Debates of 11 Dec 2018

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:28 a.m.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:28 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:28 a.m.
Hon Members, correction of Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 10th December, 2018.
Page 1... 17 --
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Mr Speaker 10:28 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Etu-Bonde 10:28 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was trying to catch your attention.
Mr Speaker, on page 8, item numbered 19, I have been marked absent but I was in the House yesterday. So I would like it to be corrected. That is Hon Kwasi Etu- Bonde, Kintampo North.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:28 a.m.
Page 17...22?
Hon Members, in the absence of any further correction, the Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 10th December, 2018 is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
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Mr Speaker 10:28 a.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader, I thought you were on your feet?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:28 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I really wanted to have some discussions outside the Chamber with the Hon Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker 10:28 a.m.
Very well. When you return kindly inform me to announce the matter of the arrival of the Ugandan Speaker and the symposium that would be held, which is of crying importance on Affirmative Action.
If Members of Parliament do not support this, then there is nothing else that we are going to support. It is such an important matter. So I would be waiting for you.
Thank you.
Hon Members, item numbered 3 -- Statements. We have two Statements on Affirmative Action and Women's Rights?
Statement from Hon Ekow Hayford, Member of Parliament for Mfantseman Constituency on Women's Participation and Representation in Parliament:
The Case of Ghana's Parliament.
Then Hon Angela Oforiwa Alorwu-Tay, Hon Member for Afadzato South, Statement to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and Start of Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence.
STATEMENTS 10:28 a.m.

Mr Ekow Hayford (NDC -- Mfantseman) 10:38 a.m.
Thank you Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to make this Statement on Women's Participation and Repre-
sentation in Parliament: the Case of Ghana's Parliament.
Mr Speaker, women's representation in legislative bodies around the world is a reality that is impacting on the social, political and economic development of nations and Ghana is no exception. Yet, their access to these important legislative structures, how to work within them, and the impact in them remain a serious challenge.
It is critical, for the sake of ensuring fully functional democratic institutions, and total respect for the rights of all, that these challenges are targeted and dealt with.
A concerted effort is needed to target all the stages of women's political participation from the moment they decide to run for public office until they reach the designated office ,by ensuring that the needed resources are provided.

Women and Ghana's Parliament

Mr Speaker, women have become increasingly active and influential in politics in many countries, yet they remain significantly under-represented in political decision making and leadership roles at all levels. Women representation has become a very pressing issue in the international domain for a very long time.

From the inception of the 4th Republic, women representation in Ghana's Parliament has been low. The Legislative arm has still been unable to reach the 30 per cent mark set by the United Nations. The proportion of women in Parliament has hovered around 10 per cent of the total membership of the house.
Mr Speaker 10:38 a.m.
Hon Member, this is a very timely intervention. It is also a very well researched document. I trust it would even be a very useful theme throughout this week for Hon Members -- men and women -- to concentrate on its important matter as we work towards further action on the matter.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 10:38 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:48 a.m.
Hon Members, I am happy to note and announce a Bench- marking visit to Parliament by a delegation of seven members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament of Malawi and officials from the National Audit Office of the Republic of Malawi, from 9 to 15 December, 2018.
They are here, among others, to interact with their counterparts and benchmark best practices in the functioning of our Public Accounts Committee. They are also seeking to gain insight into the systems and strategies of Parliament, Government Institutions and Civil Society Organisations in ensuring effective oversight on public accounts reports of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The visit is further intended to create the platform for networking between Hon Members and our Malawian counterparts with the aim of deepening relations between the two legislatures.
The Delegation comprises the following:
Hon Alekeni W. Menyani -- PA C Chairperson;
Hon Kamlepo Kalua -- PAC Vice- Chairperson;
Mr Thomas Makiwa -- Acting Auditor-General;
Mr Gerrard Pute -- Director (Regulatory Audit);
Mr Listly Zilinde -- Principal Auditor;
Mr Rabson Kagwam' Minga -- Principal Auditor;
Mr Fredrick Kamwani -- PAC Clerk.
Hon Members, on behalf of the House, I welcome them to Parliament and I wish them fruitful delebrations in our country.

The second Statement is to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of
Ms Angela Oforiwa Alorwu-Tay (NDC -- Afadzato South) 10:48 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to make this Statement to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of 16-Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Mr Speaker, 25th November is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The day is aimed at galvanising action to end violence against women and girls around the world. It also marks the start of the United Nation's designated 16 days of activism against gender - based violence. The activism runs until the 10th of December.
For far too long, impunity, silence and stigma have allowed violence against women to escalate to pandemic proportions. As of today, one in three women worldwide experience gender- based violence. Issues of defilement, rape, physical assault, domestic violence, child marriage, among others all constitute violence against women and girls.
As we mark this day, I would want to particularly draw attention to the abuse of girls in schools which has become prevalent recently, and has the potential to draw back the growth of our girls into good women. Too many of such cases have been recorded in senior high schools, as well as basic schools and
universities which must end. There is the common story of lecturers abusing ladies in order to pass them, which is quite troubling.
Some of these abuses on women are also happening in churches by people who call themselves “men of God”. Such abuses are happening in work places; as bosses use their superiority to abuse their subjects at work. In fact, sometimes, these actions are by co­workers. There are cases of fathers abusing their daughters sexually. Why should this be so?
Mr Speaker, sadly, these abuses happen every day. Not all of them get reported by the media. Infact not all of them too get reported to the Police for action to be taken against those involved. This is sad.
It is even more troubling that recently in Kumasi for example, we saw boys gang rape a lady and they had the guts to film it, and put out the video into public domain. What sort of upbringing are these children getting? Where are they learning such wicked acts from? What kind of society are we building for ourselves?
Such violence against females could have long lasting implications on their general development. It damages their self-confidence; sometimes they suffer lingering life conditions around their reproductive organs; sometimes they get infected by sexually-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS; they could some- times get pregnant as a result of that thereby cutting short their education, and the list goes on and on. It is time we all stood up and protect our girls and women.
We all, as Ghanaians, also have a responsibility to ensure that women are not beaten up by their husbands bosses and others. There can be absolutely no justification for any such assault on
women. Domestic violence should not be tolerated in any form. Women who face such abuses silently at home should be bold to take on their spouses according to the dictates of the law.
I believe it is time the security agencies, particularly, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service took the lead role in helping to stop this and work with the Judiciary to ensure that those who engage in such evil acts get the most severe of punishments to serve as deterrent to others.
Parents must also take the problem seriously and do their best to protect their children from such wicked people who end up destroying their future.
Mr Speaker, but most importantly, Government has a huge responsibility to adequately resource State institutions like the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry, as well as the Police so they can work effectively to keep our females safe. I will call on the President to make the protection of women a personal agenda and help support our women.
Thank you very much Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:48 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member, your contribution, please.
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye (NPP-- Effiduase/Asokore) 10:58 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to comment on the Statement in relation to the underrepresentation of women in Parliament.
Mr Speaker, I am a student of a political mentor whom I worked with for about 12 years, the late Hon Grace Coleman, who was a Member of Parliament for the Effiduase/Asokore Constituency. I may
testify to the fact that women are great persons when they have the opportunity to lead.
It is so clear from the presentation of my Hon Colleague that however much women are endowed, it gets to a point that their presence is not really felt in policy and decision making processes.
Mr Speaker, it looks like the political parties that represents the people in this House especially do not make any provision in their Constitutions that actually show that indeed, we put to action what we say.
There must be a time, just like it is happening in Rwanda, where 68 per cent of the representation in Parliament are women. There must be a time in our political life that both leading parties would have to make a conscious effort in the process of nominating, electing or selecting parliamentary representatives.

Mr Speaker, elsewhere, one could become a Member of Parliament, however, one represent a political party. So, the decision of their representation is the ultimate decision of the political parties.

Mr Speaker, that is not the case in Ghana. In Ghana, one would have to go through a parliamentary primary process, and the ordeal may scare some women. That was why the Hon Member said that some may think that the game of politics is dirty. Those who go through the process need enormous encouragement from their spouses or other persons.

Mr Speaker, if all the political parties would come to a point where we could reduce the cost of primaries or actually select, like it happens in the leading parties in the United Kingdom (UK) where they select who could contest in an area, women
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Mr Speaker 10:58 a.m.
We are discussing two Statements.
I would give preference to the women this morning. [Laughter.] A preference, but the men would have their turn. Let a woman's voice be heard first. [Interruption.]
Hon Member --
Mr Richard Mawuli Kwaku Quashigah 10:58 a.m.
Mr Speaker, being a champion of women's issues, I am most excited that you have given me the opportunity. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker 10:58 a.m.
“Hon Male Champion of women issues”, you would surely have your chance -- [Laughter.] Let the women open the Floor where possible.
Hon Member, please --
Ms Helen A. Ntoso (NDC-- Krachi West) 10:58 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the two Statements.
Mr Speaker, Ghana has signed on to the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 5 is about gender equality. Since we have signed on, it is our duty to make sure that we adhere to it and ensure that there is equal representa- tion of women when it comes to leadership positions.
In this country, it is a fact that when women are given the opportunity to lead, they perform better than men. [Inter- ruption.] So, in signing on to the SDGs, we should try as a country --
I especially agree with the Hon Member when he talked about political parties. Political parties should have the political will. I was happy when in the year 2016, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came out to say that men should not contest women. There was hullabaloo all over the place, so they nicodemously had to rescind their decisions.
I thought they would have stood on that, but it did not work. I am of the view that political parties should have the will power to tell our male counterparts that whenever a woman is bold enough to file to contest, the men should not contest the women.
Mr Speaker, we are 275 Hon Members of Parliament, out of which only 35 are women. In our various constituencies, the men are more resourceful than the women,
so political parties should also resource the women to be able to contest the men so that we have equal opportunities in leadership positions.
Mr Speaker, when it comes to domestic violence, in some of our rural communities in this country, it is normal when a man beats a woman; but when a woman beats a man, it is sacrilegious. We do not understand it because some women are strong enough to beat men. [Laughter.] When women do that in our various communities, they are tagged and called names.
I plead with Hon Members of Parliament that they should help educate our people in the various constituencies that there should not be gender-based violence. When we go out to campaign, we should make this a part of our agenda to help Ghana achieve Goal 5 of the SDGs.
Mr Speaker, when it comes to any form of disasters, be it natural or man made, we would realise that women are more vulnerable than men. In some cases for instance when there is a rescue mission during a boat disaster, one would realise that women perish more than men.
This is simply because when there is a boat disaster, the men swim ashore and the women would want to swim ashore with their children and at the end of it, they perish with their children while the men swim safely ashore.
Mr Speaker, in this country, women who have the will power to contest elections are called names. So, most of them who do not have political shock absorbers tend to step down for men to contest.
In going out to campaign, we should also encourage our women to come up -- [Interruption] -- I remember that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, said that women should be bold enough to contest men in our various constituencies. [Laughter.]
I would want to end by saying that the Police, especially the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, should take this matter seriously so that any time such cases are reported at the various units, they would take serious action against the men who have assaulted women.
Most of the time when cases are reported, we hear that they are told to go back home for settlement, which deters women from going to the various units to report. The Police should take this matter seriously, so that when people are punished for such offences, it would serve as a deterrent to other men who engage in domestic violence.
Mr Speaker 11:08 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Member, except that there is no evidence that women perform better than men, neither is there any evidence that men perform better than women. [Laughter.] These are all statistical facts.
No wonder that these days, women receive all the prizes in medicine, law, administration and all the key areas in the University of Ghana.
Nevertheless, there is really a balance and let us not talk in terms of any superiority in one way or the other.
Hon Member, please it is your turn.
Mr Speaker 11:08 a.m.
Hon Member, thank you for your brief comments.
Mrs Laadi Ayii Ayamba (NDC -- Pusiga) 11:08 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity. Let me first congratulate the Hon Members who made the Statements; the one that had to do with the leadership of women -- gender equality and my other Hon Colleague who also spoke on the issue of violence against women.
Mr Speaker, let me put it on record that the issue of gender equality does not mean that women should be above or ahead of men. It goes to state that we are
equal and should have equal opportunities; we should be given the opportunity to show our abilities as equal to that of our male counterparts. This is because what we say is that what men can do, women can do better.
Mr Speaker, the issue of equality goes without saying that it is very important because women, if given the opportunity are actually able to deliver what is expected of them and most of the time, better than our male counterparts.
It has a very long way to go because if you go back to history and you look at how far women have come, you would know that women, for a long time have been left behind. Naturally, girls are born with the notion that they are not equal and thus, be given equal opportunities as compared to their male counterparts. This is the first thing that actually stereotypes women and makes them stay backward.
Mr Speaker, you would be surprised to realise that if a male child is born, there is some kind of jubilation in the house especially by the father and if a female child is born, I can assure you that some men go to the extent of leaving their homes, because they think it is not important.
This is not to say that it is with every home, no. Some people actually accept and love girls better. So from day one, girls should be given equal opportunities.
Let us get back to the schools. Until lately, you would realise that even back in school, girls were not given equal opportunities as their male counterparts simply because men were considered better and are the ones who can do well, and this is not a fact.
It is not a fact because we all have same senses and can do the same work;
there is actually nothing that a man can do that a woman cannot do. Let us give the girl child the opportunity from day one before she becomes a woman.
When we come to leadership, I would want to urge my female Hon Colleagues that it is not a matter of we saying that we want to be given equal opportunities or leadership positions.
We need to be competent enough, to ensure that the few of us who are even in the system; whether we are District Chief Executives (DCE), Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), board members or wherever we may find ourselves, we have to perform well to show that we are competent.
My pain is that many men have stated and go on to say that if women are given the opportunity, they are not able to do like the men. I simply cannot get it. One needs to learn and work.
Mr Speaker, back in constituencies, there are now equal opportunities when it comes to contesting elections in the sense that nobody prevents any woman from contesting but the greatest problem we have is finance. Finance is our problem. How will the various political parties support us? They need to give women the opportunity to contest in their safe seats.
Mr Speaker, your good Self has sent some of us to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in the United Kingdom. When we went there, we were sent to Wales where we were told that the representation in Parliament was 50 per cent for men and 50 per cent for women.
We went ahead to ask how it was done, and we were told that it was the political parties that decided to yield their strongholds to women and so, they now have the 50/50 target.
In Rwanda as has been mentioned, we have about 68 per cent of women, and over there, you would realise that women in leadership help a lot because today, you cannot sit anywhere and talk about ethnicity or fighting another person.
Mr Speaker, cleanliness is one of the key things in Rwanda as you would not find a single polythene bag or whatsoever in Rwanda. It is one of the cleanest cities I have visited in Africa and this is because women are in leadership.
It has also come out through statistics that when women are given leadership positions they are less corrupt. We are only saying that women should be conscious of themselves because they could be easily trapped into corruption- related issues. Women should be ready to come out to talk about corrupt acts they may have come across, seen or may have been asked to get involved in.
Mr Speaker, so women taking leadership positions is not just for us to say and then go away. I will urge that your level and other leadership positions above some of us here, our political parties should ensure that opportunities are given to women in their strongholds.
I do not know how we could ever curb the issue of violence against women as it is quite a difficult situation. We find even teachers who are supposed to be the safeguards of girls, being so horrible to them to the extent of sexually abusing them, impregnating them and having children with them.
Most of our women are not able to attain leadership positions and into good offices because they are asked to, more or less sell themselves before they could get such positions which is very bad.
Mrs Laadi Ayii Ayamba (NDC -- Pusiga) 11:18 a.m.
It is very important that our law
enforcement agencies; the Ghana Police Service and other security services help us to bring all the offenders on board and give them the necessary punishment.
Mr Speaker, if a man is bold enough to have sex with a four year old child, excuse my language, I believe that given that opportunity, I would castrate that man because he is not fit to exist.

