Debates of 28 Feb 2019

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:17 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 2, Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report.
Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 27th February, 2019.
Page 1…6 --
rose
Mr Woyome 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was in the House yesterday but I just noticed that I have been marked absent. So may that be corrected.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Thank you very much. It is noted.
Page 7…10 --
rose
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Bedzrah 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was here yesterday but I have been marked absent. Hon Buah was also here yesterday.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
It is noted. Both would be corrected.
Page 11…12
rose
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member, please proceed.
Mr A. Ibrahim 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, sorry for taking you back.
Mr Speaker, I was here yesterday and I have been marked as absent.
Mr Speaker, this has been happening since the 21st of this month.
Mr Speaker, I am aware that you made a ruling in your Lobby that we should marry the marking of the names here together with the Hon Members who have been signing at the Mails Room. If that had taken place, my name would not have been marked as absent.
Mr Speaker, the danger of not going by your rule is that anybody can take the Votes and Proceedings and do whatever they want.
Mr Speaker, sometimes, when we are even passing Resolutions -- Mr Speaker, the reason I agree with you to marry the marking of the names here together with that of the mails room is that one day, if a Resolution is taken and it happens that the names in the Votes and Proceedings are not up to the number that we should get before we pass a resolution, anybody could cause mischief with that.
So we should take it very seriously and go by your ruling. We should not be blaming the Clerks-at-the-Table. I know that that is why they are also finding it difficult in doing that. We know they do not have audience here.
Mr Speaker, until that thing came, anytime Hon Members come, whether they sign or not, once they are seated here they mark us accordingly. When an Hon Member comes, he is marked present, if he or she does not come, he or she is marked absent.
So they have been diligent on that and I do not think that we should box the whole system by making sure that we present only names.
Even on the 21st February, only 125 Members were here according to the list. Meanwhile, when the President was here, the whole House was populous.
So Mr Speaker, my name should be corrected and same should be done to all other Hon Members who were present yesterday but have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Thank you very much. The Table Office should please take note of this immediately while the administration accelerates the process of acquiring the appropriate machines. The correction should be effected.
rose
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Hon Member, do you want a correction to be effected?
Mr Ashiamah 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
What is it, please?
Mr Ashiamah 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is on page 7. I have also been marked absent while I was here yesterday -- “Daniel Kwesi Ashiamah, Buem”.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Ms Laadi A. Ayamba 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I have equally been marked absent on page 7, number 18. So if that could be corrected.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Very well. They should all be done by a reconciliation from the downstairs list to those who mark upstairs until we acquire the machines, which the Administration tells me they are dealing with.
rose
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon First Deputy Speaker?
Mr Osei-Owusu 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I understand the challenges those marking the register are having. Hon Ahmed Ibrahim, the Hon Deputy Minority Whip who was complaining -- for any person who does not know him by his name would look for the person speaking on the screen and the name that appeared there was Hon Mohammed-Mubarak-Muntaka. So if he was marking, he would mark Muntaka.
So I have been insisting that according to our rules, Members should speak from their place. So that if one does not have the opportunity or cannot make time to go and mark the register, at least when he is in the Chamber, the person trying to mark him can find that that is say, Eric Opoku speaking or sitting at his place.
We move around so often, so those who are absent are marked present and those who are present are marked absent. I think we should assist the Table Office by sitting at our places and speaking from our places.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon First Deputy Speaker. It is very clear
Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
Mr Speaker, I would run through a few corrections very quickly.
Mr Speaker, on column 414, the third paragraph, the phrase, “particular conventions” should be changed to “particular convention.”
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Member, please give us just a moment to open to that column, since you have already done so.
You said column what?
Mr Ablakwa 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I said column 414, the third paragraph.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Member, please proceed.
Mr Ablakwa 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on the last line, the phrase there should be captured as; “having this particular convention
ratified…”, but not the phrase; “having this particular conventions ratified.” The word “convention” should be captured in its singular form.
Mr Speaker, on column numbered 421, on the fourth paragraph, it says; “what guarantee do we have, given spate of erosion.” So we would need to insert the article “the” after the word “given.”
Mr Speaker, also on column 423, the name of the First Lady ought to be appropriately spelt. It should be “Her Excellency Rebecca Akufo-Addo”, where the name “Akufo-Addo”, should be hyphenated. This can be seen on the last but one paragraph of column 423.
Mr Speaker, finally, on column 424, the fourth paragraph, the phrase there should rather read, “let me even rely on Standing Order 93(2) as I said”, and not “as like I said”.
So we should delete the word “like”, so that the Hon First Deputy Speaker, can be appropriately captured. It could be captured as “like I said, or “as I said”, so the word “like” should be deleted.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Member.
These are thorough editorial observations, and the Hansard Department is advised to ensure that it takes a more particular approach with regard to these matters.
Hon Ablakwa, in fact, I was looking at your direction, and I was not surprised you stood up, and I immediately called you. I appreciate, and the House must also appreciate the thoroughness of editing of the Official Report.
Hon Members, any further corrections?
rose
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Yes, Madam?
Ms Ayamba 10:27 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the correction I would want
to make is on my contribution under column 443, paragraph 2.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Member, did you say column 443, paragraph 2?
Ms Ayamba 10:27 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker, paragraph 2, under my contribution, Ms Laadi Ayii Ayamba.
Mr Speaker, I said 10:27 a.m.
“I would want to state emphatically that…” The word “that” is to come after the word “emphatically” and not before it.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Thank you very much.

Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Official Report of Wednesday, 6th February, 2019 as duly corrected, be hereby admitted as the true record of the proceedings.

Hon Members, item listed 3.

Hon Majority Leader, are we in the position to go through Questions at this juncture?
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we can deal with Question 539.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, you said Question what?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I said Question 539.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
You mean item numbered
5 -- ?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I mean item numbered 3, Question listed as 539, which is the first one.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Minister for Defence, you may kindly take the chair.
Hon Member for Bole/Bamboi, you may proceed.
Is the owner of the Question absent?
Mr Yusif Sulemana 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am here.
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Member, you may ask your Question.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10:27 a.m.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 10:27 a.m.
Mr Sulemana 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to find out when this project started, and when it was completed?
Mr Speaker 10:27 a.m.
Hon Members, I want order, unless you would want to answer the question for the Hon Minister.
Yes, Hon Minister?
Mr Nitiwul 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would ordinarily have pleaded that I do not answer that question, but I would do. The reason is that, that project was not undertaken by our Ministry.
The allocation was done by my Ministry and that is the reason I came to Answer the Question, but the Project was undertaken by the Ministry of Works and Housing.
Mr Speaker, the project was awarded by the Ministry of Works and Housing, undertaken and completed by them, but I am only -- I would answer his question, otherwise, I would have asked him to direct that question to that Ministry. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, the project was awarded in May, 2014. It commenced in October 2014, and it was completed in March 2018.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Sulemana 10:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I filed this Question on 2nd February, 2018 and a month later, the Vice President commissioned it. The essence of this Question is that there was a gap between the time of completion and the time of commissioning and the naval staff were suffering. That was why I asked this very important Question.
Mr Speaker 10:37 a.m.
Hon Member, you are not making a Statement. [Laughter] Ask a question and let us make progress.
Mr Sulemana 10:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister said in the last paragraph of his Answer, that “it is noted however, that 408 naval personnel are on standby awaiting new accommodation”. I would want him to tell this House how soon these people would be accommodated.
Mr Nitiwul 10:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, let me again state the facts and set the record straight. This project was completed in March 2018 and not February. By the time the Hon Member filed the Question, it was not formally completed. It was handed over to the Ministry of Works and Housing and commissioned in March 2018.
The Government, through the Budget Statement that was read last year, has committed to investing US$100 million in providing new accommodation for the men and women of the Ghana Armed Forces. We were all here and approved that Budget and I would bring the loan next month to ensure that the project starts.
If the Hon Member asks me when the loan has been put in the Budget, Cabinet has approved it and it would come to Parliament for approval. Then we would cut the sod. So how soon would depend on when Parliament would complete this process.
rose
Mr Speaker 10:37 a.m.
This is a Tema New Town matter. [Laughter.]
Hon Sulemana, any other question, otherwise we would move to Question numbered 540.
Hon Minister, thank you very much for attending to the House and answering this Question. You are discharged.
Question numbered 540. Hon Majority Leader, are we in a position to make any further progress?
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the other Questions, that is Questions numbered 540 and 541 are directed at the Hon Minister for National Security. Unfortunately, there appear to have been a mix up in the communication of the responses to Parliament.
Because the Hon Minister was not available, the schedule officer unfortunately did not transmit the Answers. However, the Answers are ready and have been transmitted.
It would then mean that we would have to find space on the Order Paper Addendum before the Hon Minister could come and respond. The Hon Minister is ready but unfortunately, they are now printing the responses.
So I have had some consultation with the Hon Minister and he would be here at 11 o'clock, by which time the Answers would be ready and he would respond. In the meantime, we could deal with the other matters.
Mr Speaker 10:37 a.m.
Questions 540 and 541 are both for the Minister for National Security. Are we in a position to proceed? [Pause] If the Hon Minister would be here at 11 o'clock, would he be able to take both, so that we proceed with Statements? [Pause.]
Item numbered 4, Statements. There is a Statement which stands in the name of Hon Seth Kwame Acheampong, Hon Member for Mpraeso on the anniversary of the 28 th February Crossroads shootings.
Hon Member for Mpraeso, your Statement?
STATEMENTS 10:37 a.m.
Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong (NPP -- Mpraeso) 10:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, 1 rise today and I believe I echo the collective sentiment of this House to pay tribute to the memory of Sergeant Cornelius Adjetey, Corporal Otam Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey who were martyred at the Christianborg crossroads less than five kilometres from where we are gathered today.
Their selfless sacrifices as veterans of World War II had secured allied victory and global peace and security. Yet the colonial government had treated them as fodder, failing, refusing or neglecting to pay them their due. And yet, their faith in selfless sacrifice was not lost.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim (NDC — Banda) 10:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to make few comments on the Statement made by the Hon Chairman of the Committee for Defence and Interior.
Mr Speaker, 28th February, 1948 was a unique day which marked a very good and giant step in the creation of the political awareness for the people of Gold Coast. As the Hon Member who made the Statement has said, when we hold positions today, we must be mindful of those who set the pace.
It is in that vein that I would join the Hon Member who made the Statement to commend the ex-service men who took those actions. They were harmless people who were matching to go and present a petition.
Mr Speaker, this has been a history that is being read every day and being taught in the curriculum of all basic schools. I will join the Hon Member who made the Statement, if there is something we could do to give much recognition to, especially, the three ex-service men, I think they or their families deserve it.
Mr Speaker, the conditions of the Gold Coast at that time were different from what we have today. If we look at that incident, the causes of that were divided into two; we have the remote and the immediate causes.
The remote causes were the inability of the colonial masters to settle the ex- service men, the lack of essential commodities, Africanisation of the civil service, the defects in the 1946 Alan Burns Constitution and how it was described as outmoded at birth even though worth trying.
Today, every high position in this country is being occupied by a Ghanaian. So Africanisation of the Civil Service is a thing of the past. Even though the 1992 Constitution that we are practising now that some are calling for a constitutional
review committee to review it, I would say that it is still one of the best Constitutions unlike the 1946 one. So we have made a giant move as a country.
The lack of essential commodities at that time — today, essential commodities; whether essential, luxury et cetera, we have them in the country in abundance. Therefore as a country, we must count our blessings.
Mr Speaker, the inability of the elite at that time to enter the Legislature, the official majority in the Legislative Assembly was what? Today, we have a Legislative Assembly of 275 Members of Parliament full of Ghanaians without a foreigner. The Hon Minister for Defence, the Hon Minister for the Interior and the Hon Finance Minister are our own people.
Mr Speaker, clearly, the inability or for certain positions to be occupied by non- Ghanaians in those days is a thing of the past. So as a country, much as we are commemorating the day and commending them, we must be grateful to God for his abundant blessings that he has given unto us.
We must know that whatever positions we are occupying today are based on the efforts that were put on by Corporal Attipoe, Sargeant Adjetey and Private Odartey. They laboured, volunteered and sacrificed for Gold Coast. That is why today, we are Independent and a Republic of Ghana.
If there is a call to give them much recognition, I think, and luckily, the Hon Minister for Defence is here, he must take it as a serious project and when those who are past are rewarded, it would be a motivation for us who are living to put extra efforts and in that way, Ghana becomes a country that honours its heroes.
Dr Bernard O. Boye (NPP — Ledzokuku) 10:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful for the opportunity.
I am also very pleased that we remember those who laid down their lives for the very independence and freedom that we enjoy.
Mr Speaker, there are lessons that we can learn from the events of February, 28, 1948. It is important for us to realise that the peace and the nation we have now were given birth to as a result of sacrifices made by our forbearers.
Mr Speaker, when Sargeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Wellington matched towards the Christiansburg Castle, they did so to present a petition, and we must remember that it had to do with their conditions as veterans of World War II.
Mr Speaker, it reminds us that the best way to push our concerns has to do with peaceful protest, but the oppressor is not always ready to let the oppressed have their way easily. Sometimes, we have to make sure that we are courageous and firm. It is good to emulate the courage that these soldiers showed.
Mr Speaker, a bit of history. Before the February 28th incident in Accra, in January, 1948, the then Ga Chief, Nii Kwabena Bonnie II had actually led the boycott of all products from the Europeans as a result of increasing economic conditions and high inflation which had affected prices of goods and services.
Mr Speaker, the debt of the soldiers actually cumulated into riots which finally gave birth to the Watson Commission, and it is the work of the Watson Commission that paved way for constitutional changes that ultimately led to the independence we had in 1957.
So it is clear that the blood shed or the sacrifice that happened in January, 1948 had a role to play in the freedom that we enjoy. This is what must remind us of the need to work hard to keep the peace and the freedom we have and stay away from conspiracies that can destabilise the State.
Mr Speaker, I would like to repeat that it is important for us to stay away from conspiracies that can destabilise the State. Recently, we have had all kinds of stories of individuals trying to —
Mr Speaker 10:47 a.m.
Hon Member, please keep that for now, and stick to the parameters of the Statement.
Dr Boye 10:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I take a cue.
Mr Speaker, let me conclude by saying that it is not every genuine need that can be gotten in a peaceful way. Sometimes there are sacrifices to be made. The most important thing is to stay to our convictions.
Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza (NDC - - Adaklu) 10:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Statement made by my Hon Colleague, Mr Kwame Seth Acheampong.
Mr Speaker, February 28 must remain a day of reflection of events that changed the course of some other things in this country.
Mr Speaker, I am not sure how many Members of Parliament here could actually identify the ex-servicemen if somebody brought the pictures of the three ex- service men to this House today, let alone the children in the public gallery. What it tells us is that though we know of these events, we hardly pay attention to them.
It is very important for us to know that some people made the ultimate sacrifice for us to have the relative peace we have in this country. Often, we ignore the fact that peace does not just come; it is created and maintained.
And it is incumbent on all of us to ensure that if we want peace, we cannot be one- sided; all of us, myself included must work towards this peace.
Mr Speaker, it is also true that the condition of servicemen and women in this country, including ex-servicemen sometimes leaves much to be desired. I had an opportunity to as a national service person teach at a barracks in Ho many years ago.
We observed that some of the children of the other ranks were not doing very well in school. So the head of the school then told us to do a check within their environments in the evening when their compatriots are supposed to be studying.
Mr Speaker, we were surprised to note that between 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock in the evening, almost all the children were out on the streets simply because they lived together with their parents in the same single room and their parents just returned from work and needed some privacy.
So the children were sent outside and by the time they come back to the room, they were tired and they could not study.
Mr Speaker, it tells you the reality of the condition of the people who ensure the security of this country; that is not what it ought to be. The children of the other ranks and the commissioned officers ought to have the same opportunities.
A few minutes ago, the Minister for Defence explained a few steps the Govern- ment has taken to provide accommodation and additional steps they are going to take to provide even more accommodation to them; this should be taken seriously.
We encourage the Hon Minister to bring that loan agreement to Parliament as quickly as possible so that we can provide more accommodation. But that should not be in only Accra; we would want to see these things happening in all other regions where our service men and women live.
Mr Speaker, I would want to end by saying that let the memory of February 28 remain in our heart. Let it be something that this House must also take seriously.
Like I said earlier, I doubt how many Hon Members here would recognise the pictures of the ex-servicemen if we were to put it among other pictures, let alone the children up there in the gallery. I believe these are not some of the things we should forget.
I am told that these days, the level of history that is taught in our schools at basic level need to be improved because some of these things have been taken away.
But I believe once we continue to improve on the living conditions and also pay attention to our history, I am sure this country can build better peace and make the generations after us understand the history of this country which is ever more critical than we take it currently.
Mr Speaker 10:57 a.m.
Hon Member for Adaklu, I thank you too.
Mr Alexader K. Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu) 10:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity. Let me also commend the Hon Member who made the Statement, the MP for Mpraeso, for being bold writing such a commendable piece for the attention of the House.
Mr Speaker, I would like to precede my comment on the issue of the floor with a quote from Tarrant William George, a once Wandsworth Unitarian Christian and a minister of the Gospel. In the year 1883, he wrote this piece which I crave your indulgence to read:
“Now praise we great and famous men, The fathers named in story; And praise the Lord who now as then Reveals in man His glory. Praise we the wise and brave and strong, Who graced their generation; Who helped the right, and fought the wrong, And made our folk a nation.”
Mr Speaker, this piece has found its way in the Methodist hymnal and it is a beautiful song which is sang on occasions where the hard work of men are due to be recognised.
Mr Speaker, obviously, the Hon Member who made the Statement has drawn our attention to the hard work, the commitment, the patriotism and the selfless leadership that was exhibited by the ex-servicemen.
They were in uniform and had fought even alongside other soldiers during the world war and upon return, seeing the activities in the colony, took the initiative to play their role. Perhaps, they never expected to be given such a recognition, but today, this House is recognising their patriotism.
Mr Speaker, I agree with my respected Hon Colleague, Mr Kwame Agbodza, on the position he took, that they deserved a much more recognition than they are given.
Mr Speaker, mention is also made of Major General Odartey-Wellington by the Hon Member who made the Statement. Per paragraph 2 of the second page we are told the National Reconciliation Committee (NRC) made a recommendation to the extent of his meritorious services -- It was recommended that there was the need to give recognition to such heroes, who not afraid of death fought hard for the survival of this country.
Mr Speaker, I believe that the time has come for these recommendations to be rolled out in full. I thank that the Government, led by H. E. J. A. Kufuor, called for that initiative at the time.
Mr Speaker, my respected Hon Colleague, the Hon First Deputy Minority Whip said that today, we are all Ghanaians and there is no foreigner in this House - yes. If we are enjoying the hard work and the patriotism of those who came before us, then we have a duty. What is that duty?
The duty is to maintain, if we cannot enhance that which has been bequeathed to us. We should ensure that we deliver on social services; ensure that we commend those who are making it work.
We take up issues of education seriously and educate our children from kindergarten through primary, secondary and to the university.
We should make resources available to educate our youth. We should support those in leadership on commendable initiatives that are aimed at doing away with extremism.
Mr Speaker 10:57 a.m.
Hon Member, you would conclude, please.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, while I am concluding, I must say for the records that for the first time, my own Hon Colleague, Mr Patrick Boamah, has heckled me. It has not reflected in the records but he has heckled me -- [Interruption] I take it in good faith.
rose
Mr Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Leader, please?
Mr Avedzi 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, you just made a ruling this morning. It was not a ruling as such but per our rules, every Hon Member must speak from the seat allocated to him. The Hon Member is not speaking from his seat. [Uproar]
Mr Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Hon Member, please, let us not murmur just because our attention is being drawn to it by the Hon Deputy Minority Leader. We all came to a certain agreement. Maybe, a lot of people were late and that explains it.

Order. Leadership or any nominee thereof.
Alhaji Muntaka 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we would defer that of leadership to the Hon Agalga.
Mr Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Please, Hon Member, conclude fast in two minutes.
Mr James Agalga (NDC -- Builsa North) 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
Mr Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Hon Member, make your contribution. We know --
Mr Agalga 11:07 a.m.
Very well.
Mr Speaker, there is no denying the fact that happenings of the 28 th of February which resulted in the murder of Private Odartey, Corporal Attipoe and Sergeant Adjetey served as a catalyst for our independence movement but the point that is worthy of note is that after the Second World War II, when veteran soldiers returned to this country, they unionised.
It was as a result of the unionisation that the soldiers started agitating for better conditions of service.
Mr Speaker, on that fateful day, they decided to exercise their right to assemble and march towards the castle to agitate for better conditions of service, but it is on record that while on their way to the Christiansborg Castle, now known as the Osu Castle, an unlawful order was issued by one Major Imray for the contingent of troops under his command to open fire on the veterans who were unarmed.
Mr Speaker 11:07 a.m.
The Majority Leadership if any?
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu (NPP-- Suame) 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to also make a few comments about the
Statement ably made by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Defence and Interior, Hon Seth Kwame Acheampong.
Mr Speaker, today, indeed, marks the anniversary of the 28 th February crossroads shooting. The purpose of the Statement is to acknowledge the landmarks of contemporary Ghanaian history.
Mr Speaker, I found myself just over the past weekend at Senchi and I walked into a retreat of one Ministry. February 24 was just last Sunday. I asked the staff of that Ministry the significance of the day which was Sunday, 24th February, when I found myself there.
Unfortunately, none of the staff of that particular Ministry could remember what was peculiar about 24th February.
Mr Speaker, the shooting incident that occurred on 28th February really sped the light for independence. Now, those of the ex-servicemen who had been part of the Second World War had seen the vulnerability of the colonialist at the battle front.
Hitherto, the colonialist were more or less seen as the epitome of gods on earth, but when they fought alongside and shoulder to shoulder at the battle front in the Second World War, they saw the vulnerability of the colonialist.

Mr Speaker, so, they made a deter- mination that if the ascription that they had given to the colonialist was not true as they had indeed witnessed at the battlefront, then as Africans, we could take our fate into our own hands and govern ourselves.

Mr Speaker, the payment of their outstanding and well-earned emoluments was one of the underpinnings of the demonstration; but as I said, the reality that dawned on them was that we could govern ourselves.

Indeed, that was the inspired but rather veiled underpin of the demonstration that they undertook, which was all about self- determination.

