Debates of 3 Dec 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, 2nd December, 2019.
Pages 1…7 --
rose
Mr Ntim 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, yesterday, I participated in a programme in the Volta Region but I have been marked present on page 5. I would want the Votes and Proceedings to reflect that.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Hon Member, I did not get what you said.
Mr Ntim 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was not present in the Chamber yesterday. I was in a programme with the Vice President in the Volta Region.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Did you have prior permission for that?
Mr Ntim 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was in the constituency --
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Without prior permission, you were absent.
Mr Ntim 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker; but I have been marked present.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Were you marked present?
Mr Ntim 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Most inadvertently. Hon Member, thank you very much for drawing our attention.
Honestly, this is a very serious matter. An Hon Member who was absent and did not ask to be marked present was marked present, as if to say he connived to be marked present. Any person who knew he was away, of course, would wonder if he is an honest Hon Member of Parliament. So how does this happen?
rose
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu?
Mr Agbodza 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was in the House yesterday till we closed but unfortunately, I have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
It is noted.
Page 9 --
rose
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa?
Mr Ablakwa 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on item numbered 9 on page 9, the Hon Member for Juaboso is also the Hon Ranking Member on the Committee on Health, and the practice has been to indicate the Hon Chairmen and Hon Ranking Members of Committees. So if that could be amended accordingly?
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Page 10…17 --
rose
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 15, under item numbered 12, it is reported that the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, laid a number of Bills. My recollection of the actual event however, was that it was Hon Kwaku Kwarteng who presented the Bills. When later we got to the Motion, then Hon Abena Osei-Asare moved the Resolution.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Leader?
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna I ddr isu) 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Chairman of the Finance Committee is right on the leg of the Hon Member for Atiwa. I recall that the Hon First Deputy Speaker was in the Chair when Hon Matthew Nyindam raised the issue of whether the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance could lay the Paper.
The Hon First Deputy Speaker said that he had granted leave for Hon Kwarteng to lay those Papers. So, he asked for an application from the Hon First Deputy Majority Whip, so that the Hon Member for Atiwa would lay the other Papers. So, it was shared. [Interruption.] --
The Hon First Deputy Speaker is in the House. I would paraphrase what he said; I earlier granted leave for one of the Hon Deputy Ministers for Finance to do this. On this particular one, which of them do you want me to do? The Hon First Deputy Speaker is in the House.
Mr Speaker 10:33 a.m.
I do not know whether the Hon First Deputy Speaker would want to throw some light on this?
I do not know whether the Hon First Deputy Mr Speaker would want to throw some light on this?
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the truth of the matter was that two separate Hon Deputy Ministers laid different Papers. Hon Kwaku Kwarteng, who is the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance and Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, was the first to be permitted to lay some documents on behalf of the Hon Minister.
Subsequently, the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, Hon Abena Osei-Asare, also laid some Papers and passed Resolutions on behalf of the Hon Minister. That was what happened.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Very well.
Let the Table Office confirm from the recording and make the appropriate correction.
Shall we then make progress?
Page 17 … 25 --
Yes, Hon Deputy Majority Chief Whip?
Mr Matthew Nyindam 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, for the sake of the records, I think the right thing has to be told. If you go to page 15 --
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
The right thing about what?
Mr Nyindam 10:43 a.m.
About the laying of Papers on behalf the Hon Minister for Finance. All the Bills were laid by the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, who by then was Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, but it is captured here as Hon Abena Osei-Asare, which is an error.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon Member, I have ruled on the matter. What you are saying may well be correct; but let us confirm from the recording that exists, and let the records be corrected accordingly. I note your concern.
rose
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon Member, are you still on the same matter? If it is on that same matter, please, save your breath.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is not on the same matter.
Mr Speaker, I just want you to know that I pay attention to Business of the House.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Everybody does. [Laughter.]
Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa -- rose
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon Ablakwa, if you have any correction, go ahead and make it.
Mr Ablakwa 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 25, there are a number of abbreviations that have not been spelt out in full. It is difficult for us to appreciate what those organisations are; “WUSA”, “Ghana WASH Journalists Network” and others.
