Debates of 12 Jun 2019

MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:17 a.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 10:17 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 2 on the Order Paper, Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report.
Pages 1…9 --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for North Tongu?
Mr Ablakwa 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful. On page 9, item numbered 7, second paragraph, fourth line, there are two issues there: It should be:
“…Members as to what constitutes...”
They should add an ‘s' to ‘constitute'. The way the last paragraph has been couched:
“The Rt Hon Speaker having regard to the complaint and comments thereon, directed Leadership to engage the Political Science Department to come out with acceptable areas
of assessment to evaluate the performance of Hon Members.”
It has not been captured properly. We know the Rt Hon Speaker gave quite a lengthy ruling. The way it has been couched is as though we want something acceptable to us; that was not the nature of the complaint; it is about a fair assessment based on our constitutional mandate.
That was what I understood the Hon First Deputy Speaker complained about; it is not about what is acceptable to us. No! It is about the constitutional mandate or role of Hon Members of Parliament.
So, if that last paragraph of page 9 of the Votes and Proceedings could be improved, so that it would capture the essence, and it is not taken out of context as though Hon Members of Parliament want to be self-serving or we want things done to please us. That is not what we are worried about.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Very well.
Pages 10 - 11 --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Leader?
Mr Iddrisu 10:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 11, without being self-serving, when we got to clause 31, I am sure the Hon O. B. Amoah has been recognised. Even though we are not demanding royalties from the Table Office, you and I were co-sponsors of the amendment.
Mr Speaker, if you would recall, even in the same paragraph, the Chairman had to on our advice, withdraw his earlier amendment, yet there is no notice of it in the Votes and Proceedings.
The Chairman had an earlier amendment which was withdrawn and substituted with the improved amendment.
I so submit, thank you.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Very well.
Pages 12…21.
Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the proceedings of the Eighth Sitting of the Second Meeting of Parliament held on Tuesday, 11th June, 2019, is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.

Members, we have the Official Report of Tuesday, 9th April, 2019.

Any corrections?
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:17 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for North Tongu?
Mr Ablakwa 10:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful. There is a small correction on column 5349 under the name of Mr Buah.
It should be captured and probably featured in tomorrow's report. The way it has been captured here, it loses the essence. So if they could look at the second paragraph under column
5349.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:27 a.m.
I hope the Hansard Department has captured the proposed amendment.
Any further amendments?
Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Official Report of Tuesday, 9th April, 2019 is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, three Statements were received by Mr Speaker; each on a different subject matter. I would start with the first one by the Hon Member for Kumbungu, Mr Ras Mubarak.
STATEMENTS 10:27 a.m.

Mr Ras Mubarak (NDC -- Kumbungu) 10:27 a.m.
I am grateful to Mr Speaker for the opportunity to make a Statement on a very important issue that has been overlooked for many years; “the underrepresentation of women in Parliament”.
From the beginning of the 4th Republic, a total of one thousand, four hundred and forty-five (1,445) men have been elected to serve as Members of Parliament (MPs), and only one hundred and sixty-five (165) women since 1992.
The 1st Parliament under the 1992 constitution had sixteen women and one hundred and eighty-four men. On 7th January 1997, nineteen women and one hundred and eighty-one-men were sworn in as members of the 2nd Parliament.
The number of female MPs dropped to eighteen (18) while that of male MPs went up to one hundred
and eighty two (182) in the 3rd Parliament that span between 2001 and 2004.
The 4th Parliament, saw an increase in the number of women who served in Parliament, though that could be attributed to the increase in the number of seats from a 200 member Chamber to two hundred and thirty (230). So, we had two hundred and five (205) male MPs and only twenty-five (25) female MPs.
Mr Speaker, the number of female MPs dropped by one in the 5th Parliament. The 6th Parliament saw an increase in the number of seats from two hundred and thirty (230) to two hundred and seventy-five (275).
Mr Speaker, that however, did not result in significant improvement in the number of women in Parliament. There were only thirty (30) female MPs in the last Parliament compared to two hundred and forty-five (245) male MPs. In this 7th Parliament Mr Speaker, we have two hundred and thirty-six (236) male MPs and just thirty-nine (39) female MPs.
The whole House would agree with me that diversity delivers better decision making and if we are to give proper meaning to democracy and justice within our country, then we
should be looking at ways to build a fairer society. It seems unjust that in a two hundred and seventy five member chamber, only thirty-nine are females.
Ghana is not the only country with fewer women MPs. It's a global problem. The UK for example has six hundred and fifty (650) Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, of which only two hundred and eight (208) are females. And there are two hundred and nine (209) female peers out of seven hundred and ninety-eight (798) in the UK House of Lords today.
Our democracy is very much respected amongst our peers on the African continent and beyond. We are the first Black African nation to attain independence. We should be at the forefront of not just encouraging women to stand for election, but have positive discrimination strategies in place by all the political parties.
Even with such strategies, in countries such as the UK, where the Labour Party introduced and imposed gender quotas in what they called the “All Women Shortlist”, some disgruntled male aspirants went to court, claiming they had been “illegally barred from applying to be considered to represent''. Labour, and the policy “contradicted Labour's policy of aiming to promote equal
Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah (NPP -- Okaikoi Central) 10:37 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
Mr Speaker, I have gleaned through Chapter Six of the Constitution, which is on The Directive Principles of State Policy. I also gleaned through Chapter Seven
on the representation of the People and article 55 on Political Parties.
Mr Speaker, we live in a competitive space, and I believe that it must be registered at the back of everybody who aspires to be a political person or run for political office in this country. We have had women, who had contested and beaten men in elections squarely.
It is about conviction and one's interest in the business of politics. It does not come that easy. I share the views of my Hon Colleague; but in this country, one has to be competitive in every aspect.
Mr Speaker, I thought that the Hon Member for Kumbungu would have talked about encouraging women to start politics from a certain point. We cannot just say that we need to create a forum or special seats for women in Parliament.
There are various forms of supporting women to aspire for offices. I do not even believe that women would support the idea of asking for soft grounds. This is because they believe that they have come of age and could therefore fight and compete in every election.
Mr Speaker, as much as I would want us to have a lot of women representation, if we look around the country, not only in their presence in Parliament that we could talk about, but they occupy a lot of important positions in this country. They hold
positions in Cabinet. For instance, we have the former Chief Justice, Chief of Staff, the former Speaker of Parliament and an Inspector General of Police (IGP).
Mr Speaker, I would therefore want my Hon Colleague from Kumbungu to know that we must also encourage women to take up other positions. It is not only in Parliament that we would want to see women progress politically. There are other equally important positions which they have occupied.
We have to encourage them because we would not just want to let them feel that they come, or are admitted into certain businesses because we feel they are inferior because they are not.
Some of the women are way better than us men, and I believe that we should not hand over seats or any position to women based on the fact that they are not well represented in Parliament. I beg to disagree with my Hon Colleague.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:37 a.m.
I would first listen to the woman, but would give everybody the chance to be heard.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:37 a.m.