Mr Speaker, the significant thing about the march was that those of them that fell were all uniformed men. Incidentally, all three of them who fell -- Sergeant Cornelius Adjetey, Corporal Otam Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey -- were Ga Adangbes.

It should really be an inspiration to all of us and to Gas in particular, that when we talk about the struggle for independence, Gas also played a central role in the lead-up to independence.

Mr Speaker, other persons may have started much earlier -- the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). Before the UGCC, the Aborigines Rights Protection Society and all; but there came a time that the ex-service men also gave indication of their resolve.

They indeed provided their own dimension to the struggle for independence, they had learnt at the battlefront that, indeed, the white man was as vulnerable as the black person.

If the white person did well for his country or backyard, then the black person could also do the same thing in Africa. That added an additional flip to the struggle for independence.

Mr Speaker, I agree with my Hon Colleague who made the Statement that we should use this occasion, as the
Mr Speaker 11:17 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Members, for your brilliant contributions.
Hon Members, Communication from the President.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker 11:17 a.m.
I wish to state that the Administration and Leadership of Parliament on both Sides have not been particularly happy with certain developments at our Appointments Committee, especially, the light manneredness that sometimes accom- pany the process.
We do not want any giggling, noise making nor undue laughter nor conduct that is not consistent with such a serious process; the model can be seen in the United States Senatorial Inquiry.
We would expect conduct coterminous with the proceedings in any serious Omanhene, paramount chief or serious chief in the Republic of Ghana and we all know the standard. That is what we expect and which would be strictly applied by the Hon Chairman accordingly.
To the members of the public, we have deliberately calculated on this matter. Henceforth, ten people shall be allowed to come for each person being vetted at a time and they will leave the moment the person they accompanied leaves the Chamber.
A Committee of Parliament has the powers of Parliament and those who appear before the Committee must know that they are capable of being dealt with, with contempt of Parliament. If you are not sure, the Courts are our standard, and what happens there, we expect that to happen at our Appointments Committee from now on.
Hon Members will not treat people with any soft feathers, though they are not going to be unpleasant, but they will do their work seriously as is and should be required of them.
Thank you very much.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, yes, indeed, at a particular moment in time of the life of the Appointments Committee, we did not have the full complement of the Hon Members of the Committee, and because we have a tall list of Hon nominees to deal with, I would join you in appealing to the Hon Members of the Committee to avail themselves so that we would be able to finish with the transaction of business on the list that has been provided.
Mr Speaker, except to further observe that there are a couple of Hon Members on the Appointments Committee who have now been nominated by the President to various positions either as Hon Ministers or Hon Deputy Ministers.
That requires a re-composition of the Appointments Committee, and that would mean that those vacancies -- those people can no longer preside over their own courses and that would mean that we would have to have new Hon nominees who would fill those vacancies.
It is because it is not by virtue of they resigning -- if they resign, it will be for Leadership to now propose people to fill- in those vacancies, but now we need more or less a re-composition. This will mean that the entire House would have to agree to the Membership of those Hon Members who would be proposed anew.
It would then fall on the Hon Majority Caucus to do so with the Hon Whips to make the proposals to the Leadership and then it would go to the Committee on Selection for all of us to agree and that would mean that we have to act very timeously. That is between now and early next week when perhaps, the advertisement will be out.
So in that interregnum, that would have to be done, so that they will have their full complements to deal with the Hon nominees.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the space granted.
Mr Speaker 11:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I perfectly agree with the Hon Majority Leader. For some time now, this has been a major challenge for the House.
This is where Hon Members of the Appointments Committee, most of the time, happen to be Hon Ministers of State and so, I believe that this is a very useful issue that needs to be quickly dealt with.
Mr Speaker, my other concern has to do with what you just said. This is the third time the House has tried to limit the number of people who accompany an Hon nominee to the Appointments Committee. It is my hope and prayer that this would be the last time this notice would be enforced.
I remember that under the former Rt Hon Speaker, Mr Doe Adjaho, we tried but it did not work. When this Meeting started, the Hon Chairman tried but it did not work, but now that you have announced it --
The suggestion I have made to the Hon Chairman is that we could add a caveat that when the people accompanying the Hon nominee are more than 10, we should refuse to vet that nominee. Maybe, this would be a disincentive to the large number of people who accompany Hon nominees.
Mr Speaker, lastly, my worry is that this has come and we would have to find a way of dealing with it.
Looking at the calendar of Parliament and what was agreed on, we have only about three weeks to rise; that is around the 26th March, 2019, or so other than that advertising for two weeks and vetting 14 Hon nominees, I wished that the Presidency would always take into consideration the calendar of Parliament and the way we do things.
This is not the first time; it has always existed since I came to this House. I really wish that the Presidency takes the calendar of Parliament into consideration when they want to take an action that requires Parliament.
Mr Speaker, now that the Hon Majority Leader is nodding in the negative - what I know about our rising is that it would fall on the 26th March, 2019, and so knowing that tomorrow is the 1st of March, -- but we would have to try to work around it.
Lastly, as I said, this direction to the Hon nominees is a very important one. This is because they inundate the place in such a way that even the Hon Members do not have enough space to work.
I believe that with the coming of this instruction and probably with a new Marshall, we must do everything to ensure that only 10 people -- In fact, there was a time that the Hon Chairman designed a card to be distributed, yet Paramount chiefs and so on would come and this becomes a problem as to how to deal with them.
Mr Speaker, so, we thank you for this directive and hope that the general public adheres to it so that the environment at the Appointments Committee would be conducive for the vetting.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Yes, Hon First Deputy Speaker?
Mr J. Osei-Owusu 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, there are two matters that prick my attention. The first one is to discuss the issue of the reconstitution of the Committee.
Indeed, it now becomes difficult to get a quorum to have a meeting and agree on an agenda because by the time we call a meeting, many of the Hon Ministers are otherwise engaged in other official business and are often unavailable.
So, I am happy that the Hon Majority Leader has raised the issue, and I think that the matter has been pending for a while. So, let us bring that to a conclusion and then we can come to a consensus now that we know who has been nominated and who has not.
Mr Speaker, the other thing has to do with the number of people being invited to the Appointments Committee. I believe that the issue has to do with who is enforcing the rules that the Speaker makes in the House, because we designed invitation cards and it was to enable the Hon nominees to select the people he or she wants to come so that the choice is not left to Parliament to decide who should be admitted.
Often, several other people who do not have the invitation cards are admitted.
Mr Speaker, I believe that your directive should go to the Marshal and his officers to ensure that nobody is admitted to the Appointments Committee meeting unless the person has the invitation card.
So, it should just be the Hon nominee and the 10 people who have been invited by the Hon Nominee otherwise the Committee itself cannot send anybody out this time.
Mr Speaker, so I would request that your directive should go to the Marshal and his officers to ensure that there is strict compliance.
Indeed, this is one big challenge that we face all the time; ensuring that we comply with the Speaker's orders. It is a difficult task and I hope that the new Marshal would bring a difference to this one.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon First Deputy Speaker, thank you very much.
Hon Majority Leader.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the signal that I gave at the very outset of this Meeting was that the Meeting would go to 12th April. That was the signal I gave. Mr Speaker, we have some indication that we really need to look at that.
Firstly, we have to deal with the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) Executive Committee meeting in Qatar and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) International Executive Committee meeting in Ottawa, Canada.
These are the two things that may have an effect on the Meeting when we bring proceedings of this Meeting to a closure, other than that the indication I gave was that we would adjourn on 12th April, 2019. Of course we may have due cognisance of these two key events in the calendar of Parliament.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Please Leadership should work on these things I may call administrative agreements -- and agree on dates because this is not something that we could go forward and backwards about in the Chamber. So, Hon Leaders please save us from this.
Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I perfectly agree that these are things that must be discussed administratively. It has nothing to do with --
Mr Speaker, when I caught your eye, there was a substantive issue that I wanted to mention but I forgot. Mr Speaker, if you look at the list that you just read to us and you necessarily gave the Hon Leaders copies, Hon Ministers and their Hon Deputies have all been nominated on the same sheet.
Mr Speaker, this is really against article 79 of our Constitution. Mr Speaker, with your permission I beg to read that article:
“The President may, in consultation with a Minister of State, and with the prior approval of Parliament, appoint one or more Deputy Ministers to assist the Minister in the performance of his functions.”
Mr Speaker, if you take what you read, the Hon Ministers are now being nominated, yet their Deputies are also on the same list. We have had this incident before where the communique was sent back for only the Hon Ministers to be vetted and after their approval, the Hon Deputies were also vetted.
We now have both portfolios on the same list and I think that this is not really right. Mr Speaker, nobody could prevent the President from nominating who he wants but the Constitution says that he must consult the Hon Minister.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
The Constitution says he must consult?
What does the rule say?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it says “the President may”.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
So, please leave it as “may”. “May” cannot be must in any legal forum or in any rule of interpretation. If I may do something, it means I may do it or not do it.
Anyway, this is not the forum for that debate which had been bantered on many occasions. We shall proceed on relevant nominations regarding members of the Appointments Committee --
rose
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I agree with the directive that you have given that we could debate this at another forum and not today. In any event, we are not dealing with Ministers of State; we are dealing with Regional Ministers and the article that my Hon Colleague quoted does not hold.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, I have ruled that this is not the appropriate time so please let us end this and proceed. The Hon Minister is here to answer his Questions.
I was making a directive that those responsible for the nominations must please ensure that by Monday, these would be completed so that we would proceed accordingly.
Also, the Marshal's Department incorporation with the Public Affairs Department should work towards the appropriate cards with the names of Hon nominees thereon which their invitees would show at the entrance before they enter.

It would not be a free for all, and in actual fact, disciplinary measures would be taken when things like contempt are taken for granted. The public should take note.

Thank you very much.

Is it all right for the Hon Minister to take the appropriate seat so that we deal with his Questions for him to go and attend to other matters of State?

We would alter the Order Paper and proceed with Question numbered 540 which stands in the name of the Hon Member for North Tongu.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 11:37 a.m.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY 11:37 a.m.
Minister for National Security (Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah) 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would crave your indulgence to effect a correction in the Answer which has been provided on the Order Paper. The year “2007” should be corrected to read
“2017”.
Mr Speaker, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee on Defence and Interior, it has been agreed that the 2017 Annual Report of the Ministry of National Security in conformity with the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act
1996 (Act 526) will for the first time since 1992 be submitted to this august House o n T u e s d a y , 5
th March 2019.
rose
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarka Muntaka 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, before maybe my Hon Colleague comes with a supplementary question, the rules of the House are that the Hon Minister reads the Answer he gives us, which is captured on the Order Paper.
When he was making some amend- ments, he corrected only “2007” to be “2017”, but he added other words that are not on the Order Paper. That is not the rule of this House in answering Questions.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Minister, you may seek permission and say, you are adding “for the first time”. You may come back and add that you seek permission to add that it was for the first time since a particular time.
Hon Minister, you may proceed.
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I added that for the purposes of emphasis. Since my friend has drawn my attention to it being irregular in terms of not having sought your permission, I withdraw that.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
And you beg to add that it should be added to the Answer published.
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to withdraw that particular expression. [Laughter.]
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Very well.
Mr Ablakwa 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to draw the attention of the Hon Minister that the Act was passed in 1996, and so what he said regarding his additions which were not contained on the Order Paper -- There could not have been this report in 1992 when the law came into force in 1996.
However, Mr Speaker -
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister has withdrawn that segment. In other words, there is nothing before us. So this commentary that he is running is irrelevant.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Of course, Hon Ablakwa, that is not even before the House. It is not part of the records. It has been obliterated at the instance of the Hon Minority Chief Whip. So, you cannot ask questions thereon. Please proceed.
Mr Ablakwa 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my first supplementary question is to ask the Hon Minister responsible for National Security why the delay. For the record, I asked this Question on 27th April, 2018. Why was the delay in adhering to section 17 of the Law? For the whole of 2018, the law was not adhered to. So why was the delay?
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Let us face it. The Hon Minister is an accomplished Member of this House. So, please, let us stop some of these cat calls and give him the opportunity to answer.
Hon Minister?
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I can only come to this House to answer Questions when I am invited by the Parliamentary Service. I have only just received the
invitation and I have kept to the dates and I am giving the Answer today.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Yes, any further questions?
Mr Ablakwa 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my second supplementary question has to do with the 2018 report. Could we have an assurance from the Hon Minister that 2018 would also be adhered to?
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it has never been the practice of former Ministers responsible for National Security to provide these reports even though the Act of 1996 demands that these reports be submitted to this august House.
When I do that next week, it would have been the first time that it is being done. I would want to assure my Hon Colleague that I believe it is important that we sustain it and produce future reports in a timely manner. I expect that before the middle of this year, we would have submitted the report for 2018 as well.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Minister, you were saying that since the Act was passed in 1996, the report has never been presented to this House?
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it has not been the practice for the former Ministers responsible for National Security to submit the reports to the House.
We believe that it is important that in line with the accountability concept that we are trying to promote in the country, such reports should necessarily be submitted, and I intend to submit the 2017 report next week.
I think it is important that in future, we sustain it and provide the annual reports in a timely manner.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Thank you very much,
Hon Minister.
Yes, Hon Ntoso?
Mrs Helen A. Ntoso 11:37 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
I just want to draw the attention of the Hon Minister that this is the first time we are having a Minister for National Security. This country did not have a Minister for National Security.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Member, a person may be labelled a Minister responsible or be given any other title, but if it is a security report that must be given, it must be given by an appropriate authority. So that does not arise at all.
It has never been done, and the Hon Minister has assured that he would do it on Tuesday, 5th March, 2019. Let us wait till Tuesday, 5th March, 2019 and see.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, for the records, it is most untrue that this is the first time we are having a Minister responsible for National Security. If the Hon Member does not know, he should seek the relevant information. This is not the first time.
Mr Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Any other Question?
Question numbered 541?
National policy on housing elected sitting Presidents of Ghana
541. Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa asked the Minister for National Security if there exists a national policy on housing elected sitting Presidents of Ghana, and if not, when would one be formulated for strict adherence?
Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry of National Security does not provide accommodation for Government functionaries. It may advise on needed security arrangements of a chosen location.
Mr Ablakwa 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my supplementary question flows from the second part of the Hon Minister's response that the Ministry advises on the needed security arrangements of a chosen location. Indeed, that is the essence of my question.
This question flows from the fact that since the inception of this Fourth Republic, we have had debates on the security arrangements for our sitting Presidents.
We remember when former President Kufuor's issue came, he chose to stay in his house and the extra installations that had to be done. Then under President Akufo -Addo, we all recall how we had to relocate the traders and artisans around his house, which created a whole national discourse.
The question is; moving forward, could we have a policy so that when sitting Presidents have been elected, the policy would hold? In other jurisdictions, we know that one stays in the White House or lives in a certain place so that it does not create National Security issues -- so the question is --
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Member, the Hon Minister has actually gone beyond just saying it is not part of his schedule by referring you to the appropriate person, body or authority.
Kindly direct any further questions on this matter to the Hon Minister responsible for Housing.
Mr Ablakwa 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is a National Security question.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
The Hon Minister says it is not part of his schedule, and he has directed you to the appropriate authority. Please direct your question to the appropriate authority.
Mr Ablakwa 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, please, he has not indicated the appropriate authority. I am not challenging you, but with all due respect if I could be guided on the appropriate authority?
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Minister, the Hon Member would like you to assist him in delineating the appropriate authority to which he must direct his question for possible assistance, if you can please help.
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, with all due respect, I think one would be asking for too much if one wanted the Ministry of National Security to give details of the specific security arrangements that it would make in respect of the house of the President, and for that reason we do not intend to do that.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Minister, the Hon Member would only want to know. In your Answer, you talked about the fact that your outfit does not provide accommodation for government functionaries.
Please tell him who provides accommodation for government functionaries, and let us conclude the matter on that, if you know.
From all your knowledge about government, can you help him to know where to direct his enquiry?
Mr Kan-Dapaah 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, presently he may want to refer or look at article 71 of our Constitution, which demands the
setting up of a Presidential Commission to advise the President on the salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges of the President and other officials.
The President is supposed to set up such a commission. That may be one appropriate place to direct his question. He may probably also direct it to another Ministry, I am not sure which particular Ministry he may want to direct that to.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Member, you may do your homework and then -- [Laughter] -- you are the owner of the Question. Seek the appropriate authority, and particularly, you may start from the Ministry of works and Housing.
Dr Rashid Pelpuo 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, may I know from the Hon Minister whether it poses a National Security risk when sitting Presidents decide to find their own accommodation rather than a designated accommodation where all the security arrangements are made for them.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Member, this does not emanate directly from the Question. If it is a question of interest, ask it formally, by the rules.
Mr Richard Quashigah 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in his response, the Hon Minister made reference to article 71 and also indicated that he cannot, paraphrase what he said or tell exactly which Ministry.
Mr Speaker, I believe he being the Minister for National Security, he must be able to inform all of us as citizens of this country.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Member, perhaps even if you asked the Chief of Staff this question, that could be more appropriate, but this is sectorial. He is a Minister in charge of a sector. If he says he is not able to go into matters concerning another sector, that should be the end of the matter.
Mr Ayariga 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister in his Answer said that his Ministry may advise on choosing locations.
So could we narrow the question down to whether they have a policy on appropriate locations for the residence of a sitting President?
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Hon Member, that is speculative, in the sense that the advice has not been sought yet. When your advice is sought, then you research and advise within the parameters of what you have been asked.
Any further questions? Actually, the Hon Minister has given directions as to where to go. Please, those interested should go there.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker,
the Hon Minister in his Answer says that his Ministry does not provide accommodation for government func- tionaries.
Mr Speaker, I would like to ask the Hon Minister if he is aware that there are relevant sectors charged with the responsibility of providing government functionaries' accommodation. Is he aware of that?
Mr Kan -Dapaah 11:57 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am not aware of the particular Ministry that is responsible for that, but as you rightly said, such answers are probably better sought from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Mr Speaker 11:57 p.m.
Thank you very much, that should be of very good assistance.
Hon Members, this would end Question time.
Hon Minister, we thank you very much for attending to the House and answering our Questions. You are discharged.
Hon Members, item listed 5, At the Commencement of Public Business, Motion -- Continuation of the debate.
I have relevant names here. Hon Eric Opoku, you have fifteen minutes.
MOTIONS 11:57 p.m.
  • [Continuation of debate from 27/02/ 19.]
    • Mr Eric Opoku (NDC--Asunafo South) 11:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to associate myself with the Motion on the Floor of this House.
    Mr Speaker, the President of the Republic of Ghana appeared before this House to deliver a Message on the State of our nation Ghana, and on page 21, the President stated, and with your indulgence I would quote.
    “There has been food and for the first time in a long while, we had more than we needed”.
    Mr Speaker, the President is saying that Ghana as a country has produced more food than we need in this country, but when you read further, we are told that we are even exporting the excess to neighbouring countries.
    Mr Speaker, the paradox of the situation is that, at a time when we are claiming that we have produced so much that we are even exporting, the Government of the Republic of Ghana in January 2019 had to fall on ECOWAS Strategic Food Security Reserves for cereals, to be able to run the School Feeding programme under the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
    Mr Speaker, if you would recall, in February 2013 in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments in their 42nd Ordinary Summit established the ECOWAS Strategic Food Security Reserves to support member countries in times of need. Mr Speaker, the emphasis --
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, do you have the Report?
    Mr Opoku 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, you have asked for the source. I have it here and I would provide it. The Hon Deputy Minister who received the cereals on behalf of this country is the one standing there. He received the items. It is just public knowledge. [Laughter]
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    Hon Members, shall we have some order?
    Dr Bambangi 12:07 p.m.
    If you know how buffer stocks are ran, they are ran in order to manage the food reserves such that we respond to emergency situations and we also minimise the cost of storage of the produce.
    What happened was that the food reserves were kept in Yendi and Tamale, and after sometime, they released some of them for our neighbouring countries and what were left, which were being kept by National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), had to be released to the Government of Ghana for use and for us to replace because if we keep food for some time, it runs bad and the cost of storage also increases. That is how buffer stocks are managed.
    Mr Speaker, I actually rose on a point of order except that I had not caught your eye. I wanted to correct that misleading observation that my Hon Colleague had made. I would want my Hon Colleague to withdraw this because it is misleading.
    We have enough food in this country and the reserves that we took were not that significant. [Interruption] It is true. We just did not want --
    Dr Bambangi 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we have an understanding that when you hold the stocks -- The stock has been held since 2017 and we cannot continue to hold it if it is not utilised, so we had to take it and then replace it. We would replace it by March 2019.
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    Hon Members, if we got it right, these are mutually collected ECOWAS stock and they are released from time to time because when you have grains and allied food equipment in stock, you cannot keep them forever and so they are released in a cyclical manner accordingly. So please, let us not have the wrong impression that we were hungry and we went begging for food.
    Please go on. [Pause] That is the impression I got anyway from your presentation and that presentation is in- correct. Buffer stocks are always released even in the United States of America.
    An Hon Member 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker is debating.
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    No, it must be clear.
    Please go on.
    Mr Opoku 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the ECOWAS Food Security Reserves is meant to support member states in times of need. Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister who took the items on our behalf promised to refill the warehouses in March 2019 grain for grain. [Interruption] It means that as a nation, we have borrowed maize, rice, millet and sorghum.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister talked about insignificant quantity; he said what we took was insignificant. Mr Speaker, we took 2,750 tonnes of cereals;
    1,000 tonnes of rice; 750 tonnes of white maize; 500 tonnes of millet and 500 tonnes of sorghum and he talked about insignificant quantity.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister talked about the items being stocked here. The ECOWAS Food Security Reserves stock their items in four countries -- Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Ghana -- and all countries that are in need must officially make a request.
    Ghana as a nation requested for support because we were in need. [Interruption] The fact is that in spite of all the noise about having produced so much --
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    Order! Hon Member, it is not a shouting match. [Laughter] Hansard only captures what we say and so let us do it with sobriety.
    Dr Bambangi 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if my Hon Colleague knows how buffer stocks are managed -- The food was acquired in 2017 and it is not prudent to keep it in place when all of it was not used because that would have increased the cost of management of this food and it is our NAFCO that manages this food stocks.

