Debates of 19 Nov 2019

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:33 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 18th November, 2019.
Mr Mahama Ayariga 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to crave your indulgence to raise a matter under article 102 of the Constitution. Mr Speaker, article 102 says:
“A quorum of Parliament, apart from the person presiding, shall be one-third of all the members of Parliament.”
Mr Speaker, one of the main items on the agenda is to debate the Budget Statement, and we do not have the quorum to start Business. I have an objection to our capacity to proceed
with Business today because we do not have the requirement under article 102 of the Constitution.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader is not here to respond to the issue I have raised, and I do not also see his Hon Deputy here. Mr Speaker, there is no quorum, so we are unable to start Business.
Mr Moses Anim 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, our Hon Members are coming. We all know the procedure attached to that constitutional imperative that the Hon Member has raised.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
So Hon Member, are you saying that we should go through the procedure?
Mr Anim 10:33 a.m.
No, Mr Speaker, what I meant is that --
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Then I will start the procedure. Do you want us to go through the procedure?
Mr Anim 10:33 a.m.
No, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Then please do not mention it.
Mr Anim 10:33 a.m.
We just started so --
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
He who goes for equity goes with clean hands.
Mr Anim 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with all humility, we just started, and as I said, with time, our Hon Members would be with us. You can also ask for the bell to be rung for 10 minutes to remind Hon Members then we can follow from there.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to re-echo what has been said in Standing Order 48(2) which states as follows:
“If at the time of sitting”, which the Hon First Deputy Speaker has given a ruling on to mean the beginning of Sitting.”
Mr Speaker, the sad thing is that neither the Hon Minister for Finance nor any of his Hon Deputies are here. This Government's Economic Policy and Financial Statement was presented by them and they knew very well that the debate -- Let me admit that yesterday, the Hon Minister and his Hon Deputies stayed throughout the debate, but today, as of 10.33 a.m. that we started, none of them is here.
Mr Speaker, if you look at our Hon Colleagues opposite, even though those of us in the Minority are equally guilty because fewer Hon Members are in the Chamber, our Hon Colleagues opposite, who are supposed to support the Government
even better than us, are less than 20 out of 169. If you look at the proportion, even though it is a very bad example, one could say that the proportion of the Minority is better. In the Majority Leadership, it is only the Hon Second Deputy Whip who is here.
Mr Speaker, I believe that those of us in Leadership must show by example. I believe for the reason the front bench opposite being empty is what has translated to their backbench equally being empty.
Mr Speaker, you would remember that yesterday I complained to you that after the Post-Budget Workshop on Saturday and Sunday, we all thought that Monday should have been a resting day yet, yesterday we were here. If it is because the government believes that there is so much Business that is why we must Sit on Mondays when we ordinarily do not Sit, I do not think there is any better excuse for us as Hon Members of Parliament on both Sides not to be in the Chamber by 10 o'clock, when you yourself and some of us in Leadership always ensure that we are here before 10 o'clock to assist you start proceedings.
Mr Speaker, it is my humble appeal that we stick by the rules, allow
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Hon First Deputy Speaker?
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 2 a.m.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to comment on this matter. Our records clearly show that every day we have a quorum. That suggests that either Hon Members come to the precincts of Parliament but do not enter the Chamber or they may have been at Committee meetings. So I looked at the Order Paper and checked the number of Committee meetings advertised for today. I see three Committee meetings; one is supposed to start at 11.00 a.m. but it is not yet 11.00 a.m. The others are supposed to start at 2.00 p.m. and it is not yet

But how does it happen that the records reflect that we have the numbers but the numbers do not reflect in the Chamber? It is because probably, we permit Hon Members to just go and record their presence in the mails room and I think that should change. Presence of Hon Members must be counted in the Chamber.

Mr Speaker, if we were to adjourn now and go for the records, you would find that there would be no justification for you adjourning the House, because the records would reflect that more than the number we require to transact business has been marked present. But where are the Hon Members? Should Mr Speaker use the record at the mails room to determine whether we have a quorum?

Mr Speaker, I therefore suggest that we should change the method of counting those who are present. Even though the rule says that we register at the mails room, we are abusing that. In fact, I could speak to the fact that some Hon Members do not even show up but their names are marked present. I have seen Hon Members who have sought permission and being granted leave to be absent but their names were marked as being present because somebody else is doing that

on their behalf. Mr Speaker, I think we should change that system and make Hon Members who come in here to be marked as present.

Mr Speaker, I however, proposed that probably, while we are discussing that -- we go through the Votes and Proceedings. Before we start with the most serious Business of the House Mr Speaker may have then determined whether he still has sufficient number to continue.

I am sure those who are in their offices are watching these proceedings and if they are minded to come, within the next thirty minutes, we should have gotten all those who wish to be here to come over.
Mr Speaker 2 a.m.
Hon Minority Chief Whip, if you want to quote new rules, then please quote rules seriously. [Laughter]
Mr Anim 2 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am grateful. I think that Mr First Deputy Speaker has spoken for all of us and we must abide by or agree to what he has said. It is very unpleasing as it is being said that really we are here and other Hon Colleagues have not been on time, that order of the day
Mr Anim 2 a.m.


must change. Mr Speaker, we take cue from what is happening and I think Leadership would act accordingly as we have been doing. And we would like to remind Hon Members that —
Mr Speaker 2 a.m.
Act in which way? [Laughter]
Mr Anim 2 a.m.
Mr Speaker, in fact, my Hon Colleagues know definitely that we would —
Mr Speaker 2 a.m.
No, act in which way? By way of what you are inferring from what the Hon First Deputy Speaker said, I think you are drawing a certain conclusion which I have not appreciated yet. So tell us the nexus and make your point. So(US$49,966, we should proceed accordingly in which way?
Mr Anim 2 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I agree with you.
Mr Speaker 10:53 a.m.
The Hon First Deputy Speaker drew our attention to a very pertinent fact but I do not see how you would like to proceed from there. -[Pause]- I have asked for the book so that we would advise ourselves in line with what has been said right here.
-- [Pause] --

Hon Members, we have all agreed that we have a very important matter on the parliamentary calendar before us, regarding which, a constitutional function must also be performed by this Honourable House. I do not think that any of us would want this House to be associated with taking this imperative function lightly.

I would suspend Sitting and meet with the Hon Leaders, because I believe we all agree that this is not good enough. I am glad that there is no one rising in defence of what is manifestly facing us. We shall have a little meeting and if Hon Members would accommodate us, we would come and Sit back at 11.30 a. m.

Thank you very much for your indulgence.

10.55 a.m. -- Sitting suspended

11.38 a.m. -- Sitting resumed

Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the

Official Report
Mr Speaker 10:53 a.m.
Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 18th November, 2019
Pages 1…9 --
rose
Mr Speaker 10:53 a.m.
Yes, Hon Ablakwa?
Mr Ablakwa 10:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, in the first paragraph on page 9, under “Communication from the President'', the last but three lines should be, “African countries''.
Again, the correction we effected yesterday, on item numbered 5(iii), which was “Buyer's Credit'', was not properly captured.
Mr Speaker 10:53 a.m.
Pages 10…20
The Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 18th November, 2019, as corrected, is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, at the Commence- ment of Public Business -- item listed 4, Motion.
Hon Leadership, your list?
Hon Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi?
MOTIONS 10:53 a.m.
  • [Continuation of debate from 18/ 11/19]
    • Mr Emmanual Akwasi Gyamfi (NPP -- Odotobri) 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
    Mr Speaker, having listened to my Hon Colleagues from both Sides of the House, I believe the Budget Statement which was presented by the Hon Minister for Finance is one of the best things that has happened to this country.
    Mr Speaker, the facts are available for everybody to see the progress that this Government, led by H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made within the last three years. The economic performance as shown is enough evidence that the promise that we made to stabilise the economy is on course.
    In 2016, the growth rate was around 3.4 per cent but now, we
    Mr Mutawakilu Adam 11:48 a.m.
    On a point of Order.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Energy indicated that Ex-President Mahama brought dumsor but that word, did not start from 2012.

    We are all aware that the word dumsor did not start from the year 2012. In the year 1998, we

    experienced a little bit of dumsor and it was in the year 2007 that we had severe dumsor.

    So I am surprised that my Hon Chairman relates dumsor to former President Mahama. If it is about severe dumsor, former President Kufuor should be enskinned or enstooled with the title of dumsor.
    Mr Gyamfi 11:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to put on record that whether it was under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the National Democratic Congress (NDC), it is a devil and nobody should wish that we go back to dumsor. We were in that state for four years and they could not solve it but with the competent Nana Akufo-Addo led Government dumsor is a thing of the past and as a nation, that is what we should all be happy about.

    Mr Speaker, this is not something we should enjoy saying. What do we gain when we all go through this devilish dumsor situation in the country?

    I would want to bring to the attention of this august House and the general public to the issue of capacity charges and ‘take or pay'. It is

    something that as a nation, we should take the necessary decisions, whether it is good for us to have high capacity charges or ‘tak-or-pay' contracts. ‘Take-or-pay' contracts simply means that we have to pay for the power that we have not consumed. Why would we have to do that when there are other options for us to get this done?

    Mr Speaker, when my Hon Colleague, Mr Jinapor had his turn to debate, he misled the entire public and the august House. He said that the dependable capacity is 3,424MW. That is not true; it is palpable falsehood. The dependable capacity is 4,442MW as provided by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo). The source of Hon Jinapor's data was a document submitted to the Committee -- [Interruption] -- but he should have cross-checked with GRIDCo because he has been an Hon Minister before. GRIDCo is the agency that can give us the right figures. When I checked with them, the 3,424MW that my Hon Colleague mentioned is not true, but it is

    4,742MW.

    Mr Speaker, if you take the dependable capacity which I have just mentioned, and we have the peak demand which is about 2,700MW, when you subtract from the dependable capacity, you arrive at about 2,000MW, which is the excess debt we talked about. If you take the 3,424MW and you take out
    rose
    Mr Gyamfi 11:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, could my Hon Colleague sit down? Let me put it to him that as a former Hon Deputy Minister of Power, if he misled Parliament by quoting such figures, he either did that on the notion that he wanted to cover up the excess capacity which is giving us so much problems as a nation. He is aware of that. [Hear! Hear!]
    Mr Speaker 11:48 a.m.
    There are too many people speaking at the same time. Why?
    Mr Gyamfi 11:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, there have been questions as to why we do not export the excess capacity? We
    have said it time and again that it is not easy to export the excess capacity and get the revenue that is -- We would need to put the necessary infrastructure in place to transmit the excess capacity to our neighbouring countries like Togo, Burkina Faso and Niger, but the infrastructure is not in place. That is why this Government is making everything possible for us to get the infrastructure in place, so that we could export to our neighbouring countries.
    Mr Speaker, this is a very important issue that Government has started a process to renegotiate most of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that has the ‘take-or-pay' obligation and also with high capacity charges.
    The response by the Independent Power Producers (IPP) has been very good. As of now, there is a Steering Committee which is working on this proposal and they are in dialogue with the IPPs, which we believe that the proposals submitted by the IPPs to government to consider in terms of reduction in the capacity charges and also the ‘take-or-pay' obligations, the Committee will definitely have something to come up with, so that as a nation, we would not pay so much for excess capacity of 2,000
    MW.
    Mr Speaker, let me put it on record that H. E. Nana Akufo-Addo is very serious with our mineral resources. In this House, we have been able to pass very important Bills: First is the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation Bill. The necessary bodies that we need to establish for this Act to be operational are in place and the Board has also been established. The Board has started the roadshow to get investors who are very much interested to partner with Government to explore our resources, so that we would get the necessary benefits.
    In this House, we have also passed the Ghana Iron and Steel Development Corporation Bill which the President is working on to ensure we get the necessary benefits that we need as a nation from these important minerals.
    Mr Speaker, in all, what we promised Ghanaians, whether in education, agriculture, energy, economic --
    Mr Speaker 11:48 a.m.
    Hon Member, conclude.
    Mr Gyamfi 11:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the NPP Government, led by H.E. the President, Nana Akufo-Addo has delivered on its promise and Ghanaians are happy.

    They would give Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party a second term to continue with these good works that we started for the past three years.

    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity.
    Mr Speaker 11:58 a.m.
    Hon Buah, you have 15 minutes.
    Mr Emmanuel A. K. Buah (NDC -- Ellembele) 11:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the Floor.
    Mr Speaker, as the Hon Ranking Member for the Committee on Trade and Industry, I would focus on trade and industry issues and connect it with issues related to energy.
    Mr Speaker, the theme for the Budget Statement is 11:58 a.m.
    “Consolidating the gains for Growth, Jobs and Prosperity”. But I ask where the growth is and where the jobs are. If I am asked then I would give my own theme as: ‘Consoling the People of Ghana for the Lack of Growth, Jobs and Prosperity for Three Years in a Row'. [Hear! Hear!]
    Mr Buah 11:58 a.m.
    We are told that there are 13 factories in the Brong Ahafo region. Is that so?
    Some Hon Members 11:58 a.m.
    No!
    Mr Buah 11:58 a.m.
    We are told that there are 14 factories in the Eastern Region and there are 22 factories in the Ashanti Region. Volta Region was left out again. [Laughter]
    Mr Speaker, it gets curious because as we are fighting to spend so much money to build industries, so far, GH¢227 million worth of stimulus package moneys have been spent.
    rose
    Mr Francis K. A. Cudjoe 11:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, obviously, my Hon Colleague was not in the House yesterday when the Hon Minister for Information showed us a pack of fruit juice from the Ekumfi Juice Processing Factory. [Hear! Hear!]
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker, I get curious because as we are fighting for tax exemptions, so far, we have spent GH¢227 million to give stimulus packages to 14 companies, but the right question to ask is how many jobs have these created? We have been told in this Budget Statement that after all the exemptions, we have created 10,000 jobs. As they fight to build more factories, they should look at all the factories that were bequeathed to them. What is the current state of the Komenda Sugar Factory? What is the current state of the Kumasi Shoe Factory? What is the current state of the Sekondi Ceramic Factory? What
    is the current state of the Shea Butter Factory in Buipe?

    Mr Speaker, are we really serious? It gets even interesting that one of the biggest promises which everybody fell for was the One Constituency, One Million United States dollars.

    With your permission Mr Speaker, I take you to that promise in the Budget Statement, and you would jump from your seat. It is on page 4, paragraph 20:

    “20. Mr Speaker, in fulfilment of our promise to provide one million US$ per constituency, IPEP has delivered the following:

    307 Ambulances have been procured for distribution to each constituency and all regional and teaching hospitals to enhance healthcare;

    200 dams have been completed, and an additional 560 are dams under construction;”

    Mr Speaker, is that what they told us? I am still waiting in Ellembele to see one. Three years running, with US$3 million, and they are telling me they have constructed a dam at where?

    Mr Speaker, I would take you to an interesting area. There has been a lot of talk about the over subscription of power. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) brought too much power and we cannot even do anything with the power; the NDC brought too much gas, and we do not know what to do with it. In presenting last year's Budget Statement, the Hon Minister for Finance preached to us here that we give him some exemptions to basically allow the gas producers to keep some of the gas.

    However, I went there and started reading a long lecture about this country's drive for industrialisation. In paragraph 140, 753, 754 and 755 the whole focus there is on strategic anchor industries; the petrochemical industry, integrated aluminium and bauxite industry, steel industry, vehicle assembling plants, automobile companies and special economic zones. I would ask a simple question; from where will they get the power for all these industries? Where will they get gas?