Mr Speaker, that man is not a human being; he is simply a low class animal worth its salt. It is very important that our agencies work very hard to support us. Families should not also interfere when it comes to reports.

When women try to report about violence that has been perpetuated against them, families come in to say they should forget about it. Let us leave it, he is a friend, and he is a family member. So it truncates how people would have been punished or prosecuted.

Mr Speaker, if I am to go on, I would be talking, but I hope that, together, with the 16 days that we have spoken about, we can do a better job. As Members of Parliament (MPs), let us go on to campaign for women. Let us go on to suggest that men are our equals.

The Affirmative Action Bill does not say that women are coming to take the powers of men. We are simply saying that men should support women to forge ahead.

Mr Speaker, when the time comes, please, support us with the Affirmative Action Bill. Let us see to it that we have more women. We have 275 MPs and

women are only 35. In the Upper East Region, there is only one woman; in the Upper West Region, there is no woman; in the Northern Region, there is only one woman.

In other regions, I believe also that there are no women. So, how do we talk to those women that we women believe in ourselves? We are such that we listen to each other better than listening to men because men would not understand us and sometimes do not agree with us.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker 11:18 a.m.
Hon Members, one day, I was invited as a resource person to an international conference somewhere in Africa. One woman got up and justified, and justified emotionally. I said the days for justifications are over.
Women should take heart. Women should rather think of ways and means, modalities and suggest how we can effectualise that which we all realise is important.
So I would say to women, the days of emotional appeals are over. We are now in the days of finding ways and means; actual modalities. If you talk about Rwanda, there are modalities, and if you apply those modalities, you would also reach there.
It is no more a matter of emotions. I would ask us to look at it that way. That is how we can carry everybody into our affirmative action law, distinguished Hon Members.
Yes, Hon (Dr) Okoe Boye? I just want a male voice -- [Laughter] -- to bring harmony. I would want to play the black and the white keys.
Dr Bernard Okoe Boye (NPP -- Ledzokuku) 11:18 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful for the opportunity. In fact, the chances of the affirmative action or movement working depends hugely on the support that would come from men, women should allow us to support them with our speech.
Mr Speaker, I am particularly glad that the Statement on women's participation was made by a man. It is very instructive that it was a male that made the Statement on women's participation in politics. That should send a clear signal that we are with them and would want to support them to be fully represented in this House at all levels.
Mr Speaker, naturally, our cultural attitudes and practices at certain places in this country serve in themselves as obstructional framework for women's participation in leadership. There are places in this country where culturally, they do not even accept or welcome women to lead them as a group. These are the things that we have to address so that we can increase the participation of women.
Mr Speaker, it is important to mention just like you said, that all the studies 11:18 a.m.
social studies, scientific studies et cetera have proven that when women are encouraged to participate more in leadership, the transformational agenda of all countries are expedited. This is a fact. Studies have shown that the more women participate in politics, the greater the speed with which we transform.
So the question now is how we guarantee the participation of women in politics. It is not only their participation but significant participation. I had an experience with a legislator from Tanzania. I was impressed to find out that she did not go for elections.
She was not subjected to the aggressive and sometimes very abusive political terrain of going for primaries and general elections. This was a lady who was picked by a political party and put in Parliament on a reserved seat. In Tanzania, they have reserved seats for women.
Mr Speaker, once the studies have shown that women in politics help to improve society, it is no more a question of how to deal with this situation, it is a question of how to guarantee that they find themselves here.
I believe that no member in this House would gladly take it if we say their seat should be reserved for only women. Once that is contentious, the best thing to contemplate is how to add some seats which are reserved strictly for women.
Mr Speaker, this is how they do it in Tanzania. After the elections, if your political party wins 70 per cent of the seats, if it is 20 seats reserved for women, 70 per cent of those seats are given to that political party, and they pick women from their party to represent them.
When you bring the physically challenged to this House, within a short time, issues of physical disability would be raised in this House. Any minority group that enters any House makes sure that their issues are presented. So, we need to have the women here.
Mr Speaker, in the next 20 years, if we are not careful, only 2 per cent of the Members in this House would be ladies because the challenges they face are real. So we have to start to contemplate. Once Tanzania has done it, it is not beyond us. And since none of us is ready to sacrifice their seat for one gender, let us add some of the seats.
Dr Boye 11:18 a.m.
Mr Speaker, let me conclude by saying that I am a beneficiary of the generosity of a woman. I had more or less a single parent. All that I have done or achieved is as result of my mother. I would want to state here that it is difficult to find a woman who is educated with children who are illiterates.
But it is not strange at all to meet a man who is very educated yet has children who have not gone to school. That is very instructive. It means that anytime we empower women, it is the society at large that benefits. So this is not an agenda for women. It is an agenda for all of us, and the better we contemplate their reserved seats, the easier it would be for us to achieve the Ghana beyond Aid Agenda.
Mr Speaker 11:18 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Richard M. K. Quashigah (NDC -- Keta) 11:28 a.m.
Thank you so much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
Mr Speaker, I know you are a sincere champion of matters relating to women, and you have amply demonstrated that since we came to this House with you in the Chair as Speaker.
Mr Speaker, indeed, I also hold dear the issues of women in the sense that I cannot recount the number of times my late father was in the kitchen to prepare meals for me. But I can recount the number of times my mother and subsequently, my stepmother fed me and ensured that my welfare was well taken care of.
That, indeed, is a demonstration of what the Late Dr Kwegyir Aggrey said that, “when you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation”.

Mr Speaker, that is why I agree with the school of thought that believes that when women are in positions of authority and responsibility, our society would thrive better.

It has been pointed out that in Rwanda, some concrete steps were taken to ensure that women could take their rightful places in that society, and indeed, today we can talk of Rwanda being a beacon in Africa. That is a testament to the fact that women have been given their rightful roles.

Mr Speaker, South Korea is a country that is touted as having developed very quickly.

In South Korea, women have been given extraordinary opportunities that you cannot even imagine, to the extent that even if a man is married to a woman, his pay cheque at the end of the month is not paid into his account, but it is paid into his wife's account for disbursement. In South Korea, if a married man is caught engaging in an illicit affair with another woman, it is a crime.

Mr Speaker, at your behest, I was privileged to be in South Korea recently. The Committee Members and I who went were alarmed when we were told these things, but these are some of the things that have contributed to the effective forward march of that country.

I ask myself why we have housewives, and sometimes the kind of jobs they do at home far outweighs what we do when we go to our secular offices.

But are they really paid? It is high time we began to think of ways and means to structure it such that husbands who work while their wives stay home to take care of the home and the families are also put on payroll, so that for instance, if a husband earns GH¢ 3000, out of that amount, the wife is paid GH¢ 1000. I am sure when that is done, we would be working towards achieving a fair society.

Mr Speaker, in this country, we always refer to women as part of the minority group, but is that really the case? When we look at the population of this country, we have more women than men, so why would we say they are in the minority?

That is why I agree with Hon Colleagues who have propounded that we need to follow the examples of some other countries that have proportional representation in Parliament and other high ranking institutions in their countries, such that in Parliament we do not just talk about 30 per cent representation for women, which we never achieve across the political parties.

Mr Speaker, it should be 50-50, after all, even the Bible says your better half. When you go to marriage ceremonies and they talk about better half, it is 50-50.

So it must be reflective in all our institutions and endeavours as a society and as a people. I believe strongly that this is the only way our society would resonate with the success that we desire.

The reason we are not achieving the needed success as a nation is that those of us who were brought up by women, who carried us in their wombs for nine months, delivered, raised and taken care of us, now we tend to look down on them and think that we are the repository of wisdom, which we are not.

Mr Speaker, you alluded to the fact that in Ghana now, when you go to the universities, in all the high ranking courses, the women are emerging with First Classes, well behaved students' awards, et cetera. That, in itself, is an indication that when it comes to discipline, women are more disciplined and cautious than men.

Mr Speaker, seriously speaking, if we look at it across the world, women who find themselves in positions of authority tend not to be as corrupt as their male counterparts. I am sure that when we have more women in this Chamber, we would do things more rightly.

Mr Speaker, I do not see why some men should be unwilling to relinquish their seats to women. I, Richard Mawuli Kwaku Quashigah, have always been willing to relinquish my seat to a woman -- [Uproar] - the only unfortunate scenario is that in all the contexts that I have engaged in, the women never showed up, but if they had showed up, I would have relinquished my seat to them.

Mr Speaker, I dare my Hon male Colleagues in this House to be willing to give way to our women counterparts when they pop up on the political scene in the December 2020 elections. They should make way for them and allow them to contest, so that we would realise the 30 per cent we have been touting.

Mr Speaker, it has all become lip service. We need to resource our women and give them the necessary capacity that is required, and I believe strongly that we would be making great progress.