    Yes, and we did not make any request; they made that arrangement with us because they realised that the cost of holding this food would increase and they would have been -- [Interruption] Yes, it is the cost of storage. We wanted to minimise the cost of storage and we therefore --

    In fact, if you compare this to the amount of food that we have exported to these neighbouring countries and the food that we produce in Ghana, I would say it is insignificant.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, you have made a statement and the explanation has been made. Please, use your time and proceed on other lines.
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:07 p.m.
    I see two Hon Members standing. What do I do?
    Mr Opoku 12:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, when the Hon Minority Leader is on his feet, I must sit down for him to make his point, but once he has agreed that I should continue, I will.

    Once we have taken the cereals with the commitment of replacing same on another date they have borrowed and they cannot run away from it. [Interruption] You cannot run away from it.
    Mr Speaker 12:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, there is a point of order or correction.
    Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    the Hon Member on his feet is making a
    categorical statement that Ghana went and borrowed from the buffer stock. Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister is saying that there is a standing arrangement such that, over a period, in order for the stock not to go bad for the various countries, then they be given maize supply from the stock.
    First of all, the Hon Minister is establishing that Ghana did not request; it is just in pursuit of the standing arrangement. So his own use of the word, “borrowing” is most inappropriate in the circumstances.
    He should -- This is a “radio station debate” that he wants to import here. [Uproar] -- He stated this on a radio station and I asked him, which country supplied the stock to that facility?
    This is a “radio station debate”; let him continue anyway. At the appropriate time, these matters would be responded to adequately.
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:17 p.m.
    I do not know whom to call. Please, decide among yourselves. Is it the Hon Member who has the Floor or the Hon Minority Chief Whip? Because in this multiplication, I just do not know what to do.
    Hon Minority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Muntaka 12:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I believe that the Hon Majority Leader knows the rules of this House very well. I refer him to Standing Order 93(2) and I beg to quote:
    “It shall be out of order to use offensive, abusive, insulting, blasphemous or unbecoming words or to impute improper motives to any other Member or to make personal allusions.”
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member, Eric Opoku, who is a good friend, knows I would not disrespect him. He is just importing the debate from Okay FM station in which he made those same points and interrogated same. I am just saying that he is importing the “radio station debate” to this House. What is offensive about this?
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Chief Whip wants to give colouration to any statement that anybody makes. The Hon Eric Opoku spoke through a radio station; Okay FM using those same points; they called me and I responded to it. He is bringing the same issues here and that is what I am talking about.
    I am not saying that whatever he is doing is improper. I am saying that whatever discussion that went on at a radio station is what he is bringing here. So, if I say that he is importing that debate here, what is offensive about that?
    Mr Speaker, I cannot understand this, the tendency on the Hon Minority Chief Whip's part to try to give colouration to any statement that anybody makes here, which he does not like. What is offensive about that?
    Mr Speaker 12:17 p.m.
    Hon Members, you are addressing me. Order! Hon Majority Leader, you are addressing me.
    The Hon Majority Leader has contextualised his statement because something has happened previously that both himself and the Hon Member on his feet are aware of. So please, proceed.
    Mr Opoku 12:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the challenge with my Hon Colleagues on the other Side has to do with the use of the word, “borrow”. Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I would like to refer to the meaning of “borrow” in the dictionary so that they would understand it properly.
    Mr Speaker, “borrow” means to take and use something belonging to someone else with the intention of returning it. That is “borrowing”; and they have borrowed. Are they saying that they have not borrowed?
    Mr Speaker, they have taken cereals from the ECOWAS Strategic stock—
    Dr Bambangi 2:27 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt, I would want the House -- [Interruption]
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Order! Hon Members, there are certain pathways which if an Hon Member insists on pursuing, definitely, there would be difficulties. This is because there has been quite an explanation made on the arrangement whereby a member may take from a stock.
    Stock cannot be allowed to expire. But if the Hon Member would choose that by all means, he would pursue that pathway, then of course, I would go to the left and go to the right.
    An Hon Member 2:27 p.m.
    How many times?
    Mr Speaker, as many times as the Hon Member would continue that pathway. I have answered you -- [Laughter] -- And there would be order. Let us just be decorous.
    Hon Member, please go on.
    Dr Bambangi 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like to refer Hon Members to pages 111 and 112; from paragraph 520 of the 2019 Budget Statement. The Hon Minister for Finance stated and I beg to quote:
    “As part of measures to improve farmers' access to markets, the National Food Buffer Stock Company, through licensed buying companies, purchased 6,000 metric tons of white maize, 1,730 metric tons of rice. 1,120 metric tons of millet, 1,220 metric tons of groundnuts and 1,230 tons of cowpea and supplied to schools under the Free Senior High School programme.
    In 2019 NAFCO would purchase 200,000 metric tons of white maize
    and 100,000 of rice to supply to the Free Senior High School programme, the Ghana School Feeding Programme, other State institutions as well as holding emergency stocks.
    In paragraph 521, he states:
    “As partners in ensuring regional food security, NAFCO collaborated with the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Project to hold 1,000 metric tons of maize, 750 metric tons of rice, 500 metric tons of millet and 500 metric tons of sorghum are food security stocks for ECOWAS in Tamale and Yendi warehouses.
    So if we compare these to what we have in our stocks, it is insignificant. I would like to correct that impression.
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, you would maximise your time and move to other arguments.
    Mr Opoku 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for your guidance.
    Mr Speaker, I also want to refer to a statement made by the Hon Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta on the 17th of July, 2018. According to him, Ghana spends a whopping US$2.4 billion to import food into this country to supplement local food production.
    Mr Speaker, he explained further that the whopping US$2.4 billion is expended on the importation of rice, sugar, sorghum, frozen chicken, and meat, among other food items for domestic and industrial consumption.
    Mr Speaker, here we are, the President of the Republic of Ghana indicating to Ghanaians that we have produced in
    Mr Opoku 2:27 p.m.


    Mr Speaker, it appears many people have not read the Address.
    rose
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Chairman of the Agricultural Committee?
    Mr Asafu-Adjei 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what the Ranking Member is referring to, even if it is true, he has not produced any document before you and before this august House to support his argument --
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, I did not hear you. It is what?
    Mr Asafu-Adjei 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if it is true, he has not produced any document --
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    By your own knowledge, is it true or not?
    Mr Asafu-Adjei 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is not true. That is why I am saying, “if it is true”. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, there is the need for him to quote. He is just holding a paper and saying that it is from the Minister for Finance.
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, why? Do not shout much. If that is not true, what is the truth?
    Mr Asafu-Adjei 2:27 p.m.
    The truth is that the Minister for Finance never said that. [Interruption.]
    Mr Opoku 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much --
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, just a moment. What did the Hon Minister for Finance say? [Laughter.]
    Mr Asafu-Adjei 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my point is of reference. He has not quoted the year the Minister said it. In which year did the Hon Minister for Finance say that? He has not done so.
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, establish your point and proceed.
    Mr Opoku 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I was saying that the President, while delivering the State of the Nation Address, indicated on page 21 that Ghana had produced more food than we needed and we are now exporting. And the Hon Minister for Finance has stated that we have spent US$2.4 billion --
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Where, please?
    Mr Opoku 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Finance made this known when he spoke to the Trades Union Congress on the 17th of July, 2018. This was reported in the Business News.

    Mr Speaker, the point is that we spend over US$1.2 billion on the importation of rice alone into this country but the President tells us that we have produced food in abundance and we are even exporting food.

    Mr Speaker, rice is one of the crops selected under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme with the target of increasing rice production in Ghana by 49 per cent.

    Mr Speaker, according to the statistical and research information of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in 2016, Ghana produced 687,680 tons of rice in this country, yet we imported over 300 million worth of rice into Ghana.

    Mr Speaker, at the end of the 2017 crop season, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture reported in their Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2019 to 2022, at page 50, that they succeeded in increasing rice production by 179,000 tons which represents 26 per cent.

    Mr Speaker, in 2018, they have reported that they increased rice production by 162,165 tons representing 18.7 per cent of the 2017 production level. Mr Speaker, that is an abysmal performance. This is because we have invested so much in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and that is why we are importing more rice into this country.

    That is why the rice import bill is ballooning and that is the issue we are speaking to. So for the President to appear before this House to indicate to us that we are producing so much and we are even exporting rice is untrue. The President stated that we are exporting rice.

    Mr Speaker, let me refer to the document -- page 21. The Hon Majority Leader is reading, that is why he is quiet.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to quote 2:27 p.m.
    “Dr Owusu Afriyie --
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are not here.
    Hon Afenyo-Markin, do you rise on a point of correction only?
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. My Hon Colleague is offending our rule on relevance.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Eric Opoku is relying on the second paragraph on page 21 of the President's Address. This is what the President said and I beg to quote:
    “Thanks for the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs admirably organised by that outstanding Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, this House stands informed, that, in 2018, exports of food crops such as cassava, rice, yellow and white maize, soya, plantain, cowpea and yam were made from Ghana to Burkina Faso, Togo, and Cote d'Ivoire in considerable quantities.”
    Mr Speaker, with the greatest respect, we argue and rely on facts. Is it his contention that Mr President misled this House in this statement?
    Mr Speaker, the reliance on some other information or some speech is completely irrelevant. That offends our rules. He is not disputing what the President said. He was specific. If he has some other information on some other importation, that does not mean that Mr President misled the House. That is incorrect.
    Mr Speaker, he is misleading the House, and as the Hon Majority Leader said, he wants to unrepentantly repeat what he has said on Okay Fm here. This is a House of records and a House of facts. He should rely on the facts and argue.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 2:27 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader?
    Mr Haruna Iddrisu 2:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    But facts are facts.
    Mr Iddrisu 12:37 p.m.
    Facts are sacred -- [Interruption]
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, sorry to interrupt.
    Hon Members, I wrote the time in detail. The Hon Member started at 12.07 p. m., and he was to finish at 12.23 p. m. I have even referred to that detail. Now, it is 20 minutes to 1.00 p.m., and I am allowing him to still talk, taking into account interruptions and being fair to him.
    Hon Eric Opoku, you may please continue.
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Afenyo-Markin read the exact portion that I had wanted to read. That indicates that the President stated before this House that we are exporting rice into Burkina
    Faso and that is not true. The President was economical with the truth; that statement is far from the reality. The reality is that Ghana is importing more rice into this country.
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Members, Order!
    Hon Member, are you saying that it is not possible, notwithstanding all the circumstances that may be happening in those countries, for rice to be exported to a couple of neighbouring countries?
    So please, we should watch our words. Could they not decide that despite their limited resources, they would still help their neighbours?
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, you are 100 per cent correct. A country may have the resources, but may still resort to borrowing or whatever, but in this particular case --
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member?
    Mr K. B. Adjei 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I appreciate risks. The United States is number one in terms of food production, yet they import rice from China. [Interruption.]
    Mr Speaker, in terms of agriculture, The Netherlands is number one, but they still import horticultural products from Africa. The fact that we are producing enough does not mean that we cannot import.
    It depends on the quality and the quantity that we would want to deal with. What kind of rice is the Hon Member talking about? Is he talking about the yellow rice, green rice, blue rice or perfumed rice? It is important --
    Mr Speaker, in fact, during the Christmas season, I gave the Hon Eric Opoku made -in -Ghana rice. This shows that we are producing more than what people demand.
    So the fact that we are importing is only because it is a trading practice. A person may produce but can still import, which is an international trade practice; he should understand that.
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, you should conclude.
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker, in an initial statement the President alluded to the fact that we have produced in excess of demand and he continued by saying that we are exporting. What I am saying here is that even at the time that we were targeting 49 per cent increase in rice production --
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, the exportation was delineated to countries mentioned.
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, he mentioned rice. He was specific with rice. We have not exported rice; we are rather importing it.
    Mr Speaker, we are representatives of the people, and at all times, we would have to be truthful and honest with them. If the President appears before us and provides information which happens to be untrue, then we have every right --
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, Order!
    Hon Member, you are imputing motive. To say “we must be honest,” what does that mean? That is why I say that --
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker --
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    No, Hon Member, you should withdraw that.
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw that we should be truthful. I said that we should be truthful and you said that I should withdraw, so I withdraw. What I said was that, as representatives of the people, we should be truthful and honest; so I withdraw that.
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, if you --
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Members, I would not comment on that.
    Hon Member, your last sentence.
    Mr Eric Opoku 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker, my last sentence is this; Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana, the first black African country to gain independence with the strongest determination to prove to the whole world that we are capable of managing our own affairs, now under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, is borrowing rice and maize.
    Mr Speaker, it is most humiliating. It has never happened to us. [Laughter] - At a time that we are talking about having produced so much, the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme has failed us and now Ghana has resorted to borrowing cereals.
    Mr Speaker, on this note, I thank you very much.

    Hon Members, I would now call on Hon Ken Ohene Agyapong, during which the Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair.

    Hon Member, please proceed.
    Mr Ken Ohene Agyapong (NPP -- Assin Central) 12:37 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the Floor, with regard to the President's State of the Nation Address.

    Mr Speaker, in 2016, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was 3.4 per cent -
    Mr Agyapong 12:37 p.m.
    You should read the State of the Nation Address. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker 12:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, you should address me.
    Mr Agyapong 12:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in 2017, our growth increased to 8.1 per cent, it is also in the State of the Nation Address. During the first three quarters of 2018, the predicted annual growth rate was even 5.6 per cent, but the first three quarters saw it as Six per cent growth.
    Mr Speaker, we cannot joke with this. Even today, this morning on Cable News Network (CNN) the last quarter of 2018 of American economy was between 1.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent growth rate.
    So if you have six per cent growth, then you have done extremely well. Therefore it is not surprising to hear the Late Night Show on NBC television in the United States of America (USA), a presenter said that the American economy is the fastest growing economy in the world.
    Then, one of the panellists retorted, that no, Ghana and Nigeria are the fastest growing economies in the world.
    Mr Speaker, unfortunately, you would not allow me to play the video. I have it on my phone. [Interruption] It is here on my phone. Do you want me to show it?
    Mr Speaker 12:47 p.m.
    Order! Order!
    Mr Agyapong 12:47 p.m.
    These are legitimate facts we cannot run away from. As I speak today, the interest rate is between 22 per cent and 26 per cent depending on your credit. What it means to the entrepreneur or businessman is that the savings of 10 per cent or 14 per cent becomes an income to him, where he could use that to expand his business and create employment.
    Mr Speaker, it would interest you to know that even in most advanced countries, their education is not financed from kindergarten to high school. Some advanced countries do, but not all.

    Most of these banks that were consolidated had no money in their reserves. I would borrow the words of former President Mahama, when he said that yawe nampa no ama aka dompe. To wit, there is no flesh or meat on the bone, so it is left with only bone.

    However, through the NPP Govern- ment, under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, these banks have been cushioned by being given almost GH¢12.7 billion.

    We are not talking about Menzgold Ghana Limited but banks. Menzgold Ghana Limited is not a bank and we have to be clear on that. We are talking about banks like Royal Bank and UniBank.

    The depositors can go to the bank and cash their money. [Interruption] Has the Hon Member lost his money in the bank?
    MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
    Alhaji Dr Abudul-Rashid H. Pelpuo 12:52 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Friend, Hon Kennedy Agyapong said that none of the depositors in those banks are com- plaining. He is my very good friend and an astute businessman.
    I admire him when he speaks and most of the time I agree with him. I agreed with him when he complained that he is suffering because the interest rate and the dollar rate are fluctuating while things -
    - 12:52 p.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:52 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are out of order. [Laughter] Hon Agyapong, continue.
    Mr Agyapong 12:52 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I know it is not my Hon Good Friend's style, so he wanted to say something. Indeed, I complained about the depreciation of the cedi but it is not in the State of the Nation Address -- [Laughter] and I am addressing it here.
    Another achievement of the President is weaning us off the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Any time a Government mismanages the economy, they resort to the IMF for prudent management of their resources.
    Today, in two years, we are weaning ourselves off the IMF. We were slaves, and now we are independent because the IMF dictated to us which amounts should be given to each Ministry. Now, we are out. In April, we would sign the final --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:52 p.m.
    Hon Kennedy Agyapong, kindly withdraw the statement that we were slaves. Ghanaians were not slaves, so kindly withdraw that and let that be expunged from the records.
    Mr Agyapong 12:57 p.m.
    Thank you Mr Speaker. I was just comparing it, so I withdraw. What I meant was that if you go under the IMF, they dictate and put pressure on you. However, without the IMF, we are free to take our destiny into our own hands and manage our resources.
    So if I used the word “slave”, I withdraw and apologise. In April this year, there would be no IMF restrictions and we can open up the economy which would really help this country.
    Mr Speaker, my Colleagues on the other Side should appreciate this because under President Kufuor's Administration in 2006, we took the same policy and got ourselves out of IMF. What happened for the NDC to take us to the IMF? Yet, within two years, we have been able to wean ourselves off.
    It is all because of the prudent management of the economy by the NPP Government and my Hon Colleagues on the other Side should applaud it.
    Mr Speaker, do you see the nice attire that I am wearing? Something good comes from the Zongo, and for that matter, Nima. The President has assured us that there would be redevelopment of Nima. The President is a resident himself and has taken bold steps.
    The first time in the history of our country, where a President comes out to say that he does not want a particular area to be called a slum area or any time one mentions Nima, the connotation is negative.

    And so if the President says that he is going to redevelop Nima, then I think it is something that we should all encourage and applaud him for his wisdom.

    Mr Speaker, when it comes to health, in 2012, some hospitals, especially the Catholic hospitals went on strike and refused to take the National Health Insurance cards because Government was owing.

    Today, the President has paid arrears of GH¢1.2billion, and we continue to pay. This time, we do not hear of hospitals going on strikes or introducing cash and carry again.

    I was a witness when I went to Fosu Roman Catholic Hospital between 2011 and 2012 and they refused patients because they were holding — I had to give a cheque of GH¢30,000 from my Common Fund to support Fosu Roman Catholic Hospital to treat the patients.