    Mr Speaker, they finally got there because they started talking about gas beyond the usage of power for electricity. They should go and read our gas master plan. We have envisaged that in this country's

    forward march, when we were led by the then President John Dramani Mahama who thus brought Ghana to the gas era, we said that we would first make sure we meet our power needs and that our next step was to use the gas for the industries that have eluded us as a country.
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, do you stand on a point of order or correction?
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague is misleading this House. He contend that this Government has done nothing in his constituency. He said this Government has virtually done nothing in Ellembele for the past three years. I challenge him since this is a House of records. He should debate and ground his issues on facts. He cannot just stand in this Chamber and tell the whole world that Ellembele has seen no development for the past three years. This is serious.
    He has been taking Members of Parliament Common Fund; he has been benefiting from the National Health Insurance Scheme; and he has been benefiting from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects. What is he saying? He has
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, we have heard you.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:08 p.m.
    Very well, Mr Speaker, I am grateful. [Hear! Hear!]
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I think I was making reference to the One Constituency, US$One million, and I was very clear when reference was made to dams. The point I made was that, for three years, we have not seen specifically the promise of US$3 million.
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    So Hon Member, you were only restricting yourself to the US$1 million and not development as a whole?
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I was making reference to the One Constituency, US$1 million.
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    I asked whether you were restricting yourself to the US$1 million and not that there has not been any development?
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    So has there been some development?
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Of course, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, please continue. You have one more minute for the interruption.
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, a lot has been said about tariffs and how expensive they are.
    In the 2019 Budget, the Hon Minister for Finance announced of engaging the power producers to renegotiate down tariffs. For a whole year, we did not see any progress, but in the 2020 Budget, he has come again. This time, he talked about constituting a committee to engage the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). I would wish him all the best.
    However, Mr Speaker, the big elephant in the room is not our negotiation skills, but the fault of the power producers.
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    In conclusion!
    Mr Buah 12:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we need to deal with the issue of rates involved in producing power. What is in this Budget Statement to address that? What is the current state of indebtedness of our power utilities? The list goes on.
    Mr Speaker, that brings me to a sad matter. Unfortunately, I am sure I do not have too much time. That is why it is important that when we have a scandal --
    Mr Speaker 12:08 p.m.
    Thank you very much.
    Hon Kwadwo Nuamah? You have 10 minutes starting from now.
    Dr Samiu K. Nuamah (NPP -- Kwadaso) 12:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana.
    Before I go to my main point, I would like to clarify one or two issues raised by my Hon Colleagues from the other Side. He mentioned that the Minister for Communications said she would tax people using Mobile Money Services. That is totally untrue. Sometimes, it baffles my mind why my Hon Friend from the other Side can just twist issues. Sometimes they look but cannot see and sometimes they listen but cannot hear. What the Hon Minister clearly stated was that, there

    is commission that is generated on the Mobile Money transfers, and that commission goes straight to the telecommunication companies, therefore they need to pay taxes on the commission but not the people using the services. So that needs to be clearly stated.

    Mr Speaker, straight to my point, Ghana is blessed. We have sand, wind, water, mineral resources abundantly everywhere. What do we lack as a country? Sometimes it beats my imagination.

    However, Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to read paragraph 14 from the Budget Statement. The answer to what we lacked is there so, with your permission I quote:

    “14. Prof K A Busia said, ‘‘The concept of poverty… should be seen not only in terms of cash or the scarcity or underdevelop- ment of material resources, but also in human conditions, in disease, ignorance, lack of training, and education …”

    Mr Speaker, this is so clear that without this, there is nothing that we can do.
    Dr Samiu K. Nuamah (NPP -- Kwadaso) 12:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, Ghana has abundant mineral resources, and in particular, bauxite. The status quo as it is now is that we mine the bauxite and ship it as it is. So all along, what have we been doing? Why has no one thought about how well we can process these minerals, but just shipping it as it is while losing huge sums of money?
    Mr Speaker, the President has come out with a new policy, and this has come with the setting up of a new corporation -- the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corpora- tion. Ghana has about 900 million tonnes of bauxite, and we do the production of about 10 million tonnes every year.

    Mr Speaker, do you know when the final paper work was signed? This agreement was signed, when they had

    lost the elections and were awaiting to hand over to the next Government. How could they do that and still call themselves as people with clear intention to govern? It baffles my mind.

    Mr Speaker, this new Corporation has three main streams -- two upstreams and one downstream. Mr Speaker, we have the mining side which is an upstream. We do not have any refinery, but we have a smelting plant which is a downstream. We have the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) and the mining companies.

    Mr Speaker, this new arrangement would make sure that by the first quarter of 2020, we would have three companies --
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:18 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader?
    Mr Iddrisu 12:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am compelled to rise on a point of order against my Hon Colleague who is on his feet. He made reference to an individual.
    Our Constitution, in article 18, recognises the right of any individual Ghanaian to own property and to
    engage in business. As I understand, the matter the Hon Member referred to is still pending in the Supreme Court. Therefore he should be guided in making those personal references for our purposes.
    Mr Speaker 12:18 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, it cannot be a matter that once an issue is before the Supreme Court, an Hon Member of Parliament (MP) cannot refer to it. He is not passing verdict. The factum of the matter is that it is there and if it is there, there is a matter. So please, the mere mention of it does not do anything. [Hear! Hear!] That is the right of an Hon Member of Parliament.
    Hon Member, proceed.
    Dr Nuamah 12:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, based on our 900 million tonnes of bauxite reserves, Ghana is the eighth highest bauxite reserve nation in the whole world. So, if 75 per cent was to be given to one individual, that person would have owned 75 per cent of the bauxite of the eighth highest bauxite reserve country in the whole world. It baffles my mind and beats my imagination, and I do not know why anyone who says he means so well for this country would put such things as a plan. It is so wrong. What is lacking is ignorance.
    Mr Speaker, VALCO plays a very important role in this whole arrange- ment, and per the Government's plan, by the first quarter of 2020, we would have one new smelting company in the country plus two other refineries and three mining companies attached to it. So it would be integrated; it would be a full integration where we would add value onto the bauxite that we have mined for the first time. This has never happened before.
    Mr Speaker, VALCO, as it stands now, if it operates on full capacity, it would generate about US$300 million for this country annually, and it would employ 22,000 people. Mr Speaker, assuming we have the same number of revenue and the same number of workers at the midstream, which is the refinery, and the same number of revenue and workers at the upstream, it means that every year, we would employ over 60,000 Ghanaians who would have full time jobs in these industries, and Ghana would get over a US$1 billion every year from these industries. What did we do? We planned to give the bauxite to one individual. That is so bad.
    Mr Speaker, the same applies to our iron and steel. Again, instead of just allowing people to mine the iron and do whatever they want along the chain, this Government has come out with a development corporation --

    Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation - to ensure that this whole process is properly integrated; we would add value to the mineral. At the end, Ghanaians would benefit.

    Mr Speaker, it is so important that we support this Government to do what it is doing because it thinks well about the future of this generation. It is important we allow this Government to keep doing what it is doing and support it because as it is said, “One good turn deserves another”.
    Mr Mutawakilu Adam (NDC -- Damongo) 12:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
    Before I start, my Hon Colleague emphatically stated that about 75 per cent of the bauxite deposit was given to an individual. He is a Ghanaian, whether corporate or individual. All the earnings would have remained in Ghana, but they have given it to Chinese, and they are happy as a nation. I am sorry for my Hon Colleague.
    Exton Cubic is a company, not an individual. Mr Speaker, the Hon Member should know by law the distinct nature of companies from individuals. This is a Government that is not interested in building Ghanaians, but is interested in building foreigners.
    Mr Speaker, I would now build on why President Nana Akufo-Addo is interested in foreigners than Ghanaians. [Uproar] My contribution would concentrate on paragraph 839 of the Budget Statement, and with your permission, I would read:
    “Two hydrocarbon discoveries: Akoma-1X and Nyankom-1X were made within the period under review from two separate blocks namely Cape Three Points (CTP) and South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) Blocks respectively.”
    Mr Speaker, I would like to pick them one by one. The Cape Three Points Petroleum Agreement came to this House in 2016 under President Mahama, and it is critical I give the fiscal terms: royalties -- 10 per cent; carried interest -- 10 per cent; additional interest -- nine per cent; EXPLORCO, which is a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum
    Corporation (GNPC) -- four per cent.
    Mr Speaker, you would ask me why I read these fiscal terms.

    Per the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Report, 70 per cent of our oil revenue comes from carried interest; additional interest and EXPLORCO. So if we take this Agreement, our stake in the shareholding structure is 22.2 per cent, which is substantial and would bring enough revenue to Ghana.

    Mr Speaker, the second discovery is the AGM Agreement, and it came to this House on 3rd May, 2019 as a re-negotiated Agreement. Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to read the original fiscal regimes, which were approved in this House in 2014; royalty was 10 per cent, pre-carried interest was 10 per cent; additional interest was 15 per cent and EXPLORCO was 24 per cent.

    EXPLORCO is a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corpora- tion (GNPC), so if we take that stake in terms of shareholding, Ghana has 43 per cent. We could assume how much we would make out of this. On 23rd May, 2019, however, a re- negotiated Agreement came and we,
    rose
    Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
    Order!
    Hon Member, do you rise on a point of order?
    Mr O. B. Amoah 12:28 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
    Hon Member, do you dispute it?
    Mr O. B. Amoah 12:28 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker. He should give us the source.
    Mr Speaker 12:28 p.m.
    On the grounds that?
    Mr O. B. Amoah 12:28 p.m.
    On the grounds that there is no official announcement to that effect.
    Mr Adam 12:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am doing this because I read it from Bloomberg, which is public knowledge; it is not something that is hidden. Bloomberg is known worldwide.
    Mr Speaker, let me continue to read the fiscal regimes. We would
    expect that when there is a relinquishment - that means the company has explored but has not found anything and, therefore, has found an area that it wants to develop and produce which we call the Developing Producing Areas (DPA). So as a result, it has relinquished this with two marginal fields. When it comes to the negotiation, we make sure that we achieve significantly from it. Royalty from the Springfield Block was 12.5 per cent; carried interest was 11.0 per cent; additional interest was 17.0 per cent; and EXPLORCO was 5.0 per cent, giving out a shareholding stake of 31.6 per cent. This is a significant achievement.
    Mr Speaker, we have been in this House where several Hon Ministers and Hon Deputy Ministers have indicated that under President John Mahama, we signed several petroleum agreements but there was no discovery.
    We all know that the processes in discovery have phases. All these discoveries -- Cape Three Points; Springfield and AGM -- were approved during President Mahama's regime with huge and more significant fiscal regime than any other petroleum Agreement. So they should please give us a break. President Mahama has vision for this country. We therefore did everything to ensure that
    we maximised the natural resources that have been given to us.
    Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to deal a little with power -- rural electrification. In 2014, the percentage of universal access of rural electrification was 75 per cent; in 2015, it rose to 80.5 per cent; and in 2016, it went to 83.24 per cent.
    I am however, surprised that after three years of being in Government, universal access of rural electrification is only from 83.24 per cent to 84.98 per cent -- an increase of only 1.75 per cent in three years. This is embarrassing. President Nana Akufo- Addo is disappointing to Ghanaians.
    Mr Speaker, ‘dumsor' as we indicated -- the Hon Chairman also indicated. We would realise that in March, 2016, H. E. Vice President Dr Bawumia made it public that President Mahama, in solving the problem of ‘dumsor', should not be given any credit. How come the Hon Chairman indicated that for the whole of four years, we were in ‘dumsor'?
    Mr Speaker, there are certain thematic areas that we must tackle - we have generation and liquidity. So we brought Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA), which the NPP, then in Opposition, indicated that it was a nuisance tax so when they come, they
    Mr Adam 12:38 p.m.
    would remove it. Just recently, the ESLA has been increased; it would assure that we have a cheap source of fuel. So President Mahama and the NDC took much interest and set up the Ghana Gas Plant, which currently produces to support the nation, and ensured that the ENI Block or Offshore Cape Three Points (OTCP) was brought onshore.

    Now, we have onshore receiving facility to ensure that our thermal plants make good use of the gas.

    Mr Speaker, for your information, we are not making good use of the gas. We have not after three years, put infrastructure in place to make good use of the gas, and it is quite unfortunate. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has failed us and needs to be booted out come December, 2020. As we speak, while we have excess gas, there are Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects going on. What for?

    We have excess gas we are not able to use, but we are building infrastructure to import liquefied gas. Do we have our priorities right? The effects of not making good use of our gas is the reservoir that we use to produce our oil. We are re-ejecting the gas into the reservoir and over a

    period, its integrity would be at stake. Production would fall and this could lead to a loss of revenue to the State.

    Mr Speaker, on this note, I thank you very much for the opportunity given me.
    Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
    Thank you very much, Hon Member.
    Hon Mohammed Amin Adam?
    Deputy Minister for Energy (Dr Mohammed Amin Adam): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
    The energy sector is very important in our economy. When we have a reliable supply of energy, industries would thrive. Unfortunately, we inherited an energy sector that was badly damaged. All that we have done over the last three years was to correct the mistakes made in the past, and develop an energy sector that can sustain industrial activity and create jobs for our people.
    Mr Speaker, it is not surprising that by the time the National Democratic Congress (NDC) left office, growth rate was about 3.7 per cent, which was a reflection of poor supply of energy and the dumsor that they gave to Ghanaians. Today, Ghana is rated as the fastest growing economy in the
    world - [Hear! Hear!] - This is because we supply - [Interruption.] This is from the International Monetary Fund (IMF.) We have solved the problems in the energy sector.
    Mr Kwame G. Agbodza -- rose
    -- 12:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member?
    Mr Agbodza 12:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague opposite just made an emphatic statement that is totally untrue. On page 11 of the Budget Statement, the Hon Minister for Finance said Ghana's growth rate in 2019 is seven per cent and that of La Cote D'Ivoire is 7.5 per cent. On what basis would he say that Ghana is the fastest growing economy in the world? How can seven per cent be more than 7.5 per cent?
    Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
    Hon Members, the shouting is too much.
    Dr Adam 12:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this year, Ghana is rated among the fastest growing economies in the world, and this is because we have been able to
    supply energy to industries. We have supplied energy to the hospitality industry --
    Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, speaking to the Budget Statement, were you correct?
    Dr Adam 12:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in the Budget Statement that was --
    Mr Speaker 12:38 p.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, please do not run so fast; is that correct? If it is not correct, admit it and let us move ahead.
    Dr Adam 12:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is correct. As per the IMF, Ghana is among the fastest growing economies in the world. [Interruption.] So I withdraw the first statement that Ghana was the fastest growing economy.
    Today, Ghana is among the fastest growing economies in the world, and this is because we have been able to supply energy to industries, which is an important input for production by manufacturing companies and for provision of services.
    Mr Speaker, in the Budget Statement, the Hon Minister for Finance projected petroleum revenue at GH¢8.9 billion for 2020. This would be 13 per cent of projected total revenue and 2.2 per cent of
    Dr Adam 12:48 p.m.
    Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That is a remarkable improvement from the past because we are going to increase production from the OCTP field.
    The reason we are able to increase production from the OCTP field is twofold. First, we have successfully completed the Takoradi section of the Gas Rivers Flow Project. The NDC could not find money to do the project. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has found the money to do the project and we have completed it. Today, we are able to flow 60 million standard cubic feet of gas a day from Takoradi to Tema.
    The second reason is the relocation of the Karpowership from Tema to Takoradi, and the conversion of the ship to consume gas. When the NDC was in Government, they brought Karpowership and placed it in Tema, even though gas was stranded in Takoradi. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been visionary, and has relocated the Karpowership to Takoradi. [Hear! Hear!] Now, it would use natural gas, and that would increase the production of gas from the OCTP field.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Mutawakilu Adam talked about gas development achievement of the NDC Govern-
    ment. What they did for Ghana was to impose higher gas prices on Ghanaians, as a result of which the power tariffs were high. When they put up the Ghana Gas Plant, it cost the nation 30 per cent more than similar projects in similar environ- ments. It was because of that the delivered gas prices in Ghana was US$8.8 per million British thermal units (mm Btu), when the commodity price was just US$2. The reason it was US$8.8/mm Btu was because of the huge cost of the infrastructure, which was by far more expensive than similar projects in other jurisdictions.
    Mr Speaker, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government, under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is so sensitive to the plight of Ghanaians, last year reduced the delivered gas price from US$8.8/mm Btu gas price, to US$7.2/mm Btu. This year, it is US$6.08/mm Btu. [Hear! Hear!] This is why we can now support industry to grow, and these are the progressive policies that are making Ghana achieve higher growth rates.
    It is even curious, why they imposed such a huge gas price of US$8.8/mm Btu on Ghana, which was more than Nigeria's gas imported into Ghana that was sold at US$8.4/mm Btu, even though the pipeline from Nigeria to Ghana is by far long,
    compared to what Ghana Gas uses. It did not make any commercial sense, and only showed insensitivity to the people of Ghana.
    Mr Speaker, as far as oil production is concerned, we are currently doing around 200,000 barrels a day. We are determined to increase oil production in Ghana. We want to increase oil production to 350,000 barrels a day in the medium- term, and this would come from the following projects.