-- Krachi West): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.

Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Ras Mubarak. May the good Lord bless his heart for women.

Mr Speaker, when it comes to gender equity in Parliament, I would want to draw the attention of this House to the fact that Ghana is amongst the countries that have signed on to the universal or global Sustainable Development Goals (GSDG) that are 17 in number, and goal five is on gender equity.

Mr Speaker, in order to be able to address issues of gender equity as a nation, we should have pragmatic steps towards achieving this goal because Ghana has already signed on to it.

In our local communities, the plight of women is very discouraging. In our communities, we know that there are women out there who are qualified or more than qualified to contest district assembly positions but because of cultural and religious reasons, our women are not able to contest and come into the limelight.

Mr Speaker, it is time for this country to see women as we see men, that what the men could do, the

women could equally do and at times do it better. We should encourage women to come into the limelight. We should encourage them to come to Parliament, and encourage them to take up leadership positions in this country.

I stress this, since Ghana has also signed on to the SDG. We should try as much as possible to take steps. Very soon, we would have our district assembly elections, and fortunately, the Hon Minister for Local Government and Rural Development is here. We should start from her Ministry, and encourage the women at the various district assemblies.

We should also encourage the District Chief Executives that when they go out there, they should try to educate our people, who do not want to see women take up leadership positions. With education and encouragement, women, I believe, would have the edge in some of the areas above the men.

Mr Speaker, when it comes to resources, I know for sure that in this country, the men are more resourceful than the women. So, when it comes to our contest, our women should be resourced, so that they would be able to compete with the men who are their counterpart.

Mr Speaker, I know that we could also start from the political parties, where they could put certain policies in place for women. When they come out with their guidelines, they should -- more often than not, it is about the men paying GH¢20,000 and the women paying half of it.

I believe that is not enough to encourage the women. There should be some policy guidelines that when a woman contests -- we do not ask that the women should have a wholesale promotion to come to Parliament or to take up leadership positions. But what we are saying is that based on merit, when a woman contests, she should be more resourced to be able to beat the man. This is not discrimination. When this happens, then we could increase our numbers in Parliament.

Mr Speaker, some of the men should voluntarily step down to allow the women to win the primaries unopposed. For instance, my Hon Friend in Tema West should allow any woman who comes to contest him a chance by voluntarily stepping down and allowing the woman to take up that position, so that we could increase the number of women in Parliament.

This goes for the men in both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). I pray the good Lord would touch their hearts, so that whenever any woman comes up to contest them, they would take it easy and help the women to be able to -- [Interruptions] -- [Laughter] --

Mr Speaker, I would therefore want to just encourage my Hon Colleagues that this time around when it comes to the primaries, they should help the women in their various constituencies to be able to win the primaries and come to Parliament for the numbers of women to be increased.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity.

