Report of the Committee on Finance on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Government Machinery for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(k) Report of the Committee on Judiciary on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

Motions

(a) Second Reading of Bills --

Chartered Institute of Bankers (Ghana) Bill, 2018.

(b) Adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Deferred Payment Agreements between the Republic of Ghana represented by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Roads and Highways and Synohydro Corporation Limited setting the terms and conditions of the de- ferral of payments under the EPC Contract Agreement in respect of Construction/Rehabilitation of Selected Roads and Interchanges in Ghana -- Phase 1.

Consequential Resolution
Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamekpor (South Dayi) 10:35 a.m.
(c) Adoption of the Report of the Committee on Roads and Trans- port on the Addenda to the Com- mercial Agreements.
Consequential Resolution
(d) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢586, 235,305 for the services of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Develop-ment for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Local Government and Rural Development)
(e) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢294,
468,233 for the services of the Ministry of Transport for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Transport)
(f) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢135, 983,714 for the services of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney- General's Department for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Attorney-General and Minister for Justice)
(g) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢20, 040,832 for the services of the Office of the Head of Civil Service for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Finance)
(h) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢625, 787,695 for the services of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Lands and Natural Resources)
(i) That this Honourable House approves the sum ofGH¢7, 312,555 for the services of the National Development Planning Commission for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Finance)
(j) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢43, 95,046 for the services of the Min- istry of Youth and Sports for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Youth and Sports)
(k) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢42, ,502,066 for the services of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Reli- gious Affairs for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs)
Consideration Stage of Bills --
Right to Information Bill, 2018. (Continuation)
Committee sittings.

Questions

*484. Mr James Agalga (Builsa North): To ask t he Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration whether Government has plans to accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.

*487. Dr (Mrs) Bernice Adiku Heloo (Hohoe): To ask the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation the status of implementation of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Scholar- ship Scheme (MASTESS).

*488. Mr Samuel Nartey George (Ningo-Prampram): To ask the Minister for Works and Housing when construction of the Ningo Sea Defence would commence.

Presentation of Papers--

(a) Report of the Committee on Defence and Interior on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Defence for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(b) Report of the Committee on Defence and Interior on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of National Security for the year ending 31st December,

2019.

(c) Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Railways Develop- ment for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(d) Report of the Committee on Communication on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Minis-

try of Information for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(e) Report of the Committee on Edu- cation on the Annual Budget Es- timates of the Ministry of Educa- tion for the year ending 31st De- cember, 2019.

(f) Report of the Committee on Health on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Health for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(g) Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Aviation for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(h) Report of the Committee on Works and Housing on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Sanitation and Wa- ter Resources for the year end- ing 31st December, 2019.

Motions --

(a) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢46, 693,148 for the services of the National Commission for Civic Education for the year ending 31st December, 2019.

(Minister for Parliamentary Affairs)

(b) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢8, 056,040 for the services of the Public Services Commission for the year ending 31st December,

2019.

(Minister for Parliamentary Affairs)
Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamekpor (South Dayi) 10:35 a.m.
(c) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢316, 447,947 for the services of the Audit Service for the year end- ing 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Parliamentary Af- fairs)
(d) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢338, 687,127 for the services of the Judiciary and the Judicial Serv- ice for the year ending 31st De- cember, 2019.
(Minister for Parliamentary Af- fairs)
(e) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢498, 270,898 for the services of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for the year end- ing 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection)
(f) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢680, 355,804 for the services of the Local Government Service for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Local Government and Rural Development)
(g) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢5,315, 359 for the services of the National Labour Commission for the year ending 31st December 2019.
(Minister for Parliamentary Af- fairs)
(h) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢157, 169,676 for the services of the Ministry of Employment and La- bour Relations for the year end- ing 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Employment and Labour Relations)
(i) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢500, 964,480 for the services of the Ministry of Energy for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Energy)
(j) That this Honourable House approves the sum ofGH¢417, 954,342 for the services of the Ministry of Environment, Sci- ence, Technology and Innova- tion for the year ending 31st De- cember, 2019.
(Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation)
(k) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢264, 109,761 for the services of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the year ending 31st Decem- ber, 2019.
(Minister for Works and Housing)
(l) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢59, 592,447 for the services of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture)
(m) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢75,023,174 for the services of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture for the year ending 31st December,
2019.
(Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture)
(n) That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢468, 576,872 for the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
(Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration)
(o) That this Honourable House ap- proves the sum of GH¢306, 641,873 for the services of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the year ending 31st Decem- ber, 2019.
(Minister for Trade and Industry)
Consideration Stage of Bills --
Right to Information Bill, 2018. (Continuation)
Committee sittings.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY (National Farmers' Day)
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Ho East? No, I mean Ho West.
Mr Bedzrah 10:35 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, my constituency is rather Ho West, and not Ho East. There is no constituency called Ho East. Ho East has been taken over by the Adaklu Constituency.
Mr Speaker, last Friday, I made an application to the Business Committee as well as the Leadership of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that in view of the work that we did last week, we would not be able to have enough time to look critically into the Right to Information Bill.
Mr Speaker, I made the application if we could do winnowing to reduce the number of amendments that we have; and we have been doing this over the years in the House. Now, our collaborators from the Civil Society Organisation are here waiting for us to pass this Bill.
Therefore, if all of us could agree to winnow down the number of amendments, then I believe that we would pass this Bill in no time. I would want to appeal to them to winnow and bring down the amendments.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for North Tongu?
Mr Ablakwa 10:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
Mr Speaker, I would want to thank the Hon Second Deputy Majority Whip for presenting the Business Statement for the week ending 7th December, 2018.
Mr Speaker, I have two quick issues. The first one has to do with the second paragraph of item numbered 3 in the Business Statement, which has to do with the extended Sittings, which begin tomorrow, Saturday, 1st December, 2018.
Mr Speaker, we all know that as Hon Members of Parliament, weekends are very busy and they are for our constituents. There are so many constituency programmes, and these matters for which we would have extended Sittings, are not matters that we could not have planned -- It is not an emergency.
All we needed to do was for the Executive to have brought the Office of the Special Prosecutor's Legislative Instrument (LI) in good time; instead, we would wait and wait.
Mr Speaker, we all know the Parliamentary time table -- the Executive knows -- but we have been here, only to be ambushed in the last hours for Saturdays and Mondays to be taken away from us. Ordinarily, on Saturdays and Sundays, we work in the constituencies.
On Mondays, our Hon Colleagues, especially those who are in constituencies that are far away would return from their constituencies. That has been the convention. Now, we are supposed to have extended Sittings on matters that are not of emergency in nature. This practice cannot continue, because it really imposes a lot of burden on us.
Mr Speaker, we are ready to work, and we have been here since the House was recalled; but the Executive wait till the last hour before these matters are brought
in, and then all of these pressures are imposed on us. It becomes very difficult, and so I would want to urge the Majority Leadership to talk to their Hon Colleagues in the Executive to be up and doing, because these are not emergency matters.
Mr Speaker, we have known about this since the beginning of this year when Mr Speaker's Committee approved the Special Prosecutor's Bill and passed the Act. So, why have we waited for this long? A lot of Hon Members are complaining on both Sides.
Even if our Hon Colleagues on the other Side may not be bold to speak -- [Interruption.] -- So, please, we should take a second look at this practice. If not, then at this rate, very soon, we would have to add Sundays because we Sit from Tuesdays to Fridays, but we have now added Mondays and Saturdays.
So which day is reserved for our constituents and for our constituency work because that is also very important? We need to be engaged in our constituency work, and as we know, this is not an emergency matter.
Mr Speaker, the second and the last issue I have is grounded under Standing Order 60 (3). Standing Order 60 (3) reads, and with your permission, I beg to quote:
“A Minister shall not take more than three weeks to respond to a question from the House.”
Mr Speaker, I have Questions pending now running into three to four or five months, and I believe that a lot of Hon Members also experience the same thing -- the clock is winding down. Therefore, are we going to expect that our Questions would be addressed?
Mr Speaker, I would therefore want to draw the attention of the Hon Majority Leadership and the Table Office to this. We do not want to demand that the Question Register be produced, as our Standing Orders requires, so that we know exactly what is going on.
I have very important Questions which are pending, including Urgent Questions, and I would want to bring that to your attention and plead with you to kindly help us to have some expedited action on these Questions within the spirit and letter of Standing Order 60 (3).
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
I would just want you to know that when the Questions are filed, they are reviewed at the secretariat and the Table Office before they come to the Speaker's Office and then get to the Hon Minister.
So, if you have not heard anything, it does not mean that it has gotten to the Hon Minister. This rule may not be the reason your Question has not been answered.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:35 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Kumbungu?
Mr Ras Mubarak 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
I also rise to comment on the Business Statement and touch on a couple of issues. When the Business Statement was presented last week, an application was made for us to have a Joint Caucus meeting
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Member, you would hold on.
Hon Member for New Juaben South?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I heard the Hon Member for Kumbungu say that he was opposed to the Sitting on Saturday. I want to know which part of the Standing Orders says that an Hon Member could oppose a Sitting which has been programmed by the Business Committee? We should get serious. How could he oppose a Sitting which has been programmed by the Business Committee?
Mr Speaker, this has no space in our Standing Orders and so the Hon Member should refrain from that path.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Member, continue with your comments.
Mr Ras Mubarak 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am very grateful to you for ruling him out of order.
Mr Speaker, my suggestion was that there are days when we have a lot of time to carry on with the Business of the House. Yesterday was a typical example, where we adjourned earlier than the normal adjournment time which is 2.00 p.m.
I am saying that on occasions when we have a lot of time on our hands, then we should do the Business of the House, instead of an inconvenience to all Hon Members of the House by a request to sit on Mondays and Saturdays.
Mr Speaker, at least, from the comments emanating from many of my Hon Colleagues, Sitting on Saturday would be an inconvenience. I would appeal that the Business Committee takes a second look at the proposal.
This is a proposal from the Business Committee for us to Sit on Saturdays. But Hon Members have commented and I am making an application that it should be reconsidered so that we could make time for our constituents.
Mr Speaker, for instance, we could have gone into the details of the Right to Information Bill, 2018, yesterday but we adjourned. The fact that we have had occasions where there was enough time to do business but we adjourned means we should take a second look at some of these issues.
Mr Speaker, finally, there was a Motion that I filed about four months ago, and the indication to me was that the Motion was at Mr Speaker's Office.
The Motion is in respect of Kelni GVG -- I would be happy if Motions are filed but would not be taken, at least, for communication of same to be given to Hon Members so that we would know
whether to abandon or continue that pursuit.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Member for Adaklu.
Mr Agbodza 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Business Statement as presented by the Hon Second Deputy Majority Whip.
Mr Speaker, I have always been grateful for the decision by Parliament to provide us with our Research Assistants. I am reliably informed that there are outstanding welfare issues that concerns the Research Assistants who were recruited and are currently working for us.
I would not go into the details but I would just urge the Leadership and the Parliamentary Service to quickly resolve those critical welfare issues that concern our Research Assistants.
Mr Speaker, I believe that this issue did not start today because, historically, it appears that we are unable to utilise the time we have from the beginning to the end of a Meeting. When the Meeting starts. Sometimes we start work at 12.00 noon. or 1.00 p.m. and we close within an hour. Meanwhile we know that we have many things to do.
My only plea is that since this did not start from the life of this Parliament, let us do our best to use our time judiciously, so that this temptation of going through the back door to introduce the double track system into Parliament would be avoided.
Mr Speaker, last weekend, your Committee spent almost the whole weekend doing parliamentary work somewhere else and we resumed Sitting on Monday. This weekend too we are being told that we would have to do the same. If there would be a clear policy --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Member, move to something else because five Hon Members have spoken about the Sittings on weekends.
Mr Agbodza 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am just saying that if there would be a policy of Government to introduce the double track system to Parliament then let us --
Mr Speaker, my last issue is that when the Hon Leader read the Statement, the schedule that he added says that the Committee on Road and Transport would submit the Report on the Budget Estimates on Monday. There are four Ministries under this Committee, but we have not received even one of the estimates.
Mr Speaker, we are sitting on Saturday, so at what point in time would we receive those Estimates, do proper work on them and present a Report that is fit for this Chamber? Mr Speaker, we spoke about this at the beginning of the week that the Estimates must be with us so that we could peruse them appropriately.
We do not have any of the Estimates and I heard the Hon Leader saying that the Estimates are coming, but I do not know which Committee has received theirs.
Mr Speaker, I am just saying that if it would be good, the Hon Leader should just say that this schedule would not apply because many of the Committees do not have their Estimates.
Mr Speaker, because the temptation of having to see the Estimates and think that
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Kpodo.
Mr Benjamin Komla Kpodo 10:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker, I would want to extend the issue that was raised by Hon Ablakwa on Questions. My enquiry is whether Questions expire in this House even when they have not been addressed? I ask this question because I filed a Question on 16th March, 2018, for the Hon Minister for Education to tell this House how allocations to the tertiary sub-sector of education has been done.
Up to today, there has been no response. I filed another Question on 4th July, 2018, to the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways regarding the construction of a dual carriage road from Sokode through the University of Health and Allied Sciences to the Aflao Highway, but the Question has still not been answered.
Mr Speaker, so I do not know whether Questions which are filed in this House expire or they vanish. I would want to be educated on this because these things cannot be left hanging. When I raised the issue the other time, the Hon Majority
Leader told me that I know how to track Questions. I have tracked the Questions but I cannot get any answer to them. Mr Speaker, I am worried.