    We have identified near-field opportunities within the Jubilee Oil Field, and we have brought to this House, amendments to our law to allow us to access this resource which if not accessed would lie in the ground for as long as the contract exists.

    Mr Speaker, Aker Energy Block -- Aker Energy Ghana has submitted a plan of development to us. When it is approved, by 2022 or 2023, they would be able to add another 110,000 barrels of crude oil a day. So this is within reach. President Akufo-Addo is determined that as far as he remains the President, Ghana would increase oil production, which would increase revenue to the State. We would provide more opportunities through

    supply contracts to Ghanaian com- panies.

    Mr Speaker, if we have to increase production, we have to be able to increase investment in exploration, and this is exactly what we have done. The NDC signed 13 Petroleum Agreements, and they were supposed to spend US$890 million; but they spent only US$95 million. Within three years of President Akufo- Addo's Administration, companies have spent US$350 million in exploration investments because we have incentivised the environment and the market.

    The year 2019 is a blessing for Ghana. In 2019, we have made significant discoveries. ENI Ghana Exploration and Production Limited made a gas discovery, Aker Energy Ghana increased the size of the reserve from 280 million barrels, as it was estimated, to 550 million barrels. If we did not incentivise the market, they would not have been able to invest their money to increase the reserve size in the heads block from 280 million to 580 million barrels a day.

    Mr Speaker, the US$350 million that the companies have invested in Ghana, has gone to support our economy because a significant proportion was spent in Ghana. Apart
    Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
    Hon Members from the left Side of the aisle, Dr Kwabena Donkor, who is also a very competent Hon Member of this House would contribute. So, if you have a point, tell him; but do not disturb the debate. That is how orderly debates are carried out in any Honourable House.
    Hon Deputy Minister, please, continue.
    Dr Adam 12:48 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, they talked about the Springfield Exploration and Production Limited discovery and they want the whole world to know that it is a vindication of their local content policy but they did not promote local content just by giving the block to Springfield Exploration and Production Limited.
    Indeed, they did not have confidence in Springfield Exploration and Production Limited, so they put in the Petroleum Agreement (PA) that Springfield Exploration and Production Limited should have a foreign partner, as a technical partner, to give a significant portion. In the language of the PA, it says “material portion'' to that foreign partner.
    If they believed in Springfield Exploration and Production Limited as a local company, there was no basis to force them within a year, to bring a technical partner. The NPP Government rather supported Springfield Exploration and Production Limited on the basis of local content. Instead of a year, we extended the time to two years, for Springfield to eventually bring a technical party because we knew that they could do it.
    Secondly, we provided fiscal incentives. We deferred payment of technology fees and training allowance to three years, so that we would provide relief for Springfield Exploration and Production Limited to invest that money in the exploration. Today, that discovery has been made, and they claimed success because their local content policy has been vindicated.
    Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, you have a minute more.
    Dr Adam 12:48 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Government of NPP is determined to position Ghana's oil and gas industry to increase production through increased exploration, so that we would become the third largest producer of oil within Africa. This is the level that we would get to sustain jobs in the industry and provide more opportunities through contracts to local Ghanaian industries to leverage the oil and gas resources to move Ghana, to the path of economic transformation.
    Mr Speaker 12:48 p.m.
    Thank you very much, Hon Deputy Minister.
    Hon Dr Kwabena Donkor?
    In the meantime, the Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair.
    Dr Kwabena Donkor (NDC -- Pru East) 12:48 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the debate.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to correct some impressions that have been made by the Hon Deputy
    Minister for Energy. The reverse flow project that would have brought gas from the western corridor to the eastern corridor was suspended when the change of Government occurred, ostensibly for audit purposes. This suspension has caused this country a lot of money. It was because of this suspension that ENI Ghana Exploration and Production Limited, having been readied, were unable to obtain the gas. We therefore paid a needless penalty of US$30 million every month.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister for Energy, in his submission, also agreed that there was the need for a technical partner for Springfield Exploration and Production Limited and therefore I do not see how he could fault the NDC when he agrees that there is a need for a technical partner.
    Mr Speaker, the 2020 Budget Statement returns to two familiar themes of this Government that must no longer be allowed to fester. The Hon Minister for Finance referred to these in paragraphs 98 and 104 on pages 27 of the Budget Statement. ‘‘Take or pay'' contracts are very common in the energy sector because of the substantial overhead cost for suppliers. Whether it is liquefied natural gas, natural gas or thermal generation, the overhead costs are
    Dr Kwabena Donkor (NDC -- Pru East) 12:58 p.m.
    very high. For example, for a 330 megawatt plant, the average cost in our sub-region is US$500 million.
    Mr Speaker, no investor would reach the final investment decision without a payment security. The history of the developing countries -- Turkey being a good example, when a country is energy deficient, in order to incentivise investors, they have to be provided with security that often takes the form of take-or-pay. The take-or-pay does not mean that the whole unused quantum is paid for. A capaci ty charge is paid, which is different from the total tariff.
    M r Speaker, i n thi s country, unfortunately, we have mainstreamed ignorance as a public pol icy option, and this must not be allowed to fester. For all developing countries, after they have reached a level of suff icient power, they are then in a position to tell existing operators that if they want to add to their existing capacity, they could; but it would be take-and-pay. This is because the security needed to attract the investment that would no longer be necessary because the required capacity has been reached.

    Mr Speaker, throughout the history of thermal generation in this country, every single thermal plant has come

    on the basis of such security; be it the Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Limited, Takoradi International Company (TICO), or the Bui Power Authority; and all other generations have capped on this.

    It would therefore have been ideal as a country, having reached a level where we now believe we have enough generation capacity to collectively decide that yes, we have gotten to this point on the back of the appropriate security. Going forward, we must now opt for a new option because we are now better placed. If we however, demonise the process that brought us to this place, we would do a disservice to ourselves. If the demonisation arises out of ignorance, I would excuse that; but if it arises out of political mischief, we are being short-sighted.

    Mr Speaker, I would also want to address the second issue of excess capacity. This is the second theme that has become a policy propaganda instrument. It is interesting that these documents presented by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was admitted by the Hon Chairman of the Committee as a document of the House. It is therefore surprising for the Hon Chairman who admitted the document to reject it and its contents in the Plenary. It is unfair.

    Going by this document that the Hon Chairman for the Committee on Mines and Energy admitted, our dependable capacity -- let me make this clear that all Power Purchase Agreements in this country have been negotiated, and ECG has been the offtaker of all Power Purchase Agreements. They are therefore, in the best position to brief this House.

    Mr Speaker, according to this document, our dependable capacity is 3,424 megawatts (MW) and our peak demand is 2,781MW. In addition to the peak demand, we also export 440 MW to Togo and Benin. If we add that export to our peak demand, we use in excess of 3,000

    MW.

    In energy economics, there is what we call a spinning reserve, which is either 12 per cent or 20 per cent of one's peak demand. If we, therefore, add the spinning reserve to the 3,000 MW, that is the peak demand plus export, the so called excess becomes questionable. We have issues --

    [1.01 P.M.] --
    MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Your time will not run.
    Mr Gyamfi 12:58 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, in my submission, I made reference to a document from ECG that was brought before the Committee.
    The Hon Member has been a former Hon Minister for Power, and he knows that figures that are provided by the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) which is the transmitter, is the right data that we have to use.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, what are you complaining about?
    Mr Gyamfi 12:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what GRIDCo is saying is that dependable capacity is not what the ECG has given as 3,422 MW -- it is 4,742 MW. It is here, and I have corrected my Hon Colleagues.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, I understand you. What are you complaining about on the point of order? Has he said something that -- ?
    Mr Gyamfi 12:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this data that was submitted by ECG has been updated by GRIDCo, and
    ECG -- 12:58 p.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Alright; that is your position.
    Dr Donkor 12:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am quite surprise that the Hon Chairman of the Committee says that the figures have been updated by GRIDCo. This document was presented in November, 2019; the latest document presented to this House by any Agency in the energy sector.
    The issues we have also means that there is still the need for increased capacity, going forward. As we sit here, Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) operates on 1.8 volt lines. If they move to the five volt lines, there would be an additional need for 300 MW of power. VALCO, which we have 100 per cent ownership of, is not operating because among the bottlenecks they have is that they do not have enough power. There is therefore also suppressed demand because we are unable to supply all the entities with the power they need.
    Mr Speaker, power is at the centre of development. As a nation, we must move away from this partisan approach to power. This leads us into traps.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Your time has been stopped.
    Dr Mohammed Amin Adam 12:58 p.m.
    On a point of order.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member made reference that if VALCO produced at its capacity, we would not have excess.
    There is a reason, and the Hon Member knows that. They have negotiated --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, unless he made a wrong statement of fact, you have the opportunity to explain when an Hon Member on your Side is speaking.
    Yes, Hon Member, continue.
    Dr Donkor 12:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, there is also the issue for us to move away and build a consensus on the way forward to the power sector. That consensus, we are not -- The Government has a responsibility to lead in building a consensus.
    More importantly, in this docu- ment, I have not seen any serious attempt at renewable energy. Several years after the passage of the Renewable Energy Act, particularly now that we have enough conventional power and there is even a claim of excess -- that is, if that could even be justified.
    Mr Speaker, the Budget Statement lacks any focus or thrust worth its name on renewable energy. The whole world is moving towards renewables, and we must not be the dinosaur of the world. This Government has a responsibility to lead professionally and build on the pillars of the previous Government in passing the Renewable Energy Act and other appropriate Acts.
    I would want to conclude by stating that we must not, as a country, mainstream ignorance as public policy option. We must speak to the facts and the national interest, and put Ghana before partisanship. We built infrastructure, but this Government has a responsibility to build on the inherited infrastructure in a way that is --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on, just before you conclude.
    Yes, Hon K. T. Hammond, what has he said that is not factual?
    Mr Hammond 1:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, maybe he has forgotten. Just to remind him that for the eight years that the Government in which he was an Hon Minister --

    The contribution by that Govern- ment to the development of the renewable energy resource that he just mentioned was a token figure of two megawatts and that was for the period of eight years.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
    So, how does that change the need to invest in renewable energy? He said that we should invest in renewable energy.
    Mr Hammond 1:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, but for eight years they did only two megawatts, so he should not be advising anybody.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
    That is why he is advising that -- you are out of order.
    Hon Member, conclude.
    Dr Donkor 1:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in 2015 as the Hon Minister for Power, I visited, a 20 megawatts solar farm around Mankoadze. Factually, the two megawatts he mentioned is not true.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to conclude that there is one body in this country that has responsibility to declare load shedding and that body is GRIDCo. Mr Speaker, GRIDCo
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:08 p.m.
    Hon Joseph Cudjoe, you have 15 minutes.
    Mr Joseph Cudjoe (NPP -- Effia) 1:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the Floor.
    Mr Speaker, permit me to react to the statement made on VALCO by my Hon Friend, Dr Donkor. I believe that over the years his Government's management of the power sector of Ghana's economy led us to experience -- when he was the then Hon Minister. His very reference to VALCO in the debate that VALCO needs power and that there is supressed demand in the economy -- maybe, as a manager of the power sector then, he might have thought of supressed demand here and there, so he continued to sign the PPAs as if God was raining PPA on Ghana.
    The dimension he did not bring into his assessment and which has locked Ghana into an unfortunate -- as he mentioned in his last statement, on renewable energy, we are unable to take advantage of the reduced cost of energy which technology has brought to us, having locked us into unending Power Purchase Agree- ments.
    Mr Speaker, that misunderstanding led them to make those decisions, but VALCO needs power at a cheap cost. As an aluminium smelter, they need power at a particular cost but that was not delivered to them and this is the reason VALCO runs one volt line out of the potential five that they have. As a government we are struggling with this because, if they had provided power at cheap cost then VALCO would be operating the smelters and jobs would have been created.
    Mr Speaker, the complaint about the numerous PPAs that we keep talking about is not just the availability. That PPAs are signed, a thermal plant is constructed, power is provided but Ghana would incur cost on that. Mr Speaker, that is not the debate; rather the debate is on the cost at which the PPAs were signed. I am happy that none of them on the Minority side have ever referred to that issue in this House. Mr Speaker, so anytime they
    talk about available power, an end to dumsor and so on, the question that arise is, what cost was the PPAs signed which hanged Ghana to that hardship?
    Mr Speaker, this government has engaged on structured management of the power sector and we are working to deliver a power sector that would support the industrialisation drive of the government. We are talking about One District One Factory and not One Komenda One Sugar Factory.
    Mr Speaker, for example, the Energy Sector Levy's Act (ESLA) Bond, which we knew existed streams in as revenue and we wait till moneys come in and we pay fuel suppliers to deliver power. Then we wait again over the years before those revenue streams would be made available to the government to make sure that light stayed on.
    Mr Speaker, but we securitised the revenue stream in an ESLA Bond -- they could have done that to rake in that kind of money but they issued seven-year and 10-year Bonds, and on the face value, we raked in GH¢5.6 billion and paid the fuel suppliers. This made sure that fuel supply which is a critical part of energy delivery stayed on course and
    for this reason dumsor did not recur. Mr Speaker, I say this because the dumsor we were experiencing -- we should not forget that in this House, the former President announced on several occasions that he would solve it but he did not do so.

    Mr Speaker, I would refer to page 5 of the Budget Statement where we have reduced Special Petroleum Tax Rate from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent. We further reduced it to 13 per cent and converted from ad valorem to specific tax. Mr Speaker, this has a transition mechanism to the economy for energy to be available at the right price. We are not talking about availability alone. Mr Speaker, on the same page you can see that we have reduced the National
    Mr Joseph Cudjoe (NPP -- Effia) 1:18 p.m.
    Electrification Scheme Levy from five per cent to two per cent and also reduced Public Lighting Levy from five per cent to three per cent. Mr Speaker, these were not just reductions because they were based on a certain party's manifesto, they were based on a comprehensive vision to industrialise the country and energy had become the critical component not just on availability, but in terms of cost, to deliver that vision.
    Mr Speaker, we also recall that electricity tariff at the consumption level -- residential facilities was given a 17.5 per cent reduction and non-residential was given 30 per cent reduction. If we want to appreciate this reduction and not deal with it as a political gimmick then let us look at the figures and relate to the facts. Mr Speaker, against this reduction we know that the NDC Government in 2015 increased electricity tariffs by 59.2 per cent and water by 67.2 per cent. We all know the noise that accompanied these and the complaints that industries, homes and businesses made in the country. Mr Speaker, this was in December, 2015 when this happened in this country.
    Now, if a residential facility is paying GH¢100 a month for electricity under the NDC Government, and with the experience of going through that
    quantum leap increments that happened under their tenure then what would have happened in December, 2016 -- nothing happened.

    The New Patriotic Party (NPP) then increased electricity bill by 11.17 per cent. This aroused noise from their part, forgetting that they had earlier done 59.2 per cent. However, the facts stand that when we reduced electricity bill down to 30 per cent, a GH¢100 bill meant it would reduce to GH¢70. So somebody paying GH¢100 would start paying GH¢70.