10. 47 a. m.
Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie (NPP -- Ablekuma North) 10:37 a.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I would like to contribute to the debate on the Floor. This is an opportunity for us all to put our initiatives together to ensure that this thing comes to fruition.
Mr Speaker, we have debated and discussed this issue on countless occasions. Not only do female
Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (NDC -- Elembele) 10:37 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, let me begin by thanking the Hon Member who made the Statement, Hon Ras Mubarak, the MP for Kumbungu for a very important Statement.
Mr Speaker, the maker of the Statement took the trouble to take us through history; the First Parliament and the numbers where we had only sixteen women and one hundred and eighty-four men, and went on.
At no point in our history have we improved that number according to the Hon Member who made the Statement. In fact, based on the Statement that has been made, we are even retrogressing in terms of the progress we are making in women representation.
Mr Speaker, what is worrisome is that the population of women keeps increasing. In the last census, we all know that 51 per cent of our population are women and 49 per cent are men. What it means is that women are more than men, so it goes by the logic that we should have more of the women representing the people of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, I think the question is that, how do we get there? It is very clear that the current political structure has not yielded that result. Of course, there are no restriction but indeed,
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:37 a.m.
The last one would go to the Hon Deputy Minister for Transport.
Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus- Glover (NPP -- Tema East) 10:57 a.m.
I am so grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to make contribution to the Statement made by my good Friend, Hon Ras Mubarak.
Mr Speaker, I commend him for the detailed statistics he has shared with us regarding the number for female representation in the various Parliaments across the globe and I think that he has done a very good job on that. One thing that I want to share is that the successes of these female politicians in their governments did not come in a day.
It was a journey that they started way back. It was a long struggle and they all struggled to get where they are. There is a history of how the female representation in their Parliaments started.
Mr Speaker, Back in Ghana, we are not doing badly at all. It is evident that our cultural and traditional setting which in a way tries to frustrate and challenge our women not to aspire to the top is gradually moving out of the
norm, to make sure that we give women a very big voice and the space to aspire.
I think that the cure to that arrangement is education. Governments, both current and past have made strenuous efforts to ensure that the girl-child is made to go to the classroom. This is because that is the only power that when you have, you can aspire to get to the top.
Mr Speaker, again, when you look at the patriarchal influence of men, the way we treat our women and push them to the corner, making sure that they are not able to rise, it is gradually changing. It is on record that we have had the first female Chief Justice, first female Speaker and currently have the first female Chief of Staff in this country.
Who says that it is only through politics that our women can aspire to get to the top? Who says that without politics and Parliament, our women cannot make their voices heard? I totally disagree on that arrangement.
Our women can do far better even in this Chamber and in their fields of study and professions; in the area of medicine, law and entrepreneurship. Wherever they find themselves, they can still brighten their corner. Yes, we would support our women.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 10:57 a.m.
Very well. I said those were the last contributors to this debate. It is very interesting the matters that have come up. The issues that have come up really - [Interruption] The Leadership never indicated that they wanted to contribute. Very well, Leadership of the Minority?
Mr Agbodza 10:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Minority cedes to Hon Ablakwa.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 10:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement and in doing so, wish to commend very highly, Hon Ras Mubarak for raising this matter and rendering the Statement very passionately. I have no doubt that his two lovely daughters would be proud of him today.
Mr Speaker, like many Members of Parliament (MPs) have said, this is a very important matter and we should come to this discussion with a lot of sincerity and resolve to arrest this worrying trend.
It is instructive to note that in the year 2012, the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Michael Aaron Oquaye, delivered a Paper on this matter which is published online by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The publication is titled, “Reserving Special Seats for Women in Parliament: Issues and Obstacles.” by Prof. Mike Oquaye.
Mr Speaker, I would encourage MPs to take a read of this very insightful publication by our Speaker. In this publication, Prof. Mike Oquaye calls on our country to take action. He argues that the decline in
the numbers is worrying and I stand with him and all others including Hon Mubarak, today, that Ghana must rise and do something.
On page 3 of Prof. Mike Oquaye's publication, he reproduces a table by the --- Women in Parliaments World Classification, published in 2011 and it provides a ranking of how 45 African countries are faring as of 2011. It is sad to note that Ghana ranked 38 out of 45 countries. We are virtually at the bottom.
As Hon Mubarak said, Rwanda is up there at number one; South Africa at number two; Mozambique, number three; Angola, number four; United Republic of Tanzania, number five; Uganda, number six and Burundi, number seven.
What is even more poignant is that if you look at the history of women representation in Africa, Ghana showed a lot of promise. Ghana was the first African country to elect a woman to the National Assembly and that woman interestingly, is Madam Mabel Dove Danquah who was the ex-wife of the doyen J. B. Danquah himself. She contested the Ga Rural seat and won by a margin of 3,331 defeating the respected and renowned lawyer, Raphael Nii Amaa Ollennu
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 11:07 a.m.


Madam Mabel Dove Danquah offered a lot of hope to women when she won that election, but sadly, right after, there was a decline and so in the First Republic, there was a Convention Peoples Party (CPP) Resolution which was brought to Parliament and Parliament passed a law.

The National Assembly at the time in 1960, passed a law known as the Representation of the Peoples Act (Women Members) 1960 (Act 8) which reserved 10 seats in the National Assembly for women. This is how come the decline was arrested.

Mr Speaker, I wish to argue that the time has come for us to revisit a similar legislation. We have an opportunity in the Affirmative Action Bill which, sadly, has taken too long -- it is beginning to look like the Right to Information Bill.

We must take action on the Affirmative Action Bill and use that opportunity to look at what happened in this House in 1960 when the Representation of the Peoples Act (Women Members) 1960 (Act 8) of was passed, so that we could reserve
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 11:07 a.m.


We should show a certain commitment because the lip service has gone on for too long and the numbers are dwindling. The two political parties could resolve that they would reserve a quota.

This was done in 1960 and it could be done in 2019 ahead of the 2020 elections. I advocate strongly that we do that. Even if it is 15, or 20, seats in the “strong holds” which would be reserved for women, we would be making progress.

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote article 17 of the Constitution which says:

(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.

(2) A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.''

Mr Speaker, this enjoins us to avoid discrimination and also to take active steps to ensure that women are fully integrated.

The Directive Principles of State Policy under Chapter Six of our Constitution is very clear that we should ensure that women participate meaningfully and it even states that we should encourage gender and regional balance.

Mr Speaker, we cannot continue to pay lip-- service to the issue of gender equity and equality. I would want to appeal to the House that, just as was done in 1960 when the Representation of the Peoples Act (Women Members) 1960, (Act 8) we should consider an Affirmative Action Bill, work on it and insert in that Bill quotas that should be reserved for women.

Then we would be giving a practical manifestation to the Constitution and the matter of gender balance. The rate at which we are going indicates we are racing to the bottom.

We are supposed to be representatives of the people but are we really representing them or do we reflect the people? This is because majority of our people are women.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Hon Member, you would please wind up.
Mr Ablakwa 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I appeal passionately that we should demand that the political parties take active steps to include women -- reserve seats in our “strong holds” for them so that they could participate actively in the legislative process.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:07 a.m.
Majority leadership?
Mr Kwesi Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:07 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would yield to Hon Hajia Alima Mahama.
Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (Hajia Alima Mahama) 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Member for Kumbungu.
Mr Speaker, I am happy that this issue has been raised in this House. We are all very familiar with the challenges that women face in running for public offices, especially, to be elected to Parliament. Challenges such as socio-economic abilities including lack of financial resources to run for office and lack of support to run from other areas.
Mr Speaker, it is important that the country looks at enhancing women positions in all aspects of public life
and not only Parliament and decision making. We have signed on to all the International Instruments like, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of People and Women Rights but it is also important that we take the necessary steps to implement them.
It is important that we also realise that women need to be encouraged. The Hon Member who made the Statement indicated that it is not just encouraging women to stand for election but to have positive discrimi- nation strategies and I would want to reiterate that it is so important to encourage women because of the socio-cultural circumstances that we find ourselves in.
I am an example of a woman who was encouraged to contest for elections. In 1996 and 2000, I was encouraged by Former President Kufuor to contest the elections.
If I had not had the encouragement, maybe, I would not have been in Parliament today. He went through the steps to ensure that at the primaries level I was not challenged.

