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Mr Speaker

Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday 9th July, 2019.
Pages 1…9

Mr Speaker, I know this issue has been coming up again and again. The title of the Statement read by Hon Annoh-Dompreh was “A New Dawn in Africa; Continental Africa Free Trade Area Agreement”, but what has been captured says that Hon Annoh- Dompreh read a Statement on Ghana's Successful Bid to Host African Continental Free Trade Agreement. I am not sure whether we should capture what the title of his
Statement was, rather than giving a different rendition.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, what would you rather suggest?

Mr Agbodza

Mr Speaker, I suggest that the title is captured as he presented it, which is “A New Dawn in Africa; Continental Africa Free Trade Area Agreement”.

Mr Speaker

And indeed, that is exactly what it was.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker, rightly so. That was the caption of the Statement.

Mr Speaker

Remedied accor- dingly.
Page 9…29.
Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, 9th July, 2019 as corrected is hereby admitted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, we have the Official Report of Wednesday, 12th June, 2019. Any corrections please?

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, item listed 3, Questions.
Yes, Hon Majority Chief Whip?

Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Education has written a letter to Parliament to excuse him for today. As a matter of fact, the Hon Minister is in France with the President, and one of his deputies, the Hon Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, is also outside the country, attending a World Bank meeting.
Mr Speaker, the plea is that we defer the Questions to between 22nd and 26th of July, 2019, at which time the Hon Minister would be available to attend upon the House.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, rationally, people who are not in the country cannot be forced to appear before the House.
Mr Speaker, my worry, however, is that most of the time, people wait till the time that they are to appear before the House to answer Questions and write to the House that they would not be available.
Mr Speaker, these Questions are normally forwarded to the Ministries between eight to ten weeks. Whereas we would continue to take the excuses, our Hon Ministers should also try to prioritise the activities of Parliament.
If the Hon Minister has indeed travelled with the President, we cannot do anything about that. There is an Hon Minister of State in addition to two other deputies. Once a while, they should show true commitment to the House.
Mr Speaker, if almost all the four Hon Ministers in charge of that Ministry are out of the country, I doubt how they run the Ministry. I hope that my Hon Colleague, the Hon Majority Chief Whip, would do well to get the Hon Ministers to take the work of this House more seriously.
I hope that the Hon Majority Chief Whip ensures that they do not give any other excuses when the date that he has proposed for them to Answer the Questions comes.

Mr Speaker

Thank you.
Hon Members, the Questions are to be rescheduled accordingly.
Hon Members, we would move on to item numbered 4 -- Statements. We have a Statement on Plastic

Dr Clemant A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South)

Thank you Mr Speaker, for granting me the unique privilege to make a Statement on Plastic Waste Management.
Mr Speaker, plastic seems all pervasive and unavoidable due to the nature of the product. Plastic is the common term for a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic amorphous solid materials derived from oil and natural gas. The word “Plastic” is derived from the Greek word ‘Plastikos' which means “fits for moulding” and “Plastos” means moulded.
It is also important to note that plastic is a unique material with many benefits: it is cheap, versatile, lightweight, and resistant. This makes it a valuable material for many functions. It can also provide environmental benefits through certain supply chains; it plays a critical role in maintaining food quality, safety and even preventing waste.
Certain types of plastic may be ‘safer' for the environment than others. However, there are troubling issues associated with all of them, leading to the conclusion that action is needed to remove plastic waste, and stricter controls are required to limit new sources of plastic pollution.
Mr Speaker, high-income countries tend to generate more plastic waste per person as compared to low- income countries. However, how plastic waste is managed determines its risk of entering the ocean.
Mr Speaker, poor waste manage- ment across many middle and low income countries means they dominate the sources of global ocean plastic pollution. This makes the improvement of waste management systems across the world critical to addressing plastic pollution. Overall, approximately 80 per cent of ocean plastics come from land-based sources, and 20 per cent from marine source.
A major concern about plastics in the waste stream is their longevity and whether or not they are truly biodegradable. It is estimated that most plastics would take between 500 and 1,l000 years to break down into organic components. Because of this longevity and the low rate of
recycling, much of our plastic waste ends up in landfills or as litter.
Mr Speaker, some of this plastic waste makes its way through rivers and wind into the ocean. Garbage barges and the trans-continental transport of recyclable materials also lead to an increasing amount of plastics in our oceans and waterways.
Plastic waste directly and indirectly affects living organisms through the ecosystem, including an increasingly high impact on marine life at a macro and micro scale.
According to the United Nations, almost 80 per cent of marine debris is plastic. Mr Speaker, plastic pollution is having a severely negative impact on the health of our oceans and wildlife. According to the Ellen and MacArthur Foundation, by 2050, there will be more plastics than fish in our oceans.
In addition to contaminating our oceans and waterways, the other negative impacts that plastics have on the environment and on human health include: rise in respiratory illnesses due to air pollution resulting from the burning of plastics; shortened lifespan of animals because of the consump- tion of plastic, and littered plastics clogging our drains and causing floods.
Mr Speaker, policy enforcement remains weak; global manufacture of plastics continues to increase the quantity of plastic and debris in the oceans, as well as on land and its is increasing by the day. With limited sustainable recovery of plastics, there is a growing global movement to reduce the generation of plastics.
Of the various methods of dealing with waste, such as burying the waste in the land; incineration or combus- tion; composting; recovery and recycling seem the best options when it comes to plastic waste.
Mr Speaker, in several developed and developing countries, the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and deposit- return schemes have proven effective in reducing littering from PET (Polyester or Polyethylene Tere- phalate) bottles while boosting the recycling sector.
Germany, Japan and South Africa are among many successful examples where the responsibility for the recycling of PET bottles is embraced by manufacturers (either voluntarily or by an act of law). The initiative introduced by the PET Recycling Company of South Africa (PETCO2), for instance, shows how the introduction of EPR (even when

voluntary) can help develop local end- use markets for recycling and build the country's resilience to global shocks in the recycling market.

Mr Speaker, in South Africa, EPR has created jobs and business opportunities, while addressing single-use plastics. The South African example shows what can be achieved if due consideration is given to the socio-economic context and the most appropriate policy instruments (not necessarily banning) selected.

Mr Speaker, Ghana is a beautiful country. However, the truth is that we have not taken bold steps towards addressing our waste problem, with specific attention on plastic waste management. In the light of the above, I would wish to suggest the following:

1. Policy and planning: In this regard, Mr Speaker, options may include a ban on some types of plastics or an outright ban on all kinds of plastics. However, having a ban on plastics alone cannot solve the plastic challenge. An effective plastic policy must be supported by an effective waste management system and Government's ability to ensure such a policy.

2. Better solid waste manage- ment systems: As we face increasing waste and litter, we could look at improving our waste management system overall. This could include investing in sustainable disposal infrastructure, and improving waste collection systems.

3. Recycling in manufacture: Our plastic waste can be put to productive use. Recycled plastic can be used as filler for cement blocks, ropes, baskets, mats and bags. By using plastic waste for products with monetary value, citizens are incentivised to collect plastic waste. Mr Speaker, this is what I refer to as profiting from our waste.

4. Community campaigns: Mr Speaker, we can manage plastic waste. That starts with the individual and at the household level. Conse- quently, effective strategies to educate and motivate citizens can change behaviour. This could be undertaken by community based sanitation ambassadors.

Mr Speaker, we can all take action on plastic waste as citizens, Govern- ment, businesses and manufacturers.

True, the challenge is multifaceted and so must the solution vary. Policy solutions, increased awareness, and improved design and disposal processes are useful in changing behaviour and better managing plastic waste.

Thank you for admitting this Statement. Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Dr Apaak.
Yes, Hon Member?
Rev John N. Fordjour (NPP -- Assin South): Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on the Statement on waste management ably made by Hon Dr Apaak.
I must thank him for bringing to the fore this very important issue which to me at the moment, remains a challenge. However, there is a great opportunity and potential for us to turn it around for economic gain.
We have had many occasions where we have sat and recounted the many challenges that poor sanitation and poor waste management, particularly, of our plastic waste has imposed on the nation. Many

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker, we are in a country where our sanitation issues have dovetailed into a number of challenges. We have a perennial flooding challenge and on many occasions, after an analysis, one of the major contributing factors has been the manner in which some citizens dispose of garbage. The convenience of throwing them into gutters and waterways leading to the choking of waterways all contribute to the perennial flooding.
It also dovetails into many health challenges which the country eventually ends up spending millions of cedis in eradicating. There is a particular module in strategically managing such issues and one of such strategies and benchmark has been the module of Sweden. It is a popular module that has been adopted. In terms of energy, there is a popular Norwegian module that we always make reference to. Every country that is exploiting oil would want to learn from Norway, how they did it in order to avoid Dutch disease.
Similarly, we can also benchmark Sweden's success story. As we speak,

[REV FORDJOUR][REV FORDJOUR]

Sweden is a country that ensures that 50 per cent of the waste generated in the country is turned into energy. They are turning garbage into gold, so to speak. It has been proven that at some point, they even ran out of garbage and resorted to importing garbage from other countries such as China and Canada, to be able to feed their energy plants.