Mr Speaker, I thank you so much for the opportunity.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (NDC -- Klottey Korle) 11:38 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon Members who made the Statements and all Hon
Colleagues who contributed so ably to the topic being discussed today.
This year, the United Kingdom celebrated 100 years of women in Parliament and we also celebrate 100 years of Nelson Mandela's life but what not many people realise is that it is also 100 years of Mrs Sisulu who was also equally active in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, it turns out that even history seems to be bias against women.
Women's empowerment is at the core of the achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, in our society, when a man fails, he fails as an individual but when a women does, all women share her failure.
Mr Speaker, some of the very real issues that we still have to grapple with are violence against women in politics which has now officially been recognised as a form of gender-based violence. We are also faced with the reality of gender- based pay gap and if we look at Ghana, it is very real here but it is internationally as well.
Even if we look at the informal sector, the role that women still play in contributing towards our economy has still not been measured or quantified and I am sure if were we to do so, we would truly understand the greater value that women have served and continue to serve this nation.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 recognised the value of the participation of women in peace building, conflict resolution and post- conflict reconstruction. Mr Speaker, even the United Nations (UN) was a little bit behind on this.
In Asanteman, the Nana hemaa has a valuable role in conflict resolution. So long before the UN even recognised the value of women in peacebuilding Asanteman was already fully aware of this and practised it.
Mr Speaker, it is worth noting that our Budget Statement for 2019 missed certain key indices on gender mainstreaming and we would hope that in future ones, we would address these issues and not make women issues purely a gender matter.
In 2017, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) reported 12,103 cases of domestic abuse and in all cases, this is usually the tip of the iceberg. In Ghana, 27.7 per cent of women have experienced some form of domestic violence and this is based on the domestic violence report of the Ghana Statistical Service.
Mr Speaker, as an Hon Members of Parliament, we still have not reached our expected quota of women representation in the House. We continue to applaud Rwanda for the huge numbers of women represented in their Parliament.
However, we must realise uniquely that Rwanda's situation did not happen by chance. Rwanda endured a serious genocide that brought the world to a place where we all felt a sense of shame for not having acted sooner and it was this genocide that resulted in the number of women who are represented in Parliament.
So with the utmost respect, when we refer to Rwanda's representation of women in Parliament, we must also be mindful of the factors that led to it and understand that these are not the same factors in Ghana.
Therefore we must address the issues as they pertain here and deal with them in a way that would make women's
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
Last two contributions and then the Hon Leaders would conclude.
Ms Gifty Twum-Ampofo (NPP -- Abuakwa North) 11:38 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon Member who made the Statement.
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
Please, there are two Hon Members who made the Statements. I just want it to be on record that it is a joint Statement.
Ms Twum-Ampofo 11:38 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Statements were made by men. It means already in this House, we have He4She. We have men who are ready to fight for women to be empowered. We appreciate them.
As the previous contributor just said, Rwanda's issue was as a result of a genocide where the population was then 75 per cent women and then the 25 per cent was men. So to constitute Parliament, the women had no option likewise the men than to be represented mainly by women.
Again, in the Garden of Eden, the woman was empowered. By the genetic make-up of men and women, we know that men are XY and women are XX
chromosomes. Genetics have proved that the X chromosome is full of substance and it is larger. That means that from creation and scientifically, women were empowered from the basics of creation and evolution.
However, society, religion and translation of the various scriptures have made women feel that they are always there to assist men but the good book said that God created an equal help for man. It means that whatever men do, women should be able to do that. Even where men have difficulties, women were there to help them.
For that reason, why do we go back for our empowerment? Since society and religion have contributed to women feeling that they do not have the power to contribute their quota, it is society which is supposed to put in place systems to ensure that the lost empowerment is regained to ensure that society gains the strength and recognition that we deserve.
First of all, I wish that we do constitutional amendment to reserve seats for women. The men have taken the front row already.
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
You do not need a constitutional amendment.
Ms Twum-Ampofo 11:38 a.m.
All right, Mr Speaker.
If we decide to reserve seats --
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
We can do that in this House.
Ms Twum-Ampofo 11:38 a.m.
All right. If we say that we should give the seats that are already for men to women, it would create rivalry between men and women, but we need both men and women to make sure that society gains what we are supposed to have.
So I would want to appeal that we create seats that are solely meant for women and the marginalised like the physically challenged and those who have intellectual disability. We could reserve such seats for these marginalised and excluded individuals to ensure that the House would always be fairly represented.
Again, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has begun mentoring processes where we go to senior high schools and basic schools to mentor girls for them to correct the traditional psyche that makes girls feel that they cannot take up the front role.
11. 48 a. m.
This is going on and I would like to appeal to all MPs here to pick a school or two to mentor girls, for them to know that yes, they can do what the men are doing, but our genetic makeup and the way they are created, they could do even much more than they are doing now.
Again, poverty and financial con- straints have been an issue for women in leadership and politics as well. I would want to appeal that special financial assistance be arranged for women already in Parliament and those who would have the interest to join the few who are already in the Chamber. This would solve the financial constraints that costs a number of women to stay back.
At the tertiary institutions, I would also like to appeal that special scholarship packages are given to women who we have mentored from the grassroots, to take up leadership roles and also be on top. When we do all these, I am sure that women would be up there.
As regards men heckling women, one thing I know is that women are knowledgeable; whenever the woman is resourceful, no amount of heckling could allow a woman to run away.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would like to thank you and the Hon Member who made this Statement.
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
Thank you very much. Finally, Hon Minority Leader?
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 11:38 a.m.
Mr Speaker, let me thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Ekow Hayford, the Hon Member for Mfantseman on women's participation and representation in Parliament using Ghana as a case study, and the Statement to mark the Inter- national Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Start of Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender- based Violence, made by the Hon Angela Oforiwa Alorwu-Tay.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon Member who made the Statements. It is said that women's political participation could be a catalyst for gender equality, and could probably raise the fundamental questions on the social mobility of women in Ghana.
Is it restricted and controlled? Mr Speaker, you know it is so, as you are a good political historian. Aristotle is quoted to have said that when it comes to the differences in sexes between men and women, men were better in nature and women were underestimated.
Mr Speaker, I cannot contribute to this Statement without recognising your personal quest to be a champion to the improvement of the rights of women and the empowerment of women.
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Minority Leader.
Majority Leadership? Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-
Mensah-Bonsu): Mr Speaker, let me thank Hon Colleagues who have spoken in support of the Statements made by two male Hon Colleagues in this House.
Mr Speaker, it is important that we stress this fact because when people talk about the affirmative action, people seem
to think that it is just women's business. It is a business of all of us citizens in the country.
Mr Speaker 11:38 a.m.
The ground must be prepared first, so that they would ensure that when they have left, women would be there.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:58 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the point is, as the system operates now, even if a person decides to leave his or her seat, one cannot guarantee that space would be granted only for females to contest. This is because of the imperatives that are contained in article 55 (5) of our Constitution which with your permission, I beg to quote:
‘'The internal organisation of a political party shall conform to democratic principles and its actions and purposes shall not contravene or be inconsistent with this Con- stitution or any other law''.
Mr Speaker, this is where the concept of first-past-the-post even within the political parties emanates. So it is difficult for people to be compelled to conform to the principle of surrendering or allocating seats to men and otherwise to women.
Mr Speaker, I clearly remember that in 1996 when I wanted to contest, we formed the Great Alliance with the Convention
Mr Speaker, article 55 (10) says, which with your permission, I beg to quote 11:58 a.m.
‘'Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every citizen of voting age has the right to participate in political activity….''
Mr Speaker, this includes the person fielding himself or herself as a contestant in a Party. Unfortunately for us, by article 290 (1) (e), article 55 is an entrenched provision in the Constitution and that is where we are.
So, for those of the Hon Members who said that we should resort to proportional representation, in the face of the entrenchment of article 55 of the Constitution, it cannot be done, until article 55 is done away within a Referendum, if we care to do that. That is the genesis of the matter.
So, people should not just rise up and talk to issues of introducing proportional representation when we know that there is article 55 which is entrenched in the Constitution.
Mr Speaker, the first-past-the-post system as we operate here, elsewhere in America, Canada, Australia and in India where they obtain, it is difficult to have equity in representation in Parliament. We
could only succeed in having greater numbers where there is proportional representation as Hon Members have said already. That is how come there are higher figures in Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa.
At Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), noticeably, those of them who practice proportional representation are the countries that have women who have some equity with male representation in their Parliament. Other than that, for the majority of us in the IPU, at least, 85 per cent of those who practice first-past-the- post, it is absolutely impossible to achieve equity.
Mr Speaker, if we want equity, I believe the best place is to have a look at the entrenchment of article 55 of the Constitution, which would liberate the energies of the nation and of course, the women to demand equity.
Mr Speaker, article 17 (2) and (3) of the Constitution talks about non-discrimination which with your permission, I beg to quote:
(2) ‘‘A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.
(3) For the purposes of this article, ‘‘discriminate'' means to give different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, gender…”.
Mr Speaker, at several work places, discriminations go on but people do not talk about that. Why do people talk about Parliament when the Constitution is clear
that nobody should be discriminated against at work places? Why do people not talk about other work places? I believe that should inform us.
Mr Speaker, indeed, article 22 (1) of the Constitution is very critical, and with your permission, I beg to quote:
(1) ‘‘A spouse shall not be deprived of a reasonable provision out of the estate of a spouse whether or not the spouse died having made a will''.
Mr Speaker, article 22 (3) is also informative and with your permission, I beg to quote:
(3) ‘‘With a view to achieving the full realisation of the rights referred to in clause (2) of this article --
(a) spouses shall have equal access to property jointly acquired during marriage;''
Mr Speaker, that is the fundamental thing. We have considered the Spousal Property Rights Bill. Why is it that today, the one thing everybody talks about is the Right to Information Bill?
Yet, the Spousal Property Rights Bill is of critical importance to spouses and even to the survival of spouses who might have been left behind by other spouses which include children, but nobody talks about that. Everybody talks about the Right to Information Bill.
Mr Speaker, the Intestate Succession Law and other laws, for example, are fundamental issues that should concern Ghanaians and yet, everybody talks about the Right to Information Bill, when these
are much more critical issues that should concern the citizens of this country and indeed, Parliament.
Mr Speaker, we need to be much more up and doing than we have been. I am not in any way saying that the passage of the Right to Information Bill is not important.
In my considered opinion, much more fundamental to the existence of communities as a society is the Spousal Property Right Bill, which the Constitution mandates us to pass in article 22 (2) of the Constitution and with your permission, I beg to quote:
“Parliament shall, as soon as practicable after the coming into force of this Constitution enact legislation regulating the property rights of spouses''.
Mr Speaker, how long have we been in this system? We have not done so, and everybody now talks about the Right to Information Bill. We should do what is right first, and other things certainly shall follow.
Mr Speaker, I appreciate the issues which were raised by my Hon Colleagues in respect of promoting gender activism, but the right thing should be done first. I believe that when we have done so, other political rights would fall in due time.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the space granted.
Mr Speaker 11:58 a.m.
Hon Members, I believe it is about time this particular matter was referred to the Committee on Gender and Children to come out with very specific recommendations so as to enable us move on. Let us not be unduly miscarried by the problems so far as the Rwandan war is concerned.
Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
There are many other countries who
have made plenty of progress without having gone to war, and we should be very careful that we are not misled to that.
If you have the international statistics which I happen to have right now -- That is the fact of the matter. With men or women, we must all try to see the principle of the matter and make progress towards it and very much so, constitutionally speaking in a way that it has been otherwise also said.
We must look at areas of political representation which emphasise freedom to contest and so on. Also, in line with the right of equality and non- discrimination against women.

That is the essence of Affirmative Action Law in every country. If we look at the United States (US) for example, who have very similar human rights provisions.

The human rights provisions of our constitution which speaks of non- discrimination in terms of gender, race, colour et cetera, should override all these other considerations and make sure that we proceed over here with laws that ensure the equality of women. Otherwise, Affirmative Action would not be a possibility anywhere at all.

Hon Members, I would encourage all of us and the public to make ourselves available on Thursday, as we all celebrate 25 years of parliamentary democracy and listen to the Rt Hon Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament who is a real expert on this matter, from what I observed when we attended international conferences.