He encouraged me and talked to the party people to ensure that I was put out there as a candidate in 2000. I was afraid and did not want to, so I needed that encouragement.

I would want to emphasise that women need that encouragement because, sometimes, we look at the challenges and are afraid that we may be called names.

My Hon Colleague women from both Sides of the House would agree with me that most of us have been called prostitutes. When a woman runs for election, the first thing they call us is prostitutes. So, we need that encouragement from men.

Men should also encourage their wives and sisters to run. There are some men who would say that they would never allow their wives to stand on a platform to contest for elections. I have heard so many men say that, if your wives have that flair to run for public office, she should be encouraged to do so.

Mr Speaker, on May 2, 2019, Guinea adopted a law on parity and that law says that 50 per cent of women must be on the candidates list for elective positions.

For any elective positions, 50 per cent of women must be on the candidates list. This is the situation in South Africa and Uganda as well. This behoves our political parties to play an active role. All political parties must ensure that they put women out as candidates to run for elections.

Moving further, we would need to follow the examples of these African countries and legalise it. Indeed, in places like Norway, they have even moved beyond just public office to private sector.

Even with the private companies and organisations, they are required to ensure that 50 per cent of their Board members are women. So, these Boards have women who sit on them and participate in decision making.

Mr Speaker, the affirmative action is very key. I understand it was brought to the Sixth Parliament but, somehow, it did not see the light of day.

I know the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is working on the Affirmative Action Bill and definitely, under the governance and leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Affirmative Action Bill would once more be brought to Parliament. I am very positive about that.

Mr Speaker, as I encourage political parties to place women on their candidates list for elective positions, I would also call that the parties must be incentivised.

There should be some incentives for the political parties to recognise that, if they put out women on their list, then, they would be encouraged or supported in one way or the other.

Mr Speaker, the conversation has started; let us find ways of identifying areas where parties could be incentivised or supported to put women on the candidature list.

Mr Speaker, I would also want to call on the women movement in Ghana -- The activism of the women movement has gone low in Ghana. We would all recall how active it was in the 1980s, 1990s and even the 2000s and beyond; but it has gone down a bit. We need to move --

Political party primaries are coming up on both Sides -- I understand the primaries of the opposition would soon come off in August and ours later in the year. It is about time that -- When we talk about activism, it also means lobbying. Identifying women and putting them out there and lobbying the various parties to put them at various places.

It is unfortunate that, even when I lost elections in 2008, and I decided not to run in 2012, no one came to lobby and encourage me to run in 2016. It took President Nana Akufo- Addo to call and say, “Alima, go back and run”.

I did and I am here this second time because of the encouragement of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; otherwise, I had reached a point that I was no longer going to contest. I was encouraged to run, so I am calling on the women movement that we have to lobby.

Let us identify women and put them out there. Let us go to the headquarters of NDC, NPP, PNC and CPP and talk to them on the number of women you have identified in the various Regions and Districts to get them to contest.

We would have a local and district level elections in December. We need to work on that one too. When I talk about women movement, I am also part of it. We need to work on that. It is not just a matter of local government.

We need to move out and identify women to run for elections at the district level. We need to do that and encourage them to run and win. That dynamism must be apt; it must come off.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:17 a.m.
Very well, Hon Members, there has been very many suggestions but I get
intrigued when I hear the comparison with countries that use the proportional representation as a means of selecting Members to Parliament to Ghana which runs on a Constitution which believes firmly in competition.
If we want to compare with Rwanda, Uganda and other such countries, then we can only talk about amending our Constitution to be like theirs. In their case, after the election, they count how many votes a party got and allocate seats based on that and then the party selects people to represent them. In that case, it would be easy.
But when first, you compete within your party and then you go to the national level, it would be difficult to have this 50-50 or 30-70 or any of that sort of arrangement.
Probably, the political parties can reserve seats for some female contestants, but whether they would win at the national level is out of the hands of any political party. So, I encourage all of us to continue the discussion and bring out proposals which may help solve it. But most of all, the political parties could do better by encouraging more women to participate.
I thank you, Hon Member for Kumbungu, for bringing up this one.
Hon Member, can we take another Statement?
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:17 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we can take one more.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:17 a.m.
Very well, there is one Statement which is also on a matter that is peculiar. It stands in the name of the Hon John Majisi, the Member of Parliament for Krachi Nchumuru on the occasion of the Celebration of International Albinism Awareness Day.
So, if the Hon Majisi is here, you may read your Statement.
Mr John Majisi 11:27 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. In actual fact, the celebration is supposed to be tomorrow and not today but I am well prepared to read the Statement today. [Interruption.]
STATEMENTS 11:27 a.m.