    Mr Speaker, under President Akufo- Addo's Government, there is no cash and carry, and we pray that we sustain this so that the sick, especially, the vulnerable ones would always be taken care of.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:57 p.m.
    Hon Member you have one minute more.
    Mr Agyapong 12:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, where is my Hon Colleague who was talking about agriculture?. In 2018, GH¢700 million was pumped into fertiliser and that is why we see plantain, cassava, and maize in abundance.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:57 p.m.
    In conclusion?
    Mr Agyapong 12:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I think the NPP Government, under the leadership of President Akufo- Addo, has done tremendously well in this two years, and therefore, I would want all my Hon Colleagues from the other Side to join and let us praise and support him to do the good work for this country. [Hear! Hear!]
    Mr Kwame G. Agbodza (NDC — Adaklu) 12:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the President's Message on the State of the Nation as delivered. I also use the opportunity to thank the President for showing us a new version of how to show affection to one significant other as he did here and was seen on social media. — [Interruption]
    Mr Speaker, the summary of the Message on the State of the Nation by the President on the road and transport sector could be found on pages 26 and 27.
    I however make a request that in the future, Presidents should be made to present their Messages on the State of the Nation with a bit of structuring so that we can see the thematic areas.
    This is just one long letter; no heading, and we need to actually dig into it to be able to get the details. The President has made the work very easy for me.
    Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah 12:57 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, the Hon Member across says the President showed us a new way of showing affection to our other half.
    When I married my wife decades ago, I did kiss her, and I do not know where he is coming from. Indeed, every morning
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:57 p.m.
    All right, thank you very much for showing us how affectionate you are.
    Hon Member, please continue.
    Mr Agbodza 12:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, as a matter of fact, it is the first time I have seen that version and that is what I am saying.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:57 p.m.
    It shows how much of a novice you are. — [Laughter.]
    Mr Agbodza 12:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the summary of the President's Message on the State of, the Nation on the Ministry of Road and Transport appears to be very scanty. On the road sector, the President basically said this, and I beg to quote this from page 26, paragraph 4.
    “Everybody has by now heard about the arrangements we have made with the Chinese company, Synohydro, and it is a matter of great relief to me that I am able to say that work will now be starting on the roads that have been designated to be part of that project. It is worth stating that we are very much aware that there are many more roads that do not come under the Synohydro deal, which are also in a bad way and we continue to seek ways to build a road network worthy of our nation.”
    Mr Speaker, that cannot be a summary of the State of the Nation on the road sector. The President ought to be telling us what interventions he has made and the impact of that. The President should have been telling us why we still have
    Paye — rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:57 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Your Hon Chairman of the committee wants to respond.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this issue was raised at the committee level when
    we were considering the Sinohydro Project.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, what has he said that is not correct -- start from there.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is trying to divide the amount by the kilometres to get cost per kilometre, which is not correct. This is because we are going to build interchanges in Kumasi and in Tamale. So the cost of the works cannot be divided by kilometres -- that is wrong.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, I agree with you. When you get the opportunity then you show us this in your debate, so that the debate would flow.
    Yes, Hon Member?
    Mr Agbodza 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I was hoping my Hon Chairman of the committee would even present before me -- He is hiding to respond to me. He should be present before me next time, so that I would respond to him.
    Mr Speaker, I have always made this point and the Hon Majority Leader made this point too. I said the US$1.2 million is minus the item numbered 3 which is the Tamale Interchange at 46 million US dollars and then the PTC Roundabout at Takoradi for 68 million US dollars.
    I have repeated this time and again, that the US$1.2 million per kilometre excludes these two bridges. He should work it out himself; the sums are there. So he should not say that it is not true; we have worked it out already.
    Mr Speaker, all I am saying is that the President's Sinohydro Project is just 441 kilometres and at the cost of GH¢6.6 million would end up being a colossal
    amount of money but the road has not even gotten to the Hon Majority Leader's constituency yet. This is where the problem is.
    Mr Speaker, when it comes to the other sectors of the Ministry of Transport, I have a request to make, that the President as a matter of urgency ask his relevant Ministry or agency --
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, first of all it is incorrect on the part of my Hon Colleague, the Hon Agbodza to say that the Suame Constituency does not have any share in the Sinohydro Project -- that is incorrect!
    Mr Speaker, secondly, even if we take the face value of it and just divide the kilometrage by the amount, which by his own calculation amounts to about US$1.2 million per kilometre, I agree with him that we should all be concerned about the cost of constructing roads in the country but to say that this is the highest in the history of this country is most incorrect and he knows that.
    The calculation for the Eastern Corridor Road was US$1.5 million under the watch of President Mahama and under the Hon Member's watch. So how could he say this? He knows what he is saying is incorrect.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Members, I am surprised we are getting into this argument. It is because truly, on this Floor of the House, the Hon Member on his feet has made this argument on a number of occasions, that we cannot calculate roads by averages because the topography and other things would differ.
    Therefore let us get out of this argument. That is the reason the Committee
    members are there. You would calculate the respective things when it comes to you at the Committee.
    So Hon Agbodza, stay away from the averages and stay on the debate, please.
    Mr Agbodza 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my next point is that the Government of the NPP made a huge propaganda in the year 2017 about a possibility that people in the previous NDC Administration awarded projects under the cocoa roads which did not exist and that contracts were inflated.
    Till today, that propaganda and palpable lie that was told by COCOBOD is yet to be proven and I dare the Government to --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, you would withdraw “lie”.
    Mr Agbodza 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw.
    Mr Speaker, but I wish the Majority and Government apologises to the people of Ghana for actually telling an untruth by saying that there were cocoa road projects that were awarded and the roads cannot be traced because that is not true.
    All the roads have been accounted for. So I am asking the Government of Nana Akufo-Addo to prove to us that what people in his Government said are actually true.
    Mr Speaker, to go on, I urge the Government that the suspension on projects on cocoa roads is not doing anybody any favour. It is actually reducing the production of cocoa and increasing the cost to cocoa farmers. I wish Government takes notice of this.
    Mr Speaker, we are told that we need huge sums of money to be able to fix our roads.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, you would hold on. The Hon Minister you invited is on his feet.
    Yes, Hon Minister for Transport?
    Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am surprised about the statement the Hon Member just made.
    Mr Speaker, the House, just before we rose last time, we approved a facility of US$208 million to build various landing
    sites along our coasts which the President made mention of. So the fact that he did not talk about Ministry of Transport did not mean that the President did not refer to the Ministry of Transport.
    I thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, the Hon Minister said that the President mentioned a project under his Ministry, so that statement of yours is false.
    Mr Agbodza 1:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, all that the President said under the Ministry of Transport is on page 26 --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:07 p.m.
    Anyway, your time is up but I have allowed you two more minutes, so use it to conclude.
    Mr Agbodza 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the President did not mention that Ministry. The Hon Minister for Transport said that there was a loan facility in this House and I am telling him that the President is about to make a reshuffle and he has forgotten about your Ministry. He should be careful. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, the last thing I would want to say is that the obnoxious Luxury Vehicle Tax this House --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are out of Order! [Laughter.]
    Mr Agbodza 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this House still stands by the fact that that tax is unnecessary and must be removed.
    Mr Speaker, look at this -- [flashes an A-4 sheet in the air] -- Drivers are about to embark on a demonstration to ask for the withdrawal of the so called Luxury
    Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye (NPP-- Ayensuano) 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity. I would also want to use this opportunity to thank H. E. the President for the presentation of this year's State of the Nation Address.
    Mr Speaker, this happens to be the 10th State of the Nation Address I have witnessed in this Chamber. This happens to be the most concise one that I have witnessed.
    The Hon Member for Adaklu just mentioned that everything has been put together. Yes, we have witnessed a State of the Nation Address with PowerPoint presentation that ended up that some of the pictures we saw on the walls of Parliament were actually untrue.
    Mr Speaker, it is better for us to have a concise presentation that is factual and that is exactly what H.E. the President did in this Chamber for this year.
    Mr Speaker, going to the roads and transport sector, the President made mention of various interventions like the Sinohydro. The Hon Member for Adaklu
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Your Hon Ranking Member wants to --
    Yes, what has he said that is not correct?
    Mr Agbodza 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what we approved in this House for Sinohydro is US$646 million. We did not approve US$1.5 billion. This is just to draw the attention of my very powerful Hon Chairman, of the Committee.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    He did not refer to what was approved in the House.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Sinohydro project for roads are in phases. What we sat on that has been approved by this House is the US$646 million portion but the mother agreement has also been approved by the House of which US$1.5 billion of that money would go into road infrastructure.
    That is the point I am raising and the immediate past Honourable Minister for Roads and Highways would benefit from an interchange in Tamale from this intervention.
    Mr Speaker, indeed, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's Government is bringing interventions. What we took over from the previous government is the haphazard nature of awarding contracts.
    Mr Speaker, we are talking about cocoa roads. In 2015-2016 cocoa season, COCOBOD came to this House for a syndicated loan agreement of US$1.2 billion. They said that they are going to buy cocoa beans, construct cocoa roads, and buy chemicals, including fertilisers. They ended up awarding road contracts under cocoa roads for GH¢5.1 billion.
    Mr Speaker, even if we peg the currency at GH¢5 per dollar, and multiply it by US$1.2 billion, we would have close to GH¢5.1 billion. It means we were going to construct roads with all the moneys that we took.
    We were not going to buy the cocoa beans, the fertilisers and chemicals. That cannot be. We cannot continue all the projects. The GH¢5.1 billion project that they left behind must be re-scoped and that is exactly what the Ministry of Roads and Highways has done.
    They have done re-scoping by looking at the jobs and reducing same and reducing the amount so that we could pay for construction to be done.
    Mr Agbodza 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my very good friend and the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Roads and Transport is aware that --
    He is right when he says that the volume of projects awarded within that period was almost GH¢5 billion but the projects were not supposed to be completed within that financial year.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    Then you have no objection.
    Hon Member, continue.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, whatever it is, if one awards a contract to the tune
    of GH¢5.1 billion and a contractor happens to finish the project within one year, whether it is within or outside the season, one still has to pay the contractor.
    So one must go and look for GH¢5.1 billion to pay the contractor. If all the contractors completed the project within one year, it meant that in that season, we would not even have bought cocoa beans.
    Mr Speaker, purchasing of cocoa beans is the primary reason these loans are brought to this House. So we cannot use hundred per cent and even more than that money to build cocoa roads.
    Mr Speaker, when former President Kufuor introduced cocoa roads, it was 10 per cent of the proceeds. He did not use 100 per cent to build the roads.
    Mr Speaker, they assert that the President did not mention anything on transport. That is factually untrue. It is not true because the President made mention of building of harbours and landing sites.
    Landing sites is under the Ministry of Transport and it would help upgrade and improve the livelihood of those at the coastal belt of this country, where poverty is very high. Fishing sites that would be built would help improve the livelihood of the people --
    rose
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, including Ningo-Prampram -- [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, the lives of the people of Ningo-Prampram would improve by these fishing harbours that we would build along the coastal belt of this country.
    Mr Speaker, we are talking about --

    Member for Ningo-Prampram?
    Mr George 1:17 p.m.
    I thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Reference has been made to my people and myself. The Hon Samuel Ayeh-Paye says the President spoke about transport and he is talking about landing sites. Landing sites come under the purview of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    That is your view and that is your objection. Hon Minister, who is responsible for building landing sites?
    Mr Kwaku O. Asiamah 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much. If you check the GPHA Act, Regulation 59, it says that, landing site is a small harbour and it comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport. It is not under the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
    Mr Speaker, the history of this country from Independence up to date, all the fishing harbours in this country have been controlled by GPHA which is directly under the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture have the beneficiary use of these landing sites --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    Your information is sufficient. Thank you very much.
    Yes, Hon Member, continue.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much. We approved that loan in this House and that loan agreement was sponsored by the Ministry of Transport. They would build and hand them over to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture to operate.
    Mr Speaker, the trains are moving. For the first time in the history of this country in so many years, we have seen trains moving from Accra to Tema. [Hear! Hear!] -- The Accra-Tema shuttle is moving. The suburban rail system is moving.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, did you say for the first time?
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I said for the first time in so many years -- [Uproar.]
    I said several years; they should go back.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Very well.
    After a break for so many years, it has resumed.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    So the train is moving -- the Accra to Tema and the Accra to Sokoban train system is moving.
    Mr Speaker, the Takoradi to Kojokrom -- I was in the train with my Hon Ranking Member and the Hon Member for Pusiga. We travelled from Takoradi to Kojokrom, and they were so happy; it was fully air- conditioned. We were served with snacks, and the Hon Member for Pusiga was so happy. So, the trains are moving.
    rose
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Tema to Mpakadan road that is supposed to handle --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Member for Pusiga, were you in the train?
    Ms Ayamba 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that my Hon Chairman has drawn me into the debate.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Member, the question I asked was whether you sat in that train. Did you? [Interruption.] Very good; I am glad that it is part of the state of the nation as of today.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, indeed, the trains are moving.
    My Hon Ranking Member is an architect with a second degree. He knows that before a railway line is built, the earth work must be done before tracks are put on the ground for the train to move on. He knows that the Tema to Mpakadan train tracks are ongoing, and the earth work has been done.
    Very soon, the Hon Member for Pusiga and the Committee would enjoy a free ride from Tema through Mpakadan to the northern part of this country. [Hear! Hear!] Indeed, the trains are moving, and they would continue to move.
    Mr Speaker, we do not have a university that would train engineers, artisans and other staff that would work for our railway sector. Governor Gordon Guggisberg and company left us a rail industry that has virtually collapsed. Today, we have the location at Esikado, where we would train engineers.
    As we speak, we have only one qualified rail engineer in this country, so we are training more. The rail sector is recruiting a lot of people, including those from constituencies of some Hon Members of Parliament in this Chamber. So the rail sector is working again.
    rose
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the
    Terminal 3 project that was built at the Kotoka International Airport is --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Member, let us listen to the Hon Minority Chief Whip.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague misled this House when he said that we do not have any institution that trains engineers that could man our railway sector; that is not correct.
    The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) trains a lot of engineers. So he should get his facts right.
    We have an institution that trains engineers. He could talk about assembling; as for an institution training engineers that could man railways, KNUST -- at least, my school is training a lot of engineers in this country -- mechanical engineers and electrical engineers.
    Hon Opare-Ansah is a product of our electrical engineering department. He knows that a train is not only mechanical, but a combination of a lot of things. So we have an institution that trains engineers in this country.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Member, I thought I heard you say “railway engineer”.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Yes, railway engineering is a specialised area. I am a mechanical engineer with specialisation in automobile engineering.
    So if I am taken to plant maintenance, I would not know how to work on plants. I am a specialised automobile engineer. At

    the Master's degree level, one could do locomotive engineering and specialise in rail engineering. Locomotive engineering was exactly what I referred to.

    I did not mean that we do not have engineers, or we do not have institutions in this country that train engineers. We have general mechanical engineers but we must get people who would specialise in the locomotive industry.

    Mr Speaker, the Kotoka International Airport has a new terminal. The Government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, met this project, and a loan had been sought on the balance sheet of the Ghana Airports Company Limited.

    I was surprised to note that they had a Loan Agreement for a credible company like the Ghana Airports Company Limited, with an interest rate of 18 per cent; it was a very expensive loan.

    When the Government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took over, we called the lenders and sat down with them to reduce the interest rate on the loan to 12 per cent.

    That is why we have that beautiful edifice there for the Ghana Airports Company Limited. [Interruption.] So it is important -- the money left could go to Ayensuano --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Member, I would allow you two minutes to cover the interruptions.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the savings that have been made could be sent to Ayensuano to build the roads there; it could be sent to Suhum, Adaklu or Tamale Central to build roads for us.
    So we thank the Government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo very much for the savings he has made for this country.

    When one visits that site, one could see about 107 acres of land that have been claimed. Machines and cranes, which could process about 1,000 containers in a day, have been put in place. That is exactly the state of this nation in expanding - the biggest ship all over the world could now land at the Tema Harbour.

    I thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Hon Leader --
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, if I may appeal that we break into the debate and attend to the item numbered 2 on the Order Paper Addendum.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Do you mean the Presentation and First Reading --? That is item numbered 2.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I said item numbered 2 on the Order Paper Addendum.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Item numbered 2 on the Order Paper is the Correction of Votes and Proceedings.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is the Order Paper Addendum.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Item numbered 2, there is the Presentation and First Reading of Bills -- the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
    Very well; Hon Members, item numbered 2 on the Order Paper Addendum -- Presentation and First Reading of Bills. By the Hon Minister for Aviation.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:27 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I seek permission for the Hon Minister for Transport to present the Bill on behalf the Hon Minister for Aviation, who is at Cabinet now.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:27 a.m.
    Very well. Hon Minister for Transport, you may lay the Bill on behalf of the Minister for Aviation.
    BILLS -- FIRST READING 1:37 p.m.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if we could do item numbered 3 on the Order Paper Addendum?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:37 p.m.
    Very well. Item numbered 3 -- Motion. Hon Majority Leader?
    MOTIONS 1:37 p.m.
    Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 1:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:37 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
    Mrs Sarah A. Safo (NPP -- Dome/ Kwabenya) 1:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I beg to second the Motion ably moved by the Hon Majority Leader.
    Mr Speaker, being the leader of the delegation to the Pan-African Parliament, you know the history of this Session's representation on the Majority Side with respect to the Pan-African Parliament.
    It started with my good self, being the only woman who was part of the delegation, and per the rules of the Pan- African Parliament, once someone is nominated and approved as an Hon Minister of State, that person can no longer serve on the Pan-African Parliament.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:37 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase) 1:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker, I rise to support the Motion before us in the sense that you are aware that our Colleague, Hon Cynthia M. Morrison, who is a Member of the Pan-African Parliament, became a Minister of State some months ago -- This is long over-due.
    When we went to Rwanda, we noticed that our Hon Colleague, Cynthia M. Morrison, was an Hon Minister even though she had not yet been sworn-in at that time. So, I believe that this is right, especially, now that we are preparing for a Committee meeting in the Pan-African Parliament to get a proper replacement for her.
    Mr Speaker, though our Hon Colleague, Mavis Nkansah-Boadu has not been in this House for a long time-looking at her activities, I believe that she would be a very good replacement.
    Except to say that we should do well to send Hon Members that can stay throughout the period at the Pan-African Parliament. Looking at the circumstances on the Majority Side, this would be the second time in just two years they would be changing Hon Members and it does not really augur well for the delegation as a whole.
    Mr Speaker, this is because when we send someone to the Pan-African Parliament, he or she is then appointed a Minister of State and would later have to be changed, and if this should happen to the next replacement, it does not allow for good institutional memory.
    I urge that as much as possible, though we do not have control over what the Executive would do with our Hon Members here, however, the Hon Majority Leader, being the Leader of Government Business, who, at least, has the privilege of attending Cabinet meetings should try as much as possible to find a person that would stay throughout the period. Because a lot happens there and just as that person is picking up --
    Mr Speaker, fortunately, when we went, Hon Cynthia Morrison even rose to become the Hon Vice-Chairperson of the West African Caucus, and all of a sudden she is being replaced, and while the new person is settling, we changed her again. I hope that the Parliament of Ghana would be able to find representatives that would stay.
    With these comments, I believe that she is a very good replacement to our Hon Colleague because, obviously, the replacement could only be a female since
    the delegation is mandated to have at least, one female Hon Member.
    We have your good self, myself, Hon Chireh and Hon Afful and therefore, the replacement could only be a female, and I believe that Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu is a good replacement for Hon Cynthia Morrison. Mr Speaker with these few words, I support the Motion.
    Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 1:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to speak in favour of the Motion for Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu to replace Hon Cynthia M. Morrison who is now the Hon Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection at the Pan- African Parliament.

    Mr Speaker, so, I support it. Just before Hon Cynthia Morrison assumed office as Hon Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, she took part in a very important supervision of the Elections in Zimbabwe and respected our democracy better, given the experience and opportunity she had.

    We can only wish Hon Mavis Nkansah well that she be guided by you and others to promote Ghana as a torchbearer for Pan- Africanism.

    Mr Speaker, I am not too satisfied with what we have been doing at the Pan- African Parliament. The European Union

    is a symbol of continental unification and it has taken Africa too long.

    Every day we talk about Pan- Africanism and Pan-African Parliament, yet we are still -- even with the African Free Trade Agreement, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his colleagues, while in Addis Ababa, sought to see to it, but how long must it take for Africa to have a Free Trade Agreement?

    Mr Speaker, we need to work at this and I am sure that your Parliament -- I understand that you would be leading a delegation shortly -- would look into some of these Instruments. Mr Speaker, I have heard that it has not matured.

    I would want to support the Motion to approve Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu to replace Hon Cynthia Mamle Morrison, but as I said, my thought was that it would have been dedicated to a more experienced person.

    Mr Speaker, that is not to say that I am against her nomination, particularly, for a female -- I have noticed with my little experience at the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) that sometimes voting rights are better respected when a delegation is constituted and supported by females.

    So, it is encouraging to see that we are replacing a female with another female and I believe that the Hon Member would do us right.

    Mr Speaker, there are many outstanding issues that the Pan-African Parliament should be looking at, and I have mentioned the Africa Free Trade Agreement. Mr Speaker, the tariff arrangements within Africa also need to be examined.

    With these few words, I support the Motion.
    Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 1:47 p.m.


    Minister for the Interior.
    Minister for the Interior (Mr Ambrose Dery) (MP) 1:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Speaker, I just want to say that I am happy that the Hon nominee is enjoying the support of Hon Members on both Sides, but to say that being a first timer is no derogation.
    I was privileged to go to the Pan- African Parliament as a first timer and even then I was granted the privilege to lead two delegations and so I believe that the Hon Member would rise up to the occasion. I just want to encourage her that it is not a matter of how many times she has to be there. I think she has what it takes.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:47 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, we would take the Resolution advertised on pages 2 and 3 of the Order Paper Addendum.
    RESOLUTIONS 1:47 p.m.
    Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 1:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that
    WHEREAS under artcile 4(2) of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan- African Parliament, each Member State shall be represented in the Pan- African Parliament by five (5) Parliamentarians, at least, one of whom shall be a woman;
    UNDERARTICLE 4(3) of the said Protocol, the representation of each Parliament shall reflect the diversity of political opinion in the National Parliament;
    UNDERARTICLE 5(1) of the said Protocol, the Pan-African Par- liamentarians shall be elected or designated by the respective National Parliaments of the Member States from among their Members;
    UNDER RULE 8(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Pan-African Parliament, a Member loses his/ her seat when he/she is appointed to executive or judicial position.
    NOW THEREFORE this Honourable House resolves that in accordance with the said Rule 8(4) of the rules of Procedure of the Pan-African Parliament, Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu, replaces Hon. Cynthia Mamle Morrison (Mrs), who having been appointed as a Minister of State, has resigned her seat as a representative of the Parliament of Ghana at the Pan-African Parliament.
    Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 1:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    Resolved accordingly.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:47 p.m.
    Hon Members, having regard to the state of Business of the House, I direct that the House Sits outside the regular Sitting hours.
    I hereby declare that Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu replaces Hon Cynthia Mamle Morrison who, having been appointed an Hon Minister of State, has resigned her seat as a representative of the Parliament of Ghana at the Pan-African Parliament.
    I am supposed to congratulate the Hon Member who has been approved by the House to replace Hon Cynthia Morrison, but she is not here, and if I congratulate her, it would be in vacuum. But for the record, Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu, on behalf of the House, I congratulate you on your nomination and approval to represent the Parliament of Ghana at the Pan-African Parliament.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we could now move to the item numbered 8 on the original Order Paper.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:47 p.m.
    Hon Minister for the Interior, you may move the Motion.
    MOTIONS 1:57 p.m.
    BILLS -- SECOND READING 1:57 p.m.
    Minister for the Interior (Mr Ambrose Dery) 1:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that the Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill, 2018 be now read a Second time.
    Mr Speaker, the purpose of the Bill is to amend the Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601) to provide for 7th January, 4th August and 21st September as additional statutory holidays and for 25th May and 1st July as commemorative days.
    Mr Speaker, over the years, generations of Ghanaians have made contributions towards the liberation of the country from imperialism and colonialism and indeed, continue to make contributions to date.
    It is against this background that this Amendment Bill seeks to provide for additional public holidays to celebrate or to recognise significant historical events and to honour deserving individuals.
    Mr Speaker, since I am moving this Motion on 28th February, 2019, permit me to just allude to the fact that today is the 75th Anniversary of the 28 th February Christiansborg crossroads shooting incident and that is how we are honouring those three personalities.
    But the history of Ghana shows, and students of history would recognise that 4th August, 1897, was the date on which the Aborigine's Rights Protection Society was formed in Cape Coast. It was to resist the Crown Land Bill, 1896, that sought to take the land rights of the citizens then. It successfully achieved that.
    It is, therefore, important that we recognise those personalities who were involved and also those important events which facilitated our independence to the extent that it made sure that our land rights were not a challenge as has been the case in the eastern and southern parts of Africa, which continue to be the case today to the extent that several independent countries still have the problem of their land not rights not being recognised.
    Clearly, this is an important historical landmark that should be recognised. So, some of the names such as Sarbah and the rest of them have to be recognised on that.
    Minister for the Interior (Mr Ambrose Dery) 2:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, 50 years later, on the 4th August, 1947, was the formation of the first national party, the party that covered the whole. It was the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).
    It is important to note that before I even mention the names, that the first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, became the General Secretary of the first national party --So, this party brought together patriotic Ghanaians -- farmers, chiefs, entrepreneurs, clergymen, lawyers and traders, et cetera.
    Therefore, the names that come up, illustrious figures were George Paa Grant, Joseph Boakye Danquah, R. S. Blay, Francis Awoonor Williams, Joseph W. S. De Graft-Johnson, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey, William Ofori-Atta, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, and Kwabena Kesse who set the ball rolling.
    As I indicated, they were later joined by Dr Kwame Nkrumah who became the General Secretary and later went out to form the Conventions People Party (CPP).
    Mr Speaker, it therefore means that for these two historical events, 4th August, therefore, marks an important day to signify and recognise this collective effort of our forefathers. Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President, earlier a member and General Secretary undoubtedly played a dominant role in the realisation of independence when he went out and formed the CPP.
    It is therefore appropriate that we honour him. That is why 21st September is proposed to be designated as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
    Mr Speaker, we have the histories of other great nations to look at. In the case
    of the United States, we have George Washington Day in recognition of the prominent role he played. Therefore, Dr Kwame Nkrumah's birthday, 21st September, should be designated as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
    Mr Speaker, there is a point of view that the day should be called Founder's Day, a singular founder's day. I would want to submit that no country in the world has been founded by one person. Indeed, the units of founding a State, families are not founded by individuals. Basically, they are founded by a man and a woman. Therefore, it is not all that there should be one founder.
    Mr Speaker, let me also put in context the history of Ghana. The Ghana that we see today was not put together in one day. It started with the Gold Coast, and it got to the Ashanti and to the Northern territories in 1901.
    Therefore, I, a citizen of Ghana, from the Upper West Region, my being part of this country is not owed to one man. It was owed to the leadership of that group. The Northern Peoples Party, at the time, that was given the choice to join or not to join. If those leaders of the north at the time had taken the decision not to join Ghana, I would not have been a Ghanaian.
    Therefore, in talking about the founding of Ghana, we must be sure that we recognise all those who played a part. The Volta Region, as it then was, also joined, and there were leaders at the time who played in that. So, it would be erroneous for anybody to think about Ghana being founded by one person.
    Mr Speaker, we also have the Bill providing for 7th January as a national holiday. 7th January, 1993, was the day on which the Fourth Republic was inaugurated.
    It has served for us the longest period of time that we have had multiparty constitutional rule. It is not an issue of ideology.
    The first leader in the Fourth Republic is the former President Flt. Lt. (retd) Jerry John Rawlings of a different ideology, if you would want it said so. Over the twenty years, there has been a smooth transfer of power three times between the two major parties.
    Mr Speaker, it is important to emphasise that we have had seven successful Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. We have had five Presidents from both Sides of the political divide. So, this 7th January is to celebrate the collective achievement of all Ghanaians.
    What we must not take for granted is our multi-party democracy. This day should be a day of reflection and a day for us to think of deepening our multi- party democratic dispensation.
    I hear people say that 1st July is the First Republic, yes, Mr Speaker, 1st July was the first constitutional Republic. After the 24th February coup d'état, the Military took over and it continued to be a Republic.