Hon Members, Order!
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 12:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, before the commencement of Public Business, as we are well aware, the Hon Minister for Finance, on behalf of the President presented to Parliament, the Budget and Economic, and my addition, Financial Policy of Government.
Mr Speaker, pursuant to our Standing Orders, you committed the Estimates relative to the Ministries and Departments to the appropriate Committees of Parliament.
Mr Speaker, I am aware and have participated in some of the deliberations of the Committees that are scrutinising the Estimates for the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
One of our primary responsibilities as Parliament, is the exercise of oversight, and in particular, oversight of the Executive, as the organ and co-equal organ of government which controls what is largely referred to in parliamentary democracy as the control of the public purse.
Mr Speaker, it has come to my notice that some Ministries, Departments and Agencies are hesitant and not too willing to give breakdown of Estimates, save to provide to Committees, global expenditure; the detailed expenditure in relation to Goods and Services and Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), which would allow us exercise our oversight mandate, which naturally would suffer, if Ministries would not give us detailed expenditure outlay.
For instance, I spend GH¢30 million on vehicles; which vehicles, what type, and when, we do not know?
Mr Speaker, I am making a strong request that this House is made up of two Sides naturally, thanks to the Ghanaian electorate. Going forward, I do not want a situation where a Minister wants to move his or her Motion and the Minority behaves in a manner that they may not understand.
Where a particular Minister fails to provide the breakdown of those Estimates, it would be difficult for us to participate in the approval of the allocation to that particular Ministry.
Mr Speaker, we want, as a practice, and it must be the position of this House forever and ever, that they do not just give us global figures. I have served notice to the Hon Majority Leader. Even GETFund, and National Health Insurance, came back to this House with global figures.
For instance, Tertiary Education, GH¢ 200 million. Basic Education, GH¢ 100million. Going forward, we on this Side of the House will not accept the approval of global numbers by any Committee.
Mr Speaker, related to this again is matters of Committee work. I would like to point out strongly that our Standing Orders recognises committees of Parlia- ment, and I dare add that Committees of this Parliament are not the Chairpersons' or the Ranking Members' Committees.
The Committees of Parliament are your Committees, with due representation reflecting the political shades in this House.
Mr Speaker, as a practice, I am aware that in the past, when Committees undertook any work, the Minutes were recorded, largely by the Clerks. The Report was produced, largely influenced by the minutes of the Committee and presented to this House.
In most instances, to make the work easier and collective, there would be consultations with Ranking Members and sometimes, the Chairman and Vice Chairman.
Mr Speaker, it does not appear to be the case. I have had some Ranking Members complain to me that even in instances where they wanted to invoke the Standing Orders and present a Minority opinion, they have been denied. That would be an affront to our Standing Orders.
Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, if
you would restrict yourself to the matter of detail, we would then ask the Hon Majority Leader to also respond to that. When we agree on something at the pre- Sitting meeting and any Side now proceeds beyond the parameters of the understanding, I have to remind you accordingly.
Please conclude.
Mr Iddrisu 12:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am done.
Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
Thank you.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, I could not be at the pre- Sitting meeting, but I have been briefed by my Hon Colleagues about what transpired.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader raised some matters about the details of expenditure. I think that it is important that we have details as much as possible, except that I cannot really support the example that he gave; when he said that when we want to procure vehicles, we should determine ahead of time, the vehicles that we would procure et cetera.
Mr Speaker that is not done. Otherwise, the relevance of the Public Procurement Authority would not find expression anywhere. If we do that, it would then amount to we having predetermined what we want to do with the money. — [Interruption] — He said that he would want them to show us the vehicles that they want to buy.
Mr Speaker, if I heard my Hon Colleague right, that is what he said. That is not done, but one is required to show the number of vehicles one wants to buy. If it is a pickup vehicle he wants to buy, he
should let us know that he wants to buy say four pickups and not the specification, given the role of the Public Procurement Authority.
So Mr Speaker, that is that. I agree by and large that to facilitate the work of Parliament and the Parliamentary Com- mittees, we need to know where the expenditure would be done.
Mr Speaker, that in my view, is the remit of Order 140(4) and I would want to read 12:18 p.m.
“That part of the Budget relating to the Ministries for which they have responsibility shall stand committed respectively to the Committees responsible for the subject matter to which the heads of Estimates relate as referred to in Order 151(2) and 152 and each such Committee shall consider the relevant Heads of Estimates committed to it and report on it to the House within such time as the Business Committee may determine.”
So Mr Speaker, we need to know the expenditure heads and how much allocation has been made to those heads. So I agree with him. It helps us to trace and track the expenditure patterns of each Ministry, Department or Agency, except as I said, some of the details cannot be provided for in the Budget.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader also related to the remit of the Committee Chairpersons. Mr Speaker, that is expressed in Order 200(1) and (2). The writing of Reports is by the Committee Chairpersons.
It is to be foundationed on the minutes captured by the Committee Clerks and of course, when it comes to the considera- tion, approval then is given by the entire Committee.
What it means is that the Report must be circulated to every Member. It cannot be that somebody would go and hide the Report and then spring it on the Committee as a surprise. That cannot be done. It must be circulated and when it is circulated, a person who may have an issue that he thinks that may have to form part of the report could raise it.
When it is raised, Committees of Parliament, just like plenary are governed by majoritarian decisions. So if it is brought up and the majority decides not to accommodate that or perhaps says that they were not part of the nodal issues, which were raised at the Committee meeting, so it cannot be smuggled into the Committee's report that is how it is.
Mr Speaker, he cannot then say that this is a presentation of a minority opinion. Strictly speaking, it is not done that way but because we try to build consensus at the Committee level, the Committee should endeavour to be very accommodating so that when Committee Reports are submitted, they would reflect the entirety of the business that was transacted at the Committee level. Mr Speaker, that is how it is supposed to be.
Mr Speaker, I believe I have responded to the issues raised by my Colleague, the Hon Minority Leader. The Committee Members should take keen interest when business is referred to the Committees. In the course of the transaction of the business, if there are matters that they consider germane that should reflect in the Committee's Report, they should note them.
It cannot be that somebody would rise up and say that he wants this to be part of the Committee's Report when it did not feature in any transaction in the conduct
of any business before the Committee. That is not done and people should understand that.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker 12:18 p.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Majority Leader. At least we can proceed and make progress.
Hon Minority Leader, do you have something more to say?
Mr Iddrisu 12:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes, we can proceed and make progress but we need your guidance on this. Order 210 provides with your permission I quote:
“Any Member of a Committee may bring up a report for its considera- tion, and all such reports shall be fully entered in the minutes of proceedings of the Committee. When all the reports have been brought up, the Chairman shall propose the reports in order until one is accepted as a basis for discussion, beginning with his own report and proceeding with the remainder in the order in which they were brought up”.
Mr Speaker, even though I accept what the Hon Majority Leader has said, nowhere does it say that Chairmen would dictate and determine the finality of what is generated at Committee level. That is where our objection is.
To build consensus, they must be consultative and consultative at least with the Ranking Members and Members of the Committee. Where we are denied the opportunity at the Committee level to express our objection, where else do we do so?
I do not want to do that on this Floor. Therefore I urge the Hon Majority Leader and the Leader of Government Business to get Ministries, Departments and
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we are not talking across purposes at all. I have not insisted here that Chairmen should dictate. I have not said so, and the Order that my Hon Colleague referred to says that it is the Members led by the Chairmen who should write the Reports. The Reports are predicated on the minutes.
Mr Speaker, then it is the Chairmen who should write the Reports. That is why the Order provides that when any other Member has any Report and has to submit it, they should begin with the consideration of the Chairman's Report. So, where would the Chairman's Report come from? It would come from the transaction of business there, founda- tioned on the minutes of the Committee written by the Clerk. That is how it is.
So Mr Speaker, I would want to emphasise the point that our Standing Orders do not give the responsibility of writing Committee Reports to the Clerks. It is the Chairman of a Committee who has that responsibility and that is borne out by Order 210.
Mr Speaker, Order 210 says that any Member, in the conduct of business could also write something such as what he thinks should be incorporated in the

The Report must reflect the minutes and that is what I have said. I have said so on numerous occasions and I say that Report writing is the responsibility of the Chairman and not that of the Clerk to the Committee. But the Chairman should not exclude other persons from proffering their opinions, especially when the nodal issues are captured in the minutes.

That is at foundation and why I said to the Hon Minority Leader that when we have done it, it is also not good if a Chairman hides the Report and then springs it as a surprise. That is not what should be done. They should bring the Report and at least the Leadership on the other Side of the aisle must know and then they go on.

Mr Speaker, that is how it is done and is at the heart of it. I do not think we should continue to litigate this matter. We cannot depart from the principles established in our Standing Orders. It is as simple as that.
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
The writing of a Report and its presentation thereafter is the responsibility of the Chairman of the Committee and not any Clerk.
The Clerk to the Committee would assist in this; the Chairman of the Committee would direct the Clerk to the Committee in all the circumstances in the performance of the clerical duties of the Clerk.
But the ultimate responsibility for any report, by our rules cannot be one which has been presented by ‘some' clerk. Let us get that very clearly.
Hon Members, Order 210 of our Standing Orders makes it very clear; if a member of a Committee is convinced that something must be entered or added, that person's objections or whatever it is shall be fully entered in the minutes of the proceedings; it does not say it must be captured by the Report.
It says “in the minutes of proceedings” and not ‘in the report' that would be written by the Hon Chairman of the Committee. That responsibility is very clear; it is that of the Chairman.
It goes further to say that Members may debate, in its own words, “until one ‘report' is accepted as a basis for the discussion”. This is a very important thing, for that matter emphasising consensus.
Our reports in this Honourable House are consensus reports and every debate discussion and whatever can go on until a consensus has been reached. The Chairman shall then report whatever it is that is a counter view that was brought up, be read a second time paragraph by paragraph.
It goes further on to say:
“… any portions thereof may be offered as amendments to the report under consideration …”
The objection may result in an amendment to the report under considera- tion if in the view of the Chairman, this is relevant to the report. If one would want an amendment, we may add that in our subsequent considerations; but that is the
consensus spirit and the person who organises and directs this consensus- reaching process is the Chairman of the Committee.
Hon Members, shall we now make progress?
Hon Member, at the Commencement of Public Business -- item numbered 4 (a) (i) on the Order Paper -- Presentation of Papers.
PAPERS 12:28 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
Item numbered 4 (a) (ii) --
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, item numbered 4 (a) (ii) should be taken off the Order Paper and going forward to --
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
Hon Chairman of the Committee, do you mean it is not ready?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is not ready and should not appear --
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
Item numbered 4 (a) (iii) -- Hon Chairman of the Committee?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, from item numbered 4 (a) (ii) through to 4 (a) (viii) are all not ready.
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
So what is ready?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, they are all not ready.
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
All are still under consideration?
Very well.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we can move to item numbered 5 on the Order Paper.
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
Item numbered 5 (a) on the Order Paper -- Statistics Bill, 2018 which stands in the name of the Hon Minister for Finance.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance in the person of Hon Abena Osei-Asare is here. [Pause.]
Mr Speaker, I am submitting an application to have the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance do the Presentation and First Reading of the Statistics Bill, 2018 on behalf of the substantive Minister.
rose
Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
Hon Muntaka?
Alhaji Muntaka 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we have no worry about the Hon Deputy Minister performing this task. But since the Hon Minister for Finance came to read the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2019 Financial Year on the Floor of this House, he has not been here to conduct any business. [Laughter.]
Mr Speaker, we should take it very seriously because the only time we would get the Hon Minister for Finance to be in the House is during Budget Statement time because during that time, all the
debates and deliberations that go on, he recalls.
But since the Minister read the Budget Statement for 2019, he has not been here and almost all his duties are being performed by the Hon Deputy Minister. Where is the Minister for Finance himself? Is he prioritising other Government business more importantly than the Budget Statement that would give him the authorisation to spend?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, what the Hon Minority Chief Whip has said, that after the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2019 Financial Year, the Finance Minister has never been here in the House is a factual inexactitude.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Chief Whip is gifted in speaking in hyperbolic terms but he is wrong. The Hon Minister for Finance has been here on at least two occasions. [Laughter] He said ‘none' but the Minister has been here on at least two occasions.
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, regarding which the two occasions are?
Hon Majority Leader, the way you put your statement, it hangs in the air. If you choose to go that way, please, tell us those two occasions, so that your statement is complete. [Uproar] We heard “at least on two occasions” to wit. [Laughter]
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, last week, when you were not here - [Laughter] -- You had other responsibilities outside the jurisdiction and I know that you had to --
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Chief Whip I believe was not here --
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, you a n d I w e r e n o t t h e r e - - [Laughter]
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in fact, I do recollect that on occasions that you were not here, the Clerk to Parliament announced to us the business that had taken you outside the jurisdiction. So that is common knowledge to us.
Mr Speaker, the point I am making is that, last week, the Hon Minister for Finance was here and the previous week, he came here as well. That is a fact of life, to have said that he has been here on at least two occasions.
Alhaji Muntaka 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we all accept that the Hon Minister for Finance could really get busy but I said this because when we started the debate on the policy underpinnings of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government, at least, it is on record that the last day of the debate when the Hon Minority and Majority Leaders take their turns, we always had the Hon Minister for Finance. On this occasion, he was not here.
Mr Speaker, since we started considering the Budget Estimates and all the loans that have been presented including the one from Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the Hon Minister for Finance was not here.
Whereas we admit that the Hon Minister for Finance per his schedule could be very busy, he should try to find some time to be in this House on behalf of the President because he presented this Budget Statement on his behalf.
If the discussions about the Budget Statement and Economic Policy is taking place and he cannot find time to at least pass by once a while to listen, it is of concern to us.
Mr Speaker, so we hope that, despite the two occasions that he could not mention, the Hon Majority Leader would do well to let the Hon Minister for Finance pass here more frequently.
At least, he could start his day here and then leave or maybe come later to take over from his Hon deputies. I do not believe that it is fair to the House not to be here at all.
Mr Speaker, so the Hon Majority Leader should make effort to get him. We know he is busy but tell him to be here.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe it is important to state this for the records. The Hon Ato Forson is here with us. When he was an Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, he was here on many more times than the Minister.
When Hon Seth Terkpeh was the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, he was here on many more occasions than the then Minister for Finance, Dr Duffour. That is a fact of life.

Mr Speaker, in any event, the Hon Minister for Finance would be with us very soon.
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Abena Osei-Asare?
BILLS -- FIRST READING 12:38 p.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Members, like we said the other time, the Hon Majority Leader could save us some of the trouble by acting for the Hon Minister whenever he is away especially since we have agreed on that. Let us simply proceed in that direction and save ourselves some trouble.
Item numbered 5 (b).
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Education is not with us and I seek your leave and the indulgence of my Hon Colleagues to lay these documents on his behalf.
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, you may proceed.
University of Business and Integrated Development Studies Bill, 2018
AN ACT to establish the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies as a public tertiary institution to
be an outstanding internationally acclaimed applied research and practical- oriented educational institution, dedicated to the development of business and integrated development studies and for related matters.
Presented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) on behalf of the Minister for Education). Read the First time; referred to the Education Committee.
Ghana Book Development Agency Bill, 2018
AN ACT to establish the Ghana Book Development Agency to oversee the development and regulation of the book industry in the country and to provide for related matters.
Presented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) on behalf of the Minister for Education). Read the First time; referred to the Education Committee.
Library Services Bill, 2018
AN ACT to establish the Library Services Agency to provide, equip, manage and maintain public libraries at the national, regional and district levels and for related matters.
Presented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) on behalf of the Minister for Education). Read the First time; referred to the Education Committee.
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Hon Members, I would make a small adjustment to the order of Business and move on to item listed 14 for the Hon Minister for Energy to proceed for him to go and see to some business. [Interruption.]
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:38 p.m.
Mr Speaker, may I invite the House to now move to item listed 4 (m)?
Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
Item listed 4 (m) by the Hon Chairman of the Committee?
PAPERS 12:48 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, are all the other Reports ready, please?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we could deal with item numbered 6 on the Order Paper.
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, I am not with you, please.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:48 p.m.
Item numbered 6. [Pause]
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Item listed 6 is a Motion.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Motion has already been moved and debated. The Chair just needed to put the Question; but at that point, it required information to be availed to the Hon Members of the Committee and, indeed, the entire House.
Mr Speaker, those matters have been addressed, and we could now proceed with the Question.
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Did you say it is just to put the Question?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:48 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
rose
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader
-- ?
Mr Iddrisu 12:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it was the Hon First Deputy Speaker who, in your stead, following the debate on the Motion numbered 6 on the Order Paper, gave a consequential directive to the Committee.
Through the Hon Ranking Member and other Hon Members of the Health Committee, my attention has been drawn to -- [Interruption] -- I hold in my hand the advice of the Hon First Deputy Speaker.
Mr Speaker, maybe, before you put the Question ultimately, if we could hear the Hon Chairman of the Health Committee and one Hon Member on the Minority Side of the House, we could then get the Question on this particular Motion in order for us to be satisfied that this has been incorporated as an improvement as it was directed by the Hon First Deputy Speaker.
They were asked to do more work. If we are satisfied with it, you could put the Question, but at which stage I would still share with you our likely position in this matter, as we may not be able to have a consensus.
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Hon Members, the Hon First Deputy Speaker is conspicuously present. I would leave that matter for him to resolve in a moment since I am about to rise anyway.
I would call item listed 14. While the item listed 14 goes on, the Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair and then resolve all matters regarding that
MOTIONS 12:48 p.m.