Mr John Majisi (NDC -- Krachi Nchumuru) 11:27 a.m.
Mr Speaker, tomorrow the 13th of June 2019 is the International Albinism Awareness Day. The observance of this day was
[HAJIA ALIMA MAHAMA] instituted on 18th December 2014, by the General Assembly of the UN which adopted resolution 69/170 and pro-claimed, with effect that 13th June 2015 should be an International Albinism Awareness Day.
The Resolution was in recognition of the increased International attention, noting that in many parts of the world, awareness of the human rights situation of Persons with Albinism (PWA) remains limited.
Furthermore, it recognises the importance of increasing awareness and understanding of Albinism in order to fight against global discrimination and stigma against Persons with Albinism (PWA). Every year, the celebration of the International Albinism Awareness Day is characterised by a unique theme and for this year the theme is “Still Standing Strong”.
Who Are Persons With Albinism
(PWA)?
Albinism is a disability; and PWA are individuals born with a genetic condition characterised by the absence of the usual pigment (colour) in their bodies. Their bodies are not able to make a normal amount of melanin, the chemical that is responsible for eye, skin, and hair colour. So most people with albinism have very pale skin, hair, and eyes:
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Member for Ledzokuku, do you want to contribute?
Dr Bernard Okoe Boye (NPP - Ledzokuku) 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement on World Albinism Day made by my Hon Colleague.
Mr Speaker, the reaction from the Chamber tells us why it is important to identify with minority groups. Until we have family members who are albinos, we might not appreciate some of the challenges that they go through, and that is why affirmative action is always good for every institution and, by extension, countries.
Mr Speaker, albinism is a condition that is caused not by the doing of an individual, but as a result of a genetic problem during the formation of the baby. All of us, especially black people have a chemical in our bodies that gives us the dark skin, and this chemical is called melanin.
Melanin is formed from an amino acid called thyroid, and what happens in albinism is that the enzyme that helps to form melanin would usually have a defect, so it is unable to produce. Mr Speaker, the melanin is found in our
Dr Bernard Okoe Boye (NPP - Ledzokuku) 11:37 a.m.
skin, eyes and hair. If a person does not have melanin in the skin, then the person would be exposed to ultraviolet rays which could cause damage to the skin.
Those who are fortunate to have melanin are protected from these harmful effects of the ultraviolet rays. Mr Speaker, the eyes also have a lot of melanin, and it helps to protect the eyes from the harmful light rays from the sun; but unfortunately, albinos do not get this protection.
Mr Speaker, we celebrate this Day because albinos spend more to make sure that their lives are protected. They spend more on creams to protect themselves from sun rays, and they spend on eye glasses and eye surgeries because they have a lot of eye complications.
Some of them are diagnosed with near or far sightedness. These are challenges that we would know only if we have an albino in our families or close to us.
Mr Speaker, on such occasions, we would bring the issue up. We should not wait until we get an albino in Parliament before we would start to be concerned about an albino. Recently, one of our Hon Colleagues had an unfortunate accident, and he
has become physically challenged- temporarily. We see issues of disability in the Chamber, and this is what happens to us if we are really not selfless or we do not think about minority groups.
Mr Speaker, many issues would be addressed if an albino gets into Parliament, but I do not want us to wait until an albino gets here because we could do it to show that we really care.
Mr Speaker, this occasion is also used to raise issues about bleaching. A lot of our citizens do not only use the bleaching creams, but some take tablets to stop or inhibit the actions of the enzyme that produces melanin.
I am an Hon Member of Parliament for a coastal area, and there are people in Ledzokuku who may confuse one whether they are fair or dark. When a person uses bleaching creams, we could see that some parts of their skin are dark and other parts are fair, but those who take the tablets are wholly fair.
Mr Speaker, these have serious consequences, and most of them would get cancers in the near future. We have to cherish the colour of our skins, and know that God in His own wisdom placed us in the tropics and
gave us these as protection. Bleaching is not healthy, and it signals a mental issue or a complex that we have to address.
Mr Speaker, I also want to raise the issue on how to take concrete steps to address this problem. We must pose questions to the Ministry of Health to know the steps that they have put in place to ensure that albinos do not necessarily spend more than the ordinary person as a result of their condition.
The Ghana Health Service must tell us, through your Committee on Health, the practical steps that are available to make sure that an albino does not pay more because of conditions that they were born with. Parliament must also ask questions when it comes to budgeting to know the steps that have been taken to ensure that we protect and assist albinos.
Mr Speaker, the social scientists define development in terms of making arrangements, as a country, to take care of minority groups. So it is not only about the Gross Domestic Products (GDP), primary balance or debt sustainability. Mr Speaker, how well developed is Ghana when it comes to the minority groups? These are the things that should challenge us.
Any suffering by an albino must be borne by all of us. I would like to commend my Hon Colleague because he is really committed to minority groups, and this is a true demonstration of love and affection; we must emulate this behaviour. In fact, I would want to join him, so that we could do more to protect minority groups.

Yes, I might also carry the genes. If any of us gets an albino in our families before they raise the issue here, I would make sure that I do not allow them to make the Statement. We must act now and not wait till we see albinos.

Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Very well. That brings us to the end of Statements.
At the Commencement of Public Business. Item numbered 4 -- Presentation of Papers.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Hon Leader, very well. But are you ready to lay the item numbered 4 (a)?
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:37 a.m.
Mr Speaker, yes, with your leave, I would lay item number 4 (a) on behalf of the Hon Majority Leader.
PAPERS 11:37 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:37 a.m.
Item 4 (b) (i).
By the Minister for Planning (Prof George Yaw Gyan-Baffour on behalf of the Minister for Finance)
-- 11:37 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Item numbered 4 (b) (ii).
By the Minister for Planning (Prof. George Y. Gyan-Baffour) (on behalf of the Minister for Finance) --
(ii)Term Loan Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Finance) and HSBC Bank Plc (as Facility Agent and Arranger) for an amount of four million, five hundred thousand euros (€4,500,000.00) to finance
the implementation of the Rural Communities and Small Towns Water Supply Project.
(iii) Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Finance for the Period January to December, 2018.
Referred to the Finance Committee.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Hon Leader, are we ready to lay item numbered 4 (c)?
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your kind permission, Hon Patrick Yaw Boamah, an Hon Deputy Minister of the Ministry would lay the Paper.
By the Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (Mr Patrick Y. Boamah) (on behalf of the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources) --
Supply Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources) and Aqua Africa Limited for an amount of
thirty million euros (€30,000, 000.00) relating to the Rural and Peri-Urban Nano-Filtration Water Projects in Ghana under the Rural Communities and Small Towns Water Supply Project.
Referred to the Finance Committee.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Item numbered 4 (d) --
By the Chairman of the Committee --
Report of the Committee on Roads and Transport on the Design-Build Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Roads and Highways) and Messrs Contracta Construction UK Limited for an amount of fifty- five million euros (€55,000,000.00) for the implementation of the Rehabilitation and Auxiliary Infrastructure of Kumasi Inner Ring Road and Adjacent Streets Project (100km) -- Phase 1.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Before I go to item numbered 4 (e), my attention has been drawn to an error in the referral to item numbered 4 (c). This is a Supply Agreement. Therefore, the Report should be
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, item numbered 4 (e) is not ready. So, it should be deferred.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Are we ready to do item numbered 5?
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, the Hon Chairman is not available.
So, if we may go to the Order Paper Addendum and consider the National Road Safety Authority Bill,
2019.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Hon Member, has the Report been distributed to Hon Members? I just directed that it should be distributed to Hon Members. Is it not the same Report we are talking about?
Very well. Hon Majority Chief Whip, on the Order Paper Addendum,
there are three items; which one do you want us to do?
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, item numbered 4.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Very well. Item numbered 4 on the order Paper Addendum.
Hon Members, please, be advised that the amendments to the National Road Safety Authority Bill, 2019 on the Order Paper Addendum supersedes the amendments contained in the original Order Paper. So, we would deal with item numbered 4 on the Order Paper Addendum.
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 11:47 a.m.