    Mr Speaker, we must begin to distinguish between constitutional multi- party system Republic, as distinct from a Republic. The Second Republic came in 1969 and was overthrown on 13th January,

    1972.

    When the soldiers took over under the leader Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheam- pong, it continued to be a Republic, but it
    Chairman of the Committee (Mr Kwame S. Acheampong) 2:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion, and in so doing, I present the Committee's Report.
    Introduction
    The Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was presented to the House on 12th December, 2018. In accordance with article 103 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Orders 125 and 156 of the Standing Orders of the House, the Rt Hon Speaker referred the Bill to the Committee on Defence and Interior for Consideration and Report.
    Consideration of the Bill
    Pursuant to article 106(4) of the Constitution and Order 125 of the
    Standing orders, the Committee published for written memoranda on the Bill.
    Subsequently, individuals and organisations that presented memoranda to the Committee were given the opportunity to meet with the Committee for further deliberation on their proposals.
    The Committee further met with the Hon Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery; the Hon Deputy Minister for the Interior, Mr Henry Quartey; Officials of the Ministry of the Interior and Officials from the Attorney-General's Department.
    The Committee is grateful for their inputs and support during the deliberations.
    Reference Documents
    In examining the Bill, the Committee made reference to the following documents:
    i. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
    ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana;
    iii. The Public Holidays (Amendment) Act, 1995 (Act 507);
    iv The Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601);
    v. The Public Holidays (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 626); and
    vi. Memoranda from the Public.
    Background
    From the onset of colonialism of the Gold Coast through to Independence of Ghana in 1957, various citizens have resisted and made vital contributions to the liberation of our nation from colonialism.
    In honour of such persons, and in recognition of significant historical events, Government introduced the Bill to provide for the celebration of additional holidays and commemorative days.
    The Aborigines Rights Protection Society was formed in Cape Coast on 4th August, 1897, to resist the enactment of the Crown Lands Bill and to begin the assertion of our national property rights. This bravery exhibited by these nationalists and their successful efforts in opposing the Crown Lands Bill was a colossal step taken to preserve the lands of the country.
    This effort enhanced the movement towards self-determination and paved way for the struggle for the independence of Ghana without the attendant challenge of encumbered land rights of citizens as existed in other countries in the East and South Africa. It is therefore significant that we acknowledge and honour all of the members of society for the role they played.
    Furthermore, on 4th August, 1947, the founders of the first nationalist party, United Gold Coast Convention, met in Saltpond to inaugurate the Convention and lead the nation in the fight for independence from the British.
    The inauguration of the Convention set the ball rolling for Ghana's attainment of independence as a multi-party democracy and for the dramatic events including the birth of the Convention Peoples Party(CPP) in 1949, that ultimately ushered the country into independence.
    Consequently, the 4th day of August is a memorable day, which signifies the recognition and appreciation of the efforts of our fore-fathers towards the founding
    of a free, independent and constitutional Ghana.
    Ghana became Republic on the 1st of July, 1960 and paved the way for subsequent constitutional Republics. For this reason, it is important to recognise this day and commemorate it, to mark the beginning of an effort at multi-party democracy and constitutional rule.
    Finally, the Fourth Republic which was established by the 1992 Constitution was inaugurated on 7th January, 1993. This date provides the basis for the longest, uninterrupted period of stable, consti- tutional rule in the history of Ghana. The day witnessed the achievement of seven successive Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
    The transfer of power between the two major political parties, on three occasions, has been peaceful. It is therefore worthy to commemorate the 7th day of January as a national holiday to acknowledge the collective efforts as a country in ensuring that the tenets of democracy, the rule of law and the principles of constitutionalism are upheld.
    Purpose of the Bill
    The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601) to provide for the 7th day of January, the 4th day of August and 21st day of September as additional statutory public holidays and for the celebration of the 25th day of May and the Ist day of July as commemorative days.
    Memoranda Received
    As already indicated, the Committee received memoranda from the Conventions Peoples Party and the People's National Convention and met with both groups. The two memoranda were similar and addressed the same issues. They contended that:
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:07 p.m.
    Hon Members, pursuant to Standing Order 127, a full debate arises on the principle of the Bill on the basis of the explanatory memorandum and the Report of the Committee.
    I would now hear the Hon Member for Builsa North.
    Mr James Agalga (NDC —— Builsa North) 2:17 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    I rise to debate the Motion before this august House.
    Mr Speaker, I wish to observe from the outset that at the level of the Committee, as the Hon Chairman rightly said, the Minority was very clear in its mind that the amendment that has been proposed is an attempt to distort the history of Ghana -- [Hear! Hear!]. On the basis of that and on ideological grounds, we are diametrically opposed to the proposed amendments.

    Mr Speaker, let me take us back to even the formation of the Fante Confederacy which precedes the formation of ARPS.

    Mr Speaker, for the sake of argument, if we were to accept the submission by the Hon Minister for the Interior that with the formation of the ARPS we were able to resist land reforms that the colonial establishment sought to introduce and therefore, that date should mark the period from which the struggle for independence began, I would remind him that the Fante Confederacy --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Hon member, hold on. Hon Minister?
    Mr A. Dery 2:17 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I did not say that that was when the fight for independence began; I said it began the fight for our property rights. That is all I said. He should not create a difference when there is no difference.
    There was a Crown Lands Act which I told you of its significance and that even South Africa, Zimbabwe and others that have independence still struggle with their land rights so it is significant to note that this group made sure they settled it by resisting it. Please, he should not distort my arguments.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Very well, Hon Member, take note.
    Mr Agalga 2:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the point I would want to drive home is that the Fante Confederacy was formed long before the ARPS and that the Fante Confederacy collapsed 23 years before the ARPS was formed. [Hear! Hear!]

    Mr Speaker, let me take us back further. The struggle for our independence actually started when the Portuguese first landed at Elmina.

    Mr Speaker, it is on record that when the Portuguese first landed at Elmina in

    1471, the chief of Elmina, Nana Kwamena Ansah, told them that it was impossible for them to co-exist peacefully.

    In fact, Mr Speaker, King Aggrey of Cape Coast who also defied British colonial rule and was arrested and deported to Sierra Leone and only returned very sick and died shortly thereafter. With the greatest of respect, all these incidents happened long before the formation of the ARPS.

    Mr Speaker, the point that needs to be made is that the 4 th August, which coincidentally is the date the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was also formed, cannot and should not be celebrated as Founders' Day.

    Mr Speaker, the fact that remains unassailable is that the UGCC itself, after its formation, did not last; it fizzled into thin air within a period of about three years.

    Mr Speaker, we all know the circumstances that led to the withdrawal of Dr Kwame Nkrumah from the UGCC and which then necessitated the formation and founding of the Convention People's Party (CPP) at Saltpond in 1949.

    Mr Speaker, the reasons were simple. Ideologically, Kwame Nkrumah was incompatible with the leaders of the UGCC. That was all.

    Mr Speaker, while Dr Kwame Nkrumah stood for the downtrodden, the leaders of the UGCC represented the interest of the elites and that is why they were incompatible and therefore, Kwame Nkrumah had no choice but to leave the UGCC and found the CPP.

    Mr Speaker, what was the state of affairs after the CPP was formed in 1949? Election upon election, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah routed his opponents including Dr J. B. Danquah who was the political head of the UGCC and eventually led this country to independence on 6th March, 1957.

    He was the one who moved the Motion of destiny before Parliament which Motion was adopted and formally ushered this country into the era of independence.

    Mr Speaker, if we are looking for an appropriate date to celebrate as Founders Day -- and the precedent has long been established -- that date can only be 21st September and that is the date that has been celebrated before this Government came into power on 7th January, 2017.

    Mr Speaker, if they are minded to introduce an amendment, remember that 21st September was celebrated through Constitutional Instrument as Founder's Day. This amendment ought to try to crystallise that celebration into the Public Holidays Law as the amendment that should be debated.

    Mr Speaker, we are unable to accept the attempt to replace “Founder's” with “Founders' ”. Can it be said by any stretch of imagination that the founders of this country would not include Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and yet it was he who actually moved the Motion for destiny which formally ushered this country into independence? That is the implication.

    If we allow 4th August date to hold as they are trying to do, it would mean that the founders of this country do not even include Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

    Mr Speaker, that is the implication. This position is simply untenable and cannot wash and that is why we are diametrically opposed to the amendment.

    2. 27 p. m.

    Mr Speaker, the Bill also seeks to water down the effect of 1st July as Republic Day and yet historically speaking, the independence that Ghana won in 1957 only became complete on 1st July, 1960. Because it was on that date that the final vestiges of colonialism was broken.

    So, on 1st of July, 1960, the Queen of England ceased to be the Head of State of this country.

    Mr Speaker, so when we hear our Hon Colleagues from the other Side of the aisle argue strenuously that this country has had several Republics and therefore, we must crown our Republican status with the celebration of 7 th January as Constitution Day, we are simply saying that when this country first adopted its Constitution in 1960, which ushered this country in as a Republic as opposed to a State under the governance of a monarchy, we should simply shelve that historical account and make do with what happened on 7th January, 1993.

    Mr Speaker, the truth of the matter is that the 1960 Republican Constitution is actually the constitutional framework from which all subsequent Constitutions of this country have drawn their inspirations.

    The Hon Minister for the Interior argued that the Constitution of 1960 and the subsequent Constitutions were
    Mr Agalga 2:17 p.m.
    overthrown and that the current 1992 Constitution has been the most enduring and for which reason, it is that Constitution which ought to be celebrated.
    Mr Speaker, that argument simply does not take account of the fact that the 1992 Constitution was not promulgated in a vacuum. This is a Constitution which drew inspiration from all other previous Constitutions, namely; the 1960 Constitution, the 1969 Constitution and the 1979 Constitution.
    Mr Speaker, let me just draw attention to one simple example; for instance, in the 1960 Constitution, we did not have a Bill of Rights.
    What later became known as the Bill of Rights was in the form of declarations. So, in the Re-Akoto decision, the Supreme Court of this land was not able to enforce the declarations as Bill of Rights.
    Mr Speaker, in subsequent Consti- tutions, deliberate attempts were made to make the Bill of Rights, which hitherto were in the form of declarations, enforceable.
    So, could anybody say that, today, in Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution, the Bill of Rights are enforceable; there is no question about that.
    Is that not as a result of the historical experience that was grounded in the shortcomings which were inherent in the 1960 Constitution that aided us in promulgating what we now have as the 1992 Constitution?
    Mr Speaker, we simply cannot run away from our history by claiming that the 1992 Constitution is the most enduring one.

    Mr Speaker, historically speaking, even after the overthrow of the 1960 Constitution, we continue to celebrate 1st July as Republic Day. [Hear! Hear!] What lessons could we draw from this example?

    The lesson we could draw from this example is that even though the 1960 Constitution was overthrown, it remains an enduring document that we continue to draw inspiration from. So under all the Military Regimes—
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, is that a legal argument? Because it was overthrown — I am asking only because he is a lawyer. That we continue to water the document, I want to understand that bit.
    Mr Agalga 2:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is politico- Legal argument -- [Laughter.] Mr Speaker, so the relevance of the 1960 Constitution cannot be watered down with this amendment; it cannot.
    So, First Republic -- it is First Republic. That is the time Ghana became a Republic and has since remained a republic. In fact, we did not become a new republic in 1969 with the promulgation and the adoption of the 1969 Constitution.
    We also did not become a new republic in 1979 with the promulgation and adoption of the 1979 Constitution. That argument is equally applicable to what happened in 1992.
    Ghana remains the same republic and that is why 1st July was celebrated even in the era of military dictatorship.
    Mr Speaker, so any attempt to reduce the celebrations of 1 st July to a commemorative day -- and Mr Speaker, under the Bill, a commemorative day has been defined and its definition is totally different and distinct from a public holiday.
    A commemorative day is not a public holiday. And is that what we want to reduce our 1st July celebrations to? Mr Speaker, this is unacceptable and history would not forgive us if we allow this to pass. That is why we remain opposed to this Bill.
    Mr Speaker, another point that needs to be made is that this Bill further seeks to water down the essence of the African Union (AU) Day, which in times past was celebrated as a public holiday albeit with Constitutional instrument.
    The point needs to be made that the passage of Constitutional Instruments by Presidents finds expression in section 2 of the Public Holidays' Act. So, those who argue that it was not captured in the schedule need to revise their notes.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Very well, Hon Member, just wind up, you have been given so much time, about fifteen minutes already.
    Mr Agalga 2:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would wind up. The argument is that this country played a leading role in the emancipation of the African Continent.
    So, when Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah declared that the independence of Ghana was meaningless unless it was
    linked with the total liberation of the African Continent, it cannot be downplayed.
    He took concrete steps to work towards the emancipation of the African Continent, so the least we could do -- The entire African Continent looks up to Ghana to continue to provide the continent with leadership.
    So when we decided that AU Day would be celebrated as a public holiday, at the AU Headquarters, we were applauded.
    Today, we are seeking to reduce that day to a commemorative day. When next our President has the opportunity to address the Summit for Heads of States, how would they think of us?
    Mr Speaker, with those words, I maintain my earlier position that we remain diametrically opposed to the amendment. This House should reject the amendment in its totality.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Hon Minister for Defence?
    Minister for Defence (Mr Dominic B. A. Nitiwul)(MP) 2:17 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker. Ordinarily, we would be in Cabinet but the Motion moved by my brother and Hon Colleague, the Hon Minister for the Interior, is so important that we have to skip the Cabinet meeting to come and listen and also contribute to the debate.
    Mr Speaker, when Hon Agalga was speaking, I had jotted down more than 50 points to interject but I decided to keep my cool. I just hope that they would have the same patience and also keep their cool and listen.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, your Hon Colleagues are not “these people''; kindly withdraw.
    Mr Nitiwul 2:37 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw.

    Their own founder appended his signature on the Constitution, yet they say that it is not important and we should forget about it.

    Mr Speaker, they should have patience and listen. I hope that the former President's daughter would get up and support me.

    I would still stress this particular point, that if there is any group of MPs who would propose, argue and support this President for the proposal he has made, it should be my Hon Colleagues on my right hand side.

    The only political party in Ghana today, that does not have a link to the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) is the NDC. The Convention People's Party (CPP) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came out of the UGCC.

    The only political party that does not have any link to the UGCC is the NDC. Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of the CPP, was the first General Secretary of the UGCC.

    So, the CPP and NPP's traditions merged on that fateful day of 4th August, 1947. [Interruption.] My Hon Colleagues can continue arguing but on that fateful day of 4th August, 1947, the founders of our party and the founders of CPP formed a political party.

    The NDC was formed after a coup d'état in 1992. This President seeks to celebrate a day and a Constitution that their founder brought to Ghana.

    He is right that this is the Constitution that has survived the longest, and as a people, it would serve as a perpetual reminder that we should never allow individuals to take our destiny into their hands by staging a coup d'état. We should celebrate that particular day.

    Mr Speaker, I just want to ask my Hon Colleagues whether they are MPs supporting the agenda of the NDC or the

    CPP.

    Let me also make another factual point. The number of holidays in Ghana has not increased. We still have 13 holidays in Ghana. What is more important than the argument he has put across?

    The argument advanced by Hon Agalga on my right hand side who is the Hon Ranking Member of the Committee on Defence and the Interior, goes to underscore the very point that there is no single founder of Ghana.

    If we go to the eastern side of the north, we would have some people whose right thumbs have been cut off. They were cut off by the whites because they used their

    right thumbs to shoot with bows and arrows to kill the Germans and English. So they cut off their thumbs because they resisted white rule.

    Ewes, Ashantis, Gas and Fantes resisted the white rule. Why should we celebrate the day Ghana was founded on the birthday of a particular individual?

    Today, they want us to celebrate Founder 's Day on the birthday of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and we would not do that.

    We will celebrate him as an individual on the 21st of September. The Founder's Day of Ghana should not be on Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah's birthday.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:37 a.m.
    Hon Minister, hold on. Yes, Hon Dakura?
    Dr Dakura 2:37 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise under Standing Order 91(a) to make an interruption to stop my Hon Friend from further damaging and misleading this House and the people of Ghana.
    If he says the NDC does not have any link to Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah or the history of this country, I would want him to also understand that the NPP as just a party has nothing to do with --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:37 a.m.
    Hon Member, you are making an alternative argument, so when you get the opportunity, you could do that.
    Mr Nitiwul 2:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I never at any point said that the NDC has no link to the history of Ghana. I said that the NDC has no link to the party called UGCC. [Interruption.]
    The CPP has through Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the NPP as well as, J. B. Danquah, Obetsebi Lamptey, Paa Willie and others --
    Mr Speaker, let me again state that it is important that we get a day to celebrate all the people of Ghana who fought and died in the struggle for independence.
    As I stated, that day cannot be 21st September; it can only be the day -- For the first time, our people came together to fight for lands and it is the day our people came together to form the first politically independent party that gave birth to all the major parties we have today.
    Mr Speaker, if we have land today in our country, we should thank the events of 4th August, 1947. What are my Hon Colleagues on the other Side against?
    Are they against the celebration of 7th January, that their own founder brought to this country? Are they against the celebration of that Constitution?
    I guess not. Are they against the day we are all recognising as a people to celebrate Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah alone on his birthday as a public holiday? Are they against it? No.
    What is it that my Hon Colleagues are against? Are they against the celebration of 4th August as a public holiday for all the people who fought for Ghana? Obviously not.
    Mr Joseph Y. Chireh 2:47 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, the way the Hon Minister for Defence, the way he is carrying on with the debate and making factual inaccuracies — He said the NDC cannot trace itself to the UGCC. Who are the founders of NDC? — [Interruption.]
    The Constitution says that we cannot have one founder. It is a congress and we had people who were of the United Party (UP) tradition, Convention Peoples' Party (CPP) who are in the NDC. They trace their roots to the same UGCC.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:47 p.m.
    Hon Member, so what is your objection?
    Mr Chireh 2:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my objection is that we are a congress and we have people who were founding members of NDC who trace their roots to UGCC, and so for him to say that we started off in 1982 is not right, and he is not making his point clear enough.
    He said Ghana has always remained a Republic, and that it is not only the 1st July, but it has always remained — whether there is a coup d'état or not, we do not change it to a military republic.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:47 p.m.
    I thought you wanted to raise objection but you took advantage to contribute to the debate.
    Mr Nitiwul 2:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I actually want to thank my Hon Colleague for making my point for me that the Constitution of Ghana says we cannot have one founder. I am actually very happy, and so what are we arguing about?
    He is saying on their Side that the Constitution says we cannot have one founder, then why do we have the Founder's Day? Why do they want one founder when they are saying it? I am actually very grateful.
    He has made my day, and that is the reason, instead of celebrating it as Kwame Nkrumah's Day, one founder, we are celebrating it as Founders' Day, including his grandfathers who fought.
    Mr Speaker, what is even more worrying today is that they are denying that Rawlings is their founder. I am sure he would not sleep today; that today he is denying on the Floor of Parliament and not on radio stations, that former President Rawlings is not their founder.
    Mr A. Ibrahim 2:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon senior Colleague is making serious inaccuracies. Even when he was corrected by his senior here, he is still going on the path of creating inaccuracies.
    Our points are clear; nobody has said that former President Rawlings is not a founder of NDC on this Floor — [Interruption] — and it is not part of the Motion. Nobody has made any proposal by mentioning former President Rawlings.
    But when we are talking about history, these are very serious issues, and this Hansard is going to be a historical document. Therefore, it is not going to be used as a political document. The academia will also use it so when we are debating, we should make factual historical records and state the issues clearly.
    He should not create propaganda by saying that the NDC MPs on this Side are saying that former President Rawlings is not the founder and that there is no Founder's Day.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Yieleh Chireh said the Constitution admits the fact that there is no single founder, but he did not say that there are Founders' Days. There must only be one day even if the founders are hundred, and that is the point.
    He should not base on that and misquote him just to say that we are denying former President Rawlings. If that is the case, this Constitution bears only President Rawlings's name — 7th January — If this is the only document that has worked for thirty years, let us name the 7th

    That is where we stand from this Side of the House. If they wish, they should propose 7th January as Rawlings' Day, but they should not change Republic Day; they cannot change history. If they change it, when we come, we would also change it. There is only one Republic Day and it remains so.

    Mr First Deputy Speaker Hon Members, let me rule on the purported objection. Hon Yieleh Chireh was very clear that the Hon Minister on his feet was wrong for saying that their party has one founder because the Constitution says there cannot be any one founder. That was the words of Hon Yieleh Chireh. It is his interpretation of that that you have denied your founder.

    And so, he has not misinformed; he has not stated any wrong fact. But in this debate, if I were to mark every inaccurate statement, we would not finish. That is why I asked him whether the argument he was making was legal, and he said it was politico-legal and I let it pass. So overlook the politico-factual inaccuracies and let them pass.