Mr Speaker, we have a lot of lessons to learn from this. We can potentially turn this garbage into energy and turn it into an export commodity. It all ties into the culture. The Ghanaian culture at the moment and the orientation as it prevails is one that has difficulty in sorting out waste into appropriate categories, so recyclable garbage can be put in a separate bin, whereas the others could also be taken elsewhere.

We have a fundamental challenge with even sorting and orienting our citizens to be able to have that attitude and culture. There is even a challenge in various homes, schools and places where waste is generated; to separate them properly in order for them to find their way into the few recycling plants.

Mr Speaker, talk about the few recycling plants we have in Ghana, their capacities are not enough to process even a quarter of the waste

we generate in the country. However, there are many opportunities which I believe are not insurmountable and if we advert our minds to them and strongly focus on them, through policy directions, we shall be able to address this problem.

Mr Speaker, one of the ways we can also focus our minds on is the ban on plastic bags which has been the bane of waste management in Africa. Since 2002, when Bangladesh became the first country to ban the use of plastic bags, many other countries have followed suit. In Africa, the narrative has been very positive. Countries which are our peers such as Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa have all subscribed to this waste management policy where plastic waste for retail, other businesses and domestic use, have been completely banned.

It is a very important direction that we need to look at. I am aware of some discussions already ongoing in some appropriate quarters, but I would want to urge that those discussions should be fast-tracked. The need for us to look into this policy direction is one that would have to be given the needed urgency that it requires.

Mr Speaker, plastic waste takes up to 1,000 years to decompose. So, if

we are throwing about polythene bags that we conveniently use to wrap our groceries and foods from various shops without considering the environmental impact that this convenience could have on us, it is very serious.

I recall growing up in my village, Assin Kruwa, about three decades ago, the use of plastic bags was very alien to us. We would conveniently wrap our food in leaves and package it in a manner that would not pose environmental threats to us. However, things have evolved and we have had to use plastic bags to hold some of these groceries.

I also believe that we could turn to paper packages that are degradable and environmentally friendly, and we would carry out such convenience without any difficulty.

Mr Speaker, the enforcement of existing sanitation laws is also a way out if we want to ensure that we have a sustainable waste management culture in the country. I insist that we have sufficient laws, particularly, when it comes to enforcing sanitation laws and ensuring that our citizens fall in line to make sure to properly dispose of waste in a manner that is

acceptable. When some people deviate, the needed enforcement would have to be done to bring them in check.

I always find it difficult to understand why the same people who may fail to follow strict sanitation procedures in our country would conveniently travel outside the country to some other jurisdictions and strictly adhere to the sanitation systems that are in place there.

Mr Speaker, to conclude, it is also important that we look at a national orientation where institutions such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) would have to take up the challenge to conduct a nationwide campaign in the various schools to ensure that the culture of properly adhering to sanitation and even separating various waste that is generated is done.

Mr Speaker, with these words, I would want to commend the Hon Member who made the Statement.

Mr Speaker

Thank you.
Yes, Hon (Dr) Pelpuo?

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Statement.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity.
Mr Speaker, I would try and be as brief as possible. I would want to commend the Hon Member who made the Statement to create the awareness.
I think the concern, as I listened to the Statement, is the consciousness that is dawning on the world in terms of the environment. The world has traversed a very long tortuous path from the years of San Francisco right down to Barley, Stockholm to recently, Paris. So clearly, the consciousness is beginning to dawn.
Mr Speaker, as the Hon Member who spoke earlier mentioned, there are few countries in Africa which have gone very drastic in terms of plastics. One could name Rwanda and

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri)

Tanzania. Taking cue from these actions that have been staged by these African countries -- because Ghana as a country has not been able to develop alternatives. What we may have to do is not to go that drastic but we have to go the gradualist approach by looking at policy, technology and investments. These are three prone approaches that when we adopt very well, they would largely help.
Mr Speaker, I would want to furnish the House with a few statistics. According to a study, Ghana generates some 300,000 kilogrammes of plastic wastes a day as of 2015 and out of this number, only 81 per cent of the waste was adequately managed. What it means is that a huge chunk of the waste that we generate are left in the atmosphere in various forms and we are unable to process them.

Again, Mr Speaker, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says that Ghana produces some 1.7 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. It goes ahead to say that Accra alone generates over 300 tonnes of plastic waste in a day. When we put these figures in context, clearly, a signal is sent out that we have to rise up and not treat waste

with a normal approach. Something drastic has to be done.

I am aware the relevant Ministry, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has a policy in place. I am reliably informed that the policy is at Cabinet. We would want to urge the Hon Minister -- I can see my respected Hon Minister, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in the House, we have to facilitate and take action on such a relevant policy as soon as possible.

Mr Speaker, it is not just the policy; we also need to create awareness because if we have the policy but all the duty-players and stakeholders are not aware of its existence, then it may not have been crafted at all.

Mr Speaker, going forward, we also need to work on our mindset. Gone are the days when we had environmental clubs at colleges and schools. We may have to revisit this approach and ensure that, as earlier contributors had mentioned, we also work on attitudinal change as a country. This is because we could put in all the investments in terms of money, technology, policy and even legislation; if we are not able to work on the mindset of, particularly, the youth to change our approach towards environmental management,

the whole process and effort would come to a nought.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much, and I also thank the Hon Member who made the Statement.

I am grateful.

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central)

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to comment on the Statement made by Hon (Dr) Apaak.
Mr Speaker, I fortunately had the opportunity at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to be involved in dealing with this plastic waste menace. The Hon Member who made the Statement adequately summarised the issues and the extent of the problem. So I would not belabour the point, except to also bring some clarity to some of the issues.
First and foremost, there is a major misunderstanding regarding who can effectively manage the problem of plastic waste. Because it causes an environmental menace, the assump- tion is that the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation can deal with plastic waste in this country. Unfortunately,
plastic waste is just a subset of general waste management in our country.
Somehow, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is not responsible for waste management in our country. Waste management is the respon- sibility of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which is actually implemented by the local authorities, the District and Municipal Assemblies. So institu- tionally, let us have a sense of who the best people to deal with waste are.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation has found a way to deal with plastic itself as a product. Even that, it is a matter that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which deals with the various industries and factories that manufacture plastics has to also pay attention to.
Mr Speaker, at that time, we sought to push a policy, which plastic waste manufacturers themselves had by consensus agreed to. It was to move them from producing ordinary plastics to oxo-biodegradable plastics so that the plastics that are manufactured by the factories in Ghana or imported by traders in Ghana and used generally by the citizenry are biodegradable. After a

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central)