Moving forward, could we improve on that by having the name of the organisations in full so that we know who exactly appeared before a Committee in this House for the records?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, again, on page 25 --
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon Member, we have not finished on that. Are you talking about what Hon Ablakwa talked about?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, no. The last item on page 25 -- closing
-- 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Wait. I know we are on page 25, but Hon Ablakwa has made a point that I am still handling. I said it is important that these things should be put in full before the acronym is added as a practice.
So we must adopt it very seriously so as to have a complete record of events.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is again reported that the House adjourned at 1.00 p.m. This is a serious error. The House started Sitting after 2.00 p.m.
Mr Ablakwa 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague says he pays attention to details, but he is misleading the House. Page 23 has the adjournment of the House, and it was 6.20 p.m. when the House was adjourned till Tuesday 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
Page 25 refers to a meeting of the Committee on Works and Housing. So my good Hon Brother is misleading the House.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Thank you very much.
rose
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Are you still on your feet? Give us the attention to detail. [Laughter.]
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the attention here is that the Committee having started the meeting at 12.00 p.m. closed at 1.00 p.m. So what serious deliberation -- ?
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon Member, above all, to thyself be true; so says Shakespeare. You were not talking
about the Committee; you were talking about the House.
Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu?
Mr Agbodza 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am sorry to bring you back to page 11.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Those who pay attention are both old boys of the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School.
Mr Agbodza 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 11 yesterday a Loan Agreement was made. I would want to find out from the Hon Chairman of the Finance Committee if this Agreement was between the Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank or the African Development Fund?
This is because we know the fund is part of the Bank, and what is captured here is between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the African Development Fund. I think it should be the African Development Bank. If that is the case, then let us correct the report.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I know a question may be asked of an Hon Member, but I do not know if we are at Question time. The document has not been referred to the
Finance Committee. At the Committee, we would peruse same.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
From your knowledge and for the sake of our record is the reason I say that; certain things that are obvious could be corrected.
This is because if it is about the Bank rather than a Fund, even if in saying so the Fund was referred to, we can correct it to say it was not the Fund but the Bank.
We know of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but we do not know of African Development Fund (ADF). You however, being the attention to detail man -- [Laughter.]?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 10:43 a.m.
In this case, Mr Speaker, it would be the African Development Fund.
Mr Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Very well, we would leave it for now.
Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of Monday, 2nd December, 2019, as corrected, be hereby admitted as the true record of proceedings for the day.
Hon Members, we do not have any Official Report for correction today.
We would move on to Statements -- Item listed 3. We have Statement by Hon Dr Zanetor Agyeman- Rawlings and the Hon Member for Krachi Nchumuru, both on the International Disability Day. So, if the Hon Members would present their Statements accordingly. Hon Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings first.
Hon Member, I still continue to be confused whether your good name is Zanetor or Zenetor. I would want to be sure.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman- Rawlings 10:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, many thanks.

Mr Speaker, it seems the Hon Member is trying to challenge the pronunciation of my name, although he would not have known where the name originated.
Mr Speaker 10:53 a.m.
He is the official repository of detail -- [Laughter.]
Yes Hon Member, we are all ears. Today is for Persons with Disability.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (NDC -- Klottey Korle) 10:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, today marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), a day set aside by United Nations to promote empowerment and help create real opportunities for persons with disabilities also known differently as abled persons.
This day presents us the opportunity to reflect on this special segment of our population, and examine the extent to which we have treated or supported them to realise their full potential and also contribute to national development.
Mr Speaker, when Ghana joined the rest of the world to adopt the global framework for sustainable development -- the Sustainable Development Goals--- we pledged to “leave no one behind”. This pledge implies that the Government and all other stakeholders must take steps to ensure the protection of the rights of PWDs and make investments to empower them with jobs, adequate healthcare, nutrition, education and skills, and social protection. The only way we can carry PWDs along is to
empower them to take advantage of opportunities and work together to eliminate the barriers of stigmatisation and discrimination.