    Mr Speaker, when the increase of 11.17 per cent came, it would be on the GH¢70. It means 11 per cent of the GH¢70 would be the new bill, which would be GH¢77. This is what we have forgotten. God has been good to Ghana, but if the NDC were in power, we might have seen another 60 or 70 per cent increase. The trend is clear. That would have meant that a Ghanaian paying GH¢77 for electricity bill today would have been paying GH¢225. The noise about the high cost of electricity bill would have been in the system again.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on.
    Yes, Hon Buah?
    Mr Buah 1:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is the Hon Deputy Minister for Energy. He is engaging in -- This is not the place for that.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
    Tell me where he breached any rule.
    Mr Buah 1:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, he should speak to the facts.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
    Which facts? The man is giving you calculations of what it would have been, and so you are out of order.
    Hon Member, please continue.
    Mr J. Cudjoe 1:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this Budget Statement is an estimate, if we should advert ourselves to that fact. So, I am estimating what they would have done if they were in power.
    As a projection, somebody paying GH¢77 today, would have been paying GH¢224 given the trend of electricity bill increases during their time. This is a fact from the trend analysis.
    Mr Speaker, I am old enough to have experienced what a lot of us
    could relate to. I have seen a mechanic messed up my car, and he held his pride and made statements against the previous person who solved the problem. I have seen it. I am old enough, I have seen a tailor messed up my dress and held his pride as I took the dress to another tailor to fix the problem. I am old enough, and I have seen a government messed up an economy, and when another government fixed the problem, that government held its pride and insisted on having done the right thing.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
    So, if what you are saying is true, it is a Ghanaian problem that even if a person is wrong, we insist he is right.
    Mr J. Cudjoe 1:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, exactly. So it is not surprising if they say they were right.
    Mr Speaker, I urge my Hon Colleagues that, just as what is spelt out in our Children's report cards prove whether they were really learning when they said so, we have also seen the economic outcome of what this Government is doing. For example, they cited shortfall in tax revenues, but on the face of it, a certain costly free Senior High School programme is being financed, and the question is hanged on our necks that this is our new expenditure line as indicated in this Budget Statement.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:18 p.m.
    Hon Edward Bawa?
    Mr Edward A. Bawa (NDC -- Bongo) 1:28 p.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion. In doing this, my reference would be on page 150, paragraphs 813 and 814 of the Budget Statement.
    Essentially, this is a portion that the Hon Minister for Finance seeks to tell us how they intend addressing the financial challenges confronting the energy sector. It is true that the energy sector is confronted with serious financial threats, notwithstanding the
    fact that the previous Government introduced the Energy Sector Levy and bequeathed same to the current Government, a source of revenue that continued to baffle people in terms of the quantum we rake in every year.
    Mr Speaker, as of January, 2019, the Energy Sector Recovery Programme, that was referred to by the Hon Minister for Finance on page 150, indicates that the net arrears in the Energy Sector was US$12.74 billion. Out of this, US$850 million is owed to the private sector. The document goes further to indicate that if nothing is done, by the close of this year, we would have an additional US$1.268 billion.
    Today, my presentation is to demonstrate that contrary to the narrative given by Government, which is as a result of excess capacity, I would want to point out arrears that have accumulated these particular debts. However, I do know very clearly that my Hon Colleagues had already dealt with the issue of the excess capacity; but let us just do simple mathematics.
    Now, we have agreed that this is a document that was provided by ECG. We agreed that the peak demand is 2,745 MW and the available capacity is 3,420 MW. Mr Speaker, if we take the peak out of the dependable
    capacity, we have a difference of 679 MW. For any power system, you need a redundancy, and the technical people would tell you that you need, at least, 20 per cent of your peak demand. If that is the case, if we were to do simple mathematics, it would give us 549 MW. If this is taken from the so-called excess capacity, we would now have in our possession a difference of roughly 30 MW.
    When we ask them a very simple question of where this excess capacity is coming from, they have no answer. That is why we realised that in three different documents, the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance and ECG quoted different figures for the same excess capacity cost. I think today's debate, prior to mine, has settled this issue.
    However, what is more interesting is that, there are other four areas that have cost this country, resulting in the net arrears we have in the Energy Sector. One has to do with the financial loss of US$190 billion as a result of the PDS saga which I would debate later. Another has to do with the indebtedness of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ECG and the other one has to do with the delay in the Takoradi-Tema inter- connection pipe.

    Mr Speaker, last but not least, the fact is that we went ahead, even in the face of gas glut, to sign other additional LPG supply agreements on a take-or-pay basis.

    Mr Speaker, you would recalled that on the various documents that we have had, on an annual basis, ECG's technical and commercial losses were about 23 per cent. In monetary terms, it is US$400 million annually. It is because of this that the previous Government decided to opt for the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact II Agreement. This was an Agreement that was supposed to rake in US$490 million into the energy sector, particularly the downstream.

    Mr Speaker, US$300 million has already been injected into this system. There was a remainder of US$190 million that was supposed to address the technical challenges of ECG, and that would have reduced this 23 per cent losses that we experienced which gives us US$400 million in terms of losses every year.

    Mr Speaker, it is no longer news that this is an Agreement that has been abrogated. The very reason this was done was because of a very simple procurement process that was supposed to transition ECG to PDS.
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on, your time will stop.
    Yes, Hon K. T. Hammond?
    Mr Hammond 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who is on his feet has made some atrocious statements that I believe should be properly particularised. Mr Speaker, he said that the apparent lost of the figure of US$190 million, which is supposed to have been disbursed by the
    Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), has been lost not only because the transaction has been cancelled for specific reasons. He has mentioned them -- selfishness, nepotism, aggrandisement and greed.
    Mr Speaker, in all humility, the Hon Member should particularise this, and let the House understand its basis. He cannot just get away with a generalised statement of this nature. It is so serious and pregnant, and it has to be particularised.
    Of course, it follows that if he is unable to do that, it is a charitable house; he can kindly just withdraw, apologise and then we would continue.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
    Hon Member, can you explain greed, nepotism and self-gain further?
    Mr Bawa 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I hope that in explaining further, that would not be part of my time because my whole idea was to make this point without necessarily having to explain that.
    That being said, Mr Speaker, you would recall that after the Hon Minister for Information indicated that there were some material breaches in the procurement of the insurance guarantee, the Hon Minister for
    Energy came out and said that they had suspected fraud.
    Mr Speaker, any time there is an element of fraud, it is influenced by greed, self-gain and any other thing. It is on that basis that I made that statement.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
    Hon Member, that is a suspicion so just stay on the fraud and do not conjecture into other things. It is influenced by fraud.
    Now, you may proceed.
    Mr Bawa 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the next point I would want to talk about has to do with the indebtedness of MMDAs to ECG. Mr Speaker, the same document that the Hon Minister for Finance referred to; Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), they indicated that annually --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member on his feet alluded to a statement by the Hon Minister for Energy that they
    suspected fraud. Now, the Hon Minister said that the abrogation was attributable to a suspicion of fraud. [Interruption] The Hon Minister said that they suspected fraud. Do you understand that? The Hon Member came emphatically that it was fraudulent, and that it was informed by greed, corruption and nepotism.

    Mr Speaker, there cannot be a point of order against a point of order. I guess Hon Members who have stayed in this House should learn the rules of the House.

    Mr Speaker, an Hon Member has made a categorical statement, and I am calling on him to provide further and better particulars about the statement that he made.

    So Mr Speaker, if you could get him to respond to that.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what the Hon Minister for Energy said was that they cited fraud as the reason for the cancellation; he did not say that they suspected fraud. So, if the Hon
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:28 p.m.
    Hon Members, I think the issue was about fraud. What the Hon Member on his feet, Hon Bawa, said is that whenever there is fraud, then it is influenced by greed, nepotism and self-gain, and I said that was conjecture. Those are his imaginations and so, it should not be stated as facts. Those that are imaginations may be expunged from the record.
    Hon Bawa, you may continue.
    Mr Bawa 1:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is also important to state clearly that subsequent to the pronouncement of the Hon Minister for Energy, the final report that was published by Government, the Ambrose Dery Committee, clearly stated fraud as one of the reasons for which that particular agreement was abrogated.
    Mr Speaker, it is important to now state that if you also look at the indebtedness of MDAs to ECG, it is very huge. Mr Speaker, as per the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP) document that the Hon Minister for Finance referred to, they said that on an annual basis, the indebtedness of defaulters in terms of payment of bills to ECG, is about US$180 million. Mr Speaker, 80 per cent of this figure is owed by MMDAs. That is US$150 million.
    Mr Speaker, it is on the basis of this that under the previous Govern- ment, there was a clear directive that all MMDAs should ensure that they had prepaid metres. This current project has been put to a halt, and so it is not surprising that on an annual basis, ECG cannot collect about US$150 million from Government. That is almost GH¢600 million. It contributes to the net arrears of the energy sector.
    Mr Speaker, the next point that we need to look at has to do with the delay in the construction of the reverse flow -- the pipeline between Takoradi --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:38 a.m.
    Hon Member, you have one more minute.
    Mr Bawa 1:38 a.m.
    The delay in the construction of the pipeline. Mr Speaker, the strategy was that government was interested in evacuating stranded gas from the western enclave to the eastern enclave. This was a project that was supposed to be completed in 2017. This Government decided to institute a forensic audit into that and three years down the line, no report has been produced on this particular audit. However, in terms of debt that has occasioned by this particular act -- US$750 million.
    Mr Speaker, so if we look at these factors that I have stated, it is very clear that the reason cannot be the issue of excess capacity; it has to do with the negligence of the Government in terms of rising up to its responsibilities and to a very large extent, the whole idea of ‘let us see how we could ensure that in the energy sector, we get our portion'.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:38 a.m.
    The next person is Hon Ato Panford.
    Mr Ato Panford (NPP -- Shama) 1:38 a.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I am grateful for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the debate on the financial policy of the
    Government of Ghana for the year ending, 31st December, 2020 ably and competently moved by the Hon Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori- Atta and seconded by Hon Member for New Juaben South, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah.
    Mr Speaker, it is not doubtful that in every nation, the trade and industry aspects form the economic nerves of the country's economy. I would humbly like to juxtapose the 2016 Budget Statement to that of the 2020 Budget Statement.
    Mr Speaker, it would interest you to note, and if I may remind the House that when a Budget Statement is indicated with deficit against the GDP of 5.3 per cent as against 4.5 per cent, it tells us which of the Budget and Economic Statements is leading the people of Ghana into the right place.
    Mr Speaker, it is not doubtful that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's Government has seriously chalked some landmarks of development for this nation. If we look at what Ghana has been able to achieve, taking into consideration the whole 52 nations of the African continent, Ghana did not achieve the opportunity to hold the African Continental Free Trade and headquartered in Ghana just by some wishful opportunity or any other gift
    Mr Yusif Sulemana 1:38 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague said that if we take the 2016 Budget Statement with respect to trade and industry, there is absolutely nothing in there. I think he is misleading this House. Under the 2016 Budget Statement, we introduced so many programmes including stimulus packages that they have come to continue. So for him to say that, I think he is misleading this House.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:38 a.m.
    Yes, Hon Member, he says if you open to the page on trade and industry, you would find something there. So please, there was something. However you value it is differently.
    Mr Panford 1:48 a.m.
    Thank you Mr Speaker. If we juxtapose the two Budget Statements, we would realise that the 2020 Economic Policy of this Government by far, surpasses the content we have in the 2016 Budget Statement.
    Mr Speaker, I would like to touch on some key areas of this Policy Statement before this House. If we touch on the strategic anchor programmes for these industries because of the re-positioning and dynamic positioning of our economy, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has highlighted certain key strategic industries for us to be able to propel the nation into 2020 and beyond.
    Mr Speaker, if I may mention so at paragraph 753, on page 140 of the Budget Statement, Mr Speaker, it reads:
    “Mr Speaker, the Strategic Anchor Industries Initiative is one of the key components of the Ten-Point Industrial Trans- formation Plan of the Ministry designed to diversify and trans- form the economy by creating new pillars of growth and expansion in the industrial sector. The key strategic industries under the initiative are: petrochemical, integrated alumi- nium and bauxite, iron and steel,
    vehicle assembly and auto- motive industry, garments and textiles,pharmaceuticals, vegetable oils and fats (in particular oil palm), industrial starch from cassava, industrial chemicals based on industrial salt, machinery and equipment manufacturing”
    Mr Speaker, Ghanaians would want to know where the jobs would be coming from. Unfortunately, Deustche Welle (DW) reported that Honda is closing its manufacturing plants in Sweden and England by 2021. But Mr Speaker, we would ask ourselves; where these companies are relocating to? If we come back to paragraph 754 on the same page of 140, this Government has been able to implement, and it is the vehicle assembly and automotive component, which the policy by far, has attracted car manufacturing companies like Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Sino truck and Suzuki. These are all going to boost the economic activities of our nation and create jobs.
    Mr Speaker, as we achieve the African Continental Free Trade Zone Area, there are two key things that I would like my other Hon Colleagues to note, that Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEMPA), as they have
    completed their policy statement in terms of non-traditional export, opens a huge opportunity for us as a nation to be able to export into our own African Continental Free Zones area.
    Mr Speaker a policy statement in that direction has been completed and there is a review of their Bill to ensure that they empower the whole process to be able to take opportunity of the African Continental Free Trade.
    Mr Speaker, in that aspect, we can recall that in 2018, GH¢2.8 billion trade balance reserves were paid for this nation. We have been able to project GH¢12.3 billion into the ensuing years over the ten-year period. Mr Speaker, this could be achieved through these policy indicators and policy statements that we have been able to draw.

    Mr Speaker, if we take what rail can do to industry, it is unheard of and unprecedented that you would find the trains moving now. The trains are coming to Shama at the Free Zone Enclave to expand the industrialisation of that area.

    It is great to note, that we have been able to move our SMEs into another direction. May I refer to page 141, paragraph 759 of the Budget, it says:
    Mr Panford 1:48 a.m.
    “The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) under the Micro and Small Business Development programme established 1,438 new businesses and created 2,961 new jobs across the country.”
    This is a real economic develop- ment plan. It would show us how best we can ensure that the SMEs which form almost 85 per cent of the economic base of this country have access to credit.
    Mr Speaker, on paragraph 760 of the same page 141, I would like to take a little time to read:
    “In the area of access to finance, NBSSI assisted 1,349 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to access credit to the tune of GH¢4,568,710. In 2020, the NBSSI will assist 2,000 MSMEs to access finance.”
    A quantum of almost about GH¢4.5 million has been disbursed to our SMEs. These are the economic policies that we believe would transform Ghana as we move ahead.
    Mr Speaker, to make sure that we continue to have the ease of doing business in Ghana, Rural Enterprise
    Programme (REP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry has set up Business Resource Centres (BRC) in most of the districts. They would continue to build these BRCs in almost all the districts.
    Currently, 37 BRCs have been established in 37 districts. In addition, 31 new BRCs would be constructed. Technology Solution Centres (TSCs) would be constructed, and we also believe that with the technology transfer units that are being constructed, they would feed the industries with the kind of technology that we require. Standardisation is key to ensure that our industries thrive, and products and services are perfected for consumers. The Ghana Standards Authority is also on the move to ensure that they intensely work on the standardisation issues in this country.

    Non-traditional exports are some of the key areas that would drive this nation into the economic plateau that we are looking for. When we mention the key areas that Ghana Export Promotion Authority is focusing on, it is non-traditional exports like cocoa products, cashew, horticultural products, vegetable oils, fish products, apparel, aluminium products, natural rubber and articles of plastic.

    Mr Speaker, these are the key fundamentals that if we continue to empower Ghana Export Promotion Authority, they would be able to position Ghana in the midst of this Africa Continental Free Trade Area. This week, from 18 th to 22nd November, 2019 happens to be the African Industrialisation Week and I would encourage all my Hon Colleagues to participate in the celebration of this week by contributing meaningfully to support the industrialisation of Ghana.

    Mr Speaker, if the common person in the streets of Shama can bear witness that the policies in terms of health did not favour them, I would say it here. For the past eight years, the Shama Health Post did not get any support.