STAGE 11:47 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye) 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30, subclause (1), paragraph (b), line 2, after “liable” delete all the words up to the end of the paragraph and insert the following:
“to pay to the Authority an administrative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand, five hundred penalty units.”
Mr Speaker, the original Bill talks about court fines; but during your Committee's deliberations, we found it necessary to look at the administrative penalties, which would also generate some Internally Generated Fund (IGF) for the Authority.
Your Committee, in consultation with the sponsors of the Bill, have agreed that instead of the court penalties, we should prefer these administrative penalties.
Mr Rockson-Nelson E. K. Dafeamekpor 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I support the present amendment. Indeed, it is a departure from the original amendments as proposed.
Mr Speaker, we took into consideration the fact that we had already considered penal regime for certain breaches that we describe as major, and indicated the minimum penalty units applicable as well as the
maximum. So, we thought that we should correlate that with these so that it becomes one single regime for breaches, particularly when the consequences would be similar. So, I am in support of the proposed amendment.
Mr Matthias K. Ntow 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I think the Hon Chairman of the Committee should do us a lot of good. If after the amendment has been proposed it is read out, it would be better for us. It would be appreciated if he reads the new rendition so that we follow smoothly.
This is because after he has read out the amendment and there is nothing more, it is either accepted or rejected. So, Mr Speaker, it would do us a lot of good if after the amendment has been proposed, he comes out with the new rendition for appreciation.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:47 a.m.
Very well, the Hon Chairman would take note.
Mr Magnus Amoatey 11:47 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I seek your leave to propose a further amendment to the amendment proposed. The provision, as it stands now, is not definite. My question is; who determines the quantum of penalty to be paid?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Yes, Hon Chairman -- let me listen to the Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
Mr Banda 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, in response to Hon Amoatey's proposed amendment, I think that it is not needful to say “determined” because the determination has already been done in the Bill, and it is also determined in advance as to the institution that the money has to be paid to.
In the Bill, the penalty units should be paid to the Authority, which refers to the National Road Safety Authority. So the mention of the ‘‘penalty unit'' is a determination in itself, or it is a determination in advance. So I think that it is superfluous to say “…determined by the Authority.”
Mr Ahiafor 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I think on this occasion, the Hon Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee got it all wrong. What Hon Amoatey stated was that the administrative penalty unit provides for a minimum and a maximum.
Between the minimum and the maximum, who determines what administrative penalty is? Administrative penalty is a minimum of five hundred and a maximum of one thousand five hundred. Who determines whether it should be five hundred, one thousand or it should be one thousand five hundred at a particular point? That determination is what Hon Amoatey's amendment seeks to cure.
He said that if “…determined by the Authority…” is added, then the Authority will be in the position to determine, in the circumstances, that the administrative penalty should be five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred or up to one thousand, five hundred. So, the amendment proposed by Hon Amoatey is in place.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Please for the lawyers, there is a more fundamental question we must determine. Clause 30(1) (b):
“…continuously acts contrary to a directive from the public agency concerned commits an offence …”
If the person commits an offence, is the penalty to be exacted by an administrative body? I think we should consider that. Once we say “an offence”, it connotes a crime. Does the Authority have the power to
administer punishment for a crime? We should look at that; otherwise, all the others will not fall in place.
Mr Rockson-Nelson Dafea- mekpor 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
At winnowing this morning, the real intent is to describe such a conduct as a breach. Maybe, for want of a better expression, we have employed the use of “offence” instead of “a breach”. So, we could leave that to the House to decide whether we want to stick to the use of “offence” or “breach”, because it happens within the remit of Administrative Law.
Mr Banda 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it appears that under clause 30(1), which is being amended, all the words up to the end of the paragraph are being deleted. It would, therefore, mean that “...summary conviction…” is being deleted. So, that it would read
-- 11:57 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Hon Member, what is being deleted starts from after “…liable...” So, “…on summary conviction…” is being deleted; but before “…commits an offence and is liable…”, we should probably just delete “…commits an offence…” and go straight to “…an
agency concerned is liable…”; then there is no reference to any crime.
Hon Chairman, what do you say to that?
Mr Ayeh-Paye 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I agree with you.
I would want to further amend my proposed amendment by deleting “…commits an offence…” before ‘is', and at the end of “…penalty units…” I would add ‘….prescribed by the Authority.”
Mr Speaker, the new rendition would then read 11:57 a.m.
“…continuously acts contrary to a directive from the public agency concerned is liable to pay to the Authority an administrative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand, five hundred penalty units determined by the Authority.”
Mr Ahiafor 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to remind the Hon Chairman of the Committee that “continuously” has been deleted. So, it is “…a person who acts…”
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Sorry, Hon Member, I did not understand your proposed amendment. I thought that we were
Mr Ahiafor 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, when the Hon Chairman read his new rendition, he read “…continuously…”, which has been amended previously by deleting the word. So, the rendition is:
“A person who acts…” It is not “a person who continuously acts…”
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Let us be clear. What is the new rendition?
“A person who acts contrary to the directive from the public agency concerned is liable to pay to the Authority adminis- trative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand five hundred penalty units as determined by the Authority.”
Mr Ahiafor 11:57 a.m.
Exactly, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Very well.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30, subclause (2),
line 3, delete all the words from “on summary” up to the end of the clause and insert the following:
“to pay to the Authority an administrative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand, five hundred penalty units.”
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
It is practically the same amendment as in the other one. So, “….commits an offence and…” should also be deleted after clause 28. Am I right?
Mr Ayeh-Paye 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, can we, therefore, say that anywhere “…commits an offence…” is, it is deleted?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:57 a.m.