Mr Speaker, one of the best things this House did in 2006 was the passage of the Persons With Disabilities Act, 2006 (Act 715). Even though this law makes elaborate provisions for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, persons with physical, intellectual or emotional disabilities face social stigma as evidenced by inequalities in access to employment, education, healthcare and in the use of public places and facilities. Despite constitutional and legislative guarantees on the rights of persons with disabilities, the laws have not been adequately implemented and they therefore continue to face discrimination.
Mr Speaker, 13 years after the passage of the law, a number of public facilities remain inaccessible to PWDs even though the law enjoins the State and owners of public places to make them accessible to PWDs. Our public transport system also does not have facilities to support persons with disabilities. They face discrimination each day when they commute from one place to another; hence they are mostly compelled to spend more on transportation by hiring taxis.
In the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2020 financial year, the Hon Minister for Finance stated, and I quote:
“20 trainer of trainers were trained on the Ghana Accessibility Standard on the Built Environment Document to ensure that newly constructed public facilities as well as existing ones are disability friendly. In 2020, the Ministry will continue with the periodic training programmes.”
Encouraging as this may sound, I believe we need to accelerate the process to ensure that public facilities are made accessible to persons living with disabilities. This is long overdue.
Mr Speaker, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, 130,000 children between the ages of four to 17 years have various degrees of disability. According to the Education Sector Analysis Report, 2018 the enrollment rate of children with disabilities is at a disappointing rate of between 0.2 and 0.4 per cent because of inadequate facilities in schools to accommodate such children, coupled with the stigma they face. Discrimination against and exclusion of children with disabilities also put them at a higher risk of
physical and emotional abuse or other forms of neglect, violence and exploitation.
Again, Mr Speaker, section 35 of Act 715 states that:
“The Ministry of Health in collaboration with District Assemblies and the Ministry responsible for Social Welfare shall establish and operate health assessment and resource centres in each district and provide early diagnostic medical attention to mothers and infants to determine the existence or onset of disability.”
These facilities are virtually non- existent and the few that exists are under resourced.
Delays in implementation of the Disabilities Act and the limited consultation and involvement of PWDs in decision-making have been cited as impediments to mainstreaming the needs of PWDs in the national development process. A case in point is poor consultation with PWDs in the disbursement of their share of the
Mr Speaker 11:03 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Dr Augustine Tawiah (NDC -- Bia West) 11:03 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I appreciate the Statement ably made by my Hon Colleague. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker 11:03 a.m.
Hon Members, there is a second Statement.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Mr John Majisi (NDC -- Krachi Nchumuru) 11:03 a.m.
Mr Speaker, an overview of the global situation is that more than one billion people with visible and invisible disabilities globally, that is about 15 per cent of the world's population or one in seven people live with one form of disability or another. By conservative extrapolation using the World Disability Report estimates, Ghana's population of persons living with visible and invisible disabilities is about 4.5 million; the largest minority group as noted by Nalule (2011).
Inadequacies in the Society
Mr Speaker, there are a lot of inadequacies in the lives of persons with disabilities. They are among the most marginalised groups in the world and they have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities (WHO, 2017).
It is noted that the inequality experienced by persons with disabilities is often due to some societal barriers such as attitudinal barriers, environmental barriers, institutional barriers, and barriers that
have been internalised by persons with disabilities themselves. Several efforts are being made both at the national and global levels to address the barriers, thereby promoting disability- inclusive development. Thus, persons with disabilities are inclusive of and accessible to developmental processes at all stages. It requires that all persons be afforded equal access to education, healthcare services, work and employment, and social protection, among others.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD)
Mr Speaker, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) which is celebrated on the 3rd of December every year has been commemorated since 1992 to promote awareness and mobilise support for critical issues relating to the inclusion of persons with disabilities, and the benefits of an inclusive and accessible society for all. The celebration of the Day every year is characterised by a unique theme to promote action to raise awareness about disability issues.
As Ghana joins the rest of the world today, Tuesday 3rd December, 2019 to celebrate The International Day of Persons with Disability, the theme is Promoting the participation of Persons with Disabilities and their Leadership:
Mr Speaker 11:03 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Hon Members, let us have a contribution from each Side.
Ms Freda Akosua Prempeh (NPP -- Tano North) 11