certain period, when one has finished using the plastics and mismanaged it by throwing it into the environment, it could by itself degrade. That was the contentious issue.
How do we implement a policy to have the manufacturers manufacture only oxo-biodegradable ones, and how do we get the importers to import only oxo-biodegradable plastics, so that they would degrade by themselves after a period of time? It became a bit difficult because it also required an infrastructure at the ports and borders to scientifically assess that the plastic that come in are actually oxo- biodegradable. Also, we were to monitor the activities of the factories in Ghana to ensure that what they manufactured were actually oxo- biodegradable.
Mr Speaker, I think the Environ- mental Protection Agency (EPA) had come out with a policy plan and a programme, and in fact, taken steps to import equipment to have field officers go out to the market to test plastics that were sold to make sure that they were indeed oxo- biodegradable. At that point, Mr Speaker, of course, I was no longer at the Ministry. I believe the Hon Minister is here, and may update us on that policy.
Mr Speaker, but plastic waste is a structural problem of our country. It reflects certain major deficiencies in the way that we live and organise ourselves. One goes to a community and finds plastics all over the place. I have visited communities and engaged with community leaders. Could we not just pick the plastics that are around us? Could we not just teach children to do clean-up exercises on weekends? When we go to the communities, after we have done all the clean-up exercises, we would still see that plastics stare at us.
When we ask why they have not picked these plastics, they would tell us that, in some of the neighbourhoods where people build homes without making provisions for toilets, at night, when people are under pressure during nature calls, some people unfortunately feel compelled to do it in plastic bags and throw them through their windows. So, when one organises clean-up exercises, one finds out that the community would come and clean everything except the plastic bags because they do not know what is contained in those plastic bags.
They could not distinguish between plastic bags that contained food from those that contained human excreta. So, it serves as a discouragement in the communities for people to even
pick the plastic waste that they see around them.
Mr Speaker, there are other structural problems. So, every home must have an internal waste management system that is adequate and deals with all these issues.
Additionally, on the issue of where we sell foodstuffs. All sorts of foodstuffs are sold at the traffic lights. One does not need to stop and go to the restaurant to get food these days. One could just stop at a traffic light and conveniently buy almost everything that one wants to buy and eat. Since such persons do not sit in restaurants or at home to eat, but in a moving vehicle or while walking, when they finish eating and there are no waste bins for disposing off these plastics, people find it convenient to just litter them anywhere and move on.
Mr Speaker, the policy should be at the level of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to ensure who could sell food; where they could sell them; how they could package the food; and how we deal with waste management at home. These things must be strictly enforced.
Mr Speaker, if we do this, then the other bit about creating awareness, enforcing the law and the other issues
about whether we should ban -- The problem would have been minimised to a point where if we imposed a ban, it might not really create the kind of political backlash that most political officers are afraid of. Listening to Hon Colleagues, everybody is skirting around the question of a ban because of the fear of political backlash from the industry and users of plastics in the market.
We go to some communities in the morning, and everybody buys the kenkey, porridge and whatever there is to buy in a plastic bag.

They then go and use it and dispose the plastic bags quite recklessly. We all suffer in the end when these bags choke our gutters and cause floods in our communities.

Mr Speaker, so that is the complexity of the problem. It is not just the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) that should be mentioned anytime we deal with plastic waste issues. Every other sector is involved; the Ministries of Trade and Industry, Local Government and Rural Deve- lopment, and all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. The housing sector is also responsible for how we plan and manage waste effectively in our neighbourhoods and communities.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, thank you very much.

Mr William A. Quaittoo (NPP-- Akim Oda)

Mr Speaker, thank you.
I would like to be brief and just touch on the actual composition of plastics, which requires the development of the right technology to resolve the issue.
Mr Speaker, plastics could be organic or natural, or made from petrochemicals, which is long-chain hydrocarbons. “Plastics” is from “plasticity”, which simply means that it can deform without breaking. So, one could apply some heat and chain it to any form one wants. There are
two types; thermosetting and thermo- plastics.
The thermoplastics are thin and look like films; one could apply heat to it, melt it and could get it in liquid form. It could be re-shaped into any form that one wants. We also have the thermosets which are hard. They are those in which cosmetics are kept, and plumbing pipes; they are always in the form of solids. If we apply excessive heat, it will become charred and thus it cannot be easily melted. These are the two types of plastics that we have.
However, all these plastics could always be taken and some technology applied to it and re-shaped. So, when plastics are used as carrier bags or containers, the nature of the material is such that it can be reused. Therefore recycling should be very simple.
Mr Speaker, some time back, I was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Develop- ment (USAID), whiles working there to Israel to look at how they managed these things. They have systems that ensure that people are trained, so that after using these plastics, they are separated from other organic waste. Once the separation is done, recycling becomes very simple.
The project at USAID was to see the attitude of Ghanaians on how they would separate various types of waste. So, for close to one year, we did this project by placing several dustbins at the centre of Accra and labelled them as follows; organic waste, plastics, light and heavy plastics. Anytime we opened these dustbins in the morning, we had all kinds of waste put in there.
So the conclusion I gave at the end of that project was that I saw it as both an educational and attitudinal problem because on the dustbins were boldly written what type of waste should be put in there. However, there was no occasion that we got the right type of waste for the right label on the dustbin. So, to have brought in certain technologists to this country to look at recycling plastic waste would have been difficult.
Mr Speaker, that is why today I personally laud the President of this country so much that he is ensuring that secondary education is free. [Interruption.] It is important that we get everybody to read. I see attitudinal change as a function of literacy; we cannot change somebody's attitude if the person is not literate, as it will be difficult.
So, I think that this Government is doing so well in making secondary
education free, so that if we get about 75 to 80 per cent of our people to be able to read, most of the problems we encounter in this country would change.
Mr Speaker, recently, as an Hon Member of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, we visited a waste management plant at Zoomlion Ghana. When the waste comes in, they have various separation points, but I realised that all the plastics had one point. What was used in separating the plastics from the other organic materials was just one; the machine could not separate thermosetting plastics from thermo-plastics.
So if we are not able to do that -- the very light ones that my Hon Colleague, Mr Mahama Ayariga spoke about is used in carrying food, and the thermosetting ones are solid, like the plumbing materials. So if it cannot separate them, it still makes applying a simple technology to recycle the plastics very difficult. That is what we have to look at.
Some Hon Members who contributed have mentioned that the challenge here has to do with policy on technology and, of course, investment. I strongly believe that the technology exists because some countries are doing it. So I believe that

Mr Speaker

Yes, finally, Hon Member?

Mr Samuel A. Jabanyite (NDC -- Chereponi)

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by my Hon Colleague on plastic waste management.
Mr Speaker, for the purpose of the young ones seated in the public Gallery to observe proceedings in the House, let me explain, scientifically, the things that I would want to talk about so that they can appreciate what the issues are.
A micron is a unit of measurement, which is one thousand per millimetre. Per the world's standards, the manufacturing of polythene bags is between 40 microns and 50 microns. When that happens, it becomes easily degradable biologically over a period of time.
So, in most advanced countries, they insist on the laws that the manufacturers go strictly by these standards. Also, the use of Polye- thylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which are usually manufactured using polyesters, makes it easier for them to be shredded into flakes and later converted into yarns which could be used for other products.
However, in our case, we visibly see the polythene bags everywhere in our communities because the level of microns that are used in manufacturing them are quite higher and, for that matter, they become very difficult to degrade within a short period of time.
Mr Speaker, I believe that it is an issue of policy, and we are not being strong enough. I have evidence to show that most of these Francophone countries who manufacture these polythene materials are relocating to Tema, in Ghana, which is an industrial zone. The evidence I have is that it is cheaper.

Actually, to manufacture a polythene bag with less than 40 microns is more expensive than manufacturing a polythene bag with bigger microns. So, they find it easy to relocate because in the Franco- phone countries, the laws are stricter and harder on them.

Mr Speaker, we are fortunate that the Hon Minister is in the Chamber today, so I think that we really have to take a stance. We cannot completely ban the use of plastics in Ghana. That is not possible due to its importance and daily usage in our communities in the country, but we have to ensure that we use polythene that is easily biodegradable because that is the way to go.

Mr Speaker, I also believe that it is an issue of attitude. The Hon Member, in his Statement, mentioned something known as the depositors return. This is something that could easily catch up in Ghana, especially in the use of PET bottles because one would be rewarded for returning the plastics. If we task the manufacturing companies to institute this, especially the water bottling companies and others, I am sure it would catch up and everybody would join in. I am

talking about attitude, but unfor- tunately —

I cannot see Hon Edward Bawa in the Chamber. I attended the same senior high school with him, and I remember that every Wednesday after lunch, it was compulsory for students to pick polythene on the entire campus. Mr Speaker, for some of us, this has become part and parcel of us and every morning or during the weekends, I go round my house and pick these polythene bags. My neighbours look at me and ask questions, but I have realised that I no longer see polythene around the other adjoining houses.

So it is an issue of attitude and policy, and I think that if we make stringent laws and the manufacturers of these polythene bags abide by these laws, we would largely overcome this problem.

Mr Speaker, thank you for this opportunity.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, thank you very much.
Hon Agyeman-Rawlings.

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (NDC -- Klottey Korle)

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute towards the

Mr Speaker

Minority Leadership?