Minister for Energy (Mr John Peter Amewu) 12:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, 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.
Question proposed.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel Gyamfi) 12:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion. In doing so, I present your Committee's Report.
Introduction
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the year ending 31st December, 2019 was presented to Parliament, by the Hon Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, on 15th November, 2018 in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.
Pursuant to Orders 140(4) and 188 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, Mr Speaker referred the Budget Estimates of
the Ministry of Energy to the Select Committee on Mines and Energy for consideration and report to the House.
Deliberation
The Committee met on Tuesday, 4th December, 2018 and examined the Estimates of the Ministry. Present at the meeting were the Minister of Energy, Hon John Peter Amewu and his two Deputies Hon William Owuraku Aidoo and Hon Joseph Cudjoe as well as other officials from the Ministries of Energy and Finance. The Committee is grateful for their inputs and clarifications.
In considering the Estimates, the Committee made reference to the under- listed documents:
i. The 1992 Constitution;
ii. The Standing Orders of Parliament;
iii. The Renewable Energy Act of 2011 (Act 832);
iv. The Energy Commission Act of 1997 (Act 541);
v. The Petroleum Commission Act of 2011 (Act 821);
vi. The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of the Republic of Ghana for the 2018 Financial Year;
vii.The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of the Republic of Ghana for the 2019 Financial Year;
viii. The Ministry of Energy Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2018 -2020; and
ix. The Ministry of Energy Medium Term Expenditure Framework for
2019 -2021.
Agencies under the Ministry
The Ministry of Energy comprises the Headquarters and the under-listed Agencies:
Power Sub-Sector
Energy Commission;
Volta River Authority;
Bui Power Authority;
Ghana Grid Company;
Electricity Company of Ghana;
Northern Electricity Distribution Company;
Volta Aluminium Company; and
Volta Resettlement Trust Fund.
Petroleum Sub-Sector
National Petroleum Authority;
Petroleum Commission;
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation;
Ghana National Gas Company;
Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company;
Tema Oil Refinery;
Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company; and
Ghana Oil Company Limited (listed on GSE).
Vision and mission of the Ministry
The vision of the Ministry is to develop an energy economy with reliable supply of high quality energy services for the Ghanaian economy and for export.
The Mission of the Ministry is to develop and sustain an efficient and financially viable Energy Sector that provides secure, safe and reliable supply of energy to meet Ghana's developmental needs in a competitive manner.
The Ministry has adopted the following policy objectives to be achieved within the short to medium term:
Power Sub-Sector
i. Provide adequate, reliable and affordable energy to meet the national needs and for export;
ii. Increase the proportion of renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind, small and mini-hydro and waste-to-energy) in the national energy supply mix. Promote the conversion of waste to energy;
iii. Explore the options for nuclear; geo-thermal and tidal waves energy;
iv. Ensure efficient utilisation of energy;
v. Ensure that energy is produced and utilised in an environmentally sound manner;
vi. Mainstream gender into decision- making in the energy sector;

vii. Build transparent and effective regulatory environment;

viii. Encourage public and private sector investments in the energy sector and;

ix. Build adequate local human resource capacity for the effective management of the energy sector.

Petroleum Sub-Sector

i. Create an enabling environment for sustainable activities in the Upstream and Downstream oil and gas sector;

ii. Ensure accelerated and integrated development of the oil and gas industry;

iii. Promote value-added investments, indigenisation of knowledge, expertise and technology in the oil and gas sector;

iv. Maximise local content and participation in all aspects of the petroleum industry value chain;

v. Ensure adequate availability of petroleum products in the Ghanaian market;

vi. Ensure the development of the needed institutional and human resource capacity for the petroleum sector;

vii. Ensure transparency in the management of petroleum resources and

viii. Ensure security for oil and gas installations and operations in the upstream, midstream and downstream.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel Gyamfi) 12:48 p.m.
ii. Commissioned a 20MW utility solar project by Mienergy in Winneba,
iii. Contract was awarded for the installation of a 65kW solar rooftop system at the Ministry of Energy,
iv. Five installed mini-grids in selected island communities on the Volta Lake were handed over to VRA to manage,
v. 26 solar micro-grids for 26 remote health facilities in Brong-Ahafo, Northern and Western Regions were completed and commissioned,
vi. Feasibility studies commenced for the installation of additional 55 mini-grids for remote islands and off-grid communities and
vii. Procurement processes commenced for the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Bui Power Authority (BPA) to add a total of 72MW solar energy to the national grid.
Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) i. The Volta Aluminium Company
(VALCO) initiated the restart of a second Potline and energised it in June.
ii. The restart process is 60 per cent complete and is projected to be completed by the end of 2018.

iii. As a result of the second Potline restart, VALCO engaged 180 direct personnel. In addition, 900 indirect personnel were employed in the downstream and allied industries.

Petroleum Sector Development and Management Programme

The Ministry recorded the following achievements under the Petroleum Sector Development and Management Pro- grammes during the year under review:

The Jubilee Field

i. The Jubilee Field recorded 20,599,845 barrels as at 30th September, 2018 compared to 24,302,185 barrels for the same period in 2017, representing a reduction of 15 per cent. The reduction in production was due to the two shutdowns of the FPSO as part of the Turret Remediation Project.

ii. The 2018 production translated into an average daily production of 75,457 barrels.

iii. The Jubilee Partners continued work towards the completion of the Turret Remediation Project which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of

2019.

iv. Associated gas production for the period was 31,323 MMscf of which 14,750.65 MMscf representing 48.17 per cent, was exported to the Gas Processing Plant at Atuabo for power generation, 159 MMscf exported to the TEN field, 10,593 MMscf

injected into the reservoir, 1,972 MMscf used for power generation on the FPSO and 3,693 MMscf flared.

Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) Field

i. The TEN field produced a total of 17,530,233 barrels of oil in the first three quarters of 2018 with a daily average production of 64,213.31 barrels, against a planned daily average of 63,659 bopd.

ii. Associated gas produced from the TEN Field as at 30th September, 2018 was 28,685.06 MMscf. Out of which 17,163.21 MMscf was re-injected, 2,755.10 MMscf was utilised on the FPSO for power generation, 756.46 MMscf was flared and 8,010.29 MMscf was delivered to the Ghana National Gas Company's (GNGC) Atuabo Gas Processing Plant (GPP) to substitute the Jubilee Foundation gas volumes exports during the shut- down of the Jubilee FPSO for the Turret Remediation Project and Riser 2 disconnection to help meet the nominated value to GNGC.

Sankofa Gye Nyame Field

The Sankofa Gye Nyame Field achieved the following between 1st January to 30th September, 2018:

Produced 6,897,116.19 barrels of oil and 14,668.55 MMScf of gas, equivalent to 25,038.14 bopd and 53.73 MMScf per day for oil and gas respectively.

i. Continued works on the Interconnection of Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) and the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCo) pipeline

systems aimed at supplying stranded gas in the West for power generation in the East;

ii. The GNGC pipeline was extended from the end terminal valve to the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCO) fence awaiting tie-in. This project is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of

2019;

iii. The Onshore Receiving Facility (ORF) was completed.

Promotion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas

(LPG)

Under the government policy of abolishing the current LPG Marketing model and replacing it with the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) with the view to reducing the associated risk factors of the current system, the following milestones were achieved:

i. New value chain was developed with the inclusion of new players namely, bottling plant, cylinder transporter and cylinder re- distributor,

ii. New LPG pricing framework was developed based on the full cost recovery principle,

iii. License requirements for bottling plant were issued to the industry and prospective applicant.

iv. New construction and opera- tional standards and guidelines based on international bench- marks was developed for the new value chain,

v. Risk assessment exercise was completed in all the ten (10) regions to promote LPG as a healthier, safer and cleaner fuel in semi-urban and rural areas in a bid to reduce deforestation and

vi. Distributed 2,000 cylinders, 32,800 cook stoves and acces- sories.

Energy Sector Regulation Programme

The following were achieved under the Energy Sector Regulation:

i. The Licensing Round Bid Evaluation and Negotiation (LRBEN) Committee for the first ever oil and gas licensing round for six Offshore Oil Blocks in Cape Three Points in the Western Region were inaugurated,

ii. Launched the first Oil and Gas Licensing Round on October 15;

2018;

iii. A Local Content and Local Participation Policy for the petroleum downstream sector to ensure active participation of Ghanaians in the downstream sector value chain was approved by Cabinet; and

iv. A Local Content Committee was set up at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to coordinate activities on local content in the downstream sector.

Development of a Petroleum Hub

The following milestones were achieved under the government's decision to make Ghana a hub for refined petroleum products in the West African sub-region:
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel Gyamfi) 12:48 p.m.
i. Roadmap document was developed; and
ii. Draft Petroleum Infrastructure Master Plan was also developed.
Petroleum Regulations
The following achievements were made in effort at ensuring that Ghana derives the maximum benefit from its petroleum resources:
i. A draft Gas Bill was prepared
ii. The Petroleum (Exploration and Production) (General) Regulations, 2018 L.I. 2359 was passed in August, 2018;
iii. The Petroleum Commission in February, 2018 established the Petroleum Register to promote transparency in the upstream sector; and
iv. Petroleum Commission rigorously promoted the Joint Ventures in accordance with the Regulation of enhancing the participation of indigenous Ghanaian companies in the industry.
Table 1: Financial Performance of the Ministry as at October, 2018
SPACE FOR TABLE - PAGE 12, 12.48 P.M
Source: 2019 Programme Based Budgeting Estimates of the Ministry of Energy, page 4
Other releases by the Ministry of Finance:
i. ECG Debt to LITASCO -- 330.898.005.00
ii. ECG TO KARPOWER GHANA COMPANY LTD -- 454,410,000.00
iii. ESLA -- 185.447.603.00
Outlook for 2019
Power Sector Development and Manage- ment
Power Generation
In 2019, the Ministry plans to complete 147MW (Phase 1) Early Power and 192MW Amandi Power Projects to give a total generation of 339MW.
Power Transmission System Improve- ment
GRIDCo plans to initiate processes in 2019 for the implementation of the following transmission projects:
i. 161kV Aboadze-Takoradi line upgrade project,
ii. 161kV Takoradi-Tarkwa-New Tarkwa-Prestea line upgrade project and
iii. 330kV A4BSP (Pokuase) - Nkawkaw-Anwomaso line project.
Rural Electrification Programme
A total of 1,250 communities are targeted to be connected to the national grid to increase the access rate from the current level of 84.32 per cent to 87 per cent. Electrical conductors and cables, exclusively from local manufacturing companies would be used.
ECG-Private Sector Participation
The ECG private sector participation is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2019.
Renewable Energy Development
The Ministry intends to achieve the following under renewable energy:
i. Procure and distribute 100,000 units of solar lanterns;
ii. Commence the installation of a 65kW solar rooftop system at the Ministry of Energy;
iii. Complete feasibility studies for the installation of 55 mini-grids for remote island and off-grid communities; and
iv. Volta River Authority (VRA) and Bui Power authority to commence installation of a total of 72MW solar energy to the national grid.
Nuclear Energy Programme
The following are expected deliverables under Nuclear Power generation:
i. Finalise the pre-feasibility study of the nuclear programme,
ii. Undertake public sensitisation on nuclear energy,

iii. Establish owner/operator of Ghana's first nuclear plant, and

iv. Continue building human resource capacity for nuclear programme.

Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO)

The Volta Aluminum Company plans to achieve the following in 2019:

i. Run fully, two out of its five Potlines to increase output from 40,000 to 80,000 tons with associated revenue of US$160 million;

ii. Achieve 40 percent utilisation of the 200,000 tons per annum installed capacity of the smelter which is enough to, at least, break-even and keep the smelter alive to serve as an off-taker for the alumina to be refined from Ghana's bauxite;

iii. Embark on the Smelter Technology Upgrade project and

iv. Undergo restructuring to bring Private Sector Participation in the ownership and operation of the company.

The National LPG Promotion Policy

The following are targets for 2019 under the National LPG Promotion Policy:

i. Procure 60,000 cook stoves for distribution;

ii. Undertake public sensitisation and education on the new Cylinder Recirculation Model;

iii. Intensify safety inspection and risk assessment;

iv. Undertake training programmes for players in the industry; and

v. Recall existing cylinders.