There are other Questions I filed on the same day, 16th March, 2018, as well. They were responded to by the Hon Minister for Finance; what about the rest? I hope this issue would be addressed.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome 11:05 a.m.
Mr Speaker, mine is also in addition to what Hon Agbodza spoke about earlier. In addition to the time that some Committees are expected to submit their Reports, which is a bit impossible looking at the fact that we would even Sit tomorrow and we do not know when we would have the time to do due diligence -- [Interruption]
In addition to that, with reference to the attachment to the Business Statement, it is indicated in item numbered 14 that the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises would engage the Estimates -- In fact, that is supposed to be done by the Committee alone when we are very much aware that the Youth Employment Agency would also submit their accounts or budgets for scrutiny.
I know the role of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture in that particular analysis.
So, I would just want to call on the Hon Majority Leader to probably reconsider what he has put here. This is because I actually remember that last year, when we
looked at the Budget Statement, I made a plea or reminded the Chair at that time that we ought to be part of the Committee to look at their Budget Estimates, do the necessary scrutiny and add some comments to the Report, especially, the Youth Employment Agency. That is critical.
In fact, when the law was brought here, it was done by a joint Committee. So, we do not see why subsequent to that, the Budget Estimates should not be looked at by the two Committees going forward.
Mr Speaker, I would just want us to look at that, so that we are also on top of issues so far as the Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture and the Youth Employment Agency are concerned. We want to find the happenings in their Estimates and its application.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Cassiel Ato Forson 11:05 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would just want to comment on the proposal for Parliament to Sit on Saturday.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Have we not flogged that enough?
Mr Forson 11:05 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to bring to the attention of the House that the Finance Committee has, for instance, programmed to travel out of town tonight. We would return on Monday, so I would plead with the Business Committee to reconsider their decision. Other than that, the Finance Committee would not be able to address the programme of work that we have put in place.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 11:05 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I have gone through the Business Statement and listened to the Hon Majority Leader. I
raised this issue, but when I got into the House and went through the Standing Orders, I was not convinced with the answer that I was given. I would just want to bring it up again.
When we go to the appendix of the Business Statement, the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) -- Last week, when the appendix was placed here and Hon Dr Akoto Osei raised an issue, it was said that it was a mistake and the Business Committee would consider it and come back.
Mr Speaker, with respect, I would want to quote Standing Order 156, which is on the Functions and Powers of Committees. Standing Order 156 states, and I beg to quote:
“The Standing and Select Committees of the House shall be constituted and shall be assigned such functions as are specified in these Orders. All Bills, resolutions and other matters relating to the subjects within their jurisdiction shall, unless as otherwise specified, be referred to them as provided for in these Orders.”
Mr Speaker, while Standing Order 156 says that all matters relating to a Committee shall be referred to it, when we go to Standing Order 181, it says and I beg to quote:
“The Committee on Local Government and Rural Development composed of twenty Members shall examine matters relating to Local Government and Rural Development issues generally”.
Mr Speaker, the practice has been that matters relating to local government must always be referred to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Develop-
Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin 11:05 a.m.
Mr Speaker, if we look at page 3 of the Business Statement, we would find an Urgent Question that has been programmed. Similarly, if we go to page 5, a number of Questions are there. It is followed through with Committee Reports and all that.
Mr Speaker, I bring this to the attention of the House because my respected Hon Colleague who just contributed brought our attention, the rules governing our activities as a House. If we look at Standing Order 69, the rule on supplementary questions is clear.
Situations where Hon Ministers come to the House and substantive Questions or Questions of interest are couched as though they are supplementary questions by individual Hon Members who are not the main questioners, it is unbecoming.
Mr Speaker, in the ensuing week -- [Interruption.] It is important because my Hon Colleague talked about the rules and the need for us to comply; it came from the Minority. So, I draw the attention of the House to this very important provision.
Having said that, I would go to the rules of debate. I had my chance to debate on Wednesday. -- [Interruption.] -- He knows that I always quote; Standing Order 86 is here -- He knows I always have it. My Hon Colleague, Mr Patrick Boamah, had assisted me to prepare for my debate, and I had rehearsed accordingly.

Mr Speaker, going forward, they should not do these things.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:05 a.m.
Hon Member, we are dealing with the Business Statement; do you have any comment on it?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:05 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker, regarding the rules. They should comply. [Laughter.]
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 11:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to bring to your attention, the Business Statement that was just read.
If we look at Standing Order 40(2), with your indulgence, it reads:
“The House shall sit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Sittings shall, subject to the direction of Mr. Speaker, ordinarily commence at ten o'clock in the forenoon and shall ordinarily conclude at two o'clock in the afternoon.”
Mr Speaker, we have a practice where, when we have too much Business, we try to include Mondays. We also have the practice that sometimes we Sit beyond 2 o'clock.
Mr Speaker, we need to be mindful about the health of Hon Members of Parliament. We are entering the Estimates week where Hon Members will be Sitting in Committee meetings for longer periods, sometimes deep into the night.
To add a Saturday to the Sitting days after we have included Mondays is injurious to the health of Hon Members of Parliament. We need to be alive to do the Business of the House. We need to live to be able to do the Business of the House.
Mr Speaker, our Hon Colleague just died. Unfortunately, if we go to his Constituency, we shall see how people are hovering to take over the seat.
We need to be alive. I would want to plead that when we want to add some of these Sitting days, as necessary as it might be, let us try to put them into a Motion for the House to agree. If you read the
Standing Orders, there is nowhere that says that the Business Committee can just put a day. We do not usually vote on the Business Statement as a committee, but to just include Saturdays is not fair.
Mr Speaker, secondly, the reason the Business Committee is stating why we must Sit on Saturdays is to get the L. I. on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to mature. As I speak, the document on the Regulations for the Office of the Special Prosecutor that was laid in this House has not been made available to any Hon Member.
If it is that important, the Executive would have made the document available. The document itself is not in this House, yet we are in a hurry to include a Saturday to inconvenience Hon Members to see to it that it matures. It means that we are trying to even fast track it. I have no objection with that, but where is the document itself?
Mr Speaker, I urge that this business of Sitting on Saturdays be taken a second look at.
Mr Speaker, the third issue on this is that, usually, the practice in this House is that even when we want Hon Members to start Sitting on Mondays, we give, at least, a week's notice. We should not come on Friday and tell Hon Members that there will be Sitting on Saturday. Let us be mindful of our practices because we would be setting bad precedents.
To come on Friday and tell Hon Members that they would Sit on Saturday is very unfortunate. I am of the view that, this Saturday should be excluded from the days that we Sit.
It would be unfair to any Hon Member who does not come to be recorded as
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Hon Deputy Majority Whip, are you going to respond?
Mr Anim 11:15 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Chairman of the Business Committee is here. He would answer the questions.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:15 a.m.
Very well. Hon Majority Leader?
Majority Leader Chairman of the Business Committee (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
I heard that an Hon Colleague referred to a Joint Caucus meeting. Indeed, I was not around when it was agreed upon. I think it is a good thing that we have to do.
Unfortunately, given the nature of today's Business, perhaps, it would be difficult for today. If we have to Sit tomorrow, I guess we can do so tomorrow or on Monday.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Ras Mubarak said we adjourned early yesterday and inconvenienced Hon Members. He would remember that at the point of adjournment, I was pleading that we had time to do two things; the Motion by the Committee on Health and also some space to deal with the Right to Information Bill.
The suggestion from the Minority bench was that because of the efforts that we have put into the debate of the Budget Statement, we should adjourn. That is why we adjourned. So, for him to turn round that we inconvenienced Hon Members because we had to adjourn early, is really unfortunate.
I believe my Hon Colleague, if he was here yesterday, would have known what happened. This kind of attitude does not help the House at all.
Mr Speaker, I have listened to an Hon Member raise the issue in respect of Standing Order 60 (3) that, “A minister shall not take more than three weeks to respond to a Question from the House”.
Mr Speaker, we should ensure that Hon Ministers attend to the House early enough in order not to render Questions stale or moot. I agree with the principle that, as early as possible, when Questions are admitted, they should be transmitted to the Hon Ministers.
Unfortunately, if we go through the document in respect of Questions that have been filed, we may realise that not many have been transmitted to the Hon Ministers.
Mr Speaker, on many occasions at the Business Committee, it happened that an Hon Minister might be invited to the House to answer just one Question, and I have insisted that if there are outstanding Questions to that Ministry, they should be processed in order that when the Hon Minister appears, he or she would respond to not less than two to three Questions so that we make judicious use of our time in the appearance of that Minister and the House.
So, it is untrue that Questions have been transmitted to Ministers and Ministers are pussyfooting to come and answer Questions.
Mr Speaker, I have always insisted that if Hon Members file Questions -- It is usually the reason we ask that Questions should be filed through the respective Whips so that the Whips are able to trace and track where the Questions would be. Hon Members do not do that.
Many of us jump over the heads of the Whips and file Questions directly, then they come to this House to ask about the status of the Questions. It is not for me to determine the status of the Questions.
Mr Speaker, that Hon Member would have to trace and track his own Question. The appropriate vehicle would be for an Hon Member to use the office of the Whips so that they are able to trace and track the status. We would not be engaging in tedious repetitions in the House if and when we have the opportunity.

Mr Speaker, issues have been raised about the import of Standing Order 40(2), which provides that the House shall sit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. That is the given time for us, but in exigencies and emergency situations, we can go beyond these periods. It is the reason why Standing Order 43 provides, and I read;

“The House shall ordinarily not sit on Public Holidays”.