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka

Mr Speaker, looking at the Business of the House, I think that it would be useful if the opportunity is passed on.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Mr Speaker, we would yield to the Hon Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (Prof. Kwabena Frimpong- Boateng): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the privilege to contribute to this Statement, and I would congratulate Dr Clement A. Apaak for the Statement and also thank the Hon Member who spoke before me for the contribution.
Mr Speaker, we have prepared three documents that are before Cabinet, and I know that very soon these documents would come to this House.
Mr Speaker, we have prepared a Plastic Management Policy. We do not want to present only a policy, but with its implementation plan and a third document that would be the Resource Recovery Secretariat. This would be a Secretariat with all the stakeholders so that we look at plastic issues always. We do not want a policy that would, more or less, be cast in iron and cannot be changed; we want a living document that could be upgraded anytime.
Mr Speaker, because we would present these documents soon, I would be very brief, talk about a few

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

points and answer some of the questions that have been posed. The question is whether to ban plastics. Mr Speaker, we are not in favour of a wholesale ban because we do not think that it would be in the interest of our nation. However, in talking about the ban, there are three issues that we must consider; the health of the people, the economy, and the environment.

Mr Speaker, plastics are used in all areas of our economy. In agriculture, farmers nurse their seedlings in plastics; in medicine, there are plastics for blood, packaging medicines and sterilisation; and in manufacturing footwear, bags, pens and so on. So a wholesale ban would not be in our interest because plastics are found everywhere. So we are thinking about plastic management in terms of the circular economy.

There are a few items that could be banned. For example, I could imagine that plastic carrier bags could easily be banned. That would not be a big problem. We could ban the use of straws, plastic cutlery, chewing gums, and plastics in cosmetics. So there are a lot of things we could ban which would not affect our health and our economy unduly.

There are items we cannot ban now. An example is sachet water. We would not be able to ban it outright, unless we have a replacement that could carry fluid. That is our biggest problem now. We want a substance that can carry fluid such as the water or oil that our women sell in the markets. If we get a replacement for these items, we could then ban them. That is why we need a Resource Recovery Secretariat that would monitor the situation as we go along. That is how to approach it.

However, in managing the plastics, we are in favour of reducing the use of plastics, and we are aware of single- use plastics. We are in favour of recovery of the plastics and recycling.

As we speak now, my Ministry has empowered two groups of Ghanaians. We have a company in Pokuase which converts plastics into petrol and diesel. In fact, they are selling the diesel to some mining companies.

Some young Ghanaians, with their own technology, have built a refinery that converts plastics into diesel and petrol. There is also another group that converts the plastics to pavement blocks. When we go to our Ministry, our driveway up to the office of the Environmental Protection Agency is paved with a pavement source made from plastic and sand. So we are in

the process of recycling, but the problem, as was said by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is that if we are able to separate the waste at source so that we get the plastic at source and transport it to the recycling centres, even the companies we have could recycle about 60 per cent of the plastic we produce.

Mr Speaker, but the problem is collection, separation and transpor- tation. That is why we have to come together to find solutions to them. I must say that it is not only the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation alone that is in this business. When people criticise, we do not take it that they are attacking us. They are legitimate contributions, and we take all criticisms in good faith. We are working closely with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and industry. We are sitting together to craft this document I talked about.

Mr Speaker, again, I thank you and the Hon Member who made the Statement for a good work done. We would soon present a document, and we would request that Parliament

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Minister.
The Statement is referred to the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology to examine the issue further and liaise with the relevant Ministry for appropriate action.
Hon Members, at the Commence- ment of Public Business, item numbered 5 -- Presentation of Papers. Item numbered 5(a)(i), Chairman of the Committee.

Mr Speaker

Item numbered 5 (a) (i)?

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Mr Speaker, the other items listed for presentation are not ready. The respective Committees are working on them. Respectfully, if we may consider the Motion listed as item 7?

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology on the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
1.0 Introduction
The Hon Deputy Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ms Patricia Appiagyei, on behalf of the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, on 30th April, 2018 laid before the House the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Pursuant to article 75(2) (b) of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 185, Mr Speaker referred the protocol to the Committee on Environment, Science and Tech-
nology for consideration and report to the House.
2.0 Acknowledgement
The Committee met with the acting Executive Secretary of the Environ- mental Protection Agency, Mr John Pwamang, and his officials to deliberate on the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Committee is grateful to all of them for the elucidation provided on the amendments to the protocol.
3.0 Reference Documents
The Committee referred to the following documents during delibera- tions:
a. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana;
b. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana;
c. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and
d. The Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Con- vention on Climate Change.
4.0 Background Information
The issue of climate change is currently a big challenge to the world. It is multidimensional, and its impact transcends national borders. Its mitigation, therefore, requires a global approach.
According to projections made by the inter-governmental panel on climate change, if emissions continue to rise at their current pace, the world will be faced with a disastrous future in the form of rise in sea levels, shift in growing seasons, loss of biodiversity, and an increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions such as heat waves, storms, floods and droughts.
Those who would be mostly affected would be particularly developing countries in Africa, the poor and the marginalised.
In this regard, Ghana became a party to the Kyoto Protocol in 2005. Since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, Ghana has assiduously met its commitments as part of its obligations and participated in the global efforts at reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
At the 18th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 18) to the United Nations Forum on Climate Change (UNFCC), and the 8th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 8) held in December 2012 in Doha, Qatar, the parties to the protocol adopted amendments to Annex B of the Protocol with the following features:
a. The developed country parties agreed to enhance their ambition to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
b. Developed countries agreed to take up ambitious and legal binding emissions reduction targets that will ensure the achievement of global tem- perature goals of less than 1.5 degrees celsius by the year 2020.
c. Developed country parties also agreed to reduce their total aggregate emissions by 15 per cent by the year 2020 at 1990 levels.
d. The Kyoto Protocol and its amendments are expected to come into effect in 2020 and is currently the multilateral

Climate Change protocol globally in force.

5.0 Justification for the Amend- ments

When the amendments to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Doha, Qatar in December 2012, the developed countries pledged to make more resources available for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to slow down climate change and mitigate its impact on sustainable development.

The amendments to the Protocol are, therefore, designed to assist developing countries such as Ghana to adapt to the adverse effect of climate change. It again facilitates the development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies that can increase the resilience of developing countries to impact climate change.

If Ghana ratifies the amendments to the Protocol, she stands to gain or have access to financial and technical assistance from the institutions established under the convention.

Ghana can also continue to participate in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) established by the Protocol to assist developing

countries achieve sustainable development and meet obligations under the Protocol. The CDM projects are designed to ensure that developed countries promote sustainable development in developing countries.

Ghana is currently implementing an US$8,293,972.19 project in the Upper East, Upper West, Savana and Northern regions, fully funded by the Adaptation Fund which is one of the funding windows established under the Kyoto Protocol and its related amendment to address the impact of climate change in various countries who are Party to the Protocol.

Ghana will continue to obtain funding from the above sources when the amendments to the Kyoto Protocol are ratified by the House.

In the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol which ended in December 2012, the Adaption Fund was financed mainly with proceeds from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). However, with the adoption of the amendments to the Kyoto Protocol, additional flow of funds into the Adoption Fund will come from International Emission Trading and the Joint Implementation Fund of the developed countries.

6.0 Options and Impacts

Ghana is one of the few countries yet to ratify the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol. This affects leveraging of the relevant financial and technological resources under the Protocol to build the capacity of institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, and research institutions involved in climate change related matters.

A review of the relevant laws and regulations have been made by all relevant institutions responsible for regulation of the environment and climate change.

The Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol when ratified will become consistent with the mandate of the institutions aforementioned and would ensure that they benefit from funds that can be used for projects on sustainable development and improvement in socio-economic wellbeing of the people.

7.0 Inter Departmental Consul- tations

To ensure success in the implementation of the Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, stakeholder institutions from both public and

private sector have been consulted. They have also participated in the global debate on climate change through various fora organised by the United Nations Fund on Climate Change (UNFCC). These stake- holders continue to call for actions that will assist Ghana adopt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

In this regard, Ghana and for that matter the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation has consulted various Ministries such as Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Local Government and Rural development, Finance, Lands and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Justice and Attorney General, Ghana Meteorological Agency, Water Resources Commission and other institutions in Ghana to ensure collaboration and successful implementation of the Amendments.

Implementing Departments in the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have also been engaged.

8.0 Financial Implications

Ghana is a Non-Annex 1 Party to the Kyoto Protocol and does not have

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

any specific obligations to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. The country will, however, benefit from both financial and technical capacity building from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a Party to the Protocol and related Amendment.

Ratification of the Amendment will not result in the request for financial and other resource support. It would rather create an avenue for investments in climate change programmes through the CDM.

The existing implementing agencies under the various Ministries will continue to implement the provisions

of the Protocol within the framework of their existing mandates, based on regular allocations plus development assistance from other development partners. Additional funding, if any, would be expected to come from development partners under the protocol.