Petroleum Sector Development

The Ministry plans to undertake the following under the Petroleum sector development;

i. Complete the Turret Remediation Project in the first quarter 2019,

ii. Complete interconnection of Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) and WAPCo Pipeline Systems;

iii. Complete 2D Seimic data acquisition and processing;

iv. Commence commercial negotiation and sign the TEN Non Association Gas Sales Agreement (GSA);

v. Continue and conclude all commercial Agreements for gas offtake; and

vi. Finalise a Gas Bill for approval by Parliament.

First Building Round

In its bid to secure good deal and improve transparency in the petroleum contracts, the following key activities have been earmarked for 2019:

i. Public opening of bids;

ii. Evaluation of bids;

iii. Negotiation with successful bidder; and

iv. Award of blocks to successful bidder.

Development of a Petroleum Hub

As part of its decision to make Ghana a Petroleum Hub in the West African Sub- Region, the Ministry plans to do the following in 2019:

i. Completion of feasibility studies;

ii. Acquire land;

iii. Develop spatial plan; and

iv. Design the hub.

Power Sector Regulations

The Energy Commission responsible for the regulation of the Power Sector plans to undertake the following in 2019:

i. Review and update National Grid Code to include a Renewable Energy Sub- code;

ii. Develop and enforce for installation, operation and regulation of embedded generation in the country and ensure that excessive generation is not injected back into the national Interconnected Trans- mission System;

iii. Enforce Street Lighting Policy which seeks to regulate the assembling, installation, opera- tion and maintenance of street and public lighting in Ghana and;

iv. Enforce regulations to ensure that electrical wiring conductors and accessories sold on the Ghanaian market meet minimum standards for the safety of persons, property and livestock.

Budgetary Allocation for the 2019 Fiscal Year

An amount of five hundred million nine hundred sixty-four thousand four hundred eighty Ghana cedis (GH¢ 500,964,480) has been allocated to the Ministry of Energy for the implementation of its programmes and activities for the 2019 Financial Year. The breakdown of the allocation is provided in Table 2 and 3 below:
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel Gyamfi) 12:48 p.m.
Table 2: Budgetary Allocation by Economic Classifications for 2019
SPACE FOR TABLE 2 - PAGE 16, 12.48 P.M

Table 3: Budgetary Allocation by Programmes for 2019

SPACE FOR TABLE 3 - PAGE 17, 1248 P.M

Sources: Programme-Based Budget Estimates of the Ministry for 2019.

Observations

The following observations were made by the Committee:

Distribution of 2019 Budgetary Allocations

The Ministry has been allocated a total amount of GH¢ 500,964,480 to implement its programmes and activities for the 2019 Financial Year. Out of this amount, GH¢19,775,936.66 and GH¢ 27,857,842.02 representing 3.9 per cent and 5.6 per cent have been earmarked for compensation and Goods and Services respectively. Also, an amount of GH¢ 453,330,701.33 representing 90.5 per cent has been earmarked for capital expenditure.
Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Chairman.
Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC-- Damongo) 12:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to support the Motion.
Mr Speaker, your Committee met; in our deliberation, we saw that in the year 2018, an amount of GH¢914,397,413 was approved by this House.
As of September, 2018, however, only GH¢196,225,118.22 was actually released, which is only 21.4 per cent of the approved budget. This is a worrying signal because most of the activities that are supposed to be undertaken were delayed and that affected rural electrification.
With respect to the year 2018, donor funding was GH¢764,851,474, and out of this only GH¢96,697,486.15 was realised, representing 12.6 per cent.
Mr Speaker, last year, donor funding was about 84 per cent of the Budget and if only 12.6 per cent is realised, we need to re-look at the donor funding component that we put in the Budget. I was therefore, quite happy that the donor funding
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
Hon Member for Tarkwa-Nusaem?
Mr George Duker (NPP -- Tarkwa- Nsuaem) 12:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you. I would add my voice to the call to approve an amount of GH¢500,964,480 to support the Ministry of Energy for their work in the ensuing year.
Mr Speaker, the said Ministry has been doing so well in terms of coordination between themselves and that of their respective Agencies; that is the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), the National Petroleum Commission (NPC) and the National Petroleum Authority
(NPA).
They have done this in supporting the NPA by bringing up their new Cylinder Recirculation Model, embarking on massive local content policy to allow transparency in the sector, launching of the first licencing round and also making Ghana a petroleum sector hub.
We realised that if you take sub- Saharan Africa, Ghana is becoming the busiest enclave in the upstream sector and we need to commend the Hon Minister in- charge for the effort done so far and I believe that the details of the Budget Estimates presented before the Committee were clear and I would say that this august House must approve this budget for the Ministry of Energy. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mrs Della Sowah 12:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
In contributing, I would want to touch on rural electrification even though today, I did not bring my firewood and vinyebu. However, I noticed that like the previous contributor said, last year, the Ministry's CAPEX budget was GH¢691,930,649, only 11 per cent of that was released.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
Hon Member for Kwadaso?
Dr Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah (NPP -- Kwadaso) 1:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to also support the approval of an amount of GH¢500,964,480 for the Ministry of Energy for its operations in the year 2019.
Mr Speaker, so far, the Ministry has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that it is well positioned to take Ghana into the industrial era as envisaged by the President.
Currently, Ghana has enough capacity and what we need now is to ensure that we have prudent management of the sector to ensure the constant supply of power at all times.
In the year 2018, we saw 340megawatts of Cenpower project, 450 megawatts of Karpower projects being moved from Tema to Sekondi so that we could utilise the gas from the Sankofa Field.
In the year 2019, we are going to see an additional 339megawatts of power to the Eastern corridor.
Additional 339 mw of power to the existing power. Mr Speaker, this clearly tells us that the Ministry is doing well to ensure that dumsor never comes back.
Mr Speaker, another area that I would commend the Ministry on is the area of transmission losses. Clearly, they have demonstrated that transmission losses which currently stands at over 20 per cent or more is playing a very critical role in the power that we use in our industries and homes.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
Hon Members, order!
Do we need to say more?
Yes, Hon Kwabena Donkor?
Dr Kwabena Donkor (NDC -- Pru East) 1:08 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the approval of the estimates.
Mr Speaker, if you look at your Committee's Report, in paragraph 7.7, on the development of the petroleum hub, we are being told that:
“As part of its decision to make Ghana a petroleum hub in the West African Region, the Ministry plans to do the following in 2019”.
Mr Speaker, as a country, we are getting too carried away with undefined concepts because if we say we would want to make Ghana a petroleum hub, are we talking of a special hub, a trading hub, a services hub, a refinery hub? We raised this issue at the Committee meeting. [Interruption.] It is in the Report. I am speaking about paragraph 7.7 -- [Interruption.]
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
Order!
Dr Donkor 1:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, therefore, particularly for documentation presented to this House, it is high time we defined concepts to know exactly what we are talking of and what we are spending money on.
Mr Speaker, paragraph 7.4 of page 11 of your Report also talks about VALCO being enabled to run two full pot lines in 2019. This is an interesting development. However, we raised the question at the Committee meeting; the Ministry of Energy is already saying we have excess capacity of power and this country is paying so much for such unused power.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we can now deal with the item numbered 6.
Service Agreement between GoG/MOH/ Fly Zipline Ghana Limited for Delivery
of Emergency Health and Blood Products
Motion:
That this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Health on the Service Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Health and Fly Zipline Ghana Limited for the Delivery of Emergency Health and Blood Products to Public Health Facilities in Ghana.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
Yes, item
numbered 6 is for the Question to be put, but I would find out; Hon Chairman, I asked you to confirm to the House that we have acquired that licence on the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Do we have any new information?
Chairman of the Committee (Dr Kwabena Twum-Nuamah) 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Per your directive, your Committee met on Thursday and went through the documentation from the GCAA. We also went through the tariffs.
Mr Speaker, with your leave, I would want to make some amendment to the Report. The first amendment is on paragraph 4.3 on page 4 of the Report. We would want to delete the whole paragraph and insert a new paragraph as Service Fee.
“The Service is structured based on different scenarios taking cognisance of the volume and period of deliveries as shown in the schedule 2 in page 33 of the Service Agreement. The service fee per distribution centre per month would be US$80,000 for day deliveries only and US$88,000 for day and night deliveries when fully deployed”.

Then we go to paragraph 5.10, delete the following sentences in lines 8 and 9;

“The GCAA pledged to create an air corridor for the drones to prevent collisions with aircrafts”.

Then we insert the following;

“A copy of the Report on the GCAA investigations was submitted to the Committee, and it indicated among other things that GCAA sees no unsurmountable obstacles to Zipline's successful certification and operations in Ghana, and that upon successful completion of the certification process, which is currently ongoing, GCAA shall issue Fly Zipline Ghana Limited with the Remotely-Piloted Aircraft

System (RPAS) operator certificate, which would allow them to operate commercially in Ghana”.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Hon Ranking Member for Health, you were the one who raised the issue the other time that you had not seen the -- [Inter- ruption.]
Mr Chireh 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I defer to the Hon Ranking Member of the Finance Committee. I agree that we met, but I am deferring to him.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Hon Member, I gave you an assignment, I want you to report to me. The assignment was given to you and the Chairman of the Health Committee.
You complained that he had not shown the things to you, and I asked him to show it to you, so I want your report on what he has proposed to amend. Was that agreed at the Committee?
Mr Chireh 1:18 p.m.
Yes, it was agreed.
Alhaji Muntaka 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if you would remember that day very well, you were also talking about the reconciliation of the figures. While Hon Ato Forson was saying one thing, the Hon Minister was saying another thing, so that is why, we agree that yes they met, and Hon Ato Forson was to speak briefly on what happened.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Hon Member, it was only for the Committee to do that. I did not intend to re-open the debate, so I would put the Question.
Alhaji Muntaka 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we are not challenging your decision. We only thought that you could kindly allow Hon Forson to make a comment in two minutes, then you could go ahead.
Alhaji Muntaka 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am only reminding you of our preference the day we spoke. We all said that it was our preference that you put this to a headcount, so that we would at least count those who are for it and those who are not for it.
We would be very grateful if that is done.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in my opinion, the directive that came from the Chair was understood by everybody. I am not sure that at this critical time, we have to go back and change the goal post.
What was outstanding was for the Committee Members to be consulted, so that they would be ad idem on the content of the Report. If that has been done and the leadership agree that it has been done, I do not see why there should be any new additions to any Question that you would want to put, except to say that here in Ghana's Parliament, Hon Members do not even have their names attached to their votes.
So whether there is a head count or a voice vote, it is difficult to determine who voted for or against. That is what informs our Standing Orders.
Perhaps going forward, we should all begin to look at that, how to change it so that the votes of Hon Members would register, but for now, if the person is saying there should be a headcount, what does it change? It does not change anything, so I would say that we put the Question.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Hon Members, if you want to leave the House leave quietly, otherwise, kindly resume your seats.
Hon Minority Chief Whip, you are calling for a headcount, but let us be guided by the Standing Orders, and Order 113 is the Order in question.
Order 113 states;
“ (1) When the Question has been put by Mr. Speaker at the conclusion of the debate, the votes shall be taken by voices “Aye” and “No”, provided that Mr. Speaker may in his discretion instead of declaring the result on the voice votes call for a headcount.
(2) A Member may call for a headcount or division if the opinion of Mr. Speaker on the voice vote is challenged.
(3) In the case of headcount Mr. Speaker shall take the vote of the House by calling upon Members who support or opposed his decision successively to rise in their places.
(4) A Member may vote in a division even if he did not hear the Question put.
(5) A Member is not obliged to vote”.
So it is after the Question has been put and the voice vote declared that either Mr Speaker in his discretion may ask for a headcount or a Member may challenge Mr Speaker's decision.
Alhaji Muntaka 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, rightly so. I was calling you to invoke Order 113, to use your discretion to let us go into a headcount instead of you to put the Question and be challenged.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Have you decided that you would challenge the vote even before it is taken? -- [Laughter]
Question put --
Alhaji Muntaka 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to come under Order 113(2), and with your permission, I read;
“A Member may call for a headcount or division if the opinion of Mr. Speaker on the voice vote is challenged.
(3) In the case of headcount Mr. Speaker shall take the vote of the House by calling upon Members who support or opposed his decision successively to rise in their places”.
Mr Speaker, I would be grateful if you take us through a headcount, because in my view, the Nos had it yet you said that the Yes had it, so I would be grateful if
you take us through a headcount to determine this beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, the Hon Minority Chief Whip is calling for a headcount. What is your response? He says in his view the Nos had it, but I ruled that the Yes' had it, so he is calling for a headcount. I want your reaction.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague tells us that he is coming under Order 113(2), which provides that a Member may call for a headcount or division if the opinion of Mr Speaker on the voice vote is challenged.
Mr Speaker, his belief is neither here nor there.
Mr Speaker, if he wants to go by Standing Order 113 (2), the first thing to do is to challenge the voice vote. [Interruption] Mr Speaker, there is no challenge. He got up and said that his view -- There is no challenge. Mr Speaker, can we move on?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Hon Members, there is nothing more to be said. I take it that he has challenged that I have not been fair in the exercise of my discretion. I accept that challenge and will call for a head count.
1. 38 p. m.
Question put and the House was counted.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 7 -- Resolution.
Hon Minister for Health, you may move the Resolution.
RESOLUTION 1:28 p.m.