There is a qualifier. It shall ordinarily not sit on public holidays. That means in appropriate circumstances, the House could even sit on a public holiday. That is the clear meaning of this construction. That is not to say that on public holidays, we should willingly sit.
rose
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:25 a.m.
Unless I am out of order, I would not resume my seat for you to talk --
Alhaji Muntaka 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with the greatest respect, the Hon Majority Leader is grossly out of order.
He knows that when documents are presented and distributed in this House, they are put in the pigeon holes. I challenge him to go there. There is not a single copy in the pigeon holes so he having one copy does not mean that this House has copies of the Estimates.
Mr Speaker, I would want the Hon Majority Leader to acknowledge that they are not here. If he says that he is making efforts for them to be distributed, that is fine, but to claim and read a number that they are here -- Mr Speaker, you can send now -- [Interruption]. Go to the pigeon hole.
There is not a single Estimates or Regulations there. So, he should speak to the issues and not say that because he has a copy, it means that it is in the House. It is not accurate. He should keep to the issues. In the pigeon hole, there is not a single estimates that has been put there for any Hon Member.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon Minority Chief Whip, so how does that make him mislead the House? Is it in Parliament? Distribution is another part. He said that it is in the House. If it has not been distributed, how does he mislead the House?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, he raised a copy and said there was one here. We do not even know what he is holding. The Hon Majority Leader having a single copy does not mean it is in the House because when documents are to be distributed, they are put in the pigeon hole for all Hon Members.
Mr Speaker, before I came to the Chamber, I went to the pigeon hole. There is not a single Estimates that has been distributed to the pigeon hole.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon Members, let us bring this matter to a close. I am advised by the Clerks-at-the- Table that 11 Select Committees have submitted them. The Committee clerks have signed and taken them so they are with the Committee Clerks if they have not been distributed.
These are not for every Hon Member; they are for Committee members and so, once it has reached the Committee Clerks, it is their duty to distribute them. Let us move on to other things, please.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, certainly, I am not out of order. Clearly, if Hon Members would want to trace and track issues in the House, they would inform themselves.
Mr Speaker, as I said, and you have reiterated it, my attention was drawn to the fact that Committee Clerks have gone to sign for these ones that I am holding and they brought them here. So, it is for the Committee leadership to ensure that Hon Members have them.
I was a bit late to the House today. When I inquired yesterday, I was told by the Clerks-at-the-Table that, as of yesterday, they had even received five of them and I asked that they should speed up for the rest of them to be submitted. I agree that beginning from the close of day today, the Committees should begin to fan out to consider them.
And if they have done a schedule and they have not had the document, it would be difficult for them to do any consideration anyway. So, it is important that the Hon Ministers submit these Estimates.
Yesterday at Cabinet meeting, I pleaded that these things should be done and followed through by the various Hon Ministers to ensure that the Committees have them.
I can attest to this fact that Committee Clerks have signed for 11 of these documents and it is for us to ensure that we have them. So, I cannot be out of order when I present this.
Mr Speaker, the last one relates to the two Instruments. I was informed that they were ready and have been laid. The day of the laying, as our Standing Orders provide, whenever they come to be laid, that same day, they are gazetted. Gazetting them would produce the document.
So, when the Hon Minister comes here to lay it, he would not have the gazetted version. That is how it is; but the gazetted version by now should be in the House.
I thought that it should be here and if Hon Members say that they are not in here -- Of course, I do not have the Hon Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee here so I cannot even confirm whether what I heard is true or not. Notwithstanding, Hon Members need to have them and if they are not here, I would ensure that they have them.
Mr James Klutse Avedzi 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it looks as if the Estimates of the 11 Ministries or Agencies that are available are made available to only the Committee members.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon Members, order!
Mr Avedzi 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, if the Committee Clerks have gone to sign for those Estimates, did they do so to distribute to the entire House or to the
Committee members? That must be made clear because if it is for the entire House, Committee Clerks cannot come and sign for them. It should be at the mails room and distributed to our pigeon holes.
So, if the claim is that those documents are in and they have been signed by the Committee Clerks, I assume that they are for only the Hon Members of the Committee, but that is not the practice.
They are for the entire House so if a small quantity is brought to the Committee, the requirement for making the number available for the 275 Hon Members has not been fulfilled. So, if those documents are available --
Mr Speaker, the reason we said we do not have them is because if one is not an Hon Member of that Committee, he would not have it at this moment. Let us have the number that can reach all the Hon Members and then we can just start to look at them. So, that issue must be made clear that the quantity available is only for Committee members, but we need the number that can cover the entire House.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Not again. Hon Members, there are two issues.
Mr Terlabi 11:25 a.m.
He did not answer.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
What did he not answer?
Mr Terlabi 11:25 a.m.
Right to Information (RTI) Bill, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
What has RTI done? It is on the Order Paper and you know we Sit beyond regular Sitting hours to the extent of even suspending issues relating to time so that we can do it. Let us not make an issue when there is none.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe the Hon Deputy Minority Leader has raised a salient issue that I have always insisted on: whether or not the Estimates should be made available to every Hon Member of Parliament.
Mr Speaker, when we come to debating the Estimates, every Hon Member is required to contribute and we can only do that when we have these Estimates and study them on our own. I have always insisted that that is how it should be treated.
However, the truth of the matter is that since 2007, these Estimates have only gone to the Committee members. [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, that indeed is the truth. Let nobody corrupt the practice here.
Let nobody fight any untruths in this House. In 2007, it was occasioned by the fact that there were difficulties in printing and availing the documents to Hon Members.
Mr Speaker, if anybody says it is never true, let him show me and the Clerks-at- the-Table will certify. Let nobody tell untruths in this House. Since 2007, that has been the practice and we have insisted that when they come -- [Interruption]. Please, I know what I am talking about. I have been in Leadership for all these years.
Mr Speaker, what we have done after the Committees have been served is to have about 20 more copies -- Some are taken to the library and then we have some for some Hon Leaders. That is what we have always done. But I have always
argued that going forward, that is not the best practice.
Mr Speaker, if we have to go back to what we used to do before 2007, let us do that. I agree with the Hon Deputy Minority Leader that because every Hon Member may want to contribute to any Estimates, let us avail the copies to everyone; but that it has not been the practice of this House is certainly an untruth.
11. 45 a. m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon Members, I do not think there is any need to argue over this; if that was an error, let us correct it because every Hon Member is entitled to have a copy. I so direct.

Hon Members, before I bring the curtain down on the Business of the House, there are two matters that I think I should comment on; one is Questions. The Business Committee would confirm that on any day they sit, there are Questions for them to programme, which means that there are a lot more Questions than we have time to attend to.

As we speak, the Questions before Mr Speaker's table are up to March, 2018; any time before March -- They are admitted daily. So, because the Questions are so many, it is those that we could take in a day that are brought before the House. So the Hon Kpodo's Question is in the queue, when it gets to his turn, it would appear.

Hon Members, the issue of Sitting -- The Hon Minority Chief Whip read Standing Order 40(2) but Standing Order 40(3) follows immediately. And Standing Order 40(3) gives Mr Speaker the power to determine when we Sit.

Therefore, by that Standing Order 40(3), the decision to Sit on Saturdays, even though the Business Committee may propose, rests with Mr Speaker.

If Mr Speaker admits that we Sit on Saturday, we shall so Sit. So, all comments and discussions shall be held but the decision would be made by Mr Speaker.

I thank you.

Hon Members, the Business of the House for the ensuing week is hereby adopted.

Question Time; Question number 478 for the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways. It is in the name of Ms Joycelyn Tetteh, Hon Member for North Dayi.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTION 11:25 a.m.
MINISTRY OF ROADS AND 11:25 a.m.
HIGHWAYS 11:25 a.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minister?
Hon Minister for Roads and Highways (Mr Amoako-Attah): Mr Speaker, I thank you. As the Question is posed, I would start with Tsrukpe - Botoku road.
(i) Tsrukpe-Botoku
Background
The Trsukpe-Botoku (6.1km) road forms part of the Vakpo-Trsukpe-Botoku (19.6km) feeder road and located in the North Dayi District of the Volta Region. It is a partially engineered road in poor condition.
Current programme
Contract for Bitumen Surfacing of Vakpo -Trsukpe - Botoku PH III (km11.60 - km19.6) was awarded on 11th August, 2016. The contract commenced on 18th November, 2016, with contractual completion date of 18th November, 2017. This completion date has since elapsed.
Physical work completed to date includes clearing of vegetation, and cutting and filling to formation. Progress of work is estimated at 5.0 per cent physical completion. The contractor has vacated site. Warning letters has been issued to the contractor to mobilize back to site.
Future programme
The Department of Feeder Roads (DFR) is in the process of taking the necessary contractual procedures to terminate the contract and repackage for award.
(ii)Sabadu-Awatey
Background
The Sabadu - Awatey road is a 3.0km un-engineered road located in the North Dayi District of the Volta Region.
Current programme
There is no major upgrading programme on the road.
Ms Tetteh 11:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, these roads are in a deplorable state, so what is your Ministry going to do in the interim to make the road motorable for the good people of North Dayi while we await a complete intervention in 2019?
Mr Amoako-Attah 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my Ministry has a programme which is always in currency of periodic and routine maintenance. I want to assure the Hon Member that all these stretches of road would come under the ambit of my Ministry's routine maintenance programme, until such a time that we would tackle them one after the other to a bituminous level.
Ms Tetteh 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I appreciate the Hon Minister's answer. However, I want to know whether there is enough allocation for road maintenance made in the Budget Statement we just considered?
Mr Amoako-Attah 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, yes, under this Government.
Ms Tetteh 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I read the Answer to the
Question on the Tsrukpe-Botokuu road. On the future programme, it states:
“The Department of Feeder Roads is in the process of taking the necessary contractual procedures to terminate the contract and repackage for award.”
I want to follow-up with this question. Did the current contractor abandon site due to lack of capacity or failure of government to pay him? If it is due to the failure of Government to pay the contractor, what is the assurance that the new contractor who would be employed would be paid to do the work for the good people of North Dayi?
Mr Amoako-Attah 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to put on record that the contractor has been paid some amount. To date, cumulatively, he has been paid GH¢649,191.85. As I stated in my Answer, if the contractor does not remobilise to site -- I indicated in my Answer that he has abandoned site.
If he does not go back within the specified time within the contract, my Ministry would invoke the right powers as contained in the contract executed between the parties which are the Contractor and the employer. That right would be exercised and it would be done in accordance with the law.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Hon Minister, thank you for attending upon the House to answer Questions. You are discharged. [Hear! Hear!]
The next Question is for the Hon Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources and it is in the name of Mr Samuel Nartey George, Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram.
MINISTRY OF SANITATION AND 11:55 a.m.
WATER RESOURCES 11:55 a.m.
Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah) 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing the rescheduling of the Answers to the Questions. I wrote a letter about two weeks ago to request for the rescheduling.
I think that it did not get through the system early and it seemed I had abandoned the House; I have not. I have a copy of the letter here which I would leave at the Table.
Mr Speaker, the 3-District Water Supply Scheme which was constructed in 2008, was designed to serve a 10-year projected population. The Scheme currently serves a total of 162 small town and rural communities in six (6) Districts: Ningo- Prapram, Shai Ossudoku, Ada East, Ada West, Central Tongu and North Tongu.
Until May, 31, 2008, when it was handed over to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency to manage under a reform currently being piloted, the Scheme was managed by a Private System Operator.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry recognizes the need to undertake expansion works on the 3-District Water Supply Scheme as a result of increased water demand due to population increase and lapse of the life span of the Water Supply Scheme.

To this end, some actions have been initiated to expand the 3 Districts Water Supply Scheme which includes, among others, an assessment of the water production requirements of the scheme vis-a-vis the current population and the level of economic activities of the beneficiary communities.