9.0 Information Dissemination

There is an urgent need for public and stakeholder education on issues of the environment and climate change. Dissemination would be done through communication channels of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as the stakeholders.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

11.0 Observations and recom- mendations
The Committee, during deliberations, made the following observations:
11.1 The Committee observed that there are five factors that affect
climate in Ghana. They include deforestation, energy emissions, vehicular emissions, inappropriate waste management practices, and industrial activities. Deforestation was detected to be the highest cause of climate change and industrial emissions, the least. To address these

climate change militating factors, the Government has distributed more than one million improved cook stoves to rural households, invested US$13.2 billion in natural gas infrastructure, engaged 20,000 youth to plant 10 million trees as a way of increasing the carbon sinks in Ghana and invested US$30 million of General Environmental Fund and Adaptation fund grants to build resilience of smallholder farmers in the savanna dryland. The Committee lauds the efforts being made by the Government with support from funds under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the impact of climate change in Ghana. However, the Committee urges the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and innovation to do more in ensuring that deforestation in Ghana is reduced considerably since it is the highest cause of climate change in Ghana.

11.2 The Committee also observed that although article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol calls for 18 per cent reduction in total aggregate emissions, the Cabinet memorandum references 15 per cent. The Committee considers that to be inconsistent and calls on the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to ensure that the anomaly is corrected.

The Ministry should also ensure that the carbon-dioxide equivalent emissions of greenhouse gases listed in the Protocol do not exceed their assigned amounts.

11.3 The Committee again observed that Ghana stands to gain more from the carbon market than it currently does because the EPA and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation have not educated the public enough on how to obtain funds from the carbon market. The Committee urges the EPA to educate NGOs and industry on the benefits to ensure high investment in the sector. Government should also lead private sector, industry and NGO in assessing funds from the carbon market.

11.4 The Committee further realised that the amendments to the Kyoto Protocol cover six global warming gases including Carbon dioxide (Co2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluoro- carbons (HFC), Perfluoxinated (PFC) and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) Compound. The Committee was informed that all these gas emissions are measures using C02 as the base. The Committee urges EPA to ensure that it conducts research to ascertain if these gas emissions occur in Ghana and are properly measured in accordance with directives of the Protocol.

11.5 The Committee finally noted that although the Kyoto Protocol requires 50 countries to ratify the amendment to engineer enforcement, more than 150 countries including Togo, Rwanda and Sudan have so far ratified the amendments and are benefiting from various forms of investments. The Committee there- fore urges the House to ratify the amendment to ensure that Ghana benefits from further investments under the Protocol.

12.0 Conclusion

In view of the importance of the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol and the financial benefits thereof, the Committee recommends to the House the adoption of its Report and the ratification of the Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol.

Dr Bernice A. Heloo (NDC -- Hohoe)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology on the ratification of amendments to the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Speaker, it is well-noted that the depletion of the ozone layer and
its subsequent impact in climate change cannot be overemphasised. Climate change is already with us in Ghana. Some people think we are not experiencing climate change, but it is clear that the impact of the depletion of the ozone layer, resulting in climate change, has adverse effects for all of us in Africa, the globe and Ghana, in particular.
Mr Speaker, it is on record that Ghana and the rest of Africa would suffer the severest impact of climate change. This includes uncertainty and variability in rainfall. Frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions would be experienced and the other impact of climate change are that it has a multiplier effect on small holder farming.
Mr Speaker, climate change would affect hydroelectricity, make our coastlines very vulnerable and also decline our eco-system vitality. These are just some of the adverse effects of climate change.
Mr Speaker, during the last Session, when we came here to call for the ratification of a protocol, an Hon Member questioned why we were ratifying the protocol and what the impact will be. I want to state here that the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol creates the opportunity for us to access various financial and non- financial benefits that we need to take

Mr Clement K. Humado (NDC -- Anlo)

Mr Speaker, I wish to comment on the Report of the Committee and also urge the House for the adoption of the Committee's Report and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Speaker, it is true that climate change has come to stay, notwith- standing all the measures put in place globally to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce the temperature by 1.5 degree celsius by
2020.
Mr Speaker, Ghana was a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol in 2005. However, the global efforts to achieve the reduction in temperature by 1.5 celsius degrees has not been enough and as a result, in 2012, when the Conference of Parties met in Doha, they decided that countries should redouble their efforts in order to meet the said target by 2020. The crux of this amendment is on the developed countries.
Mr Speaker, one would see from the Report and the annex that it affects only 25 countries which are mostly developed countries. They are expected to redouble their efforts under the Doha Amendment. So the question is, why is Ghana being requested to ratify the Doha Amendment? Ghana is ratifying the Doha Amendment because there is a mechanism called the Clean Development Mechanism established by the United Nations, through which we can benefit from the international system, not only with funds but also technology transfer.
Mr Speaker, the mechanism is such that the targets given to the developed countries can be traded with the non- Doha party countries. If developed countries which have been tasked to increase their efforts can establish some development projects in other developing countries, that count as a credit or a point to reduce their commitments. This is why we in Ghana also need to ratify the Doha Amendment.
Mr Speaker, at the Committee level, we realised that the flow of funds from the Clean Development Mechanism is very slow to Ghana and we suggested that we should not just sit and wait for those countries to identify us and bring projects down, but we should also aggressively go into the market and identify those countries that have committed themselves to the Agreement and those who are participating in the Clean Develop- ment Mechanism. We can do this through our embassies. We can sign a memorandum of understanding with them so that we can quicken the pace of these projects coming into the country.
We also said that among the measures or the projects that can be undertaken under this Protocol is afforestation, which is very relevant to our MMDCEs.
So far, our Municipal Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) are not really participating in this mechanism and we are urging the Ministry to find guidelines to find a way of assisting the MMDCEs to also participate in afforestation, which would go a long way to bring down additional funds to the District Assemblies.
Mr Speaker, Ghana stands to benefit from this system and when I look at the Report, it is at no cost. The benefits would come to the Ministry, to the MMDCEs, and also come to the private sector, which are participating in this Clean Develop- ment Mechanism.
Mr Speaker, with these few comments, I urge the House to adopt the Report of the Committee and also ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Mr Speaker, I rise to support the Motion moved by the Hon Chairman of the Committee.
Mr Speaker, clearly, we know the Kyoto Protocol is an international convention linked with the United Nations Convention on Climate

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Change (UNFCCC) and we all know the importance of it. I am excited that Hon Humado had touched and recognised the importance of afforestation in the scheme of things as we seek to give ratification to these Amendments.
Mr Speaker, basically, Ghana, as part of Africa, is a developing country and when it comes to vulnerability, we have always been exposed. Hence, our mitigation and adaptation measures have always come as suspect. So the ratification of this Agreement is very important.

Now, the world body, the UN, in its wisdom in crafting this international Agreement, one of the principles embedded in there is a principle of common but differentiated res- ponsibility.

What it means is that the world is categorised into two groups. We have the annex and the non-annex countries, hence the developed world with all their industries by and large are engaged in more emissions as compared to those of us in the developing world. Ironically, one part of the world gets polluted and it affects all of us.

The UN has been bold to say that a lot of responsibility lies on the developed world. That does not mean that those of us in the developing world should go to sleep. We have one of the easiest avenues that we can cash in on the Kyoto Protocol, and that has to do with afforestation. Thankfully, our Government has put in place a wonderful project, the re-afforestation project, where over 20,000 men and women have been given employment.

Mr Speaker, what is intriguing about this is not the mere planting of trees but rather the youth of this country being urged to plant trees, and it is linked to poverty reduction, because the more trees they plant, the more allowances they get at the end of the day.

So, the Kyoto Protocol is important. I would urge my respected Professor, the Hon Minister, that going forward, we look at how we can build capacity. We have limited number of environmentalists in this country. We need the capacity to buy into the carbon trade, because that is the easiest way we can plough into making billions of dollars and increase the wealth of this country.

I am very confident that if we are able to give ratification to these Agreements and then we ensure that our local government structures, the

MMDCEs, are raked into the approach in the campaign -- because we cannot just talk about it in Accra and our capital cities and end it there. The real work which has to do with afforestation is done at the countryside, and that is where attention should be focused. That is the strength of a developing country, with the weakest link in terms of adaptation and mitigation. The only way we can reduce the impact of climate change and the destruction of the ozone layer is through afforestation.

Mr Speaker, with these words, I urge the House to adopt this Motion and ratify this Agreement accordingly.

Question put and Motion agreed to.

Mr Speaker

The item listed 8, Resolution.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

to.

Resolved accordingly.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Minister.
We would move to the Considera- tion Stage.