    If we look at paragraph 1034 of the Budget Statement, rehabilitation

    and expansion of the Shama Health Post has been captured and an 80- bed capacity hospital is going to be -
    - 1:48 a.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 a.m.
    Hon Member, you have one minute.
    Mr Panford 1:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I would want to emphasise that this House supports that we approve the Government's Financial Policy for this nation to be able to move from where we are now to the targets we set before us.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 a.m.
    Hon Members, having regard to the state of the Business of the House, I direct that the House Sits outside the regular sitting hours.
    Yes, Hon Mahama Ayariga?
    Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 1:48 a.m.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to the Motion.
    A lot has been said already and I just want to respond to one or two things in addition to some substantive issues that are peculiar to my constituency.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 a.m.
    Hon Member, hold on.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I keep saying that those who seek equity must come with clean hands. My Hon Colleague just raised an issue and said that yesterday, he heard the Hon Deputy Minister gloat. This is an honourable House and I think that we must apply standards and be equitable with our choice of words.
    I have no qualms ,if he wants to use the word, but we were here when people described what others did not
    see as optical illusions and construed that as an insult. [Laughter] I believed the Hon Member may be cautioned to moderate his language, but as I said, I have no qualms. If he wants to pursue that path, I have no qualms at all.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:48 a.m.
    Hon Ayariga, kindly withdraw “gloat” and use a more parliamentary word in substitution.
    Thank you.
    Mr Ayariga 1:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw the word “gloat'', even though my understanding of it is to be overly excited about something and speak highly to praise one's self without just cause. [Laughter.]
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance spoke about how the Government has honoured all statutory payments. Even before we go into the facts of whether this NPP Government has honoured statutory payments, we should be aware of the facts, that what this Government has done is to reduce the amount that should be paid on the statutory payments by the capping policy that was introduced and approved in this House. So the score marks should not be reduced to 70 per cent and then when they get 71 per cent they would praise themselves
    and create the impression that the person who scored 75 per cent did not do well.
    Mr Speaker, I have also heard arguments in this House, with regard to the energy sector, and Hon Joseph Cudjoe spoke about how they have used the Energy Sector Levy to raise bonds and created a system where there is a guarantee payment for fuel products to keep the machines running.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
    Hon Members, I am not supposed to intervene, but this fact is different from what has been put before the House -- generating capacity was a challenge?
    Mr Ayariga 1:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in the records of 2014, 2015 and 2016, and in the various Budget Statements that
    we debated in this House, generating capacity remained a major issue. So that definitely was an issue that was addressed by the NPP Government.
    Mr Speaker, even though you are not supposed to participate in debates, with this, I believe our Hon Colleagues on the other Side of the aisle could challenge us that this was not an issue.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
    That was what I expected; I thought that, that fact must be checked.
    Mr Ayariga 1:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am more concerned today about certain key flagship projects that the NPP Government announced and approved in this House for their implementation. Today, I would want us to evaluate the performance of the NPP Government in relation to those flagship projects.
    Mr Speaker, one of them is the Zongo Development Fund. When the Zongo Development Fund was announced, my people in the Zongo communities began to dream that our Zongos would be transformed into Dubais and Trassacos and that we would expand access to water and electricity.
    rose
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, when the Hon Member made an allusion to you, I rose up, but unfortunately, it appeared you were reading something, so you could not see me.
    Mr Speaker, I thought that when the Hon Member said that you were not required to more or less guide the House in the order that you sought to do, he said to you that the other Side of the aisle was required to challenge what he said, and not from the Chair.
    Mr Speaker, I thought that indeed, he was questioning your own conduct which he knows he has no capacity to do.
    Mr Speaker, I want to refer the Hon Member to Order 93(5), which with your permission I beg to quote:
    “The conduct of Mr Speaker, Members, the Chief Justice and Judges of the Superior Courts of Judicature shall not be raised, except upon a substantive Motion,…''
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member knows that if he wants to interrogate and challenge what you said, he knows what to do.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, you would continue.
    I raised the issue that I am not supposed to debate and he commented on that.
    Mr Ayariga 1:58 p.m.
    Did you hear Mr Speaker say that he raised the issue that he was not supposed to debate? [Interruption.]
    Mr Speaker, more importantly, when the Zongo Development Fund was announced, my people in the zongo communities began to dream and imagine that our Zongos would be transformed into beautiful communities with basic infrastructure and amenities extended to them based on some commitment on the part of Government to make substantial investment in the circumstances of zongo communities.
    Mr Speaker, in paragraph 335 to 342 of the Budget Statement, I see very abysmal commitments to the development of the zongo communities. Indeed, what stands out as the most important achievement of the Zongo Development Fund is the construction of astro turfs. It says, “Astro Turf in Fadama, Astro Turf in Madina. . .'' -- how could the construction of Astro Turfs be the major preoccupation of developing our zongo communities given the
    monumental infrastructural challenges that our zong communities face?
    appointed because I really applauded the decision to set up a Zongo Development Fund and to establish a Zongo Development Authority with the view rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on. I do not know what you said that has caused the Hon Members to be on their feet.
    Former Hon Minister for Inner- City and Zongo Development, what has the Hon Member said that is not a fact?
    Alhaji Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface 1:58 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member said that the only development in the zongos has been the construction of Astro Turfs. We did some drains and rehabilitation of some schools.
    In Zebila, I made sure that the big storm drain was constructed, which saved the people from flooding, but I cannot argue further. However, as far as I am concerned, the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development has done a lot.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:58 p.m.
    Very well.
    Hon Member, take that on board. It is not only the construction of Astro Turfs, they have done other things.
    Mr Ayariga 2:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member did not listen to me. I said that when one reads those paragraphs, what stands out as a major achievement of the Zongo Development Fund is the construction of Astro Turfs.
    Mr Speaker, I am disappointed because the zongos in our country have major infrastructural challenges. Could you imagine that at the other side of Nima is Ridge, and a property on that side could cost several millions of dollars. Just across the road, there are properties one would not even buy for a few hundred thousand cedis or dollars. The only difference is a road which separates the two communities. The major challenge is basic infra- structure such as access roads and et cetera.

    When the Zongo Development Authority was established and the Fund was announced, I expected some significant capital injection by this Government into the zongos, so that we address this major infra-
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, you have one more minute.
    Mr Ayariga 2:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we have the Western, Middle Belt and Coastal Development Authorities. I am disappointed to look at the 2020 Budget Statement. I expected to see some earth-shattering ideas from these development authorities regarding how our regions can be developed better than what the Regional Coordinating Councils were doing, but what do we see? An almost
    near zero mention of these development authorities and their impact on development in this country.
    In fact, one of the very few places where I see these development authorities mentioned, is in paragraph 305. They are mentioned as agencies under the Ministry of Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme at the office of the President.
    Mr Speaker, what do they do? Are they putting forward very progressive strategic ideas regarding how they are -- ?
    Mr Andy K. Appiah-Kubi (NPP-Asante Akim North) 2:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the Floor of the House.
    Mr Speaker, I want to start from a quotation I saw this morning; and it says that:
    “Beyond our political differen- ces and our geographical boundaries, there is always a common interest that all of us share; both as a House and also as a country.”
    Another one comes from President Clinton who says;
    “We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter though, but our common humanity matters most.”
    Mr Speaker, those of us at the backbench expect to learn from our Seniors, but sometimes I get confused as to what is happening. Do we get distracted by our external interest so we do not focus on the issues on the table? We are supposed to debate trade policy at this present time, but the digression is worrying.
    When we do the partisan politics to the discredit of the interest of the House, we lose the advantages. We are debating trade policy of the Government, and I hope that we endorse programmes that are productive and do a critic of programmes that we do not agree in the hope of bringing perfection to the programmes, so that our country benefits.
    Mr Speaker, I learnt something from the Motion moved by the Hon Leader of the House at the Plenary when he asked us to limit the propaganda and focus on the core issues so that the country will benefit.
    I refer you to pages 139 to 141 of the Budget Statement from paragraph
    750 to 752 where the Government tries to create an enabling environment for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana to flourish. It starts with the discussion of industrial enclaves and technology parks.
    The Budget Statement refers us to a Dawa Industrial Park where dedicated utility suppliers are begging for the private sector to utilise to increase production in the country. The Dawa Industrial Park has 2,000 acres of land where we have dedicated supply of energy, water, good roads and so on. We, as a people, must market such centres to attract foreign direct investment and encourage our own business people to also locate it to enjoy the synergy of locating at one place and also the advantages of clusters.
    Mr Speaker, we also have the Apollonia Business Park which is also within the Greater Accra Region. This is about 200 acres of land.
    In the Western Region, there is also an industrial park which is being developed by an American company called “BlackIvy Group” and this is a place where businesses can locate and enjoy the synergies of their clusters.
    Mr Speaker, there is also an ongoing feasibility on the Kumasi Technology Park which when
    Mr Andy K. Appiah-Kubi (NPP-Asante Akim North) 2:18 p.m.
    completed, would also obviouly house a lot of business concerns.
    Mr Speaker, Beyond that, the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) has also developed an industrial enclave in Tema, and now, we can talk of a lot of industries which have located there. GFZA is also inviting collaboration from the private sector to develop new industrial parks and technology centres.
    Mr Speaker, all these opportunities are there. The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), which is an agency of the Ministry of Trade and Industry has started to identify produce from different parts of the country and is even training people to develop business plans as well as assist them to access workable capital. These environments exist in Ghana and we seem not to take advantage of the opportunities being created. This is the policy of the Government of President Akufo- Addo to create business opportunities for all of us.
    Indeed, if we have given allocation to produce, we would have also given capacity in terms of training and access to the capital market by way of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and now,
    we are even privileged to be hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for business. This means that the whole of West Africa is available to us on preferential tariff regimes. How are we taking advantage of all these opportunities and facilities being provided under the trade policies of the President? We are not taking advantage, but rather, we are unduly criticising each other so that even policies that are expected to inure to the benefits of Ghanaians are being over-politicised for us to lose the business opportunities that they present.
    In spite of all these, there are 284 small enterprises that have been given access to credit. These are all opportunities that we could take advantage of. When we have seen all these, then we superimpose that on the concept of 1D1F.
    Mr Speaker, in fact, sometimes, I am very disappointed when people say that the Government has planted factories in various districts or constituencies.
    The concept is a private sector driven programme and it is not intended for Government to not plant factories in the various districts. Let us get this right.

    We, as community leaders, have the responsibility to take the charge. We have the responsibility to mobilise people to come into the programme and enjoy the opportunities that the programme presents. If we do all these, then we could help the industries that are emerging in all the districts; but if we wait for Government to do it, then we would wait in vain.

    Mr Speaker, I am hopeful that in the near future our constituents would judge us by our participation in some of these programmes that would better their lives. If we are unduly critical of good initiatives, we would end up losing the opportunities.

    Mr Speaker, when people get employed under various schemes in Ghana, we continue to criticise who gets what and how they get it, and leave out how productive they are. How could their production capacity be improved, so that apart from the benefits that come to them as individuals, Ghana would also see an increase in its output generally?

    Mr Speaker, on the production sector in the automobile industry, we now have a Government that has been able to attract core manufacturers in

    the automobile industry into our country. What more could we expect of a Ministry that goes round the globe to strategically attract anchor industries? What do we expect if the giants in the industry come to Ghana? We expect a chain forward and backward that would feed the central anchor industry to produce the vehicles.

    Again, there is a market in West Africa that we would have to rely on in our investment promotions.

    Mr Speaker, as a House, I understand that given the opportunity that the Budget Statement is on the Floor for debate, we have to make contributions that would make the document perfect for us to be able to sell to the outside world as a destination of choice for industry to be located herein. But if we continue to destroy our own products that we would sell, then how do we expect the foreign companies to accept what we sell.