Mr Speaker, a private investor has carried out an assessment on the system and has proposed an investment of US$27,600,000 to meet the current total water demand, but because of possible delays, the Ministry together with the Ministry of Finance is also exploring new ways to mobilize funds to improve water production and service delivery.
Mr George 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank the Hon Minister for her initial response. However, I want to find out from her, when the project was designed 10 years ago in 2008, it had a ten-year lifespan. Why have we waited till the expiration of the 10 years before doing an assessment?
I am aware that there have been requests for expansion or new communities, spanning as far back as two or three years ago. So, why have we waited till the expiration of the 10 years before doing an assessment?
Ms Dapaah 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe I would need to do some engineering to get an answer for the Hon Member. This is because two or three years ago, I was not at post, so I would find out what was done during that period. However, I know that the 10-year lifespan is up and very soon, we would commence the expansion programme.
Mr George 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, , in the final paragraph of the Hon Minister's response, she indicated that a private investor had carried out an assessment. I
want to believe that it was done with the permission of the Ministry.
The private investor proposed to invest US$27,600,000. However, we were told in the Hon Minister's response that because of possible delays, her Ministry together with the Ministry of Finance are exploring new ways to mobilise funds.
Respectfully, could the Hon Minister explain to me, so that I could explain to my constituents what new way would be faster than an investor who has US$27,600,000 to invest in a project now?
Ms Dapaah 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe the Hon Member would appreciate that it is not all proposed loans that get through the financial system on time. So, my Ministry together with the Ministry of Finance, are exploring.
Inasmuch as the private investor has come in with US$27,600,000, we would continue to explore other options and ways of getting, probably, cheaper funding as quickly as practicable.
Mr George 11:55 a.m.
Mr Speaker, could the Hon Minister give me an assurance that I would take back to my constituents, that in 2019, her Ministry together with the Ministry of Finance would find an alternative, better or faster source of funding to rectify this problem of water supply? This is because in some communities, the water flows once in three months. Water is life.
Mr Speaker, the entire budget for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources for 2019 is less than US$27.8 --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon Member, the Hon Minister's Answer did not include 2019, so do not import that in your follow-up question.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in my Answer, I did not say that the Ministry would be capable of funding the US$27million. I said that we would go out and look for the funding, so I can assure the Hon Member that, as quickly as practicable, we would find the money.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Question numbered 453, which stands in the name of Hon Mutawakilu Adam.
Commencement Damongo Town Water System
Q.453. Mr Mutawakilu Adamasked the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources when the Damongo Town Water System would commence.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it has become imperative that a new water supply system be constructed to augment the existing system in order to meet the water demand of the beneficiary towns and communities in the Damongo township, which have increased considerably over the past years.
Water demand for Damongo is expected to be 0.97 million gallons per day by 2025. To meet this demand, the existing Water Treatment Plant will be rehabilitated
as well as a new Water Treatment Plant will be constructed with a capacity of 1 million gallons per day.
Mr Speaker, a Joint Cabinet Memorandum by the Ministry and Ministry of Finance for a Credit Facility of US$39.4million from the EximBank of India to construct the Damango Town Water project has been submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
Mr Speaker, I wish to indicate that the commencement of the project is subject to the Government of Ghana approving the terms and conditions of financing under the project.
Mr Adam 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in the Hon Minister's Answer, she indicated that a Joint Cabinet Memorandum by the Ministry of Finance and her Ministry had been submitted to Cabinet. I would want to know when it was submitted and when do the people of Damango expect any response in terms of the terms and conditions.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would get the date for the Hon Member, but I can assure him that there is someone who lives at Damango who puts pressure on me on this same water project. I banter with him any time we meet and he asks me when the Damango water system could commence. I tell him the “Damango water” would come like kakai. [Laughter]
Mr Speaker, with your kind permission, the Damango Town Water System would commence.
Mr Adam 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister indicated that she could not tell me when the Memorandum was submitted to Cabinet, and when it is expected --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
Hon Member, the Hon Minister said she would get that for you.
Mr Adam 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in terms of the
scope, there have been instances where a number of Government Appointees define it differently, so the people of Damango are confused. Some Government Appointees indicated that it would cover communities to Damango, Kalba Kanten and Larbana.
Mr Speaker, just recently, I went for the Damba festival and another Government Appointee indicated that it would even extend to Sawla and Bole. The people of the Damango Constituency are now confused as to the scope of the water project. So, I would want to ask the Hon Minister the scope of the Damango Town Water Project.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, as it is said “water is life'' and everybody needs it, so the policy of the Government is to make sure that when the projects are done, population growth is taken into consideration as well as all towns and villages en route the water source are served.
Mr Speaker, I would get the Hon Member the full scope of works and the various towns that would benefit from it. This is because it is an entirely new Question and I would need to do some work on it.
Mr Adam 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would follow up with the Hon Minister to get the scope because it is very important to the people of Damango.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
The next Question is in the name of Hon Kobena Mensah Woyome.
Connection of pipe-borne water (Dorkploame, Atsieve and Gordorkope)
Q.454. Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome asked the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources when the following
communities would be connected to pipe- borne water: (i) Dorkploame and its environs (ii) Atsieve (iii) Gordorkope.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I wish to state that extension of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) distribution network to the above-mentioned communities is under consideration.
Mr Speaker, GWCL has signed a contract with Messrs Lexico Ltd to rehabilitate and expand the Agordome- Sogakope Water Treatment Plant. As part of the rehabilitation exercise, distribution pipelines would be extended to these communities.
The terms and conditions of financing for the project, Mr Speaker, is currently being evaluated by the Debt Management Office of the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Woyome 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in the Hon Minister's Answer, she indicated that currently, the Debt Management Office of the Ministry of Finance is evaluating the facility. I would want to know if the Hon Minister could tell us when this exercise would be completed so that we could see the commencement of this important and laudable project.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we are in constant touch with the Ministry of Finance, but they have been held up by the Budget Statement period, so as soon as they are clear, I would get back to the Hon Member.
Mr Woyome 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to know whether the Hon Minister could tell us the scope of the works to include the possible replacement of the pipe from Agodome to Sogakope from six inches to a bigger size.
Ms Dapaah 12:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have taken note of the Hon Member's proposal. I believe this is what he wants and it would be looked at technically.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:05 p.m.
The next Question, which is numbered 455, also stands in the name of Hon Woyome.
Improvement of pipe-borne water supply
(Kpotame, Toklokpo, Agbakope et cetera)
*455. Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome asked the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources when pipe-borne water supply to the following areas would be improved since connection to the national source took place over seventeen years ago: (i) Kpotame and its environs (ii) Toklokpo (iii) Agbakope (iv) Agbagorme (v) Hikpo (vi) Tordzinu.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the existing water supply system, Agordome- Sogakope Water Treatment Plant, which was constructed in 1998 with an installed plant capacity of 1.6 million gallons per day supplies water to part of South Tongu and Keta. However, the Plant is currently producing 1.04 million gallons per day.
Mr Speaker, as a result of this, GWCL is currently rationing water supply to the communities apart from Tordzinu which is being supplied with potable water by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.
Mr Speaker, due to the increase in de-
mand for water in the area, resulting in the existing water production gap, a contract has been signed with Messrs Lexico to rehabilitate and expand the Agordome- Sogakope Water Treatment Plant to meet the water demands of these communities for which funding is currently being sought.
Mr Speaker, these communities would also be considered to benefit from the Sogakope-Lome Transboundary Water Supply Project upon completion as a long term solution.
Mr Woyome 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it appears it depends on the works that are supposed to be undertaken by the Lexico Company, which the Hon Minister indicated earlier.
Mr Speaker, now that we are entering into the dry season, would the Hon Min- ister assure us of tanker services in the interim? Tanker services in the communi- ties would be very much appreciated, while we look forward to when the project actu- ally commences to solve our problems of serious water shortages in the communi- ties.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we would look at that. This is because the Hon Member had a side discussion with me before I came in here, and we would consider that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
Very well.
Hon Member, Question numbered 456, standing in the name of Hon Kobena Mensah Woyome.

Supply to the Republic of Togo

*456. Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome asked the Minister for Sanitation and Wa- ter Resources when the project to treat water and supply same to the Republic of Togo from the South Tongu District capi- tal, Sogakope, would commence.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the feasibility study and preliminary design phase of the Sogakope-Lome Transboundary Water Supply Project is being funded by the Af- rican Development Bank (AfDB) under its African Water Facility (AWF), the Afri- can Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and the Governments of Ghana and Togo.
Under this, the draft final report is ready and tenders are being prepared for either Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) or Engi- neering-Procurement-Construction (EPC).
Funding is being arranged with AfDB as the lead financier in addition to other potential investors.
Mr Speaker, to this end, the project is expected to commence as soon as the funds are secured.
Mr Woyome 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, this plan was envisaged some time ago and we have been assured over the period by the pre- vious Government, and is being contin- ued now -- That the entire southern sec- tor would benefit from this project while serving Togo as well. And so, it is very important. The expectation is high.
Mr Speaker, may I know from the Hon Minister when exactly the funding proc- ess would be finished so that we can see the commencement of this project.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe this is a project that started long ago, even during former President Kufuor's time. It crawled through to this time and things are being accelerated.
Mr Speaker, as you are aware, we have two countries that are jointly responsible for this project. There is a committee in place that is always meeting to make sure that things are handled very quickly.
As I speak, my colleague in Togo is arranging for us to meet on this same project. And so it is a huge responsibility on our side to make sure things work very quickly for us.
This is because 80 per cent of the project would be in Ghana and the 20 per cent in Togo. It is Ghana that would benefit because all villages and towns en route would be served, then the remaining of the water would be sold to Togo.
Mr Speaker, for our information, this is water that was just pouring into the sea. And so it is a good engineering that we are doing and we would quickly handle that.
Mr Richard Quashigah — rose --
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity —
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
I have not recognised you. He has three options, and he has not told me he has —
Mr Woyome 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, currently, we have a huge deficit of water supply in the entire area; that is the southern sector, right from South Tongu to Keta, Anlo and beyond.
The issue is, can we have an assurance that immediately this starts in terms of supply of water, all communities that are currently not served by the Agordome- Sogakope supply would be served by this system?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
Your ques- tion says it is for supply to Togo. And so why are you now bringing in communities along this side? That is a separate Ques- tion.
Hon Minister, if you have information to share, I would allow you.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, maybe, I would have to reiterate that it is the policy of Government to make sure that all Ghana- ians en route would be served.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
Hon Mem- ber, are you done?
Mr Woyome 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to be very sure because my people are watch- ing and listening and same with other Hon Colleagues who actually have interest in this matter would also want to have some- thing assuring.
We have been engaged on this matter about the period, and some understandings were reached, and the is- sue was that all communities currently not served -- those that do not have pipe borne water within the southern sector of the Volta Region -- would also benefit in the course of this project.
We must enjoy what we are getting before we send the rest to Togo.
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I used a French expression; all villages and towns en route. This means, along the route, if I may say so; they would be served.
As for the extended pathways, I can- not give that assurance. The initial policy is for all towns and villages en route. And so as the pipelines are laid to Lome, all towns en route or along the way would be served.
Mr Speaker, these secondary additions can be made as an additional scope of works.
Mr Quashigah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, a similar question was asked in 2016 in relation to the same project, and we were informed that communities along Abor to Anyako et cetera were to benefit from this project.
Mr Speaker, if the Hon Minister says communities along that route, which communities is she specifically talking about? Does that include Anyako and Abor, or what exactly is the Hon Minister driving at?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
Hon Member, you can ask your own Question but —
Ms Dapaah 12:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member says he wants to ask, but he has asked — [Laughter.] — I can assure him that, indeed, my geography is not up to scratch in his area of jurisdiction. I would get the full list of towns that would be served.
Rashid Hassan Pelpuo — rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:15 p.m.
Hon Member for Wa Central, what do you have to do with this one? [Laughter.]
Alhaji (Dr) Hassan Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the issue about the water supply from Sogakope to Togo has been on the drawing board for quite a while. We have been constantly told that the feasibility studies has been done and they are awaiting funding. The Hon Minister has repeated same.
Mr Speaker, I know of a Turkish company that was willing to sponsor it on a partnership basis. I would want to find out from the Hon Minister whether she is aware and why she is not opting for that. This African Development Bank (AfDB) funding is dragging on forever.

the matter is that the AfDB funded the feasibility studies and that has been completed. They are not the funding agency for the project itself. We are now seeking EPC or Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or any other form of partnership to make sure this project comes on board.

I do not know what this Turkish company went through. I am not sure whether they went through the full hog of the processes. I know of other funding agencies which are also knocking on our doors. But we are going through the processes legally to make sure we do not fall foul of the law.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:25 p.m.
Hon Minister, I thank you for attending upon the House to answer Questions.

Hon Majority Leader, shall we take Statements? Originally, I intended to take about some two Statements but I would want to be guided by the Leadership.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we would go to Public Business and I guess we could start with the Motion numbered 10.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:25 p.m.
Very well, Hon Members, at the Commencement of Public Business; item numbered 10.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity. You said you wanted to listen to the Leadership and that is right.
Mr Speaker, as was agreed in the morning, out of the about eight Statements
that Hon Members had, you were to take two; that of Hon Okudzeto and the other one on African Union.

Mr Speaker, you said you wanted to take two Statements after which we would go on to Public Business.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:25 p.m.
Well, Hon Members, what we discussed was this -- I had about six Statements. So I said if we would take Statements, then I would admit two; one on solidarity message to the people of Lebanon and the other on World AIDS Day.
But having regard to the Business we have, I asked if we should prioritise Statements or do something else.
Mr A. Ibrahim 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, ordinarily, we would have no problem but I believe you admitted it yesterday and because you wanted to give priority to Leadership, the Hon Member was asked to take his Statement today. So if we are shifting it today, too, to another time, we may not be fair to him. Anyway, Mr Speaker, we are in your hands but the Hon Member is in the House.
Mr Speaker 12:25 p.m.
As Leaders, you have to guide me.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, I was not at the pre-Sitting meeting but I know of the pendency of many Statements, including the one from the Hon Bedzrah on anti-corruption. It has been pending for more than two weeks now.
So we would just want to plead that we do the public business and then revert to take the Statements as agreed on. Perhaps, tomorrow, we could deal with the Statement by Hon Bedzrah.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:25 p.m.
Very well, Hon Members, item numbered 10?
MOTIONS 12:25 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah) 12:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Financing Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for an amount of seventy-one million, one hundred thousand special drawing rights (SDR 71,100,000) [equivalent to US$100.00 million] to finance the proposed Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme.
In so doing, I present your Committee's Report.
Introduction
The Financing Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for an amount of seventy-one million, one hundred thousand Special Drawing Rights (SDR 71,100,000) [US$100.0 Million Equivalent] to finance the Proposed Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP) was presented to the House on Tuesday 13th November, 2018, by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Hon Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu, on behalf of the Minister for Finance.
Pursuant to article 103 of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 169 and 171 of the Standing Orders of the House, the Agreement was referred to the Committee on Finance for consideration and report.
The Committee subsequently met and discussed the Agreement with the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hon Hajia Alima Mahama, a Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hon Osei Bonsu Amoah, a Deputy Minister for Finance, Hon Abena Osei-Asare as well as officials from the Ministries of Finance and Local Government and Rural Development.
The Committee hereby submits this Report to the House, pursuant to Order 161 of the Standing Orders of the House.
The Committee is grateful to the above- mentioned Hon Minister, Deputy Ministers and officials for attending upon the Committee.
References
The Committee referred to and was guided by the following documents inter alia during its deliberations on the Agreement:
The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana; and
The Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
Background
Urbanisation is one of the most significant processes affecting human societies, especially in the last century.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Afram Plains South?
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu (NDC-- Afram Plains South) 12:35 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion, and in doing so, I would like to make a few comments.
Mr Speaker, the Programme has three windows, and the terms and conditions are favourable.
Looking at the observations, however, I have a problem at the criteria for the selected municipalities.
Mr Speaker, when we consider the Ashanti Region, we have Suame, which is inner Kumasi city; we have Old Tafo,
SPACE FOR TABLE - PAGE 11
- 12.25 P.M.
Asokwa, and Obuasi, leaving out towns like Bekwai, Konongo and Ejisu.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Member, could you repeat that part?
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the way the towns were selected, one could see that Suame is the Hon Majority Leader's Constituency and Old Tafo is also the Constituency for the Hon Dr Akoto Osei.
Also, Asokwa is the Constituency of the Hon Deputy Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Obuasi is also the Constituency of the Hon Kwaku Kwarteng, an Hon Deputy Minister for Finance. So when we looked at it, we realised that it was not well selected.
This is because it could have been given to rural towns like Bekwai and Mampong, where most of the people migrate to Kumasi. This would have prevented the rural-urban migration to Kumasi. So I believe it needs to be looked at again.
Mr Speaker, when we go to Koforidua, we have the New Juaben South, which is the Constituency of the Hon Chairman of the Finance Committee -- [Laughter] So we would need to look at all these things, because the criteria for selection was not well done. They would need to consult.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Ranking Member, you should hold on.
Yes, Hon Member for Manhyia North, what do you have to say?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Member, take your comments out of that area and proceed with your argument.
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my argument is that Suame Old Tafo and Asokwa are all in Kumasi, and if they would want any place to be developed, then they would have to consider a town like Bekwai, which is also a very important town. [Interruption.]
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Member, I actually agree with you, but move on from that point.
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Bekwai is one of the oldest municipal towns in the Ashanti Region. So if we would want to consider anything at all, Bekwai and Mampong should be considered.