Mr Moses Anim

Mr Speaker, I would plead and seek your leave for us to take the Motion numbered 6. The Report of the Committee on Mines and Energy is ready.

Mr Speaker

Very well, the Motion numbered 6, Hon Chairman of the Committee?

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Mines and Energy on the Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Energy for the Period January, 2017 to December 2017.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I present your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
Pursuant to section 27(1) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Energy for the Period, January 2017 to December 2017 was laid in Parliament on Tuesday, 5th June, 2018 by the Minister for Energy, Hon Boakye Agyarko.
The Performance Report was subsequently referred by Mr Speaker to the Committee on Mines and Energy for consideration and report.
2.0 Deliberations
The Committee met on 11th July, 2018 and considered the Report. Present at the meeting were the Hon Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Joseph Cudjoe, and his technical team from the Ministry, as well as other officials of the Ministry of Finance.
The Committee is grateful for their inputs and clarifications.
3.0 Reference documents
In considering the Performance Report, the Committee made
reference to the underlisted docu- ments:
i. The 1992 Constitution;
ii. The Standing Orders of Parliament;
iii. The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of the Republic of Ghana for the 2017 Financial Year;
iv. The Medium Term Expen- diture Framework for the Ministry of Energy, 2017-
2019;
v. The Report of the Select Committee on Mines and Energy on 2017 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Energy; and
vi. The 2017 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Energy.
4.0 Vision and Mission of the Ministry
4.1The vision of the Ministry of Energy is to develop a modern diversified, efficient and financially sustainable energy economy that will ensure that all Ghanaian homes and
industries have access to adequate, reliable, affordable and environ- mentally sustainable supply of energy to meet and support accelerated growth and development agenda envisaged for the country.
4.2The Mission of the Ministry of Energy is to develop and sustain an efficient and financially viable Energy Sector that provides secure, safe and reliable supply of energy to meet Ghana's developmental needs in a competitive manner.
5.0 Strategic Policy Objectives For
2017
During the year under review, the Ministry sought to achieve the following strategic policy objectives:
5.1Power sub-sector
In 2017, the Ministry of Energy set for itself the following objectives for the power sub-sector:
a. Provide adequate, reliable and affordable energy to meet the national needs and for export;
b. End the power outages (Dumsor) in the short-term, through government liquidity injection, restructuring of debts, and securing of firm

commitments for the reliable supply of fuel;

c. Reduce taxes on electricity tariffs to provide immediate relief to households and industry;

d. Conduct a technical audit on all power sector infrastructure and develop and implement a 10-year Power Sector Master Plan which may be reviewed in the course of implementation to meet our medium to long-term energy needs;

e. Ensure that there is sufficient Reserve Margin on the safety cushion to prevent blackouts and ensure the stability of the power system;

f. Develop and implement an Energy Sector Financial Restructuring and Recovery Plan, incorporating a liquidity management mechanism for Volta River Authority (VRA), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Northern Electricity Distribution Com- pany (NEDco) and the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs);

g. Restructure the power sector by bringing all hydro genera- tion exclusively under VRA and create a separate thermal market;

h. Increase the proportion of renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind, small and mini-hydro and waste-to- energy) in the national energy supply mix;

i. Explore the options for nuclear, geo-thermal and tidal wave energy;

j. Ensure efficient utilisation of energy;

k. Build transparent and effective regulatory environment;

l. Encourage public and private sector investments in the power sector; and

m. Build adequate local human resource capacity for effec- tive management of the energy sector.

5.2 Petroleum sub-sector

In 2017, the Ministry of Energy set for itself the following objectives for the petroleum sub-sector:

a. Create an enabling environ- ment for sustainable activities along the oil and gas value chain;

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

c. Promote value-added invest- ments, indigenisation of knowledge, expertise and technology in the oil and gas sector;

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

e. Ensure adequate availability of petroleum products on the Ghanaian market;

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

g. Ensure transparency in the management of petroleum resources.

6.0 2017 Key Performances of the Ministry

The following were the key performances of the Ministry during the year under review:

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

6.1.1 A total of 445MW was added to the country's installed generation capacity to up it from 4,132MW in 2016 to 4,577MW in 2017. The replacement of the 225MW Karpowership by a 450MW Karpowership and the completion of phase 1 of 370MW AKSA Power Project added 225MW and 220MW capacity, respectively.
6.1.2 Works on the 340MW CenPower, 400MW Early Power 240MW Amandi Power projects achieved 97.78 per cent, 5 per cent and 10 per cent complete, respectively.
6.1.3 The construction of the 220MW Kpone Thermal Power Plant (KTPP) was completed, leaving residual works including, plant roads, drains, communication and telephone to be completed. Works on the Units 1 and 2 of the Kpong Generation Station Retrofit Project was also completed.
6.1.4 In all, there was a shortfall of 782MW representing 63.7 per cent of the 2017 target of
1,227MW.
6.2 Improvement in Power Transmission
6.2.1 In line with Government's policy to create a non-congested

transmission system, GRIDCo continued with the Transmission System Reinforcement Project to improve operational reliability, security and control, among others. Key among these included:

a. Kpando-Kadjebi 161kV Transmission Line (com- pleted).

b. Aboadze-Prestea 330kV Transmission Line (86per cent complete).

c. Prestea-Kumasi 330kV Trans- mission Line (70 per cent complete).

d. Kumasi-Bolgatanga 330kV Transmission Line (70 per cent complete) .

6.3 Improvement in Power distribution

6.3.1 A target reduction from 23.18 per cent in 2016 to 20 per cent was set for the year under review. At the end of the year, the Ministry had achieved 23.5 per cent, an increase rather than reduction.

6.3.2 A target of 2185 commu- nities were set to be connected to the national grid under the Rural Electrification Project but 587 was

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

atTw eneboa-Enyenra- Ntomme (TEN) Field as at 4th December, 2017. Average daily oil production achieved for the period stood at 52,211 bbls against a planned daily average of 50,000 bopd;

f. Sankofa Gye Nyame Field attained first Oil on 20th May, 2017 ahead of schedule with two (2) oil producer wells (OP-3 and OP- 4). Total oil production from the field from inception (20th May, 2017) to 31st October, 2017 stood at 2,929,935.43 bbls and gas produced was 3,819.21 MMscf; and

g. The Ghana-La Cote d'Ivoire maritime boundary dispute judgement at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) was made on 23 rd September, 2017. Fortunately, none of Ghana's active upstream petroleum projects was negatively impacted by the ruling. Companies previously affected by the provisional measures resumed normal operations under the respective Petro- leum Agreements.

6.6 Petroleum Downstream Development

6.6.1 A total of 149,500 LPG cylinders, cook stoves and related accessories had been distributed between 2013 and 2017 under the Rural LPG Promotion Programme (RLPGPP).The target for the year under review was not indicated in the Ministry's 2017 annual sector budget.

6.6.2 Under the local content and local participation, the following were achieved during the year:

a. Approval of the Local Content Policy for the Petroleum downstream by Cabinet;

b. Passage of the Local Content Legislation for the Power sector; and

c. Launching of the Ghana Upstream Service Internship Programme (GUSIP).

6.6.3 A new national LPG Promotion Policy was approved by Cabinet to replace the current LPG Marketing model with the Cylinder Recirculating market model. The policy seeks to consolidate activities in the LPG value chain with the view

to reducing Health, Safety, Security and Environmental risks exposure. Under the Policy, households and commercial users will no longer send their empty cylinders to gas stations for filling but to exchange the empty cylinders for filled cylinders from LPG distribution companies.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

7.0 Financial Performance for the Year 2017
7.1 Summary of financial performance
SPACE FOR TABLE -- PAGE 12, 12.15 PM
8.0 Observations
8.1 Financial Performance
The Committee observed that an amount of GH¢275,002,944.21 representing 31.01 per cent of the approved budget of GH¢886,818,411.0
was released. This included goods and services component of GH¢996,896.40 (38.98 per cent) against approved goods and services budget of GH¢2,557,548.00 and Capital expenditure of GH¢63,913,524.59 (63.91 per cent) against approved capital expenditure budget of
GH¢100,000,000.00.

8.2 Power Sub-Sector Policy Targets

The Committee noted that none of the five policy targets for the power sub-sector was achieved by the Ministry during the year under review. The following summarises the performance under the power sub- sector:

445MW added to the installed capacity out of the target of

1227MW;

distribution losses increased from 23.18 per cent in 2016 to 23.50 per cent against a planned reduction target of 20.0 per cent.