    Mr Speaker, the market being created by the European Union's amalgamation and the location in Ghana is for us to benefit, and not for us to argue away. ECOWAS beckons on us and the whole of Africa beckons on us. I would not leave out the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) scheme that also presents opportunities for us to access the American markets.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:18 p.m.
    Hon Yusif Sulemana, you have 15 minutes.
    Mr Yusif Sulemana (NDC -- Bole-Bamboi) 2:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate.
    I would focus on three major areas and if time would allow me, then I would attend to a minor issue.
    Mr Speaker, something very important is missing in the Budget Statement. We all know that even yesterday, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) had to organise a press conference to re-echo their
    concerns and for me it is important that the Ministry of Trade and Industry takes them seriously. I have gone through the Budget Statement and I have not seen anything that gives hope that this issue would be resolved. If it is a mistake then as usual, the Hon Minister for Finance is allowed to come here as he did on the issue of the roads in the Volta Region, to amend the records, but if it is deliberate then I would be sad.
    Mr Speaker, having said this, I would start with one of my major issues and this has to do with single digit inflation. This is contained in paragraph 15.2 of the 2020 Budget Statement. With your permission, I beg to read:
    “Inflation rate has fallen from 15.4 per cent in December, 2016 to 7.6 per cent (new series) in September, 2019, registering the lowest rate in 27 years; which makes 2019 the year with the slowest ever rise in the prices of goods and services in Ghana in the entire history of the Fourth Republic - - Yes, Mr Speaker, 2019 has been good for Ghana because when inflation slows down everybody benefits;”.
    Mr Speaker, this is very interesting. I would quote one of the finest economists in this country, Dr
    Mahamudu Bawumia, in a paper he delivered at the Ferdinand Ayim Memorial Lecture in 2012.
    Mr Speaker, he said 2:18 p.m.
    “Mr Chairman, on the issue of inflation in Ghana, official statistics indicate that inflation has been reduced from 18.1 per cent in 2008 to 8.8 per cent in March, 2012. The key question that is on the minds of Ghanaians is do we really have single digit inflation in Ghana? Low and stable inflation is only meaningful if it can translate into tangible benefits for our people. Governments and economic managers set their eyes to reduce inflation to a low single digit because it would inter alia reduce the cost of living, reduce interest rates and stabilise exchange rates. The prevalence of these conditions would intend reduce the cost of doing business.”
    Mr Speaker, now, I would pick these issues and let us see whether or not the current single digit inflation satisfies the very conditions that the Vice President stated. His own records and criteria would be used to judge him.
    Mr Speaker, the recent ADI Business Barometer Report clearly shows that there is no pass-through effect of our current single digit inflation. So I would ask, do we really have a single digit inflation in this country? Mr Speaker, the answer is no.
    Mr Speaker, credit to the private sector as a potential of GDP in 2016, stood at 15.4 per cent. In 2018, it was an abysmal performance and it dropped to 11.7 per cent. So the question I ask is, if we really have a single digit inflation in Ghana today? The answer is No.
    Mr Speaker, I would now move to the prices of petrol. In 2016, a gallon of petrol was about GH¢14.00, but today a gallon of petrol is GH¢24.00. So the question I ask is, if we really have a single digit inflation in Ghana today? The answer is No.
    Mr Speaker, I would move to the transport sector.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, hold on.
    Mr Maiga A. Halidu 2:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague is misleading the House. Single digit inflation does not mean a reduction in prices, but rather, the rates of increase has slowed down. He should know that if in 2016 the inflation rate was
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:28 p.m.
    Hon Members, I think I should guide that inflation is a measurement of the actual and not a projection. That should guide our debate.
    Mr Sulemana 2:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am not using inflation to measure projections. I am using the single digit inflation, and I made reference to a statement that one of the economists in the country made. I am just juxtaposing that; looking at it and relating it to what is happening today.
    Mr Speaker, now, I would want to talk about transportation fares. Three months ago, a trader at Ashaiman transported a bag of maize at a cost of GH¢5.00 from Ejura to Ashaiman. Today, as we speak, the
  • [MR SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER IN THE CHAIR.]
    • Mr Sulemana 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I said I feel very ashamed of myself.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, did I hear you say “shamefully”?
    Mr Sulemana 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw that word and apologise to the Hon Minister.
    Mr Speaker, I was so sad that the Hon Minister for Information called on this Side to celebrate mediocrity. Why do I say so? They promised us at least, 216 factories within the four years of their Administration. If they say that every district would be given a factory, at the time they made that promise, we had 216 districts. They have used three years to produce only one factory, and he called on us to celebrate it.
    rose
    Mr Sulemana 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would prove why I said it is only one. Why did he not bring products from the other factories that they have already operationalised? The answer is that they have used existing factories on the One District, One Factory Programme.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Members, I recognised your Hon Colleagues arms are up. Maybe, they are raising a point of order. So let us allow them.
    Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who just resumed his seat is misleading this House. I am the Hon Member for Ayensuano. In Ayensuano alone, we have three factories under the One District, One Factory Programme. We have a factory that produces fertiliser --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, did I hear you right that you have three factories in one district?
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, yes. So we are even performing better and more than what was promised in our manifesto.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, the policy is One District, One Factory.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is at least One District, One Factory, but if we have the raw materials that could help us get more than one factory --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    There is no “at least” anywhere. They said “One District, One Factory”. That is the policy.
    Mr Ayeh-Paye 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the good news is that the policy is One District, One Factory. It was because of the location of my constituency and the raw materials we have in Ayensuano that we are fortunate to have three instead of one. So he is misleading the House. We have not used three years to produce only one factory. I could lead us to Ayensuano where we have as many as three factories as I speak.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, you may conclude. I would just add one minute because of the point of order.
    Mr Sulemana 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, there is no need for him to lead me to his constituency. All he needs to do is to bring the products from the factories, like the Hon Minister for Information did.
    In any case Mr Speaker, I have in my hand two separate documents from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. These are the list of beneficiaries of the stimulus package and the assessment of the One District, One Factory. I have gone through it. Most of the existing companies that benefited from stimulus packages are also captured under the One District, One Factory Programme.
    This means that they are putting existing factories under the One District, One Factory Programme. That is why they cannot come here to tell us about the products from the new factories. The only thing they have is the Ekumfi Pineapple Factory. In any case, they have come here to tell us that we have juice from Ekumfi. The question is how much it costs on the market, how competitive is it, and how sustainable are they. These are the issues we would want to hear.
    Mr Speaker, I would take my last issue, which has to do with the collapse of the Komenda Sugar Factory. I have in my hand, a report from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. When the Hon Minister took over, he conducted an audit of the factory. I am sad to announce that all the recommendations made by that audit have been thrown away. That is why today, the sugar factory has collapsed. So if they are collapsing factories and now claiming that they are bringing some on board, what are we doing?
    Mr Speaker, the sad thing is that, under this, the auditors clearly stated that if we were able to implement at least 70 per cent of this report, the company would not have collapsed. I could read to us. I do not have time to read it, so I could lay it.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, your last sentence.
    Mr Sulemana 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is the performance of the NPP Administration. If we were to conduct elections today, Ghanaians would vote them out because of their abysmal performance.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:30 p.m.
    Yes, available Hon Leader of the Minority?
    Mr Ahiafor 2:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, at the beginning the Hon First Deputy Speaker told the Hon Member that he had 15 minutes to speak. That was the indication. He spoke for barely 12 minutes, so he has additional three minutes. That was the indication to him.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    Hon Member, I am sure you were observant. You saw that before I took the Chair, I took some time to hear from my Hon Colleague the minutes the Hon Member had used before I took the chair, and he told me the minutes.
    The Hon Member was left with just three minutes, but because of the point of order, I added another minute to it for him. The indication is clear on the paper that he has 15 minutes. I am aware of that. I have not taken any second from him. In fact, I added a few seconds to his 15 minutes. So please, available Hon Minority Leader, you may need to look at your time very well.
    Let us now give the opportunity to Hon Nana Marfo; you have 10 minutes.
    Nana Amaniampong Marfo (NPP -- Afigya Kwabre North) 2:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise this afternoon to contribute to the debate for the
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    Hon Member, did I hear you say before I arrived?
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    A few minutes ago, he made a statement that he does not see why --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    You have not responded to my question. Did I hear you say before I arrived?
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    Not really.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    Did you say that or not?
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    I said so.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    What does that mean?
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    Since you just took the Chair, I thought you were not with us from the onset.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are addressing the Chair. What did you say?
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if I have erred, please forgive me.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    You are talking about when I assumed the Chair as Mr Speaker, and not when I arrived.
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    Thank you for your direction.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:38 p.m.
    You may go on.
    Nana Marfo 2:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if you would allow me, I was making a point that Hon Ayariga said that he does not see why we named a whole Ministry after zongo communities, but we ended up making investments like the construction of Astro Turf pitches. I do not know if he is old enough to have heard the names Baba Yara, Anas Seidu, Abdul Razak, Mohammed Polo, and one of the recent players, Ali Sulley Muntari.
    We would realise that these people never had Harvard or Legon education, but when it comes to calling the list of Ghanaians who have actually made impact on the economy of Ghana, we cannot write the history on the economy of Ghana without naming these people.
    So I would want my Hon Colleague to know that the AstroTurf, for all he cares probably is a court of growth when it comes to the zongo communities. So we should be very careful as representatives of the people not to demean the trade that anybody plies.
    Mr Speaker, going to the substantive issue for the day, this Budget Statement has a lot of meat for everybody to chew. It is not perchance that after it became very clear that the whole of Africa needed a common point from where businesses, and for that matter, trading activities would expand from, Ghana was chosen.
    Truly, Ghana happens to be at the centre of Africa, and by stretch, the whole world, but it is not our centrality per se for which we were taken. Ghana was chosen because they saw that we have the men and all the other things that could enable us play that role. That was why we had the Secretariat of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) sited in Ghana.
    What would we get from this? Going forward, we would attract a lot of businesses. If we say that it is hard for Ghanaians these days, it is just because we think that a lot of
    Ghanaians do not have work to do. With the Secretariat of AfCFTA sited in Ghana, we believe that if we leverage our resources and oppor- tunities very well, Ghana would be a haven of businesses for Africa.
    Mr Speaker, we would remember that in May, 2019, there was a three- day regional conference that was held here, which attracted over a 1,000 parliamentarians, academics and business people, and most of us assembled here were participants.
    It tells us that with the good policies of Nana Akufo-Addo, at least, the whole of Africa has seen that something good is happening in Ghana. So they cannot look beyond Ghana and site the Secretariat of AfCFTA anywhere else, but in Ghana. Now, it is up to us, as Ghanaians, to take advantage of these opportunities to make Ghana have its name that it is known for.
    Mr Speaker, before Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana was not in the history books. He brought in the Workers Brigade, which opened up the economy. Due to certain reasons, it fizzled out. With Nana Akufo- Addo's 1D1F, this is one of the most important economic policies which if properly leveraged out, would place Ghana in its right place among the comity of nations. I urge all of us to therefore vote not with our feet, but
    Nana Marfo 2:48 a.m.
    with our thumbs for the 1D1F programme. Making politics out of it would not help any of us.
    Mr Speaker, going forward, an Hon Colleague talked about the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) Policy, and the National Export Development Strategy. This is a policy that with the help of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, GEPA, as an Authority, has come out with. With this for the start, they have produced 2,246,000 smooth cayenne pineapple suckers for 10 out-growers who do business with these firms -- Bomart Farms, Blue Skies and Ekumfi Juice Factory. These are the policies that Ghana needs, and this would bring us out of the woods.
    My Hon Colleague from the other Side should therefore,let us all with one accord, support such innovative policies that would move the nation forward, which at the end of the day would take our constituencies and districts out of the woods.
    Mr Speaker, the Government of Nana Akufo-Addo takes the downward trend of the textile industry seriously. When we came to power, we saw that textile companies like Volta Star, GTL and ATL were all in limbo. The rescue packages that found themselves in last year's Budget
    Statement have ensured that if we go to the premises of these companies, they are now up and doing. Therefore, with one accord, we should help these policies to work because it is in so doing that the poverty that we hype for political gains would be seen as a thing of the past.

    The Ministry of Trade and Industry, through the GRATIS Foundation has also earmarked huge sums of money to train about 331 apprentices for the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) Certification; 180 for National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NAPTEX) certification and about 500 students from our various engineering institutions for degrees and other certificates.

    Mr Speaker, if for nothing at all, President Akufo- Addo has brought energy into the system. If for nothing at all, the President of the nation has brought a lot of attention to the country. Barely a week ago, we had the Prime Minister of Barbados here. Let us look at the picture that she painted to us. We were all very proud as Ghanaians that for a very long time, our lost brothers and sisters in the diaspora have traced their steps back home because of the good things that the current Administration is doing.

    Mr Speaker, we could begin to behave like the ostrich, burying our heads in the sand and thinking that nothing is happening, only to be knocked off by the oncoming vehicle. This is the best time -- the golden time of the Ghanaian economy. This is one of the times to be proud of as a Ghanaian because there is a Government that believes in the rule of law, the prosperity of the average Ghanaian and that every single —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:48 a.m.
    Hon Member, your last sentence.
    Nana Marfo 2:48 a.m.
    A Government that believes that every single Ghanaian must be given the opportunity to go to school hence we have the Free Senior High School programme.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:48 a.m.
    The Hon Member for Keta Constituency.
    Mr Richard M. K. Quashigah (NDC -- Keta) 2:48 a.m.
    Thank you Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Budget Statement for the year 2020, Under the theme: Consolidating the Gains for Growth, Jobs and Prosperity for all.
    Mr Speaker, jobs are very critical, and the expectation is that Ghanaians would celebrate the numerous jobs that the Government has created. Indeed, the question is, are there real jobs?
    Mr Speaker, before I proceed to outline my points, I first of all would like to express my dismay at the fact that having gone through the Budget Statement with this very expectation that I would have seen something said about the Keta Port for which a Director of Ports has been appointed but nothing of that nature was mentioned. Instead, the people of Keta can only be grateful to the President for giving them a beach landing site out of the 10 that were announced recently.
    Mr Speaker, I would invite us to interrogate some of the figures as presented in this Budget Statement. First of all, the Hon Minister for Finance, on page 4, paragraph 18, indicated that 97,373 graduates have been given an opportunity under NABCO to better position themselves for future jobs. In effect, 97,373 people were engaged under
    NABCO.
    However, when we come further to page 202 of the Budget Statement, in his concluding point, the Hon Minister indicated that we have established the NABCO, and recruited 100,000 graduates. Mr Speaker, this is inconsistency. In one
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:48 a.m.
    Hon Member, which Appendix are you referring to?
    Mr Quashigah 2:48 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is Appendix 7, page 234 of the 2020 Budget Statement.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:48 a.m.
    The next figure you mentioned—
    Mr Quashigah 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the next figure could be found at page 177 of the 2017 Budget Statement. That gives us the figure for the MMDAs at the time the NPP took office. If we do the deductions, we would have an added on of 75,447.
    Mr Speaker, interestingly enough, when we go to page 202 of the 2020 Budget Statement, the Hon Minister for Finance tells us that they have recruited over 350,000 people into the Public Service.
    How could that be when the figures do not add up? Interestingly enough, the National Pensions Regulatory
    Authority (NPRA) vindicates the position I am advancing.
    When you go to page 15 of their 2018 Annual Report which was presented to us, it says and I quote with your permission;
    “Data shows that assets available for benefits under the Basic National Social Security Scheme (BNSSS) recorded a negative growth of 5 per cent in 2018, compared to the 10 per cent recorded from 2016 to
    2017.”
    What that means is that not enough people have been engaged, therefore, as people retire, we do not get enough people to become pensioners to benefit from the scheme.
    Again, if we look at the same page, it says, growth of even a private pension scheme is also not working. It says and I quote with permission;
    “Growth of private pension assets available for benefits on the other hand slowed from 2017 to 2018, recording about 18 per cent positive growth compared to the 60 per cent posted from 2016 to 2017.”
    That also tells us that the private sector is not working. The jobs are simply not there. Ideally, if indeed
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Hon Member, the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance is up on her feet. Maybe, she has a point of order.
    Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
    Mrs Osei-Asare 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I just want to put across that we never mentioned the private sector. We said we had given financial clearance and also employed people. Yes, he mentioned that from NPRA, the number of people on SSNIT benefits is coming down.
    The 100,000 people from NABCO are not on the SSNIT, The 50,000 from Afforestation and the YEA recruits are not on SSNIT, but they are all on the Government payroll because they receive allowances from the Government. I just want to put it out there that it is not just those on
    SSNIT.
    Secondly, with the security services, yesterday, we mentioned that we have given financial clearance to the tune of 14,201. We did 2,002 in 2017, a number of 7,545 in 2018; and then in 2019, we have done a little over 4,500. So in the security services such as the Ghana Prisons Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service as well, this Government has really brought a total of 14,201 people.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, you are on a point of elucidation and that is right. I
    only doubt whether this is in compliance with the SSNIT Law.
    Mrs Osei-Asare 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, those who receive allowances are not on SSNIT pension.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Do you term that as allowance? Is their compensation only allowances? What is the quantum?
    Mrs Osei-Asare 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, for those on YEA and Afforestation, it is GH¢400 a month.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    You were not talking about that, you were talking about NABCO.
    Mrs Osei-Asare 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, for NABCO, it is GH¢700 a month.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Good allowance.
    Hon Member, you may continue.
    Mr Quashigah 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would not want to debate my Hon Colleague on the other Side, but the truth is that before they took office, YEA existed. So that cannot be a reason for a drop in pensions.
    They talked about 100,000 NABCO recruits. That figure had
    been made and it is so inconsistent in their own document. She talks about 14,000 being recruited into the security services. Am I to take it verbally from her or was it supposed to have been contained in this Budget Statement, as was the case with the Ministry of Defence? This is because the Ministry of Defence has outlined the number of people they would engage in 2020 and those they engaged in 2019. The figures are there in the Report. So why not those security agencies under the Ministry of the Interior?
    Mr Speaker, talking about pen- sions, I do not want to be the advocate of doom, but they know too well that next year, where pensioners would not take lump sums, they are supposed to take their lump sums from tier 2. There is confusion about SSNIT paying interest on moneys that they are supposed to have transferred to tier 2, which is a past credit.
    There is a whole lot of confusion, they and the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations know, that next year, there would be turbulence and labour unrest because labour has already signalled that if SSNIT does not give them the 100 per cent of the treasury rates, but wants to give them 50 per cent, they would not accept it.
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Hon Member, the Hon Minister is on his feet.
    Mr Quashigah 2:58 a.m.
    He wants me to continue because he knows I am speaking the truth.
    Mr Awuah 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have agreed with the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises that I would be the next speaker, so I would want to defer. Let him continue, and I would give him the appropriate response.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Sorry? You would be the next Rt Hon Speaker?
    Mr Awuah 2:58 a.m.
    Sorry, not the next Rt Hon Speaker -- [Laughter] -- but the next person to debate.
    Thank you for the correction.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Unfortunately, I do not have your name in the guide that I have with me here, and it is not the agreement between you and the Hon Chairman that determines who has the advantage to catch the eye of Mr Speaker. It is the Leadership of the House, and we have guidance from them. I do not see your name in the list at all.
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Are you the Hon Chairman he referred to?
    Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:58 a.m.
    Rightly so, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    I did not know you had so much power.
    Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am very sorry. The Hon Minister had indicated that he wanted to debate, but he was at another meeting and just walked in. I have
    agreed with Leadership that I could cede my opportunity to debate to him.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:58 a.m.
    Usual channels of communication --
    Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:58 a.m.
    It is subject to your overriding convenience.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    It is not subject to mine. You have to go to your Leadership. I have just one more name on the Side of the Majority, which is the Hon Member for Tema East, and that would have to end the day. So after the Hon Member for Keta, it would be his turn, then another Member from the Minority according to the list that I have, and that would be the end for the day.
    Unless you want, through your Leadership, to ask for permission to replace the Hon Member for Tema East.

    I got the information that he was ready and prepared to make his submissions today, so I do not think it would be fair to replace him.