Mr Speaker, when we go to the Volta Region, we have Hohoe, the Constituency of the Hon Minister for Energy. [Laughter] -- Why did they do the selection in such a manner?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Member, you said Hohoe has what?
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Hohoe is the place of the Hon Minister for Energy. [Laughter] -- So, it is lethargy.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Saddique 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is aware that there would be a second phase, where towns like Bekwai and the others would be considered.
Mr Eric Osei-Owusu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the way the towns were selected seemed to be the same as the selection of people for ministerial appointments in Ghana. This is because it was selected in a certain way -- [Laughter]
Mr Speaker, another problem I have has to do with the challenges of urbanisation. This is because if we say we would want the cities to develop, then should we not think about the rural towns the more? This is because the rural areas are the places where we see people struggle.
Poverty is rampant over there, and so if we would want to alleviate poverty, then we would rather need to tackle the rural areas, where they are in need because they feed the whole country.
Therefore though it has been stated that this Fund is to be used to develop the urban areas, I believe it would be best if it goes to help develop the rural areas, where it would be more needed.
Mr Speaker, when we look at the tax waiver, , we realise that we would get a lot of benefits from this loan. This Government says that it wants to develop
Ghana beyond aid, but here they are, going in for grants.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank you.
Question proposed.
Mr Kwasi Boateng Adjei (NPP -- New Juaben North) 12:45 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I would want to -- [Interruption.] New Juaben North was considered -- I want to put on record that this project is an urban project, and it is supposed to be a successor project to the Local Government Capacity Support Project from which we all benefited.
Mr Speaker, the World Bank looked at this project, and in developing the concept for this project, they used the average population figures for the municipalities. In fact, they wanted to reduce the numbers to 19 because they wanted the per capita support to be a minimum of US$3 million.
This is because they wanted substantial projects of about US$500,000 per municipality. So they were working on 19 municipalities, but we had to ask that they increase the numbers a bit.
That is why we brought it up to 25, but if we look at the spread, we would see that we have covered the entire regions of Ghana. Every region is adequately catered for, and it is supposed to improve upon urban management.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Ranking Member talked about poverty, but poverty in the urban centres is sometimes more biting than when we go to the rural areas. The focus is on improving urban infrastructure - drainage, roads and other things.
So, the focus for this project is on urban development, and it is supposed to be the first phase of the project. There would be a second phase which would take care of the other emerging municipalities.

If we look at the point that was raised about the municipalities in Kumasi, Suame and the others, they all qualified per the threshold that was established by the World Bank. So it is not a matter of anybody tweaking the arrangement to serve any interest.

This is a very good project, and if we are able to support its implementation, it would improve upon our urban space because this fund would support a number of areas.

For instance, we would work to improve upon street naming, property addressing and other issues that are of an urban nature. Therefore this would go a long way to improve upon the urban management that we have in our Assemblies.

Mr Speaker, one reason why the Greater Accra Region was taken out was that it is benefitting from other projects of the World Bank. For instance, the Greater Accra Region would benefit from the World Bank support of about US$450 million, and that is why it does not feature on this programme.

In the ranking, as we go ahead into the next phase -- [Interruption.] I sympathise with the Hon First Deputy Speaker; I am sure that in the next phase, they would be on board. [Hear! Hear!]

With these few words, I support that we approve of this facility.
Mr R. Acheampong 12:45 p.m.
I am of the opinion that we should have started from the district level, so that we can plan our communities because people just get parcels of land and develop them without consulting any authority. At the end of the day, they call on the Government to provide them with infrastructure - water, roads and electricity - which puts a lot of pressure on the Government because it is not part of its policy.
The Government is not aware of such developments; but as soon as people live in such communities, the Government is pressurised to provide such facilities. Why can we not start from the district level, though the Hon Minister said that this is a programme for the urban communities?
If they say local --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Member, hold on.
Hon Member for Effutu?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague on his feet made an important point, but it is misleading. To the extent that he argues that “we are told per the Report”; he is a member of the Finance Committee. He is not just an ordinary Hon Member of Parliament who is not a member of the Committee. It was moved by the Hon Chairman of the Committee, and it is an outcome of their deliberation.
Mr Speaker, per the conclusion of the Report, it is a unanimous decision of the Committee, not a majority decision. So it is not about he disagreeing with the -
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Member, has he disagreed with the Report? He started by supporting the Motion, so you are out of order. [Hear! Hear!]
Please continue.
Mr R. Acheampong 12:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the intervention. The entire Agreement is sponsored by the Executive; they brought it before us, and we are here to take a decision on it.
Mr Speaker, I still maintain the point that we should have started from the district level, so that now that there are no pressures at the district level, we could plan our district communities very well.
One day, those districts would become municipalities and big cities, and the pressure would not be there. To start from the Municipal Assemblies and the national level. We would go back to solve the same problems we are trying to address today.
Mr Speaker, when we look at Window 1, we are to disburse US$90 million and US$87 million to the Municipal
Assemblies. That means that if we are to share it equally, each Municipal Assembly is to receive US$3.480 million; but we do not know what they would use the money for because it says that they are to receive urban development grants. As to what they would use the money for, it is another matter. The US$3 million is for capacity support, which I agree with.
Mr Speaker, going forward, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should give us this information, so that we would, at least, know what they would use the US$3.480 million for. When it comes to monitoring, we could at least, go through to see what the money was used for.
Mr Speaker, these are some of the few observations I have on the Report. The US$100 million should be put to good use because we would spend this money but pay with interest. Though the grant element is about 33.23 per cent, I think we should make sure that the money is used for its intended purpose.
I thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Are you all Hon Members of the Finance Committee? I do not need to invite you.
I would put the Question, unless the Leadership would want to say something.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
No, you have just spoken.
Hon Majority Leadership, do you want to speak to it?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would just want to make a few comments.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Very well.
I would not recognise any more members of the Finance Committee it is your own Report.
I would just hear the Hon Leader and put the Question.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim (NDC--Banda) 12:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, this is a good facility, and the intention is good. I have read through the expected benefits.
The programme intervention is targeted at institutional and infrastructural development in Ghana's emerging secondary cities. This is an area that our attention has been drawn to.
One of the biggest problems of the country, which has resulted in rural urban migration is that apart from the two big cities, Accra and Kumasi, we do not develop other cities.
If we were to go through what the youth who stream from the villages to the two cities go through, it is clear that it is part of the reason there is massive unemployment in the country. So any intervention that would try to open up other municipalities is good.
Mr Speaker, however, when I read through, clearly, very soon we would get about 16 regions in the country. I think that anything that would deepen decentralisation and create other emerging cities in other parts of the country must take into consideration the new regions that would be created.
When we go to the Volta Region, the two municipalities that would benefit are Hohoe and Ho. After the creation of the region, all those areas would be in the
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim (NDC--Banda) 12:55 p.m.
south. So we should start to develop another municipality in the north, so that when the Oti Region is created, we would already have a well-developed city in that sector.
When we come to the Brong Ahafo Region, we would create an Ahafo Region. I have gone through this Report, but there is no municipality in the Ahafo Region here. Immediately the Ahafo Region is created, Techiman, Dormaa, Sunyani and Berekum would benefit, because all those would be under Bono East. There is no municipality from the Ahafo area.
Mr Speaker, if we also go through the Report, it is said that the Greater Accra Region is excluded because of the many loans that we have taken for it.

The most populous region in Ghana is the Ashanti Region, so care must be taken there as well because that is where majority of our population resides.

I was surprised when my Hon Colleague mentioned that Bekwai and Mampong were not included. Last week, we were in Mampong. The way Mampong is emerging, if care is not taken - It used to be a very prominent town in the old days.

Mr Speaker, these are areas that we must open up. I do not understand why Mampong is not here; I do not understand why Ejisu is not here and I do not understand why Bekwai is not here. These are areas we must open up to mitigate some of the problems that Kumasi is going through. That has not been done. They are taking US$450 million for Greater Accra Region, and Ashanti Region is only benefiting with four communities. What are we doing to ourselves?

Mr Speaker, it is high time this nation took a high risk in sourcing for another facility for the people of Ashanti Region. In that regard, I believe Bekwai, Mampong and Ejisu will benefit.

And concerning sanitation issues around the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), after the creation of the districts, there are about three districts forming the KMA. If we do not help them, their burden would be bigger than the resources we think they are getting.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I think it is a good intervention, and all of us, together, must support it because it would open up other areas to be able to help Government in fighting the rural- urban migration and the unemployment issues and their associated social vices.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.

Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Now, we would move to Resolution numbered 11.
The Minister for Finance is not here. Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, may I seek your leave and the indulgence of my Hon Colleagues to move the Motion for the adoption of the Resolution captured as item numbered 11 on behalf of the Minister responsible for Finance.
The reason is, there is an emergency Cabinet meeting which started at 11.00 a.m. All the Ministers are there. The Hon Minister for Finance himself is still outside the jurisdiction. If you may indulge me, I would do that and so after, I also have to exit.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
So, who should move it? I thought you were moving it.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is so. I was seeking your leave and the indulgence of my Hon Colleagues in the House.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Very well.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr A. Ibrahim 12:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we would agree for the Hon Majority Leader to move the Motion. He has been doing their work for them, but it is not all their work that he can do. We would do it and adjourn early for him to go and inform them that he has done their work for them. But they should not leave the work for him to be doing alone.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
For the whole week, you have been doing the work of your leaders, Hon Ahmed Ibrahim. Even without seeking leave, you have done that.
Yes, Hon Leader, you may move the motion.
RESOLUTIONS 12:55 p.m.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 12:55 p.m.
HEREBY RESOLVES AS 12:55 p.m.
Chairman of the Finance Committee (Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah) 12:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
The Hon Second Deputy Speaker would take the Chair. Hon Majority Leader, what item are we taking next?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, could we lay the Papers captured under item numbered 6?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Very well.
PAPERS 12:55 p.m.
MR SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 6(c), by the Hon
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
By the Chairman of the Committee --
Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the State of Ghana's Missions Abroad.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, any guidance?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:01 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if I may invite us to deal with item numbered 7.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
Item numbered 7 - Motions. I am sure it is for the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Health to move.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:01 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, if we could deal with the addendum Order Paper.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
Do you want us to take the Addendum Order Paper before the Motion?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:01 p.m.
Yes, because it is just the laying of the Papers, then we can take the Motion.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
All right.
Hon Members, Addendum Order Paper -- Presentation and First Reading of Bills.
Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2018 -- It is for presentation by the Minister for Finance.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:01 p.m.
Mr Speaker, before you assumed the Chair, I sought the leave of the Speaker and the indulgence of the House to lay the document on behalf of the Hon Minister. If I may continue in that process.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
What was the position of the Minority Bench? Did they agree to it?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:01 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:01 p.m.
You may proceed.
BILLS - FIRST READING 12:01 p.m.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Item numbered (b)?
BILLS —— FIRST READING
Value Added Tax (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2018
An Act to amend the Value Added Tax Act (2013), Act 870 to zero rate the Value Added Tax on the supply of locally manufactured textiles and to provide for related matters.
Presented by the Minster for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) (on behalf of the Minister for Finance). Read the First time; referred to the Committee on Finance.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes Majority Leader, I think we now go to the Motion.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:05 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker. We now go to the Motion.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Motion listed as item 7 on the Order Paper. Hon Chairman of the Committee, you may move the procedural motion.
MOTIONS 1:05 p.m.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, at the pre-Sitting meeting, the Hon Minority Leader pleaded that he needed time to go through this, because there are other issues that he would have to discuss with the Hon Majority Leader, and it was agreed to in the morning.
Secondly, the Hon Minister for Health's note is even here. I believe the House needs time. The Hon Minority Leader made that known to us, and it was agreed to, even though the Hon Majority Leader was not in by then.
So I would propose that we step it down to either tomorrow or Monday, and when we come we would take it.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Deputy Minority Whip, it is the Hon Majority Leader that gave me the opportunity to invite the Chair to move the Motion, and so it means that things have changed.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, what is the position?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am unaware of what the Hon Deputy Minority Whip is saying. I was not at the pre-Sitting meeting, so I am not aware of it. But if, indeed that decision was taken in the absence of the Hon Minority Leader, I would plead that we step it down and deal with it possibly tomorrow.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 7, 8 and 9 are accordingly stood down.
So do we move to item numbered 10?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we have dealt with items numbered 10 and 11, so we could go to item numbered 12 now.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 12 on the Order Paper —— Motion.
Hon Chairman of the Committee?
GoG/IDA Agreement to Finance the Proposed Financial Sector Development
Project Chairman of the Committee (Dr Mark
Assibey-Yeboah): Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Financing Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the International Development
Association (IDA) for an amount of twenty-one million, four hundred thousand Special Drawing Rights (SDR 21,400,000) [equivalent to US$30.00 million] to finance the proposed Financial Sector Development Project.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I would present the Committee's Report.
Introduction
The request for approval of the Financing Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group for an amount equivalent to twenty- one million, four hundred thousand Special Drawing Rights (SDR21,400,000) (Equivalent to US$30 million) to finance the Proposed Financial Sector Development Project was presented to the House on Tuesday, 13th November, 2018 in accordance with article 181 of the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Speaker referred the request to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with Order 169 of the Standing Orders of the House.
The Committee was assisted in its deliberations by Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs Abena Osei Asare and officials from the Ministry of Finance.
The Committee is grateful to the Hon Deputy Minister and officials for attending upon it to assist in the deliberations.
Reference
The Committee referred to the following documents in its deliberations:
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana;
The Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921); and The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
Background
The financial sector in Ghana has grown over the past seven (7) years, but remains bank-dominated. Although the banking sector appears to be sound on average, it is vulnerable to high and increasing non-performing loans (NPLs) as well as serious liquidity challenges leading to the collapse, merger and acquisition of a number of banks in recent times.
The situation, if not checked, could contribute to the erosion of confidence in the banking and financial sector.
There are many formal and informal financial institutions currently playing some key roles in financial inclusion, particularly serving the least included segments of the population. It is worth noting that a significant number of Specialised Deposit Institutions (SDIs) are not operating in a safe and sound manner and are in violation of prudential norms.
In addition, mobile phone penetration has created opportunities for the expansion of financial services and increased activity by non-financial institutions in the financial sector.
In view of this, the Government's National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy (NFIDS 2017 -2023) has been developed to ensure financial soundness and stability whilst facilitating the implementation of a series of reforms meant to increase financial inclusion from 58 per cent in 2017 to 75 per cent by 2023.
Out of this strategy, the Financial Sector Development Project (FSDP) has been crafted to provide a framework for the implementation of a number of reforms in the financial sector.
In order to successfully implement the project, Government is seeking for approval of a loan amounting to SDR 21.4 million (USUS$30 million) from the International Development Association
(IDA).
Object of the Loan The object of the loan is to finance the
Financial Sector Development Project which aims at supporting Government's vision of making a broad range of affordable, high quality and formal financial services and products available to Ghanaians, whilst ensuring that these services are provided by sound, responsible and innovative financial institutions.
Terms of the Loan
The terms of the loan is as follows:
Loan Amount -- SDR 21.4 million (equivalent to US$30 million)
Grace Period (Moratorium) -- 5 years Repayment Period -- 25 years
Maximum Commitment Charge per cent (This is waived for FY18) -- 0.5 per cent Service Charge -- 0.75 per cent
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.


Mr Speaker, for the record, concessional loans are those that have grant element in excess of 35 per cent, so this cannot be seen as such. The terms are favourable for a lower middle income country.

Mr Speaker, as always, IDA loans are not controversial and oftentimes, we are deceived by the fact that it comes from the World Bank and so we should approve it.

Mr Speaker, I would like to make one general comment relating to IDA loans that this Honourable House has approved of late. Mr Speaker, I see a trend where most of the IDA loans go into capacity building and consumption. Oftentimes, it goes to support consultancy fees; they mostly do not benefit indigenous Ghanaians but foreign companies because of the nature of the competitiveness.

Mr Speaker, I wish to say that even Cabinet recently expressed concern in one of the loans that we approved. Cabinet is on record to have said that the Ministry should go back and renegotiate the element that relates to capacity building.

Mr Speaker, I believe the capacity building component of loans that we approve in this Honourable House is becoming too much and there is the need for us to look at it.

Mr Speaker, if you are to look at the Committee's Report, Component 1, enhancing the capacity of the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for SDIs is US$1.5 million; Component 2, building the capacity of Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) -- US$3.5 million; supporting the establishment of

Domestic Credit Rating Agency -- US$3 million; increasing outreach of rural community banks -- US$13 million.

Mr Speaker, if you are to look at it, clearly, the capacity building component is a bit too much. On the final component, we are also saying that the financial capacity through targeted financial education campaign -- another US$1.7 million. So you would notice that the capacity building component, more or less, takes a chunk of the facility.

Mr Speaker, oftentimes, as I said, we may be deceived that IDA loans come from the World Bank and so good work has been done and the terms are good, but we should also be interested in how the Government spends the money and where the money would go to.

I believe I have expressed this concern before and it is not very different from what Cabinet of the Republic has also expressed. I believe that we can allow it to go, but going forward, we should be more interested in where these moneys go.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Question proposed.
Mr Anthony Effah (NPP -- Asikuma/ Odoben/Brakwa) 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to support this Motion and in so doing, I would like to highlight the improvement of the financial sector regulatory oversight.
Mr Speaker, the banking sector has given us indication of the challenges of the entire financial system. What is not entirely known is to what extent the non- bank financial institutions or the SDIs are distressed.
Mr Speaker, the availability of this facilities would have the benefit of helping
the regulatory institutions themselves like the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to improve their oversight over these SDIs.
Left on their own, these SDIs would be able to work their way around to make sure that customers' deposits are taken away by recalcitrant directors.
Mr Speaker, while BoG itself hopes to improve its capacity in supervisory role over these institutions, the interesting thing about this facility is the establishment of a Domestic Credit Rating Agency.
Mr Speaker, most of the decisions we make on individual borrowers seemed to be done in isolation and so there is no specific reference to other institutions' appraisal of customers who approach them for the first time.
As a result of that, different financial institutions under the SDI category, make different decisions which may favour a customer who may not wilfully want to pay.
So the establishment of this Domestic Credit Rating Agency would help understand the risk that any institution takes when references are made to this. I believe that allocating US$3 million for the setting up of this Agency is welcome.
Mr Speaker, some of the financial institutions themselves rely on the infrastructure of the ARB Apex Bank and there have been complaints by the SDIs which use this facility that it is too complex, it does not capture all the transactions in real time and they are not able to get feedback for reconciliation.
So spending some money, US$5 million, to improve on the ICT platforms
that these SDIs utilise, I am sure we would be able to improve the financial soundness of these institutions.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the policy that regulates the performance of the financial sector. Part of this facility would also be applied to support developments in the Ministry of Finance as well.
Mr Speaker, if all these categories of stakeholders are involved with improvement, I believe that the risk that these financial institutions face could be minimised.
Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you for this opportunity and to encourage Hon Members to support the Motion.
rose
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, are you on your feet?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I really have to be somewhere else and because this is non-controversial, I would just plead with my Hon Colleagues if they would allow for the Resolution to be taken. You put the Question on the Motion and the Resolution would be taken and then I can exit. Otherwise, it would become difficult for me.
Mr Speaker, as has been agreed at the Committee level, this is a non- controversial matter.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Well, I will do so after Hon Ablakwa's submissions. He would only make it brief.
Hon Majority Leader, are you pleading with him to make one sentence or not to make the submissions at all?
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
He has never been brief. [Laughter.]
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I negotiated with him that after this one, then the Resolution --
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Have you succeeded in negotiating with him?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
I have, Mr Speaker.
Mr Ablakwa 1:15 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
All right, he has answered that you have succeeded so, I will proceed to put the Question.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon
Member for Effutu, you were on your feet.
Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have withdrawn what - My Hon Colleague who was seated by me --
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
You have withdrawn, so we would take it --
Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, what I intended --
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Please, you have withdrawn.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:15 p.m.
Very well, Mr Speaker.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
So, we would move on to the item numbered 13 - - Resolution.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, if you could put the Question on the Motion.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
I have already put the Question.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
Have you Mr Speaker?
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Yes.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:15 p.m.
All right.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Item 13 -- Resolution.
RESOLUTIONS 1:15 p.m.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 1:15 p.m.
HEREBY RESOLVES AS 1:15 p.m.
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to. Resolved accordingly.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, may we now move to Statements?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:25 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker, we move to the two Statements; one from either Side. Mr Speaker, you would allow very minimum comments on each.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Three from each Side of the House?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, three would be too much. I guess one would be all right. We should take one each from either Side after the Hon Member who made the Statement.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Is that the position agreed on by the Leadership?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 1:25 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker, because today is Friday. I believe one from either Side is all right.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
How many Statements are to be taken? I have so many of them in the file here.
Mr A. Ibrahim 1:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, there are two Statements.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Two?
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Kindly bring them to draw my attention because what I have here is more than two.
Mr A. Ibrahim 1:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, one is on Palestinian Solidarity Day by Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa and the other one is on World AIDS Day in Ghana by Hon Dr Appiah-Kubi.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Sorry, are you talking about the Statement titled, “World AIDS Day Celebration?
Mr A. Ibrahim 1:25 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Hon Members, we have two Statements. The first Statement is in name of Hon Dr Kojo Appiah-Kubi, MP for Atwima Kwanwoma Constituency. The Statement is to commemorate World AIDS Day in Ghana.
Please, Hon Member?
Dr Kojo Appiah-Kubi (NPP — Atwima Kwanwoma) 1:25 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a Statement to commemorate World AIDS Day in Ghana.
World AIDS Day, as a global health day, has been observed every year on December 1st, since 1988, to raise awareness about the epidemic and mobilise support for its management and elimination. The global theme for this year's (2018) celebration is “Know your status”.
Mr Speaker, there are currently about 313,063 adults and children living with HIV in Ghana. The country estimates a prevalence rate of about two per cent with pockets of high prevalence among key populations and regions.
Even though a linear trend analysis of ANC HIV prevalence since 2001 shows a declining epidemic, new infections, however, appear to witness gradual increases in recent times.
Mr Speaker, this situation calls for the need to step-up HIV prevention alongside the “Know Your Status” and “Treat All” Campaigns. Ghana as a nation has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to HIV since the establishment of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) in 2000 to coordinate the country's efforts at stemming the spread and negative effects of the epidemic.
Since then the country's AIDS response has advanced such issues as the right to health, gender equality, health information systems, service delivery platforms, commodity access and security as well as FT social protection.
The GAC has on its part prepared several national strategic plans and programmes to drive government's efforts to, among others, prevent new infections, offer care and support to people living with
HIV/AIDS.
The latest drive, on the back of the current national strategic plan 2016-2020 adopts the global UNAIDS Fast-Track 90- 90-90 aspirational targets. The 90-90-90 targets aims at ensuring that by 2020 90 per cent of persons living with HIV would have tested to know their status. The 90 per cent of those who have been diagnosed and know their status would be on sustained HIV (ART) treatment while 90 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy would have viral suppression.
This fast-track strategy is to help achieve ultimately the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ending the AIDS menace by 2030.
Mr Speaker, the achievement of these targets would, however, require enormous resources and collaborative action from all stakeholders and other state actors as well as non-state actors. It is thus expected of all stakeholders to:
1. Intensify public education on facts about HIV & AIDS at all levels to eliminate the myths about HIV & AIDS.
2. Fight stigmatisation by enforcing laws that will punish members of the society who discriminate against People Living with HIV.
3. Use various media platforms to raise awareness about HIV & AIDS throughout the year and not only when it is World AIDS Day.
4. Encourage everyone to have regular tests to know their status periodically in order to start early treatment if infected.
Parliament and Parliamentarians on their part must do their best to help fight this epidemic and its devastating effect on human and economic development.
Mr Speaker, we must be vocal advocates for eliciting government's commitment, political will and more resource/ allocation from Government and also help mobilise resources to finance programmes to combat HIV/AIDS.
We can also help promote the implementation of the “90-90-90” HIV and AIDS preventive strategic plan by showing the way by getting tested ourselves in public and, thereby, encouraging more voluntary testing in our constituencies.
Mr Speaker, as AIDS advocates, we should always preach to our people that early detection is key to ensuring access to treatment so as to suppress their viral load, and to also ensure that even though there would be new cases of HIV, the virus would no longer be a public health danger because it would not progress to AIDS.
Mr Speaker, on this note, I would like to advise my Hon Colleagues to pass by the parliament's clinic to get to know their AIDS status.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:25 a.m.
Hon Dr Appiah-Kubi, thanks very much for such a critical Statement.
I think I would recognise the Hon Member for Aowin, Hon Ntow.
Mr Mathias Kwame Ntow (NDC — Aowin) 1:35 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Let me thank my Hon Colleague for bringing this issue to the attention of the House and for that matter, the whole country.
Mr Speaker, it is very pathetic for the HIV menace to increase in this country. This is because at the advent of the disease, a lot of education had gone on in this country — in schools, churches, mosques and at public places, especially in the media, but still the number keeps on increasing.
Mr Speaker, it is very easy to work with machines but extremely difficult to work with human beings. At the advent of the HIV campaign, we were educated to look at these three alphabets “A”, “B” and “C”. Either you abstain, keep to your partner, or use a condom. It seems we as human beings have paid deaf ears to these simple instructions to protect ourselves.
Mr Speaker, it might interest you to note that if you begin to discuss HIV with some people, they would tell you that owuo biaa da owuo in Akan, which means “all die be die”. However, we cannot cost the life of a human being. If one person loses his or her life, it costs the nation a lot.
Therefore, I perfectly agree with my Hon Colleague that we should not relent in our efforts; Continuously, this education should go on. Every Member of this noble House must go to the hospital to check his or her status. The women should not think that it is only us men who should check our status; we are all involved.
Mr Speaker, if Hon Members are not prepared to go to the hospital, the hospital should come to the Chamber. You could