587 communities connected to the national grid out of the target of 2185 communities;

electricity access rate increased 84.15 per cent against the target of 85 per cent; and

renewable energy in the national energy supply mix increased from 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent against a planned target of 2 per cent.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much.
Hon Members, who seconds the Motion?

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo)

Thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Mr Speaker, your Committee met the Ministry of Energy, and as indicated by the Hon Chairman, we realised that most of the targets in the power sector had been missed.
Mr Speaker, one of them is the National Electrification Access Rate. As of December 2017, your Commi- ttee realised that between 2016 and 2017, access rate only increased by 0.915 per cent. If we compare this percentage to the figures gained in 2016, we realised that in the 2016 Budget Statement, the target communities that were to be connected to the national grid was
1,500.

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo)

By the end of December 2016, about 1,212 communities were connected, which represented about 80 per cent. However, in the 2017 Budget Statement, the communities captured to be connected to the national grid were 2,185. By December 2017, only 446 commu- nities were covered, which represented about 20 per cent. We realised therefore that it is important for the Ministry to set up realistic targets.

Mr Speaker, in 2018, a similar issue came up. In the 2018 Budget Statement, 1,796 communities were to be covered, but as of September 2018, only 122 communities had been connected to the national grid. The Committee therefore had the opportunity to advise the Hon Minister to ensure that whatever number of communities that were submitted was realistic and achie- vable.

Mr Speaker, we also realised that the budget was 87 per cent donor funded. Out of the total amount of GH¢886,818,411, about GH¢779, 292, 21 was donor funded. Out of the donor funds, only 26 per cent of this amount was released in 2018, which is about GH¢27,277, 072. So, the abysmal performance is more dependent on the Budget being donor

funded. The Hon Minister was then advised to ensure that we reduce our dependence on donor funds and concentrate on what we could locally mobilise.

Mr Speaker, subsequently, the 2019 Budget Statement was restricted. It concentrated less on donor funded projects, and more on Government's own revenue genera- ting projects. This is because it is much more reliable. If we relate it to 2017, about 63 per cent of the locally generated revenue was released, which is quite appreciable. We believe that by the end of 2019, they would be able to perform better as compared to that of 2017.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister indicated that one of the reasons they could not perform well was as a result of the debt in the energy sector. They anticipated that a reduction in the debt would go a long way to help the Ministry to perform well.

Mr Speaker, the debt has however not reduced, but has rather escalated. Just last Monday, the Independent Power Producers threatened that within eight days, if they were not paid the amount owed them, which is to the tune of US$300 million, they might cut the production of power. The Minister for Energy must therefore work hard to ensure that these power

sector agencies are paid for us not to end up with serious dumsor.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute.

Question proposed.

Mr Moses Anim (NPP -- Trobu)

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I rise to support the Motion, and encourage Hon Members to also do same.
Mr Speaker, I would want to comment on paragraph 6.2; improvement in power transmission. In 2017, the Ministry with its agency, GRIDCO, worked to improve the Transmission System Reinforcement Project.
Mr Speaker, we all know that power losses are a big blow and an input to the cost component of power. The target of the Ministry and its agencies is that we should be able to reduce our power losses to the international benchmark. An improvement in the transmission lines leads to a reduction in the power losses. As we speak, the power losses are far above the international benchmark. Therefore everything should be done to support the Ministry and its agencies to reduce the losses.
Mr Speaker, the losses are passed onto the consumers. Therefore as much as we work hard to reduce transmission and other related losses, we should see a reduction in the cost of power.
Mr Speaker, it is also refreshing to note that renewable energy improved from one per cent to 1.5 per cent. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 has aimed to ensure that by 2030, the entire world gains access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all. Renewable energy source is one key area that could help us make power affordable.
Mr Speaker, renewable power source is also a good source that would help us clean the environment, and help to mitigate the climate change that has become a burden on the neck of everybody.
We should help and support the Ministry to implement the Ghana Renewable Energy Master Plan that was handed over to the Ministry on 13th February, 2019.
12. 35 p. m.
It is an indication that if we all support the Ministry in its implementation of the Renewable Energy Master Plan and encourage the Ministry to come forthright on the implementation of renewable energy

Mr Speaker

Hon Pelpuo?

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC - Wa Central)

Thank you Mr Speaker.
I also rise to support the Motion on the Report of the Select Committee on Mines and Energy on the Budget Performance of the Ministry of Energy for the period, January to December 2017.
Mr Speaker, looking at the expenditure patterns of the Ministry, I appreciate the fact that so much has been done. The most important and prominent among the investments of the Ministry is the increase of our installed capacity by 440 megawatts, and also, improvement of access by just about 0.5 per cent.
Mr Speaker, it tells us that installed capacity would no longer be our problem. The major challenge we now face is how to run the many plants that we have. So, the problem of power outage presently does not tell the story that it is because we do not have enough capacity -- capacity is assured. The question now is with all these expenditures Mr Speaker, I would like us to look at how much would be invested to make sure that we have a stable and sustainable power supply?
Mr Speaker, in the Report, there is a part that talks about access and utilisation by the population and the transfer of knowledge in the running of these plants.
Mr Speaker, much of the challenges we have today is because nothing of the things that are happening now are indigenous; they are all from outside the country and the technicians themselves are from outside the country. So the Report is suggesting and giving the impression that there is going to be transfer of knowledge to local people to be able to manage the plants. It is a key element in the sustainable use of power.
I would urge the Ministry not to relent on that because it is so important to ensure that we indigenise
the facilities that we are buying and importing into this country. That is going to add up to our ability to manage our own electricity supply and to make sure that it is not only the supply of it, but the sustainability of it.
Mr Speaker, I would like to urge the Ministry to look at this and work on it.
Thank you very much Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Members.
Question put and Motion agreed to.

Mr Speaker

We now move to the Consideration Stage.
Please note that the item listed 9 on the original Order Paper has been replaced with the contents of the Order Paper Addendum. So we are operating on the Order Paper Addendum . I trust that Hon Members have the Order Paper Addendum with them so that we can all sing from the same hymn sheet.
Accordingly, Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill, 2019 at the Consideration Stage.

Mr Speaker

Clause 10, Hon Chairman of the Committee, debate to continue.
Clause 10 -- Interpretation

Mr Ben A. Banda

I beg to move, clause 10, Interpretation of “vigilante” delete and insert the following: “vigilante'' means a person who resorts to an act or threat of violence or intimidation to further the interest of that person or another person;”

Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
I support the present amendment being proposed by the Hon Chairman, save that I desire to proffer a further amendment. Mr Speaker, this is because the person could be charged for conspiring to engage in an activity that is being defined here.
Therefore I desire to propose that “vigilante means a person who resorts to or conspires to an act or threat of

violence or intimidation to further the interest of that person or another person”.

I propose this because, it is not the act in itself that could lead to commission of an offence. And that where two or more persons conspire to engage in any of the instances being defined, then, they would be liable.

That is my humble submission on the matter.

Mr Speaker

Mr First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair.
Yes, Hon Chairman of Committee?
12. 42 p.m.

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, before you assumed the Chair, I had moved the amendment numbered item (i) as is captured on the Order Paper Addendum. And the Hon Dafea- mekpor also seeks to further amend it. He intends to incorporate one of the inchoate offences, which is conspiracy in the proposed amendment. But we have already dealt with the inchoate offences somewhere in the Bill; aiding and abetting. Conspiracy is all part of inchoate offences.
Mr Speaker, to that extent, I submit that it would be irrelevant or redundant to seek to incorporate in this proposed amendment an inchoate offence, which is conspiracy, which has already been dealt with in the Bill.
Mr Speaker, in any case, even where this has not been expressly stated, Act 29 absolutely takes care of all the inchoate offences. So, to that extent, I do not think that we should belabour the point by repeating “conspiracy” in this proposed amendment. I hereby submit that this proposed amendment should stand.

Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo

Mr Speaker, my concern is with the list of reasons for which a person might engage in vigilantism; for financial and economic reasons -- [Interruption] -- All right, has the Order Paper Addendum amended it?

Mr Shaibu Mahama

Mr Speaker, my Senior Colleague, Hon Pelpuo did not have the Order Paper Addendum and so he raised the same concerns we had raised yesterday, taking the reasons, that is economic, financial among others out. I think that the current amendment sits well with what we discussed.
Question put and amendment agreed to.