    However, let us listen to the Hon Member for Keta. Hon Member, you now have three minutes.
    Mr Quashigah 3:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, clearly, this Budget Statement is disappointing, the figures are all not right and other Hon Members have alluded to it. “The debilitating unemployment situation which faces the Ghanaian youth is a threat to national security and far too many young people unemployed sadly are in the reality to start their adult life with''. Those are not my words but the words of H. E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, when he addressed this House.
    Mr Speaker, the question I ask is, has the situation changed since the President made this statement or has it rather become worse?
    Again, the President said that, ‘‘we must create the atmosphere that generates jobs''. These are not my words but his words. Has he actually created the atmosphere or rather, one that has taken away existing jobs? In the banking sector for instance, jobs have massively been lost because this Government does not know how to handle affairs in a very humane and prudent way.
    Mr Speaker, we are not told how jobs in total have been created through the President's various job creation initiatives such as, Planting for Food and Jobs, 1D1F, Industrial Stimulus Package, Planting for Exports and Rural Development, Private Sector
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, your last sentence.
    Mr Quashigah 3:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the economy is critically ill.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    Hon Member, your time is up.
    Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations was required to be in the House earlier but unfortunately, he was engaged in some other business, which is why we did not include his name. So if I may plead that we substitute the last name on the list for the Hon Minister. If we have space and time, we could, after him, maybe, indulge the Hon Member for Tema East. Unfortunately, it does not appear the House is ready to continue after him. So if you could give the last slot from the side of the Majority to the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, is it your
    submission that we should take the Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations first, before we take the Hon Member for Tema East?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if the House is so positioned, that is after the two contributors - one from each Side of the aisle, we could go to the Hon Member for Tema East.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    Hon Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, the Hon Majority Leader has put in a strong request that we grant you some minutes to make your submission and because you are an Hon Minister, you have 15 minutes.
    Minister for Employment and Labour Relations (Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah) 3:08 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to draw our attention to happenings within the employment and labour sector. Total Government compensation to workers in 2016, stood at GH¢14.1 billion and the same figure is projected to be GH¢26 billion, come 2020 which is a rise of 87 per cent. If I want to go into the detail makeup of the compensation, the wage components of compensating stood at GH¢12.1
    billion in 2016, but it is projected to be GH¢22.9 billion which is a rise of 89 per cent.
    Mr Speaker, social security contributions in December, 2016, stood at GH¢1.06 billion, which figure is projected to be GH¢2.08 billion in 2020, a rise of 96 per cent. This is almost 100 per cent rise in total compensation which could not have come by its own or by the annual adjustment in salaries which averages 11 per cent per annum. Something else may have contributed to that and I would want to say emphatically that, that which contributed to that is massive employment drive which the President's Government has embarked on over the period.
    Mr Speaker, unemployment as of December, 2015, stood at 11.9 per cent from the Ghana Living Standard Survey which was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service. Using the same approach --
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:08 p.m.
    Hon Member for Keta?
    Mr Quashigah 3:08 p.m.
    On a point of Order. Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister has misled the House and I want to crave his indulgence to prove to us by documents, where he gave the figures from the rise in growth.
    Mr Awuah 3:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am talking of public sector compensation. I am saying that in the year 2016, public sector compensation stood at GH¢14.1 billion, but it is projected to be GH¢26.5 billion, which is 87 per cent.
    If the Hon Member cares, he should take the Budget Statement and open to where the compensation figure is; he will see the social security contribution figures. I am saying that in the year 2016, the Government's contribution to social security for Government workers stood at GH¢1.06 billion, but it is projected to be GH¢2.08 billion. I am not quoting from the same document, but from the Budget Statement.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:18 p.m.
    Hon Minister, the issue being raised here is that he made a submission for
    contradicting the figures of the Budget Statement, and then quoted a document that was laid and referred to a Committee from the Labour front. So that is his source to contradict what is stated in the Budget Statement.
    Now, you are referring to the Budget Statement without referring to another source that will confirm what is in the Budget Statement.
    Mr Awuah 3:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am sorry, but the two sources are not talking about the same thing. The document he has is the 2018 Report, and I am not making reference to that Report. I am comparing the years 2016 and 2020. So there is no way what I am saying will find expression in the document he is holding.
    In any case, if NPRA is making the 2018 Report, they report on the pensions industry in totality, but I am talking about the public sector social security contribution, and not total social security contributions. So it is like comparing apples and mangoes; they are not the same.
    Mr Speaker, if I may continue, because I believe these are ways to disrupt me.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:18 p.m.
    Hon Minister, I will not allow anybody
    to disrupt you. I have my eyes on the time and so, nobody will use your time. You have 15 minutes.
    Mr Awuah 3:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, un- employment stood at 11.9 per cent in the year, 2015, according to the Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 (GLSS). The same Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) conducted the GLSS 7 in the year 2018 and now, the more refreshing news is that unemployment has dropped from 11.9 per cent to 7.9 per cent.

    Mr Speaker, may I let my Hon Colleague know how we came by this figure? According to the GLSS 7, the total population of Ghana stands at around 30 million. Out of this number, those who are 15 years and are eligible for work stands at 17.56 million. Out of this 17.56 million, 11.06 million are actually working and then we have 1.14 million who cannot work because they are either above the working age or incapacitated or ill.

    So, that leaves us with a difference of 5.36 million who are supposed to be either schooling, learning a trade or not working. However, per the definition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), unemployed persons are persons who are actually not working; they are making efforts to look for work but they are not getting any work to do .

    In fact, out of this 5.36 million that are either schooling or unemployed, 422,000 actually made efforts to look for work, but did not get any that gives us the real number of unemployed persons. This is because per the definition, persons who are unemployed are those who are due for work, looking for work and are not getting work to do. The 422,000 then gives us a figure of 3.7 per cent. That is why I said that using the same method which was used in the year 2015, the current unemployment rate is 3.7 per cent. So the Hon Member should be minded about that.

    Mr Speaker, of course, the ILO comes up with a relaxed method saying that yes, it is not everybody who may be unemployed and still be looking for work. There are some who may have given up on looking for work because they are tired, lost hope and think that they may not get work if they look for it. Those who fall under that category are 407,500
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, you may have to look at your years again. If it is that they came and requested for five years in the year 2015, and now your Government is going to implement it in the year 2020, it means that it falls within the five years that was requested.
    Mr Awuah 3:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, that is why the Hon Member said that he thought that come 2020, there would be demonstrations and so on because we were not ready to implement it. I want to assure him that come January, 2020, the nation is ready to implement the National Pensions Act of 2008 (Act 766). With that, people who are retiring will have two types of pensions; a monthly pension from SSNIT and then the other one, from the occupational pension scheme that the person belongs to.
    Mr Speaker, let me use this opportunity to assure --
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:18 p.m.
    Hon Member for Keta what is the issue? He has simply assured us that yes, the five years is due, Government is ready and in the year 2020, payments will be made.
    Mr Quashigah 3:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, he alluded to the fact that I said that we were not ready to implement it, the reason for which there will be strike actions. That is not what I said.
    I said that the labour front is still asking for some more time because there is confusion with the data to the extent that even he, the Hon Minister's name cannot be found on the tier-two scheme. He checked mine and I have also checked that of other people in this Chamber and their names are not there. Meanwhile, this data is supposed to be in a certain format and National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA) is saying that it needs US$5 million to procure a software in order to harmonise that data properly.
    That is why the Trades Union Congress, (TUC) boss is asking that they are given two more years so that all these things can be streamlined but they want to go ahead and implement it.
    Mr Speaker, that was what I was talking about. I never said that they did not want to implement it and that would lead to strike actions.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
    Mr Awuah 3:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me say that unfortunately, the NPRA is just the Regulator and they are not responsible for paying the benefits. It is the occupational pension schemes which would effect the payments. So I do not see where NPRA would have to procure a software. To do what? After all, they are not supposed to do that.

    Mr Speaker, I would want to assure the nation that we are set and ready to implement the Tier 3 Pension Scheme benefits to would-be pensioners by January, 2020.

    Mr Speaker, it is quite refreshing to note that the pension industry is growing at a very fast rate. As we speak, the total assets in management under pensions is over GH¢26 billion, and it is more refreshing to note that more of those assets are being managed by the occupational pensions schemes than the SSNIT scheme. One significant thing which has happened within the employment
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:28 p.m.
    Hon Minister, I have not recognised him, but I think that you have given him the opportunity, so I would allow him.
    Mr Awuah 3:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, he is my senior in Parliament. Besides I inherited his Ministry, and so I would want him to make his submission, then I would come back.
    Mr Iddrisu 3:28 p.m.
    I am not debating, but there is a matter which borders on the Constitution and so it is important that I point to the Hon Minister that what Hon Richard Quashigah stated and referred to on page 202 -- Mr Speaker, I am on a point of order that the Hon Minister should not mislead this House.
    Mr Speaker, the paragraph reads 3:28 p.m.
    “We have recruited over 350,000 people into the public service”.
    Mr Speaker, the public service is defined under article 190 of the Constitution. Therefore, he should be guided as he proceeds further. Mr Speaker, it also has implications on the compensation budget of the State.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:28 p.m.
    Hon Minister, actually, you compelled me to look at article 295 of the Constitution which is on the definition of public service. I had to look at it, and I was wondering whether you were on solid grounds.
    Mr Awuah 3:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, un- fortunately, I used a different terminology. I did not say “public service”, I said ‘public sector', and that is different from public service.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:28 p.m.
    What is your definition of public sector?
    Mr Awuah 3:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, any- body that is paid from public funds is considered to operate within the public sector, and public service is an institution. It is a subset of the public sector.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:28 p.m.
    Hon Minister, you may revise your notes after you have read the definition of public service in the Constitution. Do not go further on this tangent, just make your submission.
    Mr Awuah 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, unfor- tunately, when I started my submission he was not here. I justified why I am convinced that there has been massive recruitment within the public service and I demonstrated it by the growth
    in compensation. I said that compen- sation has grown, from GH¢14 billion to GH¢26 billion which is a growth around 89 per cent. This could not have resulted from just the annual adjustments in salaries. Certainly, it tells us that the base has also increased.

    Mr Speaker, finally, before I sit, I would also want to announce to this nation that the Ghana --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    But before you make your announce- ment, you have another Hon Colleague on his feet.
    Yes, Hon Collins Dauda?
    Alhaji Collins Dauda 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member on his feet has told the House that the Forestry Commission has engaged 50,000 persons. However, paragraph 727 of page 136 of the Budget Statement that was presented says otherwise. It says and I quote with permission:
    “Mr Speaker, a total of 83,000 people were directly engaged under this year's forest plantation programme...”
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    So, he otherwise gave a lower figure.
    Alhaji Dauda 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, yes, but what is important is for us to know which of them we have to work with. He is the Hon Minister in charge of labour, and this is the Budget Statement. So which is which?
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Minister, it happened that you are from the same region.
    Mr Awuah 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Forestry Commission has two types of employees. There are those who work as staff of the Commission and those who work on programmes. When you combine the two, you would get the figure here, but I was only quoting those who are not on the public sector payroll. The emphasis was on public sector payroll. [Interruption.] The figure for compensation here does not include -- Indeed, when you are paying interns, they are paid under goods and services and not under compensa- tions. So I wanted to make a distinction between the two.
    Yes, the Youth Employment Agency has interns, and they also have their own staff. Their interns are paid from goods and services, they are not paid under compensation.
    However, Mr Speaker, I would want to inform the nation --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Hon Minister, I thought you were not going to belabour this point because what is stated in the Budget Statement is clear. This distinction you are trying to create does not come in at all. So just leave it and let us move on.
    Mr Awuah 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I take your advice.
    Before I end, however, the Ghana- German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration has been established to give counsel and job matching for Ghanaian youth who are looking for jobs locally. They give counsel for proper migration into other parts of the country and also serve as a source of hope and rallying point for migrants who have returned into Ghana and are looking for oppor- tunities to re-establish themselves.
    I would want to use this opportunity to inform my colleague Hon Members of Parliament so that if they have such persons within their constituencies, they can direct them there. The office is just behind the office of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
    Mr Speaker, on this note, I thank you for the opportunity given me.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    May we now listen to the Hon Member for Aowin?
    Mr Mathias K. Ntow (NDC -- Aowin) 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I rise to
    Mr Mathias K. Ntow (NDC -- Aowin) 3:38 p.m.


    contribute to the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2020 fiscal year, which was presented to this House by the Hon Minister for Finance on Wednesday, 13 th November, 2019.

    Mr Speaker, I have only three main issues to discuss, and I believe that would take just 15 minutes of your time.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    What did you say? You would take how many minutes of my time?
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, 15 minutes.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    You are not entitled to 15 minutes; you are entitled to 10 minutes.
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am in your hands.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    You are not in my hands. [Laughter]
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Firstly, I have taken time to look at the budget of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, and I am
    speaking to page 230, Appendix 4E of the Budget Statement, item 22.
    One important Ministry in this country that brings revenue to Government and for the people of Ghana is the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts. However, you would realise that allocations made to this Ministry over the years have been very inadequate. I say so because if you refer to the page that I just mentioned, you would find that the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts has been allocated GH¢11.9 million for goods and services. No provision was made for capital expenditure. If we do not invest --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Hon Member, you are referring us to Appendix 4E -- Summary of MDA Expenditure Allocation (GH¢) - 2023. Am I right?
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is the 2020 Budget Statement which was presented by the Hon Minister.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Yes, it is the same Budget Statement I am referring to at page 230. You are dealing with the year 2023. That is what I have here.
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, what I have here is --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    You are referring to Appendix 4E at page 230, which deals with allocation for 2023.
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is item 22 under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    What is the Appendix? Is it--?
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    Yes, it is 4E.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Read the title of that Appendix.
    Mr Ntow 3:38 p.m.
    It is about 2020 to
    2023.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:38 p.m.
    Yes, so that is the year 2023.
    Mr Ntow 3:48 p.m.
    Alright, Mr Speaker.
    The point I am trying to make is that not much investment is made in this Ministry. The Committee on Trade and Industry was sent to Kintampo in the then Brong Ahafo Region where there was a disaster. If you go to the site, it was after the disaster that Government started doing something there. At least, we should have a restaurant and a guest house so that people who may travel all the way from Accra or Kumasi could spend a night or two there. That would increase the revenue of this place.
    Mr Speaker, we need to invest in that particular place so that there could be revenue for the country. That could be further reinvested to bring more revenue to the country.

    Mr Speaker, the second item I would want to talk about is on the stimulus package that was put in the 2017 and 2018 Budget Statements. In the 2020 Budget Statement, no mention is made of this important aspect of trade and industry in this country.

    Mr Speaker, you would realise that the number of companies that benefited had not been provided. They are few and even that, how much was given to each company to revive it was not mentioned. It is very important for Ghanaians to know some of these things.

    If Government has got such a laudable idea to assist companies that almost collapsed and is prepared to revive them, then it would be very prudent for us to know that Government would put “x”, “y” and “z” amount of money into the accounts of these companies to revive them. That is very important for us to know as Ghanaians.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:48 p.m.
    Your last sentence.
    Mr Ntow 3:48 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, on this note, I would want to urge Govern- ment to come again and make sure that all resources put together into the national coffers are evenly distributed
    in this country, so that all of us would feel part and parcel of the development of this nation.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:48 p.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, I can see your gesticulations. Do I take the Hon Member for Tema East?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:48 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, respectfully, I wish you could take him, but just indulge me to alter the order of Business to allow the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance to lay these Papers captured in the Order Paper Addendum.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:48 p.m.
    Is there an Order Paper Addendum?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:48 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:48 p.m.
    I do not have it.
    I would insist that after laying the Papers, we take the Hon Member for Tema East because he has been glued to his seat for a long time.
    Hon Members, let us go to item numbered 1 on the Order Paper Addendum -- Presentation of Papers. The following Papers are to be presented by the Hon Minister for Finance.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:58 a.m.
    Those are the only two Papers available to be laid. We would now go back to conclude for today, the debate on the Budget Statement. It is now the turn of the Hon Member for Tema East, Hon Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover.
    MOTIONS 3:58 a.m.
    Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus- Glover (NPP -- Tema East) 3:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute and also wind-up on today's debate.
    Mr Speaker, before I make my submission, let me quickly make one or two rebuttals; one from my senior brother and senior Hon Colleague, Hon Ntow who said that Government has not brought any development in terms of factories. In my own
    backyard in Aowin Suaman, -- and he knows where I come from in Amonye -- This is a project in the hands of the private sector which the Government is facilitating. But the ingredient here is that, it is based on the availability of raw materials. So, as we heard Hon Ayeh-Paye say —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:58 a.m.
    Hon Member, you are setting your premises and debating issues that have not been raised by him. I would simply advise that you move away from that and concentrate on your submission.
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:58 a.m.
    You do not need to raise any point of order.
    Mr Titus-Glover 3:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is important that my own brother, Hon Sulemana - we are on the same Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism -- In his contribution, he also said that there is nothing in this Budget to support Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), and for that matter, GUTAs issues are still hanging and Government seemed not to be doing anything about them.
    Mr Speaker, the issues of GUTA did not start today; it is a matter of diplomacy and negotiations. It is not about the use of fisticuffs, so we would
    get there. It started in their time, and we are gradually dealing with how we should resolve the issues that relate to GUTA. We should remember that GUTA has benefitted from Govern- ment in terms of tax deductions on the imports that they do.
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:58 a.m.
    I advised you to move away from this area and make your submissions, but you are bent on —
    Mr Sulemana 3:58 a.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
    My Hon Colleague said the issue about GUTA is not about fisticuffs. I would like to tell him that he is misleading this House.
    Mr Speaker, the issue of GUTA is about implementing the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre's (GIPC) Law. I have heard that that law is amorphous from their Side. If it is amorphous, two and half years to three years in Government, what have they done about it? That was exactly what I talked about.
    Mr Titus-Glover 3:58 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, our own Hon Minority Leader would recall when he was Minister for Trade and Industry, I am saying that this is not a matter of throwing blows; it is a matter of diplomacy. Gradually, we

    are engaging and we would make sure we bring this matter to a close.