use your high office to compel every Member of this House, including Dr Appiah-Kubi to --
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:35 a.m.
Hon Member, it would interest you to know that at a Committee meeting in Koforidua, we managed to get them to come and test Hon Members at the hotel and I decided to lead by example. When I got there to be tested and I looked behind me, there was nobody behind me. [Laughter.]
However, I got myself tested and a few others came later. I can assure you that they were not up to five in number. The others were so afraid that they resisted the temptation. It is important that we encourage people to do so because it is in their own interest.
Hon Member, you may continue.
Mr Ntow 1:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, may you live long. Would you be kind enough to inform the House of your status? That is on a lighter side.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:35 a.m.
Hon Member, you should have no doubt that your Speaker is clear. [Hear! Hear!] I conduct it annually, a comprehensive examination of myself including HIV/ AIDS test, so I have nothing to hide. I am clean.
Mr Ntow 1:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am very negative. [Laughter] Even though the last time I checked was about five years ago, I am still what I am. [Laughter.]
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:35 a.m.
Five years ago and you are very negative? Please, you better lead by example. Also,
it is important that at your age, at least once a year, you conduct a comprehensive examination of yourself. This applies to all Hon Members, it is very important.
It is recommended that you do it twice a year. For some ailments, it would be in your interest. At least, once a year, you have to do so.
Hon Member, you may conclude.
Mr Ntow 1:35 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on a more serious note, all of us should try and make sure that we are not in that bracket or positive.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:35 a.m.
Maybe, we would have to include it in part of the qualification of a Member of Parliament. Before you go to stand in an election, you would go for an HIV/AIDS test. So would it be for all presidential aspirants. [Laughter.] We should also make it known and not left in darkness. One should declare for the people to know.
Dr Bernard Okoe Boye (NPP -- Ledzokuku) 1:45 p.m.
I am most grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity to add my voice to the celebration of the World AIDS Day.
I would like to start by commending my Hon Senior Colleague for reminding us that HIV/AIDS is still with us and we have to position ourselves to live healthy lives even in the presence of the virus.
Mr Speaker, the World AIDS Day is, more or less, a misnomer because when you get the virus, you are HIV positive but not an AIDS patient. It is when you do not take medication, slide down the path and are obviously very sick clinically that we say you are an AIDS patient.
Since the condition started and was known as AIDS, the celebration captured its name. What we really want as a country is to have HIV positive people not to get to AIDS. So it is more or less a misnomer.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend Ghana as a country for doing a lot over the years to keep the prevalence of HIV very low. In fact, 20 years ago, Ghana had a prevalence of about 3.9 per cent but as we speak today, the prevalence is less than two per cent. It is about 1.9 per cent or 1.8 per cent.
One would only appreciate how well Ghana is doing when we are compared to a country like South Africa which has a prevalence of about 10 per cent with over seven million people, living with the HIV virus.
Some years ago, when the HIV/AIDS campaign started, these were our major challenges -- access to drugs or medication, stigma; the treatment or acceptance of people with HIV; inadequate education and very risky sexual behaviour.
Mr Speaker, the good news is that, as we speak today, most of those challenges have been worked on, but we have emerging challenges. Significant among today's challenges is the willingness of citizens to participate in voluntary testing. That is why the theme for this year was to get people to know their status.
One interesting challenge actually stems out of the success we have had over the years. There are many people, especially when you go to South Africa, who now see HIV just like high blood pressure or diabetes. This is because you could take medication and live close to a normal life for many years.
So, now, that is getting into people's heads and they think that there is something to take care of the condition should they get it. However, I would like to mention that even with medication, we have what we refer to in medicine as quality of life. You would be well but the quality might not be like a life without HIV.
Mr Speaker, it is also important to mention that there is something very good to learn from South Africa. Due to their comparatively high prevalence rate, the country usually does not treat HIV with that much of a stigma. When you say that you are HIV positive, it is no news there.
I am happy to mention that I came across a lecturer in one of the universities in South Africa who while teaching us, openly said that he was HIV positive and had been a patient for over 17 years. He actually interpreted his ability to declare his status as the surest sign of integrity and power.
He told us that after declaring his status some years ago in the university, many more had come to him to let him know that they were also positive. Others even asked him how to tell their relatives and how to manage the situation.

Mr Speaker, it is important to mention this day that all the medications needed for HIV treatment are available. It is also very important to remind citizens that Ghana is one of the countries that gives free combination therapy for HIV.

Mr Speaker, our biggest problem now, is for citizens to test for it. Inasmuch as testing is voluntary, maybe, the way to show through leadership by example is to do some of the things that you talked about, where leaders could openly take their test and declare their status.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:45 p.m.
Well, I do not know what it means to ‘‘engage in pleasure to live'' [Laughter.] -- It is clear, though; you added the word ‘‘engage'' which is abstinence or when one would want to engage, ‘‘if it is not on, it is not in''. It is very important.
I was one of the champions in 2001 and I was able to organise young men to form an NGO. We applied to the AIDS Commission and it supported us when we started the Virgins Beauty Contest. There is dignity and honour in virginity.
The clubs were formed in senior high schools and a contest was organised up
to the national level which was held in Accra. It was well accepted and there were media women who were involved.
The best was from a media lady in Kumasi who won the competition as the beauty queen. So we all assisted to try and reduce the prevalence, but we are now told that many infections appear to witness gradual increases in recent times.
Hon Members, you are called upon as leaders to, once again, take up the task of public awareness creation. It is in the interest of a person to know that he or she has been infected and for the person to take the steps and get these free things to live longer and better than it would have happened if he or she did not know he or she has been infected. It is for our own good, and it is true that we should show leadership in this direction.
Leadership is not only what I did, but we should also try and assist in policy formulation to include some compulsory things. I believe the voluntary thing is the problem. I would go for compulsory testing for some category of people, but not every ordinary citizen so that the infections could be reduced -- particularly, some age groups.
rose
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:45 p.m.
Hon Member, I was asked to take only two contributions so we can move on. I am sorry, I would not be able to admit you.
There is a second Statement which stands in the name of Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Hon Member for North Tongu, and it is to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 1:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to make this Statement in commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which fell on yesterday, the 29th of November, 2018.
Mr Speaker, pursuant to the General Assembly resolution passed in December 1977 (Resolution 32/40 B), the United Nations specifically chose 29th November of every year as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to commemorate the 1947 partitioning of the mandate of Palestine into two States by the General Assembly.
Thus, the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”, with Jerusalem as a coipus separatum under a special international regime.
Indeed, the “Question of Palestine” has been one of the topical issues of international concern since the formation of the United Nations.
This day has been set aside to provide an opportunity for the international community to have a sober reflection on the Palestinian crisis which remains unresolved due to seemingly intractable challenges such as the inability of the region to provide for and safeguard the inalienable rights of the people as defined by the General Assembly with respect to the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced.
Mr Speaker, available statistics from the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights reveals
that by the end of 2008, at least, 7.1 million (67 per cent) of 10.6 million Palestinians worldwide were forcibly displaced persons. Among them are, at least, 6.6 million Palestinian refugees and 427,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) due to the current crisis.
This makes Palestinians one of the largest displaced populations in the world today, constituting half of all refugees worldwide.
As at 31st October, 2016, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that within the Gaza strip, out of a population of approximately 1.9 million people, 1.3 million are Palestinian refugees. Nearly 800,000 registered refugees live in the West Bank, corresponding to about one-third of the region's population.
The sad and frustrating plight of these asylum seekers is that they have been made strangers within their motherland with no land, property, or other means to survive, a condition which has forced them to establish themselves in the refugee camps.
Mr Speaker, according to reports from B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, just in the past 10 years, the number of civilians reported to have been killed in attacks carried out in Gaza reached
5,000.
Overall, between 2000 and 2014, the recorded conflict-related deaths stands at 8,166, of which 7,065 are Palestinians and 1,101 Israelis. That means 87 per cent of deaths have been Palestinians and 13 per cent Israelis.
Mr Speaker, many strenuous efforts have been made over the decades to find lasting and comprehensive peace. Some
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 1:55 p.m.
of these attempts include the UN Security Council Resolution 242 in 1967 which called for the exchange of land for peace, the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict”, and “respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live free from threats or acts of force”; the President Jimmy Carter led Camp David Accord in 1978 which comprised the Framework for Peace in the Middle East and The Camp David framework for the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel; The Madrid Conference of 1991 which led to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994; the famous Oslo Agreement in 1993 (that is known for its mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO by that invitation) tried to negotiate a direct agreement between Israelis and Palestinians; the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, Geneva Accord in 2003, the President Obama Washington diplomacy which led Mr Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a 10-month partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, which the Israeli leader at the time hailed as the “the first meaningful step towards peace” and many recent approaches to ensuring peace.

Mr Speaker, in December, 2017, US President Donald Trump recognised the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Despite President Trump's insistence that the move would not derail his own administration's bid to resolve the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, it does appear a significant majority of nations including traditional allies of the US such as Britain,

France and Germany think otherwise. British Prime Minister Theresa May, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel have all described Trump's action as “unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region.”

We do know that following this, a resounding majority of United Nations member states including Ghana defied the unprecedented threats of withdrawal of financial support from the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, to approve a draft resolution by rejecting this recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Mr Speaker, in 2017, the Secretary- General of the UN, Antonio Guterres in his commemorative speech had this to say: “Seventy years since the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 181, a sovereign and independent State of Palestine has yet to emerge alongside the State of Israel.

I remain convinced that the two-state solution recognised by that Resolution is the only premise for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Mr Speaker, the UN Secretary General's position which I subscribe to, has been our consistent position as a nation across successive Governments.

Mr Speaker, in the spirit of a two-State solution, I shall like to take this opportunity to condemn all forms of anti- Semitism which unfortunately appears to be on the rise in the past few years especially in the West. The Home Affairs Committee's Tenth Report of Session 2016- 17 on Anti-Semitism in the UK found that acts of anti-Semitism are on the rise.

In this Report, it was established that the first half of 2016 saw an 11 per cent rise in anti-Semitic incidents reported to Community Security Trust (CST), compared with the same period during the previous year; CST-recorded anti-Semitic incidents in London rose by 62 per cent between the first six months of 2015 and 2016; There was a 29 per cent increase in police-recorded anti-Semitic hate crime in England and some parts of Wales between 2010 and 2015, compared with a 9 per cent increase across all hate crime categories between 2013-14 and 2014-15, police- recorded anti-Semitic crime increased by 97 per cent, compared with 26 per cent across all hate crime categories.

Also in Germany, the Ministry of the Interior in January 2018 confirmed that Anti-Semitic-motivated crimes rose to about 1,500 in the last year. Similar reports exist in other parts of Europe and the United States where we will never forget the recent abominable attack on a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which claimed 11 lives -- an act of evil we hereby condemn in the strongest possible terms.

On 27th January, 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a warning about rising anti- Semitism during her remarks on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and was quoted by the German News Outlet, DWTV to have said, “it is inconceivable and shameful that no Jewish institution can exist without police protection, whether it is a school, a kindergarten or a synagogue.”