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 10, interpretation of “vigilante group” delete and insert the following:
“vigilante group'' means two or more persons action in concert by resorting to an act or threat of violence or intimidation to further the interest of the group, the interest of the sponsors or benefactors of that group;”
Mr Speaker, we are seeking to define “vigilante group”. The definition of “vigilante group” is not different from “vigilante”, except that “vigilante” is singular and “vigilante group” speaks to pluralism.

Mr S. Mahama

Mr Speaker, I support the amendment. We did not want it to look like they must act as a body, group or association. It should be straightforward, that once they act in concert by resorting to an act or threat of violence, it is sufficient grounds to warrant that cause of action.

Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi

Mr Speaker, I support the amend- ment. Could we end it at “benefactors” and delete “economic or financial reward” -- ?

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, you have not been paying
attention. This matter has been dealt with and you are looking at the wrong Order Paper. We are working with the Order Paper Addendum where that has been removed.
Question put and amendment agreed to.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Item numbered (iii) on the Order Paper Addendum .

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 10, interpretation of “vigilantism” delete and insert the following:
“vigilantism'' has the meaning assigned to it in section 1.”
Mr Speaker, in section 1, “vigilantism” has been well defined; its scope has been well given and the scope of persons captured under vigilantism is well delineated. On this basis, we are saying that, if you want to find the meaning of “vigilantism”, refer to section 1.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Long Title -- AN ACT to disband political party vigilante groups; to proscribe acts of vigilantism in the country and to provide for related matters.

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, Long title, delete and insert the following:
“AN ACT to disband vigilante groups especially, political party vigilante group and land guards; to provide for related matters”.
Mr Speaker, the Bill categorises three acts of vigilantism. The first one is general, that is vigilantism as a whole. The second aspect of the Bill deals with vigilantism in relation to political parties and the third aspect of the Bill relates to vigilantism concerning land guards. So on this basis, we think that these three aspects of the Bill must be captured in the Long Title. That explains why the Long Title has been crafted the way it is at the moment.

Dr Anthony A. Osei

Mr Speaker, could the Hon Chairman of the Committee educate those of us who are non-lawyers? Items numbered (i) and (ii) sought to distinguish between “vigilante” meaning a person and “vigilante group”. This Long Title, however, leaves out the singular. Are we to read it that what is here includes the singular, that is, “AN ACT to disband vigilante groups”? Is that the same thing? I just want the Hon Chairman to educate us. Why would it mean both?

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Chairman, please hold on and let us listen to everybody. Yes, Hon Member for Wa Central?

Alhaji Pelpuo

Mr Speaker, I just want to examine whether the word “disband” is the right word. This is because with “disband”, you are targeting a particular situation which exists and you want to break it apart. However, if you want to ban it, it would never exist, so that it is not about disbanding it but banning it completely.
I just want us to look at the two words and see whether we can use the word “ban” instead of “disband”. When you disband it, it does not exist anymore but in future, it can come back into being.

Mr Osei B. Amoah

Mr Speaker, if I have to agree with my good Friend Hon Pelpuo, then it would be,
“AN ACT to prohibit vigilante groups instead of “disband”. That really is not the major issue for me. What I would want to find out is why we have used the words “especially, political party vigilante groups''. I thought it should rather be, “including, political party vigilante groups''.
If the word “especially'' is used, it would mean it is only for that particular group but we seek to prohibit vigilante groups which would include those so called ones formed through political parties. So, “include'' should be used instead of the “especially''.

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, the whole rationale of the Bill is to, first of all, disband existing vigilante groups. In the Schedule, a list of vigilante groups have been given and this Bill seeks to disband those vigilante groups and it is also further intended -- so, these groups associate themselves with political parties and so on and so forth and then land guards. The third aspect of it also proscribes any act of vigilantism that may be perpetrated in future and that explains why in the third line of the Long Title, it says:
“…to proscribe acts of vigilantism in the country…''
So, once the word ‘‘proscribe'' has been used, it means that it has been criminalised in whatever form it may find itself. In the content of the Bill itself, it makes it abundantly clear that any act of vigilantism is proscribed whether the person is a vigilante or it is a group of vigilantes.
Mr Speaker, to respond to what Hon O.B. Amoah said, we may further amend it to delete the word ‘‘especially'' and insert ‘‘including'' and that would not derogate from the substance.

Mr S. Mahama

Mr Speaker, I respectfully disagree with the deletion and substitution of ‘‘especially''. The gravamen of this Bill is about political party vigilantism. No Act is created in a vacuum - it is as a result of an act and that act was premised on political vigilantism. That is the reason especially, signalling the political vigilantism or groups is necessary and any others could follow.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, please help me. If we delete ‘‘especially'', would it affect the potency of the law against political party vigilantes?
Mr S. Mahama Mr Speaker, respectfully, it would not but it would only emphasise that the reason is political vigilantism.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Where are the Hon Members who went for the drafting courses? I do not think that words like “especially'' are products of —

Alhaji (Dr) Pelpuo

Mr Speaker, I have listened to the Hon Chairman

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Members, the Bill itself has listed groups which we identify as political vigilante groups and that need not be emphasised further with ‘‘especially'' because ‘‘especially'' may lead to some interpretation in the future we never thought about. Let us just stick to the law as we know it before we unwittingly bring in interpretations we have not considered.
Hon Chairman of the Committee, please read your new rendition.

Mr Banda

Mr Speaker, without any further debate on this, I seek your leave to delete ‘‘especially'' in the first line of the Long Title and insert ‘‘including''.
The new rendition would be:
“AN ACT to disband vigilante groups including, political party vigilante groups and land guards to proscribe acts of vigilantism in the country and to provide for related matters.''
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Long title as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Debates of 10 Jul 2019

PRAYERS 10:45 a.m.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza 10:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Mr Agbodza 10:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh 10:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:55 a.m.

Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh 10:55 a.m.

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 10:55 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:55 a.m.

STATEMENTS 10:55 a.m.

Dr Clemant A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South) 10:55 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:05 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:15 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:15 a.m.

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central) 11:15 a.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri) 11:15 a.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri) 11:25 a.m.

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 11:25 a.m.

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 11:35 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr William A. Quaittoo (NPP-- Akim Oda) 11:35 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:35 a.m.

Mr Samuel A. Jabanyite (NDC -- Chereponi) 11:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:45 a.m.

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (NDC -- Klottey Korle) 11:45 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:45 a.m.

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 11:45 a.m.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:45 a.m.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:55 a.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 11:55 a.m.

PAPERS 11:55 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:55 a.m.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh 11:55 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo) 11:55 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo) 11:55 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo) 11:55 a.m.

Dr Bernice A. Heloo (NDC -- Hohoe) 12:05 p.m.

Mr Clement K. Humado (NDC -- Anlo) 12:05 p.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri) 12:05 p.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

RESOLUTIONS 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo) 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Mr Moses Anim 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

MOTIONS 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi) 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi) 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi) 12:15 p.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Moses Anim (NPP -- Trobu) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC - Wa Central) 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 12:15 p.m.

STAGE 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Mr Ben A. Banda 12:15 p.m.

Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor 12:15 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:15 p.m.

Mr Banda 12:15 p.m.

Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo 12:15 p.m.

Mr Shaibu Mahama 12:15 p.m.

Mr Banda 12:45 p.m.

Mr S. Mahama 12:45 p.m.

Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi 12:45 p.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.

Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.

Mr Banda 12:45 p.m.

PRAYERS

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT

Mr Speaker

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza

Mr Speaker

Mr Agbodza

Mr Speaker

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka

Mr Speaker

STATEMENTS

Dr Clemant A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South)

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central)

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri)

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri)

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central)

Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central)

Mr Speaker

Mr William A. Quaittoo (NPP-- Akim Oda)

Mr Speaker

Mr Samuel A. Jabanyite (NDC -- Chereponi)

Mr Speaker

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (NDC -- Klottey Korle)

Mr Speaker

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Mr First Deputy Speaker

PAPERS

Mr Speaker

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Dr Bernice A. Heloo (NDC -- Hohoe)

Mr Clement K. Humado (NDC -- Anlo)

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Mr Speaker

RESOLUTIONS

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Yaw F. Addo)

Mr Speaker

Mr Moses Anim

Mr Speaker

MOTIONS

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Emmanuel A. Gyamfi)

Mr Speaker

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo)

Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC - - Damongo)

Mr Moses Anim (NPP -- Trobu)

Mr Speaker

Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (NDC - Wa Central)

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

BILLS -- CONSIDERATION

STAGE

Mr Speaker

Mr Ben A. Banda

Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker

Mr Banda

Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo

Mr Shaibu Mahama

Mr Banda

Mr S. Mahama

Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Mr Banda

Mr Banda