    Mr Speaker, as I sat back and listened to my Hon Colleagues from the other Side, the impression is being created as if their time was far better than ours. On the contrary, I disagree with them because records and figures show that their performance was bad. Their growth rate was 3.5 per cent. That was what they bequeathed to us and they want to compare that record to what shows here today?

    Mr Speaker, on page 18 of the Budget Statement, in fact, from page 11, on the ECOWAS growth rate; the benchmarks of all the ECOWAS member countries when we look at Ghana, from 2017, 8.1 per cent; 2018, 6.3 per cent; 2019, 7.0 per cent and all that, and when we come to page 12 on the consumer price inflation and we look at the statistics it shows that: from 12.1 per cent, to 9.3 per cent. On page 18, before paragraph 71, we have the overall GDP growth rate of 7.1 per cent; the overall non-oil GDP growth rate of 6.0 per cent and all that. Clearly, these are far better records that we could show than what we inherited in January, 2017.

    Mr Speaker, governments and investors around the globe are coming to Ghana not for anything; it is about

    good governance; strong economic management that would compel these people to come to this country to invest. We talk about Sinotruk Group, Renault, Nissan and other people who are coming to this country because of the confidence that they have in this Government. It does not come by chance. So I believe that it is clear for us to know that we have a Govern-ment led by President Akufo- Addo who is showing the vision and the pragmatism to make sure that we move this country forward.

    Mr Speaker, in doing so, for the emphasis of trade, industry and tourism, we cannot progress as a country when we see the figures in the manufacturing sector that are so bad. Mr Speaker, the records also show that in 2016 -- [Interruption] -- it is negative because the attention and support that was needed for manufacturing was not there; thankfully, we have grown steadily and gradually up till 2018 and 2019. And this tells us that this is a Government that is very serious to make sure we turn our economy because our taste for exotic products that are imported into this country are killing us. It is high time we looked at the way we behave as Ghanaians.

    Mr Speaker, when we go to page 741, under paragraph 762, which with your permission, I quote —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 3:58 a.m.
    Hon Member, did I hear you say page
    741?
    Mr Titus-Glover 3:58 a.m.
    No, page 141, paragraph 762:
    “Mr. Speaker, under the Rural Enterprise Programme (REP), 37 Business Resource Centres (BRCs) were established in 37 Districts. In addition, 31 new Technology Solution Centres (TSCs) are at various stages of construction to provide technology solutions to the 1D1F companies at the District level as well as . . . ''
    Mr Speaker, there is a reason the President has a vision for the 1D1F. Hitherto, we knew how Government industries were not performing because first of all, they did not have what it takes, and it made some of these companies and some Government interventions to affect the performance of these industries. Therefore we want the private sector to take the lead; we want the private sector to hold the running of this economy, and that is why he has brought this vision of 1D1F. Mr Speaker, it is not for anything —
    Mr Iddrisu 3:58 a.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, we are following the
    debate very intensely and we would like to be guided.
    My Hon Colleague quoted page 141, paragraph 762, Rural Enterprise Programme and made reference to numbers and then, summersaulted to 1D1F. I do not see the relationship there at all. He knows that the Rural Enterprise Programme was signed on by me as Minister for Trade and Industry in 2013 with the Ministry of Finance to support that entity.
    If he wants to focus on 1D1F, he should give us the evidence. Rural Enterprise Programme is not 1D1F and cannot be under 1D1F.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, what I read was the fact that it would provide technology solutions to the 1D1F companies at the district levels, and that is an empirical fact. If we are able to follow the programme of the 1D1F successfully, it would be the game-changer because we would be compelled to consume what we produce, and that would save foreign exchange for this country.
    I worked under the Hon Minority Leader when he was the Minister for Trade and Industry, a very successful Minister at the time. Unfortunately, he is leaving. I recalled the sugar factory
    -- 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I want him to be here with me. I am sorry.
    I was part of the team that went to the Komenda Sugar Factory. Today, we are suffering for it because of poor organisation. You cannot go and put up a factory where you do not have a farm that would produce sugarcane to run it. It is not done and that is an example of poor planning.
    Mr Sulemana 4:08 a.m.
    On a point of Order. Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague on the other Side is misleading this House and not speaking to the facts. There is a Report on the Komenda Sugar Factory from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Report that was given to the Rt Hon Speaker's Committee and in that report, they have not denied that it is not coming from them.In that report, there have been some recommendations and I can give a copy to the Hon Member to go and read.
    If we had implemented those recommendations, the factory would not have collapsed. So it is as a result of their deliberate policies to collapse that factory, that is why we are here today and they should tell the truth.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that my brother and good friend wants to pass their inefficiencies on us because they had the opportunity. The lack of planning -- One cannot put up a factory when one has not made provision for a farm to give it the raw materials. They should not pass their inefficiency and incompetence on us.
    Yes, a report has been generated, but we have to look for funding for out-growers, so that they would be able to produce the sugarcane to feed the plant we are talking about.
    Mr A. Ibrahim 4:08 a.m.
    On a point of Order Mr Speaker, did I hear my Hon Colleague say that he does not understand why we want to pass our inefficiencies on them? We were here when he commended the former Minister for Trade and Industry and was proud to mention his Rural Enterprise Programme in 2013. That is what he is trumpeting and asking people to hail him and that is what he calls 1D1F.
    He is proud of our foundation and our Ministers, so he cannot say we were inefficient. This is what we left for them to continue and it is a national asset, they should continue. The Komenda Sugar Factory was a graduation of the 2013 programme
    that he talked about. He should inherit it all and progress from there.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Hon Member, the issue being raised here is that you commended the former Minister for good work done at his Ministry, then the next thing is that they passed on their inefficiencies. That is the issue that he is raising.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the difference is that the Hon Minority Leader was then not in charge of the Ministry of Trade and Industry at the time the Komenda Sugar Factory was under construction. It is a clear departure and he was not in charge.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, you were not specific. You referred to them generally, ‘you', and that is the Minority Side. If you had stated that after the Hon Minority Leader's tenure of office, something else happened, then we would be listening to you. The value is the same so --
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am guided. After his departure -- [Laughter] -- That is exactly what happened, but going forward, we --
    Dr Francis B. Dakura -- rose
    -- 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, I would not take a minute out of your time, do not worry.
    Hon Member for Jirapa?
    Dr Dakura 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I stand on Standing Order 94 and draw the attention of the Hon Member to the use of objectionable words. He used the word “inefficiencies” and I object. I appeal to you that the Hon Member should withdraw that word because it is --
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    You said under which Standing Order?
    Dr Dakura 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, Standing Order 94.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Motion that Member be no longer heard?
    Dr Dakura 4:08 a.m.
    The Hon Member should no longer be heard unless he withdraws.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Standing Order 94 says:
    “If a Member uses objec- tionable words and on being called to order fails to retract or explain the words and offer an
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, may you live long for saving me.
    Industry can thrive on energy, and I believe that we are witnesses to what we experienced in 2016 for close to about four years. I believe that majority of this challenge was on financials. I cannot say that the NDC Administration has not done anything. They did their bit, but the issue about financials was a huge challenge which they could not manage. That is why we have a visionary and pragmatic
    leader like President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to make sure we fix this financial challenge to let the engines run for us to produce.
    Mr Speaker, as I sat back, I heard my senior Colleague, Dr Kwabena Donkor, talking about the fact that VALCO which is in my constituency --
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:08 a.m.
    Hon Member, why are you on your feet?
    Mr Ricketts-Hagan 4:08 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Friend made a Statement which was inaccurate. First he talked about inefficiencies, and secondly he was talking about financial challenges. I want to draw his attention to the fact that when the Komenda Sugar Factory was built for US$35 million, we also left them US$25 million which they were supposed to draw down. That US$25 million was approved in this House in November 2016, and it has never been drawn down by this Government. This is an Indian EXIM Bank facility that was left. It was the component to do the irrigation and development to be able to get the right yield of sugarcane to produce sugar at the factory. That money has never been used.
    I am not sure he knows why it has not been used but it would be good to check with the Hon Minister, why the money was approved in this House. An amount of US$25 million and this Government has never drawn down on that money, simply because they do not intend for the Komenda Sugar Factory to be functional.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague knows the rules. He should have filed a Question. In any case, I have told him that it is because of poor planning. Why did they not use that US$25 million to go and do the cultivation? Why did they not let the out-growers start the cultivation, so that they could come out concurrently and by the time they finish the factory, the sugarcane would be also up, then it could be harvested and sent for production? [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, he should not go there. He has made his case worse.
    rose
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    I would recognise the available Hon Leader, because he was on his feet.
    Mr Anim 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, with all due respect, the Hon Minister was in the House to answer the Question and I know that the Hansard would bear me out on the Komenda Sugar Factory. He said that certain machinery components were not available. If it is about Questions, then the Hon Minister has been in the House to answer vividly on the Komenda Sugar Factory. I believe we have past that point about bringing him to the House to answer to Questions. He has answered Questions on that and the Hansard would bear me out.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    What you said is different from the issue that has been raised. The issue that was raised was the availability of raw materials. He said that they had not invested in the production of the raw materials -- sugarcane and the factory was established. He replied that we had approved a loan, which was the India EXIM Bank Facility in November 2016, for that purpose but that the Government has not drawn down on that Facility. That is the issue being debated.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I responded to the Hon Member that but because of the bad planning, they could have started the cultivation of the sugarcane, while the factory was -- so that by the time the sugarcane
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    would ripe they could harvest it to feed the factory. [Interruption] -- It comes back to them because of the bad planning.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Kwabena Donkor, said that we have been able to support VALCO to produce to full capacity, but on the contrary, VALCO is in my constituency and for the eight years that the NDC was in power, they run under only one port line. It is only under President Akufo-Addo's Government that we have allowed them to run the second port line and that is a major achievement. So if they do the comparison between the two, it does not add up.

    Mr Speaker, in terms of credits, last year, when I debated on the Budget Statement, the number of companies that were given stimulus packages were less than 15 and the quantum in terms of money was about GH¢50 million. Under President Akufo-Addo, the companies that we have supported are close to 20 plus

    and over GH¢100 million has been added up to support them as stimulus packages. It is clear, so they could go and verify.

    Mr Speaker, on transportation, under President Akufo-Addo, in order to promote the multi-modal transport system we have in this country, a lot of things have been done. There is a railway construction from Tema Port, behind my mother's house all the way to Mpakadan and it is about 60 to 62 per cent complete.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, relate that to the Budget Statement because what you have talked about are the achievements.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, a lot has been done under President Akufo-Addo under the transportation sector.
    Today, it is evident and clear in the ports that the paperless transaction has also facilitated the easy way of doing business. It has reduced the human intervention and the business time in the port to make sure that people are able to transact their businesses.
    Mr Speaker, under the Metro Mass transportation, it is sad that what we inherited from the NDC Administration is nothing to write home about.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member for Bole Bamboi?
    Mr Sulemana 4:18 p.m.
    On a point of Order. Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague did not speak to the facts when he said that the paperless regime has increased trade activities. I have with me, the ease of doing business reports. Out of the 10 indicators, we did well in only three, so it is three over 10 and he said they have done well in this?
    In any case, I would want to give the figures with regard to trading across borders. In 2016, we stood at the 154th position which is good, the next year, we moved to 158th position. We are not doing well.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, that is not a point of Order.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I did not talk about landed ports, I talked about sea ports in my constituency. I said that the paperless transaction has done two things: one, it has eased the time of doing business, and secondly, the human intervention that always interrupted the way of doing business in the port has dwindled.
    Mr Speaker, under the Metro Mass Transit transportation, it is sad
    that the vision that Ex-President Kufuor brought to this country to help the rural dwellers, which was bequeathed to the NDC Administration was nothing to write home about. However, President Akufo-Addo has assured that whatever was bequeathed to him, he would make sure to revive it. Government has imported buses for the Metro Mass Transit Company Limited and we would continue to import more.
    There are Hon Colleagues in this House, who have used the services of Metro Mass transportation and have not paid, and they would sit back and attack Government and the management and the board of Metro Mass Transit Company Limited for non-performance. Meanwhile, they have used the services of the company to transport people to their constituencies to vote for them, but they have refused to pay. They have been written to, and very soon, debt collectors would be sent to them and they should not take that as harassment or molestation.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, it is unparliamentary to issue threats in your submission.
    Mr Titus-Glover 4:18 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw it. But I would want to appeal that we avoid the use of debt collectors to come after my Hon Colleagues. I know Hon Sulemana is not one of them because he was not an Hon Member of Parliament at the
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:18 p.m.
    Hon Member, I have been very generous because you sat the whole day and you agreed for the Hon Minister for Employment to have a bite before you.
    Hon Members, we have come to the end of the debate for today.
    Available Hon Leader, unless there is something urgent you want us to take on, I would want to adjourn the House.
    Mr Anim 4:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, there is nothing urgent. Just to remind Hon Members that tomorrow, the debate would continue with the agricultural sector, education sector, health sector, employment sector and development initiatives.
    It is a tall list and I hope that tomorrow, we would start early to do all that we have assigned to do.
    Mr Speaker, let me also take the opportunity to thank Hon Members for the extended work we have done, and paying heed to the rules of the debate. So far, what we have gone through has been so good.
    We are in your hands now, so the decision is yours to make.
    Mr Iddrisu 4:28 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, you probably would want to adjourn the House, but it is important that in debating the Budget Statement and Financial Policy of Government, this House demonstrates that we appreciate our core duty and mandate in the exercise of oversight and in controlling the public purse.
    At least, at the time for the commencement of Business, consistent with Standing Order 48 and article 102 of the Constitution, we here have the minimum number to demonstrate to the public that we care about them.
    Mr Speaker, as for the agricultural and social sectors, I have said that we should stop narrowing this to the Hon Ministers. If we refer from the Budget Statement, some of them are about two or three lines and at most, a paragraph. We therefore, do not dedicate that to a debate. We should
    have the social sector, health and education sectors and later, we could have the agricultural sector.
    I have repeatedly said that if we take the Budget Statement, the Ministry classifies it under those themes. We should let the debate reflect those themes rather than just handpick and choose Ministries. If we reduce it to Ministries, there would be Ministries that after one or two contributions, there will be nothing to add because there is really nothing
    substantial in terms of the Budget Statement.
    So, we are in your good hands.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 4:28 p.m.
    Hon Members, I would then proceed to adjourn the House till tomorrow Wednesday, 20th November, 2019 at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
    ADJOURNMENT 4:28 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 4.30 p.m. till Wednesday, 20th November, 2019 at 10.00 a.m.