Minister for Health (Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) 1:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move,
WHEREAS by the provisions of Article 181(5) of the Constitution the terms and conditions of any international business or economic transaction to which the Government of Ghana is a party shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said Article 181(5) of the Constitution, and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Health, there has been laid before Parliament the
terms and conditions of a Service Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Health and Fly Zipline Ghana Limited for the Delivery of Emergency Health and Blood Products to Public Health Facilities in Ghana.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 1:28 p.m.

Dr Twum-Nuamah 1:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Hon Members, let me observe that if we had any more of such challenged matters, the House would always be full so Hon Members of the Majority, thank you for making my House full. [Laughter.]
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we could deal with the item numbered 26.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Item numbered 26 -- Motion by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Hon Majority Leader, you asked that I call item numbered 26. It is a Motion to be moved by the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
MOTION 1:28 p.m.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 1:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢5,315,359 for the services of the National Labour Commission for the year ending 31st December 2019.
Mr Speaker, the National Labour Commission (NLC) exists to resolve labour issues and it is important that we --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Hon Members, order!
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Budget Statement that was read on Thursday, 15th November, 2018 allocated a sum of GH¢5,315,359 for the services of NLC for the year ending 31st December,
2019.
The Commission members appeared before the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises and submitted themselves to the Committee for interrogation in respect of the allocated amount and also related to the expenditure for 2018.
Mr Speaker, accordingly, I invite the House to approve the allocated amount for the 2019 operations of the NLC.
Chairman of Committee(Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi) 1:28 p.m.
Thank you Mr Speaker. I beg to second the Motion and in so doing, I present your Committee's Report:
Introduction
Pursuant to Article 179 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, the Hon Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, presented the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2019 financial year to Parliament on Thursday, 15th November 2018.
In accordance with Standing Orders 140(4) and 184 of the House, the Rt. Hon. Speaker referred the Annual Budget Estimates of the National Labour Commission to the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises for consideration and report.
Accordingly, the Committee held a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, Mr Ofosu Asamoah and his technical team on Wednesday, 5th December 2018 and deliberated on the referral.
The Committee expresses its apprecia- tion to the Executive Secretary and his team for their support. The Committee also acknowledges the assistance provided by the schedule officers from the Ministry of Finance in the consideration of the Estimates.
Reference Documents
The Committee referred to the following documents during the consideration of the estimates:
i.The 1992 Constitution of Ghana;
ii.The Standing Orders of Parliament of Ghana;
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Keta?
Mr Richard Mawuli Kwaku Quashigah (NDC — Keta) 1:48 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
Mr Speaker, it is true that the National Labour Commission (NLC) is a very important and critical organ of State because when there are disputes and strike actions, the nation cannot run and the nation would definitely grind to a halt.
It is in that respect that one considers the recent efforts of the NLC in resolving disputes relating to the Colleges of Education which could have gone out of hand and would have cost the nation lots of moneys.

Mr Speaker, in spite of their timely efforts, it was observed that while the lecturers were on strike, the students were fed and they received their allowances. That in itself was colossal for periods that the lecturers did not offer their services. Unfortunately, year in year out, it is observed that the National Labour Commission is not given the needed resources as it were for it to perform this critical role in the state.

Mr Speaker, for instance, in the earlier Budget Statement, the budget that was approved for the National Labour Commission, on page 3 of this Report was GH¢2.4 million, but at the end of the day, they received GH¢749, 928.54. This was just 30 per cent of what was required by the National Labour Commission to perform this critical role.

Mr Speaker, in 2017, they received 28 per cent of what was required and previously, the variance was 26 per cent. This clearly appears that we do not really give any importance to the National Labour Commission.

Mr Speaker, if this Commission had failed in its duty irrespective of the meagre allowances they are given, I am sure this country would have suffered greatly. Even in spite of the lean budget, they were able to resolve the very many labour disputes that confronted the nation.

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote paragraph 4.5 on page 4 of the Report which says:
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 1:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to speak as former Minister for Employment and
Labour Relations and as an Hon Minority Leader with a background in employment.
Mr Speaker, we sometimes take this institution for granted, and I am particularly happy that the Hon Minister for Finance is here. Much of the labour conflicts are a creation of the Ministry of Finance, or the inability of Government to address the legitimate concerns and demands of labour. This is because we are concerned about labour revenue as a percentage of GDP that goes to compensation.
Mr Speaker, for areas such as Takoradi and Sekondi, because of the develop- ments and discovery of oil, there are complaints relative to labour and the way they are treated.
Therefore the National Labour Commission requires additional offices, maybe, one in the northern half of Ghana in either Tamale or Bolgatanga and one in Takoradi. This is because complaints of labour dispute and dissatisfactory treatment by employers, especially, private employers in the Western Region need to have their urgent attention.
Mr Speaker, for example, when some of the workers of Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) had some concerns, it affected the intake and production of oil. I would therefore want to make a strong recommendation to the Ministry of Finance to look at their CAPEX in terms of additional office allocation.
Secondly, there are not too many experts and that was why I said that I am happy the Hon Minister for Finance is here. Mr Yaw Baah who is the current Trade Union Congress (TUC) Secretary General is brilliant in terms of labour economics. The Commission would need lawyers with labour economics background.
Mr Speaker, on page 4 of the Report, it says; “responsibility is quasi-judiciary in nature''. The Commission has one legal officer, but it must be supported to recruit additional legal officers with background in labour economics in order to understand matters that affect labour.
Mr Speaker, they play an important role. My teacher in International Politics said that, “the absence of war is not peace'', therefore, the absence of labour conflict does not mean all is well. Therefore the National Labour Commission, given the incipient labour disputes and conflicts that exist, would need more budgetary allocation to recruit additional officers.
The Hon Minister for Finance should look at their allowances which are in arrears, and also look at the Ashanti and Western Regions and probably, an office in the northern part of Ghana so that people would not have to travel to Accra to complain about some ill treatments in the hands of both public and private employers, so that they would help them resolve issues.
Mr Speaker, with these few comments, I support the Hon Chairman of the Committee and the Hon Minister who moved the Motion. The amount might be approved for them with some assurance that, particularly, in the oil enclave, they would be functional and effective.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 p.m.
Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, I would hear you too?
Minister for Employment and Labour Relations (Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah) 1:48 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to thank the Hon Members of the Committee for recom- mending to this House to approve the sum
of GH¢5,315,359 for the National Labour Commission to enable it to perform its functions earmarked for the year, 2019.
Mr Speaker, I just want to assure Hon Members that I have taken on board the comments that they have expressed and would work in collaboration with the Ministry for Finance to ensure that the National Labour Commission would be more empowered to be able to deliver on its mandate.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu -- rose --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, do you want to say something more?
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu: Mr Speaker, the Motion I moved was in the name of the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, but it should not be. It should be in the name of the Hon Majority Leader because it is a statutory Commission.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 p.m.
Well, I do not know who the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs is and who the Hon Majority Leader is. [Laughter.] They are embodied in one person, so the records should reflect that, the Hon Majority Leader who is also the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs moved the Motion.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu: Mr Speaker, in this regard, it is the Hon Majority Leader who moved it and not that of the Ministry.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 p.m.
Very well. The records should reflect that leg that the Hon Majority Leader moved this Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢5,315,359
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, item numbered 27.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 27, Motion, by the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES, 2019
Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations
Minister for Employment and Labour Relations (Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah) 1:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House approves the sum of GH¢157,169,676 for the services of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations for the year ending 31st December, 2019.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi) 1:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion ably moved by the Hon Minister, and in so doing, I present your Committee's Report.
Introduction
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2019 financial year was presented to Parliament on Thursday, 15th November, 2018 by the Hon Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, pursuant to article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.
In accordance with Standing Orders 140(4) and 184 of the House, the Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of
Employment and Labour Relations was referred by the Hon Speaker to the Joint Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises, and Youth, Sports and Culture for consideration and report to the House.
The Committee, thereafter, met with the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah and his team of officers on Thursday, 6th December, 2018, and considered the referral.
The Committee is grateful to the Hon, Minister and his team for their co- operation and support. The Committee extends its appreciation to the scheduled officers from the Ministry of Finance for being in attendance to assist the Committee to consider the Estimates.
Reference Documents
The Committee made reference to the following documents during the conside- ration of the budget estimates:
i. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana;
ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana;
iii. The 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern- ment of Ghana;
iv. The 2018 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations;
v. The 2019 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana; and
vi. The 2019 Annual Estimates of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
Mandate
The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations is mandated to co- ordinate employment and labour related policies and interventions to promote accelerated job creation and harmonious labour relations for socio-economic development.
Implementing Agencies
1. Ministry Headquarters;
2. Youth Employment Agency;
3. National Pensions Regulatory Authority;
4. Labour Department;
5. Fair Wages and Salaries Com- mission;
6. Department of Factories Inspec- torate;
7. National Vocational Training Institute;
8. Management Development and Productivity Institute;
9. Ghana Co-operative Council”;
10. Ghana Co-operative College;
11. Opportunity Industrialisation Centres;
12. Integrated Community Centres for Employable Skill;
2018 Performance
The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations was granted a budgetary allocation of GH¢388,616,215.00 to implement its programmes and activities for the 2018 financial year. The breakdown is captured in Table 1.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
Hon Chairman, kindly hold on.
Hon Members, having regard to the state of business of the House, I direct that the House Sits outside the regular Sitting hours.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 1:58 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am being intimidated by the leadership of the Minority.
The Committee noted that in line with the job creation and development agenda of the Government, a total of one hundred thousand (100,000) graduates were registered for the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) Programme. Out of the number, ninety-six thousand, nine hundred and eighty-three (96,983) were trained and posted to various institutions under the programme.
While the Committee acknowledged the benefits of the NABCO Initiative in providing job opportunities for graduates from tertiary institutions, it observed that the long-term solution to the high graduate unemployment lies in fostering proper linkages between tertiary educa- tion and industry. The Committee noted that often times, the absence of such linkages renders many graduates unattractive to the job market.
The Committee therefore recommends that the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations plays a leading role in the manpower planning of the country by collaborating with the Ministry of Education and industrial players to make education, especially at the tertiary level, more relevant to the demands of the job market.
Youth Employment Agency (YEA)
The main sources of funds for the Youth Employment Agency are (Commu- nication Service Tax -- 80 per cent, Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) -- 5 per cent, and the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) -- 10 per cent. These funds are required by law to be
made available to YEA to carry out its operations.
The Committee noted that as at October 2018, only 2 per cent of the expected inflows from GETFUND and 38 per cent of the DACF had been released. The Committee expressed serious concern that over the years, DACF and GETfund, in particular, have consistently breached the law requiring them to transfer 10 per cent and 5 per cent respectively of their funds to YEA.
The Committee calls on the two institutions and the Ministry of Finance to ensure that funds earmarked for YEA are transferred on time for the imple- mentation of its programmes.
For 2019, YEA has been allocated a total of GH¢536,456,020.00 from the various sources of funding under the law to implement its programmes. The Committee noted that the 80 per cent Communication Service Tax which forms a large component of YEA sources of funding has been further capped from 70 per cent in 2018 to 51 per cent in 2019.
The Committee expressed serious reservation about the capping of YEA funds and the inadequate release of funds which could deprive the agency of the needed resources to effectively roll out its programmes and pay monthly allowances to the beneficiaries. This situation, if not addressed could affect the confidence and credibility of the programme.
The Committee was informed that in 2019, YEA will place a total of 125,000 young persons in its various modules, including the Youth in Agriculture, Community Service and Security, as well as Sanitation. The Committee expressed
concern that a number of the beneficiaries of the programme exit without the requisite employable skills to enable them engage in productive ventures on their own.
The Committee strongly advocates the need for the YEA to place strong emphasis, in the design of its modules, on skills development and job creation so that graduates of the programme could set up their own businesses upon exiting.
National Pensions Regulatory Authority
The NPRA has been provided with an amount of GH¢74,392,772 for the implementation of its programmes and activities. The allocation is made up of Compensation -- GH¢12,840,600.00, Goods and Services GH¢ 16,601,565.00 and Capex -- GH¢44,950,607.00.
In line with its medium-term policy objectives, the NPRA will apply its allocation to deliver programmes aimed at enhancing the efficiency in the pension scheme management and mainstreaming the informal sector into formal pension regimes.
The Committee noted that the entire budgetary allocation to NPRA will be funded from IGF. It came out during the deliberations that the NPRA has the capacity to generate more revenue for the state given the requisite staff and the needed support.
The Committee therefore recommends that the Government should give the NPRA all the necessary support to enable it push the pension industry into a long term investment pool, which could offer a concessionary long term financing option for some of government's capital projects such as roads and housing.
Dr Kwabena Donkor (NDC — Pru East) 2:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to the Report of the Committee.
Your Committee noted on page 7 of the Report and made a recommendation in the presence of the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, and the Minister for Finance. We think the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations should play a far more proactive role in manpower planning for this country.
Mr Speaker, one of the challenges we have had as a nation is perspective planning. In the next ten years, it would be the skill sets that on our trajectory of development, this country would need.
The Ministry, in conjunction with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) should do a lot more of this, rather than our current situation where our tertiary institutions and other training institutions produce labour that is not necessarily fit for the market.
In the next ten years, where does this country want to get to and what are the skill sets that we would need? Your committee believes that this should become a major objective of the Ministry.
Mr Speaker, we also realised that on the sources of funding for the Youth Employment Agency as enshrined by the Parent Act, it looks like either Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) or the Ministry of Finance take up the responsibility of replacing the Statutes on their whims and caprices. The releases enshrined by law to be released to the Youth Employment Agency as captured on page 8 of the Report.
If we take, especially the Commu- nication Services Tax, this House was very cautious when passing it that a certain percentage of it should go to the Youth Employment Agency on a regular basis.
This should not be done as and when GRA wants and what amount it should release. The Agency does not even know what the quantum of tax collected on the Communication Services Tax is, let alone know its percentage. We believe this should be addressed.
Mr Speaker, when it comes to the Ghana Pensions Regulatory Authority, there has been a certain deficiency in regulatory agencies in this country, leading to massive regulatory failure.