Very well, let us do it one by one. Some contexts may defer.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 11:57 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 30, subclause (3), closing phrase after paragraph (e), line 1, delete all the words from “on summary” up to the end of the phrase and insert the following:
“to pay to the Authority an administrative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units
and not more than two thousand, five hundred penalty units.”
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:07 p.m.
If you delete from “on summary”, then the “commits an offence” still stays there.
“… is subject of an investigation and is liable to pay on summary…”
So, it is practically the same amendment as in the other one.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:07 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, Clause 30 subclause (5), redraft as follows:
“A person, institution or organisation that makes a return or provides information to the Authority which is false in any material particular is liable to pay to the Authority an administrative penalty of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand, five hundred units'' .
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:07 p.m.
This is a straightforward one.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Agbodza 12:07 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just a minor amendment to clause 30(3) (a). It currently reads:
“...comply with safety standards established by the Authority”
Mr Speaker, the amendment is to add “and any other relevant institutions.”
This is simply because the DVLA has certain standards that they expect people to comply with. So, the standards are not only about the National Road Safety Authority.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:07 p.m.
Very well. Hon Chairman, this is a proposed amendment to your Bill. What do you say to that? He says we should add “and any other relevant institutions”.
The proposal is that we should not conjoin them. We should make them stand independently.
So the new rendition would be:
Ms Safo 12:07 p.m.
Mr Speaker, before you put the Question on the entire clause 30, under subclause 5, the redraft that appears on the Order Paper Addendum, page 4 as (iv), on the third line, which refers to “information to the Authority which is false in any material particular…”
Mr Speaker, with the “material particular”, I think the intent is to state that if the information given is false, then it causes some dishonesty or otherwise; but the way it is put --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:07 p.m.
“material particular” means in any detail. So, if you provide information that is false in any detail -- it may be ten lines; but if two relevant words are false, then you are still caught by the law.
Ms Safo 12:07 p.m.
I get the cue, Mr Speaker.
Mr Ahiafor 12:07 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I want to move an amendment to clause 30(4) that the entire clause be deleted.
Mr Speaker, the reason is not farfetched. Subclause (4) says 12:07 p.m.
“Where the person under subsection (3) is a body corporate and the person defaults in the payment of the fine, the principal officer of the body corporate is liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than twelve months and not more than four years and is in addition, liable for the payment of compensation for any damage resulting from the breach unless the principal officer proves to the satisfaction of the court that …”
Mr Speaker, we have changed the entire sentencing regime from “summary conviction” to a “penalty unit”, and subclause (4) is necessary because there is no vicarious liability when it comes to criminal offences. Now that it has been changed into “administrative penalty”, it becomes a debt that would be recoverable from the institution.
Then in civil liability, there is a vicarious liability. That is why I propose that subclause (4) be deleted in its entirety because it is no longer necessary.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:07 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I got up when you put the Question, except that I did not catch your eye.
This is exactly the amendment I wanted to propose. So, I agree with Hon Ahiafor. I think the rationale behind the deletion of subclause (4) was well discussed at the winnowing level.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 30 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 31 -- Regulations
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 31 add the following new paragraphs:
“(d) provide for the operation of road transport operators and related service providers;
(e) prescribe the procedure for issuing permits and licenses to road transport operators and related service provider”.
Mr Speaker, the National Road Safety Authority when it comes into force would regulate other road transport providers. I re-counted in this Chamber the other day, what
happened on our road some time ago where a passenger bus carrying 56 passengers was involved in an accident.
The bus had only one exit, and there was no emergency exit, so when the bus caught fire, the passengers in the bus had no option than to allow themselves to be burnt by the fire.
Mr Speaker, therefore, this National Road Safety Authority would assist by regulating our transport companies by issuing them with permits and other regulations that would guide their operations.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
Hon Chairman, while you are at it, I hope you recall that this matter is in court, and the court has said that they are settled. The bus drivers are being permitted to go and construct emergency exits.
Are you ensuring that they do it?
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, even before this Bill came into force, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) still, per the Act that set it up, had the mandate to insist that these emergency exits were provided before the vehicles are licensed.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
That would however not take away the risk. Would somebody have the power to remove those buses from the roads under this Bill? That is the critical part, because we tried to enforce that. I recall that I sent some of us to check with some of those buses, and they brought the report.
The Chief Executive to this Authority would however sit in Accra, while the officer at Bolgatanga gives licenses to buses without reference to him. The officer at Bekwai may also license buses without reference to him. Therefore, would anybody have the power to remove those commercial vehicles from the roads?
If not, then we should consider that otherwise, the problem would no longer be about whether laws are there or not. It is the character to the fiddle to the law to stand by the law and enforce it.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when we tried to enforce the law on seat belts, a company was engaged by DVLA to fix seat belts on vehicles which were already in the country, but had no seat belts.
Also, we have companies like Neoplan Ghana, who build coaches for other companies. When this law is enforced, we could insist that all coaches or buses that have no emergency exits go to either Magazine in Kumasi or Neoplan Ghana, for them to construct emergency exits for them. I believe that it is not something that we cannot do, if indeed, we would want to enforce the law.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
The first experience was refusing to register a bus which was presented by Neoplan. I personally went to their workshop in Kumasi and insisted that without the emergency exits, we would not license them.
However, they pointed out to me that those Korean buses that are being brought in are being licensed without emergency exits.