Mr Speaker, it is clear that Palestine is under the yoke of colonial occupation and its people, like all peoples all over the world have a right to freedom from all the vestiges of exploitation and oppression.

In expressing our solidarity with the Government and people of Palestine, I demand the immediate end to the construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, the right of Palestinian exiles to return to their homeland and an end to the blockade of Palestinian cities.

Peace-loving people all over the world would want to see an end to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. They want a new Middle East which is free from all forms of bigotry and which will play a significant role in the search for solutions to global poverty and misery.

In my view, this new Middle East is only possible in a situation in which the two-State solution is applied leading to the true emergence of the State of Palestine, with secure borders living side by side with Israel.

Mr Speaker, we join millions of people throughout the world to express our solidarity with the Government and people of Palestine in their legitimate struggle for justice and peace.

May I conclude with your permission by saluting the Ghana Palestinian Solidarity Campaign which, I hasten to add has a prominent member in the person of former President John Dramani Mahama. Fortuitously, yesterday, the same day, we commemorated the International Palestine Solidarity Day marked his 60th birthday and it is very much in order to wish him a very happy birthday.

As a former three-term Member of this House and a previous occupant of this position of Ranking Member on your Foreign Affairs Committee, we recall with nostalgia our fight for justice when some 44 Ghanaians were murdered in the Gambia.

Just as we united then on the Gambian killings and united on securing for
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:55 p.m.
Thank you, Hon Member.
There is no Hon Member on his feet on the other Side of the House, and so I would give the two slots to you on your feet. I would do it by Seniority. So Hon James Agalga?
Mr James Agalga (NDC — Builsa North) 2:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity given me to contribute to the solidarity Statement ably made by Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Speaker, on this occasion, I wish to add my voice in solidarity to the people of Palestine for the spirit of endurance that they continue to exhibit even in the face of occupation by the State of Israel.
Mr Speaker, I would like to begin my contribution by underscoring the point that the right to self-determination, which has long been pursued by the people of Palestine is a universal fundamental human right clearly captured under the Universal Declaration of Rights.
Mr Speaker, in fact, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Rights clearly captures the sense I am trying to present in my submission and with your kind permission, I would want to read for purposes of clarity:
“The purposes of the UN are; to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self- determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.”
Mr Speaker, this universal right has even attained the status of cogence under international law. And so, as the Hon Member who made the Statement clearly indicated, it is a right which must be respected by all. And here, I am referring to the International Community.
Mr Speaker, it is for this reason that the Member who made the Statement categorically alludes to the UN General Assembly Resolution 3240 B, which was clearly adopted in favour of the State of Palestine. So, there is no question whatsoever that the people of Palestine are entitled to exercise their right to self- determination.

But the fundamental question to ask is, why has Palestine as a State not been able to realise this right ever since it was partitioned?

Mr Speaker, once again, the Hon Member who made the Statement makes an attempt to explain the circumstances which have so far resulted in the failure of the state of Palestine to achieve universal recognition as a state which has duly exploited the right to self-determination.

He makes reference to the attitude of President Trump. Mr Speaker, I must say that the attitude of President Trump in relocating the Embassy of the United States of America from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is indeed problematic. It is a dangerous step in international politics and has further inflamed an already dangerous situation in the Middle East.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who made the Statement earlier referred to the status of Jerusalem which was originally conceived of as a corpus separatum.

This view itself has for some time now been swept under the carpet in favour of the division of Jerusalem into two, with East Jerusalem becoming the capital of an independent state of Palestine while the remainder of the city comes under the control of Israel.

The move taken by President Trump does not take into account this new prevailing sense of equity which has emerged over the period and is generally supported by the international community.

Mr Speaker, so I would want to join hands in condemning President Donald Trump's decision. We are not the only people who have condemned this like the Hon Member who made the Statement indicated. Friends or allies of the USA including Great Britain, Germany and France have all distanced themselves from that move.

Fortunately for us, Ghana, at the level of the UN joined other members to roundly reject the move by USA even in the face of threats of sanctions. I would want to seize this opportunity to commend our UN representative in New York for taking that bold initiative.

Mr Speaker, but before I wind up, I would want to stress one important point, that oftentimes when the issue of Palestine is discussed in our country, there is the tendency for Christians and Muslims to reduce that question into a religious one. They make it look as if the Palestinian conflict is between Christians and Muslims.

Mr Speaker, if you have visited the holy lands before, you would come to the realisation that, in the state of Palestine which is generally perceived in this country as Muslim-dominated, in fact, there are more Christians resident in Palestine than in Israel.

So the wife of the late leader of Palestine, Yasser Arafat, was Catholic and so on every Christmas Eve, the late Palestinian leader celebrated mass at the Church of Nativity. We need to bring all these facts to the fore so that people could be guided on the issue of Palestine.

Mr Speaker, let me conclude by stating that, at the level of the UN, 136 states have recognised Palestine's claim to statehood. Why are the rest reluctant? Why is the so-called global hegemony, the USA, hesitant in recognising Palestine as a state? As I stated early on, the right to self-determination is a universal one and it has attained the status of jus cogens in international law and it must be respected by all.

I thank you for the opportunity given me.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:05 p.m.
Well, Hon A. B. A. Fuseini, one of the soldiers in this whole crusade for many years, I recognise you.
Alhaji Bashir A. Fuseini Alhassan (NDC -- Sagnarigu) 2:05 p.m.
I thank you very much, Mr Speaker. When the landlord has spoken eloquently about the story of his house, one does not go asking the caretaker for confirmation. [Hear! Hear!]
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the platitude.
Mr Speaker, our people say that, if it takes the goat to bite and chase away the intruder, it is the shame of the dog; the dog has reneged on its guardian role.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:05 p.m.
Yes, the Hon Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 2:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the landlord is seriously violating the rules even though I do not want to ask the tenant for confirmation. Statements are not supposed to provoke debates --
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:05 p.m.
Hon Member, the landlord here is the Speaker and he has not violated any regulation.
Yes, Hon A. B. A. Fuseini, you may go on but he is just drawing your attention not to ignite any debate because it is a Statement. So, do not make controversial statements. So far, he has stated facts and law. I have not seen any controversial statement been made by him.
Alhaji B. A. F. Alhassan 2:15 p.m.
I thank you very much, Mr Speaker. When the elder is in the house, the grain would never be soaked by the rain. [Laughter.]
Mr Speaker, I am gratified in this presentation by the Hon Members before me on the issue of international solidarity, especially today as we say the world is a globalised village. Any infraction of international legality in one part of the world which is allowed to go emboldens people with impunity to carry across international borders. Very soon, this becomes a wholesale international problem for us.
I am fortified in this presentation in what happened to us as Africans during the obnoxious Apartheid era. In that period, when the whole international community, not only condemned the
obnoxious Apartheid system but galvanised to fight it, it is a matter of record that the Israeli Government lent unquantifiable support to the Apartheid regime. It is no wonder it emboldened the Apartheid regime to continue to oppress and suppress the African people.
Today, the international community has a bounding duty to stand up and speak with one voice. The UN itself that created the State of Israel and proceeded to give a partition resolution, which has on its books the recognition of a Two-State Solution, is being undermined. My Hon Colleagues have spoken eloquently on that.
Mr Speaker, I would want to take this opportunity to salute that Ghana continued the record of progressive international solidarity. When the movement for the capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem issue came up before the UN, the Government of Ghana voted to reject it; that was a very progressive move.
That continued the line of the progressive Governments that we have had in the past; it came to show that Ghana is a torchbearer of African liberation, freedom and solidarity, and we ought to continue it.
We should also take due cognisance of the vast majority of the voices of the members of the international community. This movement and the attempt to obliterate the Two-State Solution -- For many well-meaning and rational people across this country, it represents the best solution to the crises in the Middle East.
I take due recognition of the efforts made by a former Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Yitzhak Rabin, and President Arafat, who both worked together diligently to
ensure viable peace in the Middle East between Palestinians and Israelis.
When both of them made the effort, it took the work of a right-wing hoodlum and a rogue called Mr Yigal Amir who shot the Prime Minister, Mr Rabin, to undermine what the vast majority of Israelis looked for at that time, which was a solution to the protracted problem in the Middle East.
It is no wonder that the Nobel Peace Prize for that year was given to President Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for the efforts they had made to secure lasting and durable peace in the Middle East.
Mr Speaker, so the greatest tribute that all of us could pay to the memories of the two, -- because all of them are departed today -- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot by a right-wing hoodlum and President Arafat died some years ago.
The greatest tribute we could pay to these gallant heroes who sought to bring peace and rapprochement in the Middle East is to continue the unfinished business that they left behind, which is to work for the peaceful and amicable resolution of the Palestinian Israeli problem in the Middle East via the Two- State Solution.
Mr Speaker, I would want to use this opportunity to urge the Government of Ghana to continue. It is said that if one is to go for a journey of 100 miles but has travelled 30 miles and is tired, the length of the rest of the journey must invigorate one to continue the journey and not abandon it.
Ghana is a very respected member of the international community. I would want to believe that the input that we shall continue to make along with other members of the international community
Alhaji B. A. F. Alhassan 2:15 p.m.
as well as the Solidarity Council of the Palestinians and other well-meaning bodies would continue to inject dynamism into the continuous search for a durable solution to the Middle East problem.
Mr Speaker, I would land on the note that many have often misconstrued the issue of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict to be a religious matter. I have heard even well-placed religious leaders in this country make shockingly ignorant statements about it being a religious conflict.
Far from that, there are even cities in Palestine -- the famous Hebron, Bethlehem and others are integral parts of Palestinian cities -- in which the memory of our Lord Jesus Christ is embedded.
There are many Palestinians who are Christians more than could be found in the Jewish State of Israel. Many people, unknown to them, cannot proclaim Christian values in Israel; many people do not know that. It is far from it being a religious war between Moslems and Christians.
So, we must look at it from the point of view of an imperialistic power trying to roughshod over the rights and fundamental freedoms of an oppressed people.

We cannot enforce international legality and at the same time wink at those who violate the rights and fundamental freedoms of others with impunity and there is not action.

I call on the international community, particularly the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, to endeavour to live up to their responsibilities and ensure that they rise up to ensure that the Palestinian issue sees the light of day.
rose
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:15 p.m.
Hon Member, thank you very much. Unfortunately, I would not admit any more contributions.
Well, I have been there five times, so I know the situation on the ground very well. Clearly, it is one where we usually say that if a baby would not allow its mother to sleep, the baby too would not sleep. That is where we are now.
With this, Hon Members, Statement time has ended. I would now go back to the Hon First Deputy Majority Whip to give an indication whether there is any more Business to conduct. If not, we would call it a day.
Mr Nyindam 2:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just like you indicated, we are done for today.
Hon Members are to note that tomorrow, God willing, Sitting would start at 9.00 a.m. We entreat Hon Members to try as much as possible to attend to tomorrow's Business.
Mr Speaker, I would like you to know that I am leading a very big crusade for you. We would want to see how we could create an endowment fund for you to move into the race with all speed as much as possible. That was on a lighter note.
Mr Speaker, it is past two o'clock, so we are in your hands.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:15 p.m.
Hon Member, I do not know why this unholy attempt to campaign vigorously against me. [Laughter.] I have observed my Hon Colleagues from your Side of the House vigorously campaigned against me and taken away my votes. You conduct yourselves in such a way that people may think that you are behind me.
Meanwhile, you have no votes. [Laughter.] You have never even attempted to congratulate me; yet, anytime I move, you make catcalls and give the impression that you sympathise with me. But you know -- [Laughter.] I am very clear how you are apprehensive of my winning. I have no doubt in my mind. Hon Members, this is just on a lighter note.
Hon First Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, they are harassing me. They know I was in Nadowli/Kaleo. They do not know that we were together in Nadowli/Kaleo.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Address the Chair.
Mr A. Ibrahim 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, seriously, the call that we should come tomorrow, being Saturday, has been agreed upon by Leadership. This morning, too, the Business Committee has adopted that, tomorrow, Saturday, we should Sit.
However, my plea is that we come early, at least, at 9 o'clock, that has been agreed upon so that those who have other programmes could go and continue. These are not normal times and we must adjust in such a way that we can complete the Business as early as possible.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The House is still in your hands.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Hon Members, I have been informed that the House, for good reason, is compelled to Sit tomorrow; and the earlier, the better. So, the House will Sit at 9.00 a.m. instead of the10.00 a.m. that the Hon Deputy Majority Whip has indicated. So, I accordingly adjourn the House to tomorrow, which is Saturday, 1st December, 2018 at 9.00 a.m.
ADJOURNMENT 2:25 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 2.27 p.m. till Saturday, 1st December, 2018 at 9.00 a.m.