    Hon Minister, please try and conclude.
    Mr Nitiwul 2:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for coming to my aid and for putting the facts as they are.
    Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I want to support the Motion that seeks to make the 7th January a public holiday. It is time we celebrated the Constitution that has lasted us 27 uninterrupted years — The longest in our history as a country. And I guess that we will continue to celebrate that particular day forever because I do not foresee any break unless God wants it.
    Mr Nitiwul 2:57 p.m.
    But the people of Ghana have accepted that particular day and I hope that all of us will come together to celebrate the founder of the NDC that brought this Constitution. There would not be any argument any longer about that day accepted.
    Mr Speaker, I have no problem calling it Rawlings' Day. In fact, I have no problem to support it as a holiday and that is why I am supporting it as a holiday.
    I have no problem in supporting the 4th August at all, and I want my Hon Colleagues to also support the 4th August as the Founders' Day, because there were several people who lost their lives and sacrificed from the North to the South, from the East to the West, and in the Central part of Ghana to make Ghana what it is today.

    Mr Speaker, as I said before, the country Ghana as we see it today was not put together one particular day. First, we had the southern part, then Ashanti added and then the North got involved and later the Transvolta Togoland also added to make what we call Ghana today.

    So, it is just right that our forefathers who fought and came together for the first time as a whole, on the 4th of August, 1897 and on the 4th of August, 1947; we should celebrate that day as the Founders' day. But the rest, we should commemorate those days.

    In fact, we could have been commemorating all the republic days but because the first one was the most significant, that is the reason we are saying let us choose 1st July and commemorate it.

    If we want, let us all go and plant trees on that day. But I can say that between 7th of January and 1st of July, a modern Ghanaian today will today go for 7th of January.

    No emotions attached, he would go for that particular one and I would support anybody who would go for that particular one. It is because that is what has served us longest and I expect my Hon Colleagues on the other Side who, at least, are the first beneficiaries of that proposed date, to support it.
    Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 2:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate.
    In doing so, I wish to emphasise the importance of the matter before us. The matter before us has to do with our entire embodiment as a people: our heritage, our history, our nationhood, what we stand for, and how we want the world to know us. In essence, this is a very serious matter. It is not a matter to be approached lightly.
    The story about the Independence of Ghana is not a story that we can sit in Parliament and create. We cannot chart a new path and a narrative which history cannot support.
    Not only has this Chamber, previously known as the National Assembly on the 3rd of August, 1956, the Gold Coast National Assembly, settled this matter when Kwame Nkrumah moved the Motion of destiny -- a White Paper -- that proposed the formation of Ghana.
    Mr Speaker, before the Queen of England took cognisance of the vote in the National Assembly, the House of
    Commons debated the matter and decided that Britain would relinquish its colonial control over the Gold Coast and Ashanti, the Protectorate of the Northern Territories and the British Togoland.
    The records about our independence would not be wiped away by the amendment we seek to carry out today. The records are available everywhere in the world including the British House of Commons.
    These are matters that are certain. The torch that the founding father of this country, the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, lit became the torch that other black African nations took inspiration from to achieve their own independence.
    The records show that until the Convention People's Party (CPP) was formed on the 12th of June, 1949, what had been the slogan of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was “Self Government within the shortest possible time”. That “shortest possible time” may have continued even up to today; who knows?
    The independence struggle required the spark of the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah who said “Self Government now”. And he led the Positive Action campaign of 1950; the Positive Action Campaign made the colonialist arrest Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and imprisoned him.
    They thought that with Nkrumah in prison, the 1951 General Elections would not be won by the CPP.
    The records show that the CPP won two-thirds; 71 of the 104 seats in the National Assembly were won by the CPP and that is what made the colonial masters remove Nkrumah from prison to form the
    first African Government which inspired Africans the world over.
    This is the history; when Kwame Nkrumah was arrested after the Positive Action campaign, the people who today we are being told should be brought at the same level, so that they would all be founders betrayed Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and they said they were not responsible for the riot. That Kwame Nkrumah should be blamed for the Positive Action campaign and that is the reason why Kwame Nkrumah alone was held responsible.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for the Interior, whom I respect very much, in his submission said that there is no country that has only one founder. I am really wondering where we have all been reading our history lessons from.
    A simple Google check would show that Kenya recognises Jomo Kenyata as its founder; Liberia recognises Joseph Jenkins Roberts as its founder; modern South Africa recognises Nelson Mandela as its founder; Tunisia recognises Habib Bourguiba as its founder; Zambia recognises Kenneth Kaunda as its founder.

    Mr Speaker, what we are even failing to recognise is that a lot of the countries I have listed including Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Sekou Tuore of Guinea all
    Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 3:07 p.m.
    took inspiration from Dr Kwame Nkrumah. All of them in their memoirs said that Kwame Nkrumah is their inspiration, leader and father.
    Mr Speaker, in Nelson Mandela's book Long Walk to Freedom, he recognises the inspiration that he took from the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Why are we trying to rewrite history? Why are we doing this to ourselves?
    Distorting history in a manner that would not last and cannot stand the test of time. Historians would be laughing at us; academics will be making mockery of what is going on here.
    Mr Speaker, I can assure you that one of the first things this Side of the House would do when we take over on the 7th of January, 2021, would be to repeal this amendment and put it in the dustbin where it belongs to because the history of this country would not be distorted. We would not allow our heritage to be ripped; it would not be accepted.

    How does this address the insecurity situation confronting Ghanaians today; the kidnappings and the contract killings? How does this address the depreciating cedi? Bloomberg says that our currency, ranked among 124 countries, is the worst in the world. How does this address that?
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are out of order. Keep within the debate. You had the opportunity to debate the State of the Nation and the Budget Statement. This is about a Report, please.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    the Hon Member may disagree with the principle underpinning the Bill but to say that what this House is about to do belongs to the dustbin.
    Mr Speaker, I believe that the language is most offensive -- [Interruption.] Please, Mr Speaker, he should listen to himself when he speaks. He said it belongs to the dustbin. [Interruption.] That is what he said.
    Mr Speaker, this is not a tape that has been leaked which people would say that it has been concocted or not. He is speaking to facts here. We listen to ourselves.
    Mr Speaker, let not Hon Sam George be interjecting.
    Mr Speaker, with respect to you, we should learn to be responsible here.
    Mr Speaker, I think we had also addressed this matter about contract killings. Where is the evidence that there have been contract killings? Yesterday, we had a ruling on this that to the extent that this has not been proved yet -- If indeed it has been proved, one could cite it.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Members should be speaking to facts. Parliament House is a serious house. We are not on a political platform.
    Mr Speaker, so could you call him to order?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:07 p.m.
    Hon Member, please, be guided by the rules and let us respect one another.
    Hon Akandoh, I have to single you out because I could hear you from here. When we say we should debate with decorum, it is because we should show respect to one another. That is all.
    There are things you do on radio that nobody would complain but when we come here, we should please show respect to one another and decorous language is the only admissible means of communication to one Hon Member or another.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:07 p.m.
    I would not recognise you. [Laughter.]
    Please, Hon Member, proceed.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would be so guided.
    Mr Speaker, the question we must ask ourselves is that if Ghana did not become a Republic on the 1st of July, 1960, would we have had a Constitution?
    As students of political science, we all know that when you become a Republic, then you can promulgate your own constitution. Hitherto, when we formed the first government in 1952, the crown was the Head of State. We were under the Commonwealth.
    So, it beats my imagination; I cannot understand why we would be seeking to downgrade the status to make the Republic Day just a mere commemorative day and then be seeking to celebrate a Constitution Day on January 7.
    Yes, we all admit that this Republic is the longest one. It is worth-noting and a record that we on this Side are very proud of because there was very little faith on the part of our Hon Colleagues on the other Side when we came to drafting the 1992 Constitution.
    They said so many things about this Constitution and those who sat to write it. Today, they want to cry louder than the bereaved that the process which they boycotted and called names and really impugned now want to be the apostles of it and we do not want the day to be acknowledged.
    Nobody has said that. We are saying that the Constitution Day is subservient to the Republic Day. The Republic Day ought to be maintained as a statutory holiday. We should not downgrade it. We should not do that.
    Mr Speaker, then, I also take issue with the downgrade of African Union (AU) Day which is May 25. I have heard Hon Colleagues on the other Side say that, it is not a holiday in many other countries and I say that when they make that statement, though a statement of fact, they are failing to recognise the special role that Ghana played under Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
    It is not for nothing that Kwame Nkrumah's statue, until a recent AU -- Even with that AU resolution to erect a statue of Haile Selassie, it is even at another location, behind the AU building. Up to now, the Nkrumah statue is the only one which stands in front of the AU building.
    The significance of that to the African Union agenda -- The African Union agenda was mooted by the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. He mooted the idea. The Europeans even acknowledge that and credited Kwame Nkrumah for his vision.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let us not forget who we are. All over Africa and the world, when one mentions Ghana, we are a symbol of the liberation movement. We bring a lot of pride. It is not for nothing that a lot of Africans in the diaspora look to Ghana as a pilgrimage home.
    President Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States of America came to Ghana first. He did not go to Kenya, the country of his father but Ghana and insisted on visiting the Cape Coast Castle with Michelle. Michelle Obama went on record that she has traced her roots. So, we should not downplay the significant role we play.
    Ghana became the hotbed and the hosting ground for all the liberation fighters. President Mugabe was here; Sekou Toure and Kenneth Kaunda were all here. They were all at the International Students Hostel.
    They were all here to receive training and inspiration. So, if we make the AU Day a holiday, it is because of the pioneering role we played. They should not just say that it is not a holiday in Liberia, Sierra Leone and la Cote d'Ivoire, so, we should also downgrade our status.
    We should not do that. When we do that, we are failing to recognise the role that we played and all these people are looking up to us.
    Mr Speaker, it is significant to note that President John Agyekum Kufuor who belongs to their tradition was the one who introduced this. [Hear! Hear!] I credit him for that. He acknowledges the role that Ghana plays.
    Now, under President Akufo-Addo, we are rolling back the clock. Ordinarily, one
    would expect enemies of one's country to be doing what we are doing to ourselves. That is what one would expect. So, it is really shocking that we are doing this to ourselves.
    Mr Speaker, on the August 4 debate, I have no qualms if our Friends on the other Side want to celebrate Danquah, Dombo and Busia for establishing the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

    They can sympathise that they lost out, kept the party at a very elitist level, and so when Kwame Nkrumah -- the secretary came and broke away to form a mass party and got them to back him, the United Gold Coast Convention lost its relevance --

    Mr Speaker, they can decide to propose some commemorative day of a sort for us to -- but to use the backdoor; the Aborigines Movement, 4 th August -- [Laughter] -- How about Yaa Asantewaa's fight?

    She led men to war against the British and she could have died and not this Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) that had one of its objectives as to: “inculcate in the people of the Gold Coast, a sense of loyalty towards the British Crown”.

    This was the objective of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society and they are saying that we should celebrate this group because of 4 th August and familial considerations and so on.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Yes, Hon Member for New Juaben South?
    Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for North Tongu said 4th August is being proposed because of familial reasons.
    I think he has to withdraw as it is offensive to suggest that 4th August is being proposed because of familial reasons.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    What is offensive in ‘familial'?
    Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, ‘familial' would mean that it is because of family reasons -- [Interruption] -- That cannot be accepted here.
    The Hon Member is impugning improper motives, that the 4th August is being proposed because of family reasons. That cannot be accepted here.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, can you get another word because it suggests an improper motive?
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, all right. I substitute ‘familial' with ‘blood ties' if that
    -- 3:17 p.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, it is the same thing.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is because Edward Akufo-Addo, J. B. Danquah are people we all know have family relations with the President and this is a fact which I am only stating without meaning any harm at all. I am just being factual.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    The fact is that, yes, the President is related to them but is that the reason for the Bill? That is your suggestion if you use the word ‘familial' and that is why I say choose another word to capture what you mean.
    You cannot say it is for family reasons as that would be imputing improper motives.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, all right. Maybe, ancestral ties -- [Laughter] --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    You know what we do here sometimes makes it difficult to manage, because even when we agree that we are wrong, we do not want to accept and move on and when it is another time, you do not know how to behave.
    I want to hear an impartial arbitrator. When I say that you are wrong, please, do not repeat with a synonym; it does not make any difference.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I respect your ruling and I would just veer off that area. As I conclude --
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the tendency for my Hon Colleague on his feet when his attention is drawn to unparliamentary language to withdraw, would always say that ‘Well, I acknowledge what you have said. I take a cue and I am guided.'' If he has to withdraw, he has to withdraw; that is how it is.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    One of the reasons where a content of a speech may be objected to is contained in Standing Order 93(2):
    “It shall be out of order to use offensive, abusive, insulting, blasphemous or unbecoming words or to impute improper motives to any Member or to make personal allusions”.
    So I suggest that when you say ‘familial' I actually looked up the word because I was not conversant with it and what I found suggests that is the reason,

    and I think it is improper. Kindly withdraw that and change your course of argument.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I withdraw the use of the word ‘familial ties' and just proceed on the basis that -- [nterruption] --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, conclude in two minutes and let us go.
    Mr Ablakwa 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader keeps intimidating me -- [Laughter.] -- I know it is an uncomfortable issue.
    Mr Speaker, the point is that we should be minded that there are historians, academics, records available in our national archives, the Hansard of the National Assembly and the records at the House of Commons.
    Let us not engage in an exercise that will not stand the test of time. We have already heard from virtually all the other political parties except the NPP.
    The Convention People's Party and People's National Party all made representation to the Committee; the NDC has registered its opposition, civil society organisations and academics. Why is Government walking on this unpopular path? This is not a matter that will be sustained.

    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member for Okaikoi Central, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah?
    Order!
    Please, all Hon Members should resume their seats. I have given the Floor to Hon Boamah. -- [Interruption.] --
    Mr Patrick Y. Boamah (NPP - Okaikoi Central) 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
    I am looking at paragraph 5 of the Report -- Purpose of the Bill.
    “The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601) to provide for the 7th day of January, the 4th of August and 21st day of September as additional statutory public holidays and for the celebration of the 25th day of May and the 1st day of July as commemorative days”
    Mr Speaker, that is the basis for this debate. The significance for setting commemorative days is founded on the country's history, the contributions of certain individuals, groups of persons, significance of certain important dates in the history of the country such as the 4th of August.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Yes, Hon Member?
    Mrs Della Sowah 3:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is reading.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are out of order. He was quoting from the Report.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:17 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member, continue.
    Mr Boamah 3:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, probably, it is one of the campaigns for the running mate of the NDC, so, I do not begrudge her.
    Mr Speaker, I was mentioning the fact that some of these days are founded based on the contributions of certain individuals, groups of persons' contributions to the country and certain important days which are significant to the foundations of the country.

    Mr Speaker, first of all, my Hon Colleague from North Tongu Constituency talked about 1st July as a very important day. Mr Speaker, that was the day that the Governor-General who represented the Crown left the Gold Coast.

    Therefore, is he suggesting that that day is more important than the Constitution Day of this country, 21st September, which is being set aside for the first President of this country and 4th August, when certain group of persons led the struggle and formed the basis for which we got our Independence in 1957? These are critical days that ought to be celebrated.

    Mr Speaker, if you look at the Report, Commemorative Day was also defined to mean a day other than a statutory public holiday which has been set aside in remembrance of an important person or an important event in the past, which includes the day the Governor-General left this country.

    It is not being set aside but that day has been recognised in this Report, the amendments and the accompanying memorandum.

    Mr Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt, in America, Martin Luther King Day is celebrated on the 21st of January; the birthday of George Washington is celebrated on 18th February and it is called

    the President's Birthday; the Memorial Day of May 27th; the Independence Day of 4th July; Labour Day on 2nd September and Columbus Day on 14th October.

    Mr Speaker, in Europe every year, the President of America flies to France to celebrate the Bastilles Day which is very important and a public holiday in France. On February 11, the Japanese also celebrate the National Foundations Day.

    Mr Speaker, it is not for nothing but the jurisprudence behind those dates that makes a country recognise the contributions of these individuals, groups or dates that those events took place.

    Mr Speaker, we are seeking to recognise 21 st September as a very important day and confer on the people of this country, a public holiday because of the role Dr Kwame Nkrumah played towards our independence struggle.

    Secondly, the 4 th of August, that certain groups of persons played a role during the independence struggle and also the Constitution Day -- Mr Speaker, the mistake from my Hon Colleagues on the other Side is that they think that 7th January just refers to the Fourth Republic.

    In my view -- and I am entitled to it -- the history of this country, especially the constitutional history of this country from 1960 -- the Report refers to the Fourth Republican Constitution as the longest in the history of this country.

    That should remind us of the fact that the 1960, 1969 and 1979 were all not long- serving Constitutions, for which at every point in time we should have at the back of our minds.

    So it is very important that the Constitution that we all seek to serve or uphold is being celebrated but there is a
    Mr Boamah 3:27 p.m.