So, the challenge is not whether or not we have the facilities or those who could help us do them. The real challenge is whether we have the courage to do it because drivers are organised, and as soon as one starts
to touch them, they turn to hate the politician, and all of us would run away from it. If not, then why have we stopped enforcing the construction of seat belts in our buses?
Hon Members, we are afraid to face the bullets when they start attacking us politically, threatening not to vote for us. If we therefore deal with them as a group, then we would have a problem. We should just remove them from the road with police enforcement. We should insist that at the station, they cannot load unless they have the emergency exits in place.
However, if we touch them as a group, then they are organised and strong. They would hit back, and politicians would run away. We would quietly call on enforcers to stop, but when there is an accident, they come back and blame us.
Hon Members, that brings us to the end of the Consideration Stage for the National Road Safety Authority Bill,
2019.
Hon Members, the Long Title may be read now.
Mr Agbodza 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I wanted to come under Standing Order 130 (1), but I am not sure
whether it would be amenable for us to look at something in clause 4, which is to --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
I wanted to have a look at what Standing Order 130 (1) says. Are you therefore proposing a Second Consideration Stage? If so, then allow us to finish with the Long Title, then we would come to that.
The Long Title ordered to Stand Part of the Bill.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
Hon Kwame Agbodza, I would hear you now.
Mr Agbodza 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I seek your indulgence to ask for a Second Consideration Stage, for us to amend clause 4, by the addition of an item to it.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
Hon Member, why? You have not given any explanation for it.
Mr Agbodza 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, under clause 4 (1)(b), sponsors of the Bill wanted us to add the “Ghana Standards Authority” as one of the representatives for the governing body.
In the Act, they make reference to collaboration with relevant State agencies, and very pivotal in that
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
Hon Member, how would that affect the numbering?
Mr Agbodza 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the draftpersons would help us re-arrange it appropriately.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:17 p.m.
Hon Member, I would want to know the number of people who form the Board. If we add one more, would we still have an odd number or an even number?
Mr Agbodza 12:17 p.m.
Mr Speaker, currently, it is rather four members.
Mr Speaker, at the moment, I believe it is an even number, so if we add one, it would not make it any difficult.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the sponsors of the Bill would want us to add the Ghana Standards Authority, but when we do that, it means we are going to have an even number and the number ought to be odd. So, I therefore propose to delete clause 4(1) (f) from the --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Paragraph (e) (i)
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, sorry. Paragraph (e) (i); delete “the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) nominated by institute” and insert “the Ghana Standards Authority nominated by the Authority”.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Very well. You are only proposing an amendment to his amendment.
Question proposed
Mr Dafeamekpor 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I support the present amendment, just that having justified why they are taking BRRI out to be substituted by the Ghana Standards Authority, even though, I love that the Ghana Standards Authority is included, so I think that that justification should be in order so that we could proceed with the amendment.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Ghana Standards Authority is a bigger umbrella that embodies the standards of institutions. For instance, the BRRI was added simply because we want to check standards of materials and other things used for road construction. But the National Road Safety Authority could do that through the Ghana Standards Authority.
So, we think when we have Ghana Standards Authority rather on the Board, it is a bigger umbrella that embodies the BRRI that also checks and sets standards.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Well, my experience with the BRRI was that they were actually the agency that the National Road Safety Commission used to do the counting in accident fatalities and all that.
Now that it is an Authority on itself and with the appointment of technical officers, they may not need BRRI.
Mr Ayeh-Paye 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Authority could still fall on the BRRI for their data without them necessarily being on the governing body. So, that service from the BRRI could still be provided —
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Very well.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 4 as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
-- [Pause] --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Ordinarily, we should be bringing the
curtains down on the National Road Safety Authority Bill, 2019 but I am advised that there is a small amendment to be done, so we would bring consideration to a close for now and then, we would re-consider it tomorrow.
That brings us to the end of Consideration for now.
Hon Deputy Majority Leader, what next?
Ms Safo 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the indication I have from my Hon Whip is that, you have earlier directed that, the Motion on the Addendum Order Paper standing in the name of the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Roads and Transport, be taken tomorrow.
So Mr Speaker, that brings us to the end of proceedings except to say that there are a few Committee meetings that Hon Members would attend.
Mr Speaker, if my indication is correct, then, I further move, that the House be adjourned to tomorrow at 10 o'clock —
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Hon Leader, I have been advised that a new business would have to be — there is an Addendum number 2.
Ms Safo 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, exactly so, the second Order Paper Addendum for a Paper to be laid.
Thank you.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
So, if you are ready, we would take that before we bring proceedings to a close.
Order Paper Addendum 2, Presentation of Papers.
Ms Safo 12:27 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister was here; I saw him walking out right now. I was going to make an application to lay the Paper on his behalf. But Mr Speaker, he has just entered the Chamber so, I ask your permission for him to lay the said Papers on the Order Paper Addendum.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Very well.
Presentation of Papers by Hon Minister for Education?
PAPERS 12:27 p.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:27 p.m.
Hon Deputy Minority Leader, you could now make your application.
Ms Safo 12:27 p.m.
Rightly so, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House be adjourned to tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:37 p.m.
Yes, Hon Available Leader?
Mr Agbodza 12:37 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
If we look at today's Order Paper, the Public Accounts Committee, Poverty Reduction Strategy Com-
mittee, Finance Committee and the Committee on Mines and Energy would meet after adjournment, and I think that it is appropriate for us to adjourn now for these meetings to go on.
Thank you very much.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 12:37 p.m.

  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 12.39 p. m. till Thursday, 13th June, 2019 at 10.00 a. m.