Mr Speaker, if we take a look at our galamsey, Menzgold episode and the financial sector crises, a lot of these could be attributed to regulatory failure.

The Ghana National Pensions Regula- tory Authority does not even have one qualified actuary on their staff, yet they
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:08 p.m.
Hon Member, you have said thank you. [Pause]
What do you need my guidance on?
Dr Donkor 2:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, your Committee had a problem with this Report but out of goodwill, we decided to -- [Interruption] -- The details of goods and services were not provided when we requested for it. So we would need your guidance that in future, when we do not have such critical information, what should your Committee do?
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:08 p.m.
You have spent all your time talking about akpeteshie when the critical things have been ignored.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker,
I enquired into this and I was told that the details about goods and services is for 2018 and not 2019.
Mr Speaker, I would plead that the Committees themselves -- [Interruption] -- and that is what I keep insisting that once allocations have been made, it is for
the Committees to follow through the application of the allocations. We should not wait until zero hour and raise it here. It means there is a deficit in the performance of the Committees themselves.
Mr Speaker, let us make progress.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:08 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Mpohor?
Mr Alex Kofi Agyekum (NPP -- Mpohor) 2:08 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to contribute to the Motion and I would like to do so with three quick observations.
Mr Speaker, the Report in paragraph 7.2.3 captured the need to emphasise on skill development by the YEA. This is a critical thing that the Committee looked at. I believe that if the YEA is to continue with its mandate of rigorous skills training, it would allow the recipients to be equipped in such a way that they would wean themselves off after their training period.
The structure of the YEA cannot continue to be paying out on regular basis moneys to apprentices who have undergone training. So the emphasis on the amount devoted in 2019 for that specific training of skills is in the right direction.

Mr Speaker, we took time to do some kind of extrapolation; the capping of 2019 has been reduced to about 51 per cent. So in the view of the Committee, if the trend continues, then such an important Agency which is supposed to implement the flagship programme of the Govern-

ment would be handicapped. If need be, the leadership would have to meet with the relevant agencies to see how best this could be done.

The final one is about the linkages of the training of manpower to the job market. We are in an era where a lot of training programmes are being undertaken by various agencies and the modules that are being captured have similar mandates.

At the end of the day, those who are trained come out and do not find space in what is required by the market forces. That is why it is important that part of the amount allocated to them would be used for trade. The training would be done in such a way that skill requirement would be tailored along what is required by industry.

Mr Speaker, it was agreed that the agency liaises with the Ministry of Education so that, at least, curriculum development that the Ministry of Education is undertaking would have a semblance in whatever the YEA is doing.

It could also be extended even to our tertiary educational institutions, such that if there was a need for them to change the curriculum, it would be done in such a way that students that would come out of our institutions would readily fit into the job market.

Mr Speaker, these are inter-linkages and we hope that per the arrangements made, that would help a lot in reducing the trend of unemployment. So, even though the Nation Builders' Corps (NABCo) has been a policy, in the view of the Committee, that should not be an end but a means to an end. The actual thing would be to give training skills tailored along what the market requires.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would urge the House to adopt your
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:08 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member? I was recognising him. He has been on his feet since we started the debate on the other ones.
Mr Albert Akuka Alalzuuga (NDC -- Garu) 2:18 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Committee's Report on the budget allocation to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry is very important. The Government, and for that matter, the Ministry Finance, needs to pay some attention to it if the Ministry is to perform its functions creditably. The mandate of the Ministry is, and I beg to quote from paragraph 3.0 on page 2 of the Report:
“The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations is mandated to co- ordinate employment and labour related policies and interventions to promote accelerated job creation and harmonious labour relations for socio-economic development.”
Mr Speaker, that is a very central role for every Government to progress.
Mr Speaker, when we go to page 11, which is towards the conclusion of the Report, it is a bit sad, and I beg quote:
“8.0 GENERAL OBSERVATION
The Committee observed that key challenges facing the Ministry and some of its agencies like the
Department of Labour and the Department of Factory Inspec- torate relate to limited resources, logistical constraints, and lack of office accommodation, among others.”
Mr Speaker, I do not know how the Ministry or its Agencies can operate without office accommodation. It is highlighted across the Report that the Ministry lacks office accommodation. Prior to this, one of the major Agencies, the Labour Commission, sadly had only one legal person.
During the discussion with them, it came to light that they have only one legal person because most of the legal people have resigned due to poor remuneration and other related frustrations.
Mr Speaker, if we are to empower the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to work effectively to bring about the harmonious labour environment that we all yearn for, we must take the Ministry seriously.
Mr Speaker, if we go to page 3 of the Report and look at the review of the budget performance of the year 2018, we would realise that the Ministry has so far been given only 25 per cent of its total budget allocation from the beginning of the year, and the year has almost ended. How could the Ministry perform with this paltry or negligible release? The issue of releases is a very key problem.
We would want to appeal to the Hon Minister for Finance, once he is here, to look at the aspect of releases because poor releases cuts across all the estimates or the budgets that the Committee has looked at.
We would want to appeal to him that this aspect -- [Interruption] -- If we
quantify activities, performance is related to whatever budget provisions, as those resources are needed to empower them to perform. So if we approve it and they fail to release the money, then we expect some failure.
Mr Speaker, we noticed that out of the total budget allocation of GH¢388 million for the year 2018, GH¢300 million was allocated to the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) programme. For the year 2019, we have noticed that the NABCO programme has moved to Government Machinery, which means that its activities are no longer under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I suggest that NABCO should be brought under the Ministry.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:18 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, do you want to speak to this one too?
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 2:18 p.m.
Mr Speaker, having been a fire tender former Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, I owe it to my Hon Colleague that he succeeds, because the country is better if that Ministry is adequately resourced.
Mr Speaker, I have just four policy issues to raise, and I am particularly happy the Hon Minister for Finance is here. One has to do with the National Pensions
Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the fact that we should take a definite decision. I am aware the Hon Minister is in the process, to wean them off.
As far back as the years 2015/2016, I wrote formally to the Ministry of Finance that they were capable of being on their own; therefore we should wean them off and get them established across the country, probably in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region and the other regions of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, the other one is a major decision that both the Hon Ministers for Finance and the Employment and Labour Relations must look at. I know that the Hon Minister for Finance has a passion for pension unification. Beyond Act 766, we even had to amend the portion that dealt with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
That is why today, SSNIT can advertise what is taxable under the minimum wage because we planned to give them a moratorium after the ten-year lapse. So the two Hon Ministers -- pension unification. There are still pensions outside Act 766; that is not the way to go for a country, particularly for the security agencies -- the Ghana Prisons Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.
We have different pension regimes for the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Armed Forces and others, which is a ticking time bomb.
Mr Speaker, my other comment has to do with NABCo and what my Hon Colleague has just raised. NABCo is not the creation of a law; yet, that amount has been allocated -- that is understandable. I think that NABCo should be subsumed under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) under the Industrial Attachment or Youth Entrepreneurship models for purposes of accountability and reporting.
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 2:28 p.m.


It cannot be an additional activity at the Jubilee House or the Office of the President, where money is allocated to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, it is taken back to the Presidency.

We should reduce the burden and load of the Office of the President, and allow the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations to supervise that.

Mr Speaker, again, related to NABCO, we could have the YEA dedicate a model known as the “Graduate Model”, which would come under the Industrial Attachment or Youth Entrepreneurship models.

We would then add the allowance of GH¢700.00 to include something for their pension and begin life in social security. A minimum contribution, even if it is GH¢200.00 or GH¢100.00, would enable them to have a social security number and begin contributing.

Again, with NABCo, apart from the supervision to be exercised by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, there is no budgetary allocation for training. It is not just for the young people to get GH¢700.00 or GH¢800.00 at the end of the month. An allocation must be made for their training as they undergo the attachment. It could be training in information technology or others, so that a certain budget is allocated.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister is capping the YEA, which should not be. We would not encourage them to continue to cap the YEA and the National Health Insurance Authority, where they would want to take up to GH¢1 billion. They would disenable them, and they would not have adequate resources.

We need to, as a country, have a national discussion on YEA and how to address the growing unemployment of our country. I am sure I have mentioned it to the Hon Minister before. It is a national security crisis and a ticking time bomb.

There is a lot we could do, but they should not be given money and have it taken back through a backdoor in the name of capping. We would not encourage them to do that, in order to support the Government and the President to succeed in addressing unemployment.

I am an Hon Member of the Committee, and I shared that we should to up the allowances. Why must our women in the various constituencies who do sanitation earn GH¢200?

Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader will recall that the last meeting on youth employment was to ensure that we separate service charges from arguably allowances meant for those in those modules; sanitation, forestry or agriculture.

Again, the two Hon Ministers for Finance and Employment and Labour Relations; it is wrong to give anybody an employment contract and then midway, in about two months' time, you tell the person that you would not pay them what you promised in the employment contract.

The day any of them has the strength and courage to go to court, I am very convinced that they will win against the State. It is not a good practice we should encouraged as a country that we get the youth into forestry and after two to three months, you tell them that their promised salary of GH¢700 has been reduced.

Mr Speaker, finally, on maternity protection when the Ministries get money, they must come back and tell us about their performance. I have heard the First Lady and the President speak to it.

We have ratified the Maternity Protection Convention at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Domestic Workers Regulation and we need to domesticate it so that we could export labour to the gulf region and so on.

They must give us timeliness to come back to this House for us to be able to get those processes running so that some fathers like Sompahene tomorrow, could come under the maternity protection for paternity care and paternity welfare as a father to benefit from it.

I support it, but we should find a way as a Parliament to prevent the Hon Finance Minister from encroaching some of these funds with his capping elephant; he is taking a lot of the grass from those funds.

Mr Speaker, with these comments -- [Interruption]-- the Labour Department and the Department of Factories Inspectorate, maybe these two offices have to engage to review their Legislation. Why should the Department of Factories Inspectorate go to the MTN office and take that paltry sum or any other telecommunication company?

They can do more, but we must revise their legislation, take care of them under the Fees and Charges Act of 2009 (Act 793) but give them something for retention particularly, for the Tema region.

I should say that I do not know about being a Majority Leader, but my best public service experience was when I was the Hon Minister for Employment and

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I support the Motion.
Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah 2:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you. Once again, I would want to take this opportunity to thank my Hon Colleagues for supporting our request for GH¢157,169,676 to be allocated to the Ministry for the year 2019.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I would also want to take this opportunity to respond to one or two issues raised during the debate.
On the issue of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) being weaned off, I would want to assure this Honourable House that the process is in motion. I would want to believe that going into the first quarter of the year 2019, the process would be completed and so, they would be fully weaned off. That would help them to recruit the requisite staff that they would need to accomplish their tasks.
Mr Speaker, on the issue of NVTI being retooled, the Ministry of Education has had approval from Cabinet to retool 10 NVTI centres in Ghana and that would be effected in the year 2019.
On the issues of cooperatives being supported to play their roles very well, we are in the process of reviewing the Cooperatives Act, which has been in existence for the past 30 years and has actually outlived its importance.
There was a workshop in Sunyani last two weeks to review it and next year, we would come to this House with a new Bill that would address most of the concerns raised.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, I believe we can take a suspension and possibly come back after an hour to continue with the Right to Information Bill (RTI).
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:28 p.m.
Look behind you, you are a general without troops.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:28 p.m.
Mr Speaker, as you do know, the various Committees are considering the sector allocations and many of them have migrated to the Committee sittings to transact business. I believe we can deal with the RTI up to when we believe we would have done some work and break for the day.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Very well.
The House is suspended until exactly

2.40 p.m. --Sitting suspended.

5.11 p.m. -- Sitting resumed.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when we were taking the suspension, we thought that we would be able to come back early to attempt the continuation of the consideration of the Right to Information Bill.
Unfortunately, when you left, I was informed reliably that all of a sudden, you were affected by some ailment for which reason you had to be at the clinic for quite a long time.
Unfortunately, again, we cannot lay our hands on the Hon Second Deputy Speaker. The Rt Hon Speaker also had to attend to some other businesses. We do not want to stretch our luck, given your own indisposition.
So, I would want to entreat Hon Colleagues that we take an adjournment until tomorrow at 10.00 a.m. I so submit, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Yes, Minority Leadership?
Mr Shaibu Mahama 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I could not agree more with the Hon Majority Leader on this. We would have wished to work on the Right to Information Bill today.
Indeed, we were charged up. The Hon Majority Leader mentioned to us that we should stay back and take the Right to Information Bill. Unfortunately, in the circumstance, we are unable to do that.
I therefore side with the Hon Majority Leader that we take an adjournment till tomorrow.
Thank you.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Very well.
ADJOURNMENT 3:35 p.m.