    serious crises on the other Side led by the Hon Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:27 p.m.
    Hon Minority First Deputy Whip.
    Mr Ahmed 3:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague on the other Side pointed to us that his Hon Colleagues on this Side are making a mistake because he thinks that we are referring to Constitutional Day as
    -- 3:27 p.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, that is his view and you take advantage of this to --
    I would give you your position but that is his opinion.
    Hon Member, continue.
    Mr Boamah 3:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague from North Tongu Constituency in his submission mentioned a tall list of socialist countries and communist in architecture who have set aside certain days to certain individuals.
    That is the right of that country; we are a sovereign country; we have come before the House in accordance with the Constitution and following the processes as laid down by the Constitution to seek an amendment from the peoples' representatives. We are not dodging anybody but we are putting the case before the peoples' representatives.
    Mr Speaker, I would read the conclusion of the Report 3:27 p.m.
    “That the Committee, having examined and satisfied itself with the provisions of the Bill, recommends its passage into law by a majority decision.”
    Mr Speaker, that was the position of the Committee; they voted and the majority decided that this ought to pass. They have made their position clear and those of us on this Side of the House believe in the principles accompanying this Bill and we think that it is very important to recognise those days and the celebrations thereof.
    Mr Speaker, a lot have been said but facts are sacred and comments are free. The Minority have decided not to come along with this amendment and they have the right, but I believe that it is very important for this country to always be guided by its history.
    Mr Speaker, Hon James Agalga and Hon Samuel O. Ablakwa have spoken and they have their rights but we believe that the sovereign will of the people rests with us as a House and we would go ahead to exercise that right and ensure the passage of this Bill regardless of their opposition.
    Alhaji Bashir F. Alhassan (NDC -- Sagnarigu) 3:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker, I crave your indulgence for all of us to take what we are doing today as a very serious exercise and note that posterity would judge us and one day it would go on record that when it mattered most for us to uphold the true history of our country, for us to project everyone who made the requisite level of contribution to our struggle, not just for the Independence of Ghana because the legendary founder Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah whose reputation has already been put beyond doubt has indicated that the Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of the African continent.
    Mr Speaker, for us to assert Ghana's status as the leading nation on the African
    continent and the torchbearer of African liberation and that we should not just compare Ghana to -- with all due respect -- to other small African countries.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:27 p.m.
    Hon Members let us get something right -- was the AU Day instituted after OAU or AU? Dr Nkrumah was there during OAU, but AU was formed in the 2000s. It was after the formation of AU that the AU Day was commemorated.
    All I am saying is the interpretation of history and none of us was there, but we are interpreting it from our own perspectives and we are encouraged to do that. But the fact is that AU Day came after the formation of AU. That is a fact.
    Hon Member, please continue.
    Alhaji B. F. Alhassan 3:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker, it is akin to uprooting pepper and planting cauliflower.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:27 p.m.
    I am entitled to do that.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    What I am saying is that the AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The constitutive Act that brought the AU into being takes a lot of principles. In fact, it takes inspiration from the formation of the OAU.
    Mr Speaker, with that guidance, I would want all of us here to endeavour to realise that tomorrow, we shall be judged for the conduct and what we put in here for posterity for generations yet unborn to come and have a true appreciation of our history.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, kindly hold on.
    Yes, Hon Minister?
    Mr A. Dery 3:37 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker, I think it has come to a time that we need to correct facts. I would want you to permit me to refer to Nkrumah's own words.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Minister, first tell me what he has said that is misleading.
    Mr A. Dery 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would want him to know that in Nkrumah's own words, that he --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Minister, I would hear you, but I would want to understand what you are complaining about.
    Mr A. Dery 3:37 p.m.
    My complaint is that he is misleading the House by saying that it is an attempt to distort the history of this country by a certain group, neither our Side, to bring our people. I would want Nkrumah's words which he himself authored showing that he came to end a century-long process.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Minister, I think that one would be imbued in the debate when it comes to interpretations.
    Yes, Hon Member, continue.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am sure that he only came to lend credence to Nkrumah's status that Nkrumah never dies. [Hear! Hear!]
    Even after the 1966 coup d'état, we would recall all the attempts that were made to obliterate his existence, and to the fact that, today, he has been adjudged as African of the Millennium speaks volumes.
    Mr Speaker, the seed Almighty Allah has planted, not even the most devastating drought can destroy it. That is what Ghana and Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah stand for, and it is important.
    Mr Speaker, I am very happy that my Hon Colleagues before me spoke on the paucity of the argument about the 4th August. My own people, the Dagombas, in January 1896, at Adibo, resisted German imperialism and colonialism.
    They have recounted exploits of the legendary Yaa Asantewaa, the brave, warrior woman who led even men. When men run with their tails between their legs, she came forward.
    None of the various other resistant women that had come even before Yaa Asantewaa has not referred to 4th August. What is this mirage of 4th August coming from? Even the National Congress for British West Africa and all these other organisations that came up have not referred to 4th August.
    Mr Speaker, the obsession with Kwame Nkrumah is like when somebody passes bad air on you and you are overzealous to retaliate, you would end up bringing the real thing. [Laughter.] I am sure that is what is happening today with this attempt to obliterate the existence of Kwame Nkrumah.
    Mr Speaker, let me point even to my Busia-Danquah brothers that the UGCC are talking about, even when they are talking about the Big Six, the man who singlehandedly financed the UGCC by spending his resources was George Paa Grant.
    Did they mention his name? [Laughter.] Listen to all the things they talked about. Even with all the Big Six, George Paa Grant --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member for Manhyia North?
    Mr Collins O. Amankwah 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I think it would be fair and sincere on the part of the Hon Member for Sagnarigu to have time and read the Report very well because the name has been captured in the Report.
    So I am surprised. It is even the first name on the list. He should please be honest to himself.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are wrong. The name is in the Report. Let us proceed.
    Alhaji B. F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in seeking to talk about the founders instead of founder, whose names are there? With the so called Big Six they talked about, let them show me Paa Grant's picture on this Gh¢ 10 note. [Showing a Ten Ghana Cedi note to Hon Members].
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    What are you showing?
    Some Hon Members 3:37 p.m.
    Gh¢10 note.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    Those they
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Hon Member, why are you importing it into the Report? Has the Big Six been mentioned in the Report?
    Alhaji B. F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, for all the names that they have put --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    Kindly speak to the Report. Just stick to the Report.
    Alhaji B. F. Alhassan 3:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have to tender the money in evidence. [Laughter.]
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:37 p.m.
    The money is not relevant in this debate.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the argument that many other people have also contributed and that being the reason we cannot have one person taking the glory -- I am happy that other Hon Members have spoken eloquently to it.
    In every nation, there stands out one person who epitomises the entire struggle. That is why the Indians revere theirs. That is why even in South Africa, when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, he was not even part of the marches in Soweto, Johannesburg and other places where hundreds and thousands of Africans were massacred.
    He was in prison for 27 years, and people carried out the struggle. When Mandela came out, he was seen as the beacon of the anti-apartheid struggle. Nobody can say that Mandela single- handedly carried South Africa on his head and liberated the country from apartheid.
    Mr Speaker, so has it been with all. So when we talk about Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah's special legendary status, which as I said has been settled without doubt, these are all just trying to collect our salt in the open after a heavy downpour.
    Mr Speaker, going back to the UGCC that we talked about, any objective- minded person would say the UGCC did contribute quota to our anti-colonial struggle, and I would not attempt to say that they did nothing. With all due respect,
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    Hon Member, the Report is about amendment of holidays. You are spending so much time on Kwame Nkrumah -- [Interruption.]
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is important for our history --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    The history has not changed. It is our interpretation that is taking so long; that is why Kwame Nkrumah is supposed to have a special day. Speak to that.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I will move on, because as I said, as for Kwame Nkrumah's legendary status, anybody who is contesting that one is like wrestling with a gorilla. You would invariably have dust on your back.
    Mr Speaker, the importance of the 1960 Constitution for us -- and let us make a very clear distinction. We are talking about the birth of a republic, so from 1st July, 1960. When Ghana became a Republic to
    the end of eternity, Ghana would always be a Republic.
    Let us get that very clearly. Let us make a distinction, a poignant distinction between the republican status we acquired on 1st July, 1960, republican regimes and republican constitutions.
    Republican regimes and constitutions are a subset of the republican status we acquired in 1960, so we can never make that kind of comparison.
    Mr Speaker, it is like comparing your leg to your thigh. Unless you have a malfunctioning leg, it cannot be bigger than your thigh. That is why our republican status in 1960 stands out. Indeed, that was the day we definitively and finally broke away from the colonial rule.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:47 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague just said that you cannot compare your leg to your thigh. Is the thigh not part of the leg? [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, he is getting it totally wrong. I believe he is talking about the calf, not the leg. The thigh is part of the leg. Please, he should not be in the state of confusion.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    Hon Member, wind up. You have had enough time.
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    So Mr Speaker, what I simply want to say is that our republican status is one of our most distinctive features as a people, because it is on that day that we eliminated the last vestiges of colonialism.
    When we attained Independence on 6th March, 1957, the Queen was still the Head of State of Ghana. No Bill that was passed in the Gold Coast legislature could become law until it was assented to by the Queen.
    So Mr Speaker, that is a defining moment for us as a people, and that is why under no circumstance should we threaten to water down that event, especially so when it is to be replaced by things we can see as rudimentary --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    In conclusion?
    Alhaji B.F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    We are talking about situations where we are elevating a people who in the history of this country never won elections.
    Mr Speaker, with all due respect to his contribution to our anti-colonial struggle, the legendary J.B.Danquah they are talking about never won one election in this country, not one.
    In 1951 when he contested at Kyebi, he was beaten by a pupil teacher -- [Laughter] -- when he went to Fanteakwa in 1954 --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    Your last sentence.
    Alhaji B. F. Alhassan 3:47 p.m.
    The CPP repeated that dose with another pupil teacher, so if we are seeking to elevate these people to the status of Kwame Nkrumah, it is palpably unfair --
    Mr Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    Thank you.
    Hon K.T. Hammond?
    Mr Kobina T. Hammond (NPP-- Adansi Asokwa) 3:47 p.m.
    Thank you very much Mr Speaker.
    An Hon Member 3:47 p.m.
    Mention his name.
    Mr Hammond 3:47 p.m.
    He said Hon Fuseini, I know his name -- [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, he actually said that Paa Grant had not been mentioned in the documents.
    Mr Speaker, the very first paragraph in the memorandum had his name as the first among the lot, so I think that should be addressed first.
    Mr Speaker, there are a few things I pray about every morning and night when I pray to the Almighty Allah. One of them -- and it is very important -- is to consider the good people of Ghana and keep this party opposite perpetually in opposition.
    Mr Speaker, there is a good reason for that. Apart from whatever is in their de- oxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which makes them mangle --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:47 p.m.
    Hon Member, enough. Kindly return to the Report, please.
    Mr Hammond 3:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am going on. They confuse the history.
    Mr Speaker, quite apart from everything, anytime they have come to par --
    Mr George 3:47 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, when Hon K.T.Hammond was speaking he made reference to the name of Paa Grant in the Report. I have the Report --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    He said the Memorandum.
    Mr George 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we are debating your Committee's Report and not the Memorandum. You have constantly asked Hon Members to stick to the Report, which is what we are debating and not the Memorandum. It is not in the Report.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Hon Members, let us not confuse -- The Report is on the Bill. The reason we are here is to amend the Act and nothing more. It is 4 o'clock and some of us cannot move, so --
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what we are doing today is the Second Reading of a Bill. At the Second Reading of a Bill, it is the principles and they are captured in the Memorandum of the Bill.
    That is why it is a Minister who moves the Motion for the Second Reading of a Bill and then the Hon Chairman of the Committee would rise and second that Motion moved by the Hon Minister which would relate to the principles of the Bill as captured in the Memorandum with the Report of the Committee.
    Mr Speaker, they are fundamental lessons in this House and people must learn.
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am grateful to the Hon Leader.
    Mr Speaker, it is actually in the very first paragraph of the Report. He has not read it and he is --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Senior, continue.
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am talking about the amount of discord, cacophony and confusion that that Side of the House would always introduce into the country, particularly, in the history of this country.
    Today, I heard a lot of historians, history professors and students. I never knew my good Friend, counsel Agalga, studied history. Today, he has turned himself into a professor of history.
    Mr Speaker, they are all fake historians -- [Laughter] -- except my brother Alhaji Alhassan. He is not fake, but he is not a good one. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, why is that Side of the House --
    Mr Ablakwa 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order -- Standing Order 93(2). The Hon K. T. Hammond has just really used abusive language on us. Standing Order 93(2) says, and with permission, I beg to quote:
    “It shall be out of order to use offensive, abusive, insulting, blasphemous or unbecoming words or to impute improper motives to any other Member or to make personal allusions.”
    This would come under the category of abusive and offensive to call us “fake historians”. Some of us learnt under the Rt Hon Speaker and though these days his history -- [Laughter.] We are not fake.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    If you wrote what you are saying here in his paper, you would not have got a degree. [Laughter.]
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    He would have failed but let me recognise him. He is not one of the fake ones. He is a semi-fake one.
    Mr Speaker, let us go back to why --
    Some Hon Members 3:57 p.m.
    Withdraw.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Hon Members, I thought he said that in jest. Hon K.T. Hammond, your Hon Colleagues feel offended.
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have looked at their faces and they are all laughing. They seem to be happy with it. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, “fake” -- [Interruption] -- memfa words nhye m'anomu. The “fake” is withdrawn but they are no good historians.
    I am not so sure about the fascination with Dr Kwame Nkrumah to the extent that today on the floor of this House, Hon Colleagues on that Side of the House have consistently and every single one after the other has repudiated the authority of President Rawlings as the founder of their party.
    Mr Speaker, by every account, all the history we know about this country by their own utterances, President Rawlings is their founder. Suddenly, they seem to champion the cause of Nkrumah as the founder of NDC.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Your point is well made. Let us come back to the debate.
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what are the true facts? Indeed, my Brother Hon A. B. Fuseini Alhassan made a point about Ako-Adjei and Paa Grant. Mr Speaker, let us at least start from there.
    Those of us who have studied history know that it came a point in time in the history of Ghana when a man called Paa Grant, in a meeting with his colleagues, some of whom have been mentioned here -- J. B. Danquah was present and he made
    An Hon Member 3:57 p.m.
    He was in England.
    Mr Hammond 3:57 p.m.
    That is why we are talking about history. Let us teach you the proper history. Do not distort the history of Ghana.
    Mr Speaker, it was the instrumentality and the financial resource of these people that Kwame Nkrumah arrived at the shore of this country and took up the stewardship of the UGCC.
    Mr Speaker, we know what happened in history. He decided to betray the good people who brought him to this country like they are doing to President Rawlings today on the floor of this House. Mr Speaker, he broke away and formed his party, CPP.
    Mr Speaker, nobody has disputed the fact that in the end, Kwame Nkrumah became the first Prime Minister and first President of Ghana.
    These facts have never been disputed; they cannot be disputed but these are not the facts that we are talking about. We are talking about the foundation stone of the country now known as Ghana. They do not even know who brought about the name called “Ghana”.
    Mr Speaker, the man in the history of Ghana called J. B. Danquah had read some
    history and he knew about the merits, history and the attributes of the ancient empire of Ghana. In the end, it was agreed in the absence of Kwame Nkrumah, that the country after independence would be called Ghana.
    Mr Speaker, yes, there was the Motion of Destiny. Who has disputed that? There was a certain country whose name became Ghana after the Motion was moved for independence. The bedrock was already in place so what is the correlation between the Motion for independence and the Queen --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 3:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the historical account as being narrated by the Hon K. T. Hammond in respect of the name Ghana is incorrect.
    An Hon Member 3:57 p.m.
    Source.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 3:57 p.m.
    Go and read Adu- Boahen's “History of Modern Day Ghana”.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:57 p.m.
    Hon Member, I have said that this debate is not about the facts; the facts are known, but for political ideology as you said is the basis, you interpret it the way you choose.
    If you say somebody has made a factual error, then I would allow you, but as for your version of the facts and interpretation, please, spare us. Each one has his own version.
    Mr Hammond 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, indeed, it is for that reason that Kwame Nkrumah should have been grateful to J. B. Danquah because he had borrowed this idea from him and named it after some school the Hon Member talked about. What is he talking about?
    Mr Speaker, we now decide that a group of people should be remembered. Their deeds should go down in the annals of the history of this country as the people who really were the fulcrum, the pivot, on which the statehood of Ghana came to be built.
    Mr Speaker, what is this argument? The last time that the Bill was passed into law in this House that made one single human being, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, as the founder of the country, I almost wept.
    I thought that had been a monumental disservice to Ghana that the history of the country Ghana had been skewed and we had done that with the help of this august House.
    It could not, under any reasonable and conceivable circumstance, been suggested that one human being, in the person of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, founded Ghana. It is not possible!
    Mr Speaker, as I have said, at the time the decision was made to name Ghana, he was not around. At the time people came around to form a political party to contest and to fight the British so that in the end

    Mr Speaker, he said that we preferred independence in danger to servitude in tranquility. He said that. In fact, he said something else; he said that the origin of the colonialism is nothing else than the enterprise of individual interest; a one- sided and egoistical imposition of the strong upon the weak. He said all those things.

    Mr Speaker, does that make him the founder of this country? Do not worry about those attributes. The fact that he did OAU affairs — in fact, we do recall that this building that we now occupy as our offices was put up at time that the OAU officials were coming to Ghana and he was the President.

    We give him all those things; he did a lot of things in the country: the Akosombo Dam. What we, as a nation, cannot credit him with is the fact that, he is the sole founder of this country. It is impossible! Historically, it is not accurate. We would not do that.
    Mr Alexander R. Hottordze 4:07 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, my senior Hon Colleague is misleading the House. In my estimation, he has only one vote so he cannot determine who comes to power at any time.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    How did
    Mr Hottordze 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, if anybody fails to point it out to anybody, I am pointing it out to him that he has a single vote so he cannot determine when a party would come to power.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    You are out of order.
    Hon K. T. Hammond, continue.
    Mr Hammond 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the upbeat about January 7 as Constitution Day. Mr Speaker, you would not believe it; just last night, about 2 00 a.m. -- some of us do not sleep very early.
    Early this morning, I was exactly talking to myself about this point. I looked at something and it just struck me that 1969, ten years; 1979, ten years; and then 1992 till now, this Constitution has done well.
    Alhaji Muntaka 4:07 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I would like to refer my Hon Colleague to Standing Order 86, and with your permission, I beg to quote:
    “A member desiring to speak shall rise in his place and address the Chair only after catching Mr Speaker's eyes”
    Mr Speaker, he should go and address you from his seat. That is not his seat.
    Mr Hammond 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, he does not know that this is my senior Brother's seat. I have control over both of them so I can speak here and speak there. If he wants me to speak from here, I would. It is just that my Hon Leader was here —
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    That is not your seat; I have overlooked that throughout the debate so, it would be too late in the day to have followed.
    Mr Hammond 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would not be talking much about the January 7; my emphasis really is on the fact that it really does not cost the nation much if we have a collection of all those who contributed to make Ghana what it is and make them the founders of this country.
    Mr Speaker, let us put on record a very sad thing and a very serious mark of ingratitude. A very serious act of ingratitude to the group that actually made sure that Dr Kwame Nkrumah came to Ghana.
    Dr J. B. Danquah, Paa Grant, Ako-Adjei, Obetsebi Lamptey and Krobo Adusei made sure that he came to Ghana. Mr Speaker, in the end, you know what he did to them — Preventive Detention Act. He locked all of them up.
    Is that not a mark of shame that the likes of Ako-Adjei, who proposed the name of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to them, ended up in detention?
    Indeed, is it not sad that the one individual person who proposed the name of Ghana that we now call ourselves by, was detained in the Nsawam Prison and he died in prison?
    Mr Agalga 4:07 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, clearly, the Hon Member is out of order. He is not debating the Report. He has veered off the Report and he is talking about the Preventive Detention Act.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    Do you recall that you were talking about people whose thumbs were severed?
    Mr Agalga 4:07 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I never said that; it was the Hon Minister for Defence.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    All right.
    Mr Agalga 4:07 a.m.
    He is now talking about the Preventive Detention Act.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:07 a.m.
    Each one of you has veered off. I have waited for a while and I had brought you back. I am surprised that when Dr Nkrumah's praises are sung to the high heavens off the Report, you do not complain, but when his few ills are mentioned, then, you remember that somebody is off. How long did the Hon Member behind you spend on Dr Nkrumah's ills?
    Please, the debate has been like what we have done in this country; when it involves us, it is the best; when it is against us— so, you are threatening; if you change, we would change.
    The same thing happened when we were here; we threatened and the day was made ‘Founder's Day'. And that is what we are seeking to do because we never agree to do anything that brings the whole country together.
    Hon K. T. Hammond, you could continue.
    Mr Hammond 4:07 a.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I am concluding.
    Mr Speaker, Dr J. B. Danquah died in prison and they want us to call one person the founder and whatever? I would like to end on this note but before I do, I see that at page 4 of the Report, it is recorded that some two parties; People's National Convention and the Convention People's
    Party (CPP) presented some memoranda to the Committee.
    You would see at paragraph (ii) that it is stated that September 21 should be observed as a holiday as Founder's or Founders' Day as we celebrated before the 24th day of February, 1966, infamous coup d'état.
    Mr Speaker, again, they got it wrong. That coup was not infamous. There is a professor of History of jurisprudence who has written profusely about that. That coup was a constitutional coup d'état. It was that coup that allowed the likes and indeed, those who had not died by then, to regain their freedom and all fundamental human rights.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague, Agalga, was the person talking about Bill of Rights.
    The rights that had been denied those who had been incarcerated for bringing him from America to join their ranks. Those who had not died were on that day able to enjoy freedom. The Hon Member cannot call that day an infamous day.
    The famous day was the day they started the process of the proper democratisation of this country. We should never hear again in the annals of history that Dr Kwame Nkrumah was the founder of this country because he was not.
    Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 4:17 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion ably moved by the Hon Minister for the Interior, supported by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Defence and the Interior, on the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:17 a.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, kindly hold on.
    Your point must be very strong if you are objecting against a leader.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:17 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader said that this Motion which is before the House amounts to a distortion of the history of this country. That cannot be his opinion.
    This is not an opinion for which reason he would enjoy the freedom to progress on his debate. It is a matter of fact that the issues raised herein are part of our history. So, what he said is a very serious matter.
    The whole world is watching and the country is listening. For him to argue that the decision of the Government to table this Motion on which we are debating amounts to a distortion of our history and I beg to say that the Hon Minority Leader should backtrack and withdraw.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:17 a.m.
    Hon Member, I hope that the Hon Majority Leader would respond to that. In my view, it is an opinion, so he is entitled to it.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, may I in order to position myself on the important issue of relevance, and refer to page 5, paragraph 8 of the observations of your Committee and to quote:
    “The Committee noted that the existing Founder's Day holiday which is observed on the 21st day of September, will now be observed as a Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day and would continue to be a public holiday. The 4th of August would also be observed as a public holiday in recognition and appreciation of the role the forebears played towards the founding of indepen-
    dent Ghana. The 7 th of January would likewise be observed as a public holiday in remembrance of the coming into force of the 1992 Constitution, which birthed the Fourth Republic, the longest surviving Constitution as well as Republic in our history.”
    Mr Speaker, as I reminded my Hon Colleagues, Hon Ablakwa dealt with it. Every country has what is called its icon, therefore, the NPP Government today, cannot rewrite the history where it would seek not to recognise Dr Kwame Nkrumah as the global icon of Africa and the founding father of Ghana.
    There are other key players and actors. As I said, the definition of “founding fathers” was provided in 1916 by a writer called Warren Harding and he said “founding father” is a 20 th Century appellation that is coined.
    So, if we even take the USA, we cannot see names such as George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Addison and Alexander Hamilton.
    If we take the USA, what the writer describes is that those who signed the Declaration of Independence -- The historical facts of the Parliament in 1957, proclaiming independence cannot be changed by this Parliament. So, nobody should live in some oblivious historical era, that the facts of 1951, 1954, 1960 and 1961 can be changed.
    Mr Speaker, I have here the Hansard of 24th May, 1961, when there was a debate in this august House about the birthplace of Dr Kwame Nkrumah. There is a paragraph dedicated to Mr Quaidoo. Before then, the Motion was introduced
    in 1961 but let me quote Mr Quaidoo first. Mr Speaker, with your permission, I read;
    “I happened to study history when this country was a colony and we were under the tutelage of English colonialists. Everything that they said about Napoleon was derogatory.”
    He was referring to Napoleon Bonaparte as the founding father of France and it remains a historical fact, that Napoleon Bonaparte is and remains the founding father of France. That is the long list that Hon Ablakwa shared with us --
    Mr Speaker, a book has just been published on the Nelson Mandela Prison Letters and as was rightly pointed out by Hon Bashir Fuseini Alhassan, he is not just the personality of the millennium.
    We could name Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Sékou Touré of Guinea and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. What are we as a Parliament telling the world and Africa as we want to change the day and date in honour of President Kwame Nkrumah, the respected Pan-Africanist?
    That is why this cedi note has the heads of six founding fathers. They are recognised and respected. We are saying that there is and there was an icon, and that icon is Dr Kwame Nkrumah and nothing more. Therefore, nobody should come back here and seek to rewrite history.

    In the USA, as I said, reference is made to those who signed their independence declaration.

    Mr Speaker, I will come back to Dr Nkrumah to conclude. Mr Speaker, 7th January is a day that we dedicate to the

    swearing-in of the President of the Republic and Members of Parliament.

    It is the day that we recognise the significance of the transition between the era of tenure and a new era dawn and they want to declare that a public holiday when we would be performing a statutory duty, swearing in the President of the Republic and Members of Parliament; that, for me, raises a constitutional issue. Why do we want 7th January to be a holiday?

    I know we are a Parliament, and I am saying 7th January — We want to swear in the President and Members of Parliament on a holiday. We would be opening the flood gates for somebody to even question the Oath that the President would be swearing on a holiday.

    I am only cautioning that we should be mindful of what that means within the provisions of our Interpretation Act and other existing enactments relative to this particular issue.

    Mr Speaker, we are told 4th August — I do not intend to join the history makers who want to say, “ma me fans”, to wit, “give me fans” because I have shared in history — [Laughter]— I do not want to join those category of historians.

    Mr Hammond — rose —
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, I have been resisting the temptation to recognise him, but you have introduced him and so I will recognise Hon K. T. Hammond.
    Mr Hammond 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have just been wondering. We would need some clarification from the Hon Minority Leader. He premised his speech with a statement to this effect, “we will or shall not be part”.
    Mr Speaker, “will not and shall not”, after all the deliberations and contributions and all that, they would not be part. Myself, and I am sure the rest of my Hon Colleagues do not quite comprehend what it means.
    Is it a kind of preparation on the ground for them to walk out? — [Laughter] — I thought I should bring it out so you would understand what it means.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    The Hon Minority Leader will respond.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, so I refer you back to 24th May, 1961, just that we are guided that this Parliament is not the only Parliament that Ghana, as a country, has had. We should be mindful of historical archives that have details of decisions taken here.
    We are just saying today that we want to rewrite history. At the time, Mr Mumuni Bawumia, father of now Vice-President, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, had this to say on Dr Nkrumah, and I beg to read:
    “This is a most welcome Motion and it is quite proper that we who are privileged to see for ourselves the works and deeds of Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah should accord him due reverence.”
    Mr Speaker, that due reverence is what we are seeking to deny him.
    Mr Speaker, let me also quote significantly from Mr Kofi Baako, I am sure, the father of respected journalist, Kwaku Baako, who said, and I beg to quote:
    “If we begin to claim this great man from the point of view of towns and villages, we will find that every
    town, village and hamlet in this country will claim him. That is why he calls himself, not only a citizen of Ghana but a citizen of Africa. It is better for us to think of him as a citizen of Ghana and one, who by his untiring efforts, is trying to unite the whole of Africa instead of thinking of him in those things.”
    Mr Speaker, we cannot reduce Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Nkrumaism and the respect we have earned as a country into reducing it to what I would call, majoritarian or minority history for Ghana.
    It would mean that on this matter, every other time there is a change in the political leadership of the country, we are likely to visit it and change it by a majority decision. Which history can travel this journey?
    A country's history subject to Presidents and Majority in Parliament? That is repugnant to the facts, and does not do good to the image of this country. Therefore, advisedly, there should be proper and due consultation further on this matter.
    Mr Owusu C. Amankwah — rose —
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, please hold on. Let me listen to the Hon Vice Chairman. It better be good because you are being persistent.
    Mr Amankwah 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, before I make my comment —
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    Are you on a point of order because that is the only way I will admit you.
    Mr Amankwah 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
    Mr Speaker, I am surprised about this consistent comment about rewriting the history of this country. I have in my hand a petition submitted by the Convention People's Party, and I crave your indulgence and also beg to quote item 60:
    “In the words of Nkrumah, it is about “the feeling of triumph to which the whole nation is entitled, but tempered for me personally by a sense of humanity that it has fallen on me, merely one man amongst so many, to try and give voice to the aspirations of the country as a whole.”
    61. He continued in that final motion for independence;
    “I look back and I am conscious of the hard struggles our people, of the sufferings and sacrifices, and of the loyalty and abiding faith in our cause, which have brought us to this day.”
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    Hon Member, I suggested to you that if you have a a contribution, you give it to your Leader. You were not selected to speak but you are insistent on — If you were supposed to —
    Mr Iddrisu 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I listened to the Hon Minister for Defence and along the line when Hon Yieleh Chireh made a submission on the founding fathers, referenced the Constitution and the attempt for people to give their own interpretation by the Constitution and by the Political Parties Act of Ghana, no political party can have a sole founder.
    It is not for nothing the NDC, in our constitution, the words say, “President Jerry John Rawlings, whose vision inspired the formation of the NDC”, to keep it consistent with the Political Parties
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, both the Hon Minority Leader and the Hon Member for Wa West are both predicating their arguments on the Constitution that it frowns against a sole founder for a political party. Where is it in the Constitution?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    The Hon Minority Leader said the Political Parties' Act.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am saying that he is building his own argument on that of the Hon Member for Wa West who said, both the Constitution and the Political Parties Act, and I am asking where in the Constitution we have that provision.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:27 p.m.
    The Hon Minority Leader did not say the Constitution. He said, the Political Parties Act.
    So, Hon Minority Leader, please continue.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for being meticulous in hearing me — [Laughter] — and if I so refer to them, it was to quote them and then depart from them and give an explanation as to founding members of a political party and a founder, and to lay the principle that we on this Side, even if that is the thinking and the view of Hon Colleagues on this
    Side that the National Democratic Congress is the only party which has not drunk from the foundations of democracy of the United Gold Coast Convention
    (UGCC.)

    Mr Speaker, as young as the NDC is, we agree admittedly that we are a young political party, launched in 1992 and 1993 following the boycott of the Constitution they would want us to celebrate today.

    The Constitution has served us and served our purposes for 25 years of peace, stability, enduring democracy, and 25 years of successive change of government from one political party to the other. History will repeat itself.

    Mr Speaker, my greatest concern is that we should not reduce Ghana, its image internationally and our country's history to one of a majority writing of its history whenever there is a domineering group in Parliament.

    That is wrong and that would be wrong for the future. We need to consult further. At least, there is some recognition of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

    Mr Speaker, but let me conclude with something from the Organisation of African Unity. I listened to a brilliant lecture of a Nigerian professor when he was writing on the Organisation of African Unity; the likes of Nnamde Azikiwe, Julius Nyerere, Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure of Guinea.

    Mr Speaker, I just returned from a trip in Belgrade and I will bring the book which I requested for a copy. In the library of the

    Belgrade Parliament was a book written by Tito recognising Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his contribution to global political development and Ghana.

    How can we today, in the name of not recognising and bringing in other names
    -- 4:37 p.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:37 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, before you take a decision, let me remind you that on this same matter, the day which constituted Nkrumah's birthday as founder's day, was debated in this House.
    The party in Majority now was in the Minority. The Rt Hon Speaker sat there and gave account of the history. I regret that nobody had picked that transact and repeated what the Rt Hon Speaker said as he recounted the history of this country all up to the time.
    The Minority then, who are now in the Majority, did not walk out; they stayed and voted. That is democratic.

    of the numbers'. I gave you an indication.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:37 p.m.
    We knew the numbers then. Whatever happened, you were in the Majority.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in concluding, for former President John Agyekum Kufuor, my respect for him has deepened and increased. Post presidency, he has conducted himself as a Statesman.
    Mr Speaker, I am wondering whether proper consultation was done with him because it was under his ages as President of the Republic that Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana was honoured in Ethiopia at the African Union Headquarters. How can we be so disrespectful to his thinking by changing and dishonouring him?
    Mr Speaker, so my Hon Leader knows that out of respect I should hear him but I could only -- [Interruption] -- the Dr Kwame Nkrumah Bill, I am sure if we check the facts, ended at the Committee level. But whatever it is, even the record already tells you that it is a majority decision. I cannot change that.
    rose
    Mr Iddrisu 4:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, maybe, I would hear the Hon Minister for the Interior before I humbly register --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:37 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, you may conclude. He has decided not to speak; he would do the final winding up. He has sat down.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:37 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, so I would want to thank you. We are doing this because we are solidly convinced that we do not want this Parliament to be associated with a disrespect to the honour of Dr Kwame Nkrumah as an icon founding father of our Republic.
    We recognise that many others made contributions. We do so because we would not be part of the rewriting of history and to reduce the history of this country to majority rule or majority numbers in this Parliament. We find the reference to 4th August repugnant to the historical facts.
    Mr Speaker, I am compelled in registering this for us not to be associated with any further proceedings on the specific matter of the Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
    They can proceed, when they are done. Whenever we come back, we would visit it, review it and change it.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:47 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader? Will those that do not have the will to be democratic leave quietly, please?

    Yes, Hon Majority Leader, I gave you the floor.
    Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 4:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, today is a very sad day. The tyranny of a Minority group who believe that the Majority should be subjugated to their whims. This is a very unfortunate trend.
    We tolerate their views, sit down to listen to them and they will not have the tolerance, the spirit of intolerance; of course, as the good Book says, ‘‘By their fruits, ye shall know them''.
    Mr Speaker, let me begin with the conclusion of the Report from the Committee and it reads on page 6:
    “The Committee having examined and satisfied itself with the provisions of the Bill...”
    Mr Speaker, this Report is not talking about a section of the Committee. It says,
    “The Committee (which is the entire Committee) having examined and satisfied itself with the provisions of the Bill recommends its passage…”
    Except that the recommendation for the passage should be by a majority decision. So, at the very outset, what this Report is telling us is that the entire Committee examined the amendment bill before us; the entire Committee satisfied itself with the provisions of the Bill.
    So, what is the beef now to sprint away from this Chamber because they would want to be heard and not the rest of Ghana to be heard? That is the tyranny of the group that we have as the Opposition in Ghana today.
    Mr Speaker, let me continue by relating to a catchphrase that they have adopted because after the Hon Minister has moved the Motion, he said, yes, one section of the people who struggled for independence were property owning democrats. That is the absurdity of our times.
    Mr Speaker, article 36(7) of the Constitution reads, and with your indulgence, I quote:
    “The State shall guarantee the ownership of property and the right of inheritance.”
    So, it is the collective resolve of this country that we aspire as individuals to own property and the State guarantees that. Which of them on the other Side does not aspire to own property? Many of them have mansions.
    They have property that one can calculate in millions of cedis. Yet, the hypocrites that they are, when we begin to talk about property ownership, they pretend that they abhor it. Is that the Constitution that in 1992 by referendum the people of this country voted overwhelmingly for that guarantees it?
    If they think that that provision in the Constitution must be expunged, they should move an amendment for that.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Agalga who began the debate on the other Side argued that the UGCC fizzled out after the birth of the CPP. Indeed, the extrapolation and the extension of his reasoning then should feed into people saying that we should not even celebrate July 1 as a holiday because it fizzled out.
    We should not celebrate Nkrumah because he is dead and gone. Is that the reasoning of some people in this country?
    Mr Speaker, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) indeed bestowed the African of the Millennium on Kwame Nkrumah. That is worth-noting and celebrating but is the BBC an authority when Africans must be celebrating our own? How many times have the BBC not come with FIFA awards and it has been challenged or jettisoned by the FIFA Awards Committee? So in this regard, the BBC is not an authority.
    Mr Speaker, notwithstanding, we all recognise the role of former President Nkrumah.

    Mr Speaker, I want to know who is talking about the distortion of history. When the Minister for Defence referred to former President Nkrumah as Mr Nkrumah, across the aisle, there was a shout from a Deputy Minority Whip that he should refer to him as Doctor.

    I asked him whether he knew that Kwame Nkrumah's PhD was not earned and that it was not academic but an honorary degree. He said to me that I was lying. Do you see the distortion of history? A Member of Parliament, a Whip for that matter, does not even know that Kwame Nkrumah's doctorate degree was an honorary one. That is where we are going as a nation.

    Mr Speaker, notwithstanding the accolades the BBC bestowed on Kwame Nkrumah -- We all have to rejoice in that. Nkrumah certainly was a leading person as far as the emancipation --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:47 p.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, hold on. Yes, Hon Member for New Juaben South, how did you migrate from your seat to the south? Let me hear you.
    Dr Assibey-Yeboah 4:47 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I heard the Hon Majority Leader say that Dr Kwame Nkrumah's PhD was not earned. Is he suggesting that Dr Kwame Nkrumah's PhD was not earned like mine? [Laughter.]
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:47 p.m.
    We know you earned your PhD. Thank you. Mr Speaker has recognised that you are hardworking.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader, continue.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I know Dr Assibey-Yeboah studied and earned his PhD. [Hear! Hear!] I have a PhD bestowed on me. It is an honorary degree by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA). I do not refer to myself as Dr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
    I do not because I know it is a mere honorary degree but to some of them, they take glory and, for whatever reason, they assume it a title. They even sign as a Doctor wherever they go.
    Mr Speaker, let me come back. The accolades that BBC bestowed on former President Nkrumah as the African of the Millennium has nothing to do with the role that Dr Nkrumah played in the independence struggle in the Gold Coast. Incidentally, the Hon Agalga related to the role played by the Fante Confederacy.
    He also related to the role played by the Aborigines Right Protection Society (ARPS) which was borne in 1897. The struggle for independence when the Portuguese first landed in the Gold Coast and the resistance posed by Nana Kwamena Ansa. He also related to the defiance of the King of Cape Coast at the time, King Aggrey.
    Mr Speaker, he comes to tell us that the leadership of the UGCC represented the interest of the elite and not the ordinary people of this country. That is an absurdity!
    What happened was that these leaders of the UGCC were professionals and businessmen who met ocassionally to deliberate on the independence struggle.
    It became necessary to have a permanent General Secretary whom the party could fall on to really service the
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:57 p.m.
    Hon Leader, the Hon K. T. Hammond says that he has the unofficial position and so -- Yes, Hon K. T. Hammond, what do you want to say?
    Mr Hammond 4:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much. A moment ago, you ruled on the issue of familial relationship and I thought that you said it was out of order. I heard the Hon Leader relating me to the NDC set-up --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:57 p.m.
    What he said was that he knows that the late former President Atta Mills was your friend.
    Mr Hammond 4:57 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I put it on record that he was not my enemy. -- [Laughter] --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 4:57 p.m.
    Very well. Thank you for the confirmation. Hon Majority Leader, you may continue.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 5:07 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we all do know that North America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, yet when we come to identifying the founders of America, we recognise seven people.
    The list was read by the Hon Minority Leader; even though the discovery was by one person, they mention seven people as their founding fathers.
    In the year 2007, this nation discovered oil in commercial quantities and it was
    under the watch of former President Kufuor.
    On any occasion when we have spoken about this, the NDC have always insisted that preparatory work was done by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) under Mr Tsatsu Tsikata so they should be associated with the discovery of the oil.
    Is that not the case? What kind of hypocrisy is this when people now say that, no, in this case, let us relate it to just one person even though they recognise the role played by other people?
    Mr Speaker, indeed, before Dr Nkrumah was invited, the UGCC was foundationed on some seven pillars.
    Those people whose names have been mentioned in the Bill are George Paa Grant, Joseph Boakye Danquah, R. S. Blay, Francis Awoonor-Willams, J.W. De Graft Johnson, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey, William Ofori-Atta, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo and Kwabena Kesse; those were the founding pillars of the UGCC.
    Dr Kwame Nkrumah was invited and let me just put this in context. There was a group of Africans in the United Kingdom (UK) who felt that the UK was their colonial master and that they should light bonfire in the backyard of England and force them to grant independence to the African states.
    So, they decided to pitch camp in the UK and that was the reason Dr Nkrumah migrated from America to the UK to pitch camp with most of them.
    Mr Speaker, Dr Nkrumah had no intention of coming to Ghana; he was invited by the UGCC. When he came, they made him the Secretary.

    They bought his ticket and when my Hon Colleague alluded to the fact that he had gone from America to London, it was being disputed. He had to go to London to board the ship that took him to the then Gold Coast.

    As at then he was still in the United States and he had occasionally come from Philadelphia to London, but that was his abode.

    Mr Speaker, this is not in any way to denigrate what contribution Dr Kwame Nkrumah made to the struggle for independence, but it appears that people are set to distort the history of this country eternally.

    Some people cannot even recognise that his PhD was an honorary one and they would want to pick a fight when one says that he was Mr Nkrumah and not Dr Nkrumah. That is why the people shouted “Nkrumah show boy” when they were exiting and that they would make us “fishers of men”. Mr Speaker, Dr Nkrumah never dies.

    Mr Speaker, with the Founder's Day that was introduced in most Republics and established democracies, recognition was accorded to a person for a role that he had played after the person had transitioned. But in the character of some dictators in Africa, they would name everything in the country after themselves.

    The Catholic Church has a way about this, in immortalising their people and declaring them as saints. It would be long after their extinction that their deeds would be analysed and committed to acid tests and when they are found worthy, they are then accorded the title of sainthood.

    Mr Speaker that is how it should be done. As I said, this was a man who was not minded to come to Ghana.

    Some people brought him to Ghana, paid his salaries, purchased a vehicle for him to go throughout the country to let people know about the presence of UGCC; and he did that. But that is not to say that he was the only person.

    Mr Speaker, high-profiling Dr Nkrumah was at the instance of the UGCC and it was the UGCC that bought the vehicle for him and provided fuel daily. Mr Speaker, his pocket money was given to him by the UGCC and that helped him to establish his own face in the country yard.

    Mr Speaker, so I do not know why this whole business of trying to decouple other people who contributed to the struggle for independence should become a matter of combat in this nation.

    We recognise the role of Dr Nkrumah, and as I said, the cutting edge that he provided, and we even describe him as the arrow head of the independent struggle in the latter years. Mr Speaker, but he never played this role singularly and that is the point that must be accepted.

    Mr Speaker, so, coming to the Amendment Bill before us, we still have 13 public holidays; the New Year's Day, the Constitution Day, Independence Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Eid-ul-Adha, Eid-ul-Fitr, Workers' Day, Founders' Day, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, Farmers' Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

    Mr Speaker, we are being told that because Dr Nkrumah's statue is in Addis Ababa, we should not downplay the role that he played in the emancipation of Africa. Mr Speaker, by this, nobody is doing so because we all recognise that.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 5:07 p.m.


    Mr Speaker, what people are even not mentioning is that in all the independent African States, the AU Day is celebrated as a holiday in only 11 countries and the other countries go ahead with their businesses.

    Out of all the African countries, only 11 countries do that. In West Africa, which other country celebrates the AU Day as a holiday? So, let us be objective about this. I believe that we cannot wipe Dr Nkrumah's contribution from our history books.

    We all recognise that, except that some people blow the contribution of the former President out of proportion and make it appear as though he was the only player. Indeed, he was not the only player but he was the only player manager that achieved success for this country as far as our independence is concerned.

    Mr Speaker, so many things have been said and I believe that we cannot split hairs over this. I believe that the Report that came from the Committee says it all; that the entirety of the Committee examined the provisions of the Bill.

    Mr Speaker, the entirety of the Committee got satisfied with the provisions of the Bill and recommended its passage into law except that in doing that it must be done on account of a majority decision.

    Mr Speaker, we would do that and I believe when it comes for the real history of this country to be written, it would recognise the role of all others who contributed to achieve independence for this country.

    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity granted.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 5:17 p.m.
    Hon Minister, do you wish to summarise?
    Mr Dery 5:17 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Speaker, I would like to thank my Hon Colleagues but I would make the point that this Amendment Bill does not seek to re-write the history of Ghana. In fact, this Amendment Bill seeks to put the history of Ghana in proper perspective.
    Mr Speaker, if you listen to the totality of the contributions from the Minority Side, it comes to two clear facts that I recognise. Firstly, that it was not Dr Nkrumah alone who fought for the independence of Ghana; and secondly, that he played a prominent role and both are recognised by this Amendment Bill.
    Mr Speaker, the first point that he did not play the role alone started with the Hon Ranking Member who traced the efforts right from 1471 when the Fantes resisted the first Europeans to land in the then Gold Coast and it continued throughout, including the 28th February Christiansburg Crossroad shooting.
    We went together to celebrate its 71st Anniversary today. Mr Speaker, the Hon Ranking Member identified one of his constituent who was part of it. So, the fact that Dr Nkrumah did not do it alone is clear.
    Mr Speaker, let me refer to Dr Nkrumah's own quotation in this matter and this was clearly contained in the Memorandum that the CPP brought. Mr Speaker, he said:
    “The feeling of triumph to which the whole nation is entitled but tempered for me personally by a sense of humility that it has fallen on me nearly one man among so many to try and give voice to the aspirations of the country as a whole.”
    Mr Speaker, he continued and I quote 5:17 p.m.
    “I look back and I am cautious of the hard struggles of our people, of the sufferings and sacrifices, of the loyalty and abiding faith in our course which has brought us to this day.”
    Mr Speaker, clearly, he accepts that that was what the situation is and he moved the Motion which was seconded by Prof. Busia.
    Mr Speaker, let me again quote from the Motion of Independence that was moved. It was moved now in Britain which collaborates the same facts and puts in perspective our history. It was moved on 11th December, 1956, by the Under- Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Lord John Hope). With your permission, let me read a few excerpts.
    “I beg to move, That this Bill be now read a Second time” — which is the stage in which we are.
    It continues to say:
    “This is a historic day. The result of the passage of this Bill through Parliament, should it be passed, will be that, we shall hail the first of British dependent territories in tropica Africa to attain full Self- government as a sovereign and independent nation.
    The introduction of the Bill marks the last stage in a process which started over a century ago. Up to the early part of the nineteenth century, English trade with the Gold Coast was conducted by a series of
    Mr Speaker, he continued and I quote 5:17 p.m.
    I am saying that if you argue even from the Big Six view point, the 4th August becomes the best day because, firstly, the National Party was there so there was a multi-party democracy, and secondly, it is because of the importance of the property rights.
    Mr Speaker, let me refer to a few issues that were raised. First of all, they said subsequent constitutions to the First Republican Constitution are subsets to it. I do not find any sense in that.
    I think it is clear that the Fourth Republic Constitution is independent and promulgated by the Provincial National Defence Council (PNDC) Law, 282. Therefore, it is settled. Those other facts — The 26 years is the longest.
    I think that the position of the Minority is this; they have made up their minds and in order not to confuse themselves by the facts, they have the fixation that they must have the things their own way and even when history shows a different direction, they do not want to take it.
    Clearly, this amendment is the right thing to do to recognise the Aborigines' Right Protection Society for their contribution, to recognise the UGCC and its Leaders the Big Six who are recognised in the history of Ghana. It was not only Nkrumah who went to prison; UGCC also went to prison.
    Therefore, it is not a matter of our Side trying to side and change history, but it is because our Side is prepared to state history in its proper perspective. Therefore, those facts must not be tampered with.
    So for the UGCC, 4th August becomes the date. With 1st July, the First
    Republican went for only nine years. We are now 26 years, and it is a shared achievement.
    Mr Speaker, there is a certain leftist idea that we should just find one person and label the person as the founder as if the history of Ghana starts and ends with one person. It is not the case.
    Even today, there is room for heroes and heroines to contribute to the development of Ghana and to be recognised appropriately when the country thinks it should do so.
    That is why in the history of America, we have George Washington Day for George Washington, but subsequently, we had Martin Luther King Junior Day. Therefore, we want our country to recognise its heroes, otherwise it is not worth dying for. The heroes are those we have stated in this Memorandum.
    Therefore, we should all support that these amendments go through.

    Thank you very much.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 5:27 p.m.
    Hon Members, before I put the Question, I want to make these observations.
    In this debate, as it is often the case in the House, there are two sides. One side, represented by the Minority, maintains that Ghana should by law canonise President Nkrumah as the sole founder of Ghana and that the recognition of anyone
    else is a distortion of the history of this country. That is the sum total of the view espoused by the Minority.
    The Majority, on the other hand, is of the view that Dr Kwame Nkrumah should be honoured for his enormous role in the independence struggle by setting his birthday aside as a public holiday by law, named Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, and to also recognise other contributors, in particular, founders of the UGCC, by instituting 4th August as a public holiday in recognition of the contribution by other people.
    This has been the summary. It reflects how we have done our politics over the years. But for me, if there is any one group distorting the history, it is the group that is saying that Kwame Nkrumah alone and nobody else can be recognised as the founder of Ghana.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    The Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was accordingly read a Second time.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 5:27 p.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, it is almost 6.00 p.m. It is
    now 5.30 p.m. Some have been able to go out and come back, but I have been sitting here since 12.45 p.m. or thereabout. So I think at this time I wish to bring the proceedings to a close, but I want to hear you.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 5:27 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I know the predicament that you have to sit through, and I know how exhausted you are, especially moderating this rather heated debate.
    I had thought that, perhaps, if we ended around 3.00 p.m., we could continue with the Payments Systems and Services Bill, 2018.
    Unfortunately, given where we are, I believe we may have to bring proceedings to a conclusion and have adjournment until tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, when we would continue the debate and then also create space to deal with the Payments Systems and Services Bill, 2018.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
    ADJOURNMENT 5:27 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 5.29 p.m. till Friday, 1st March, 2018, at 10.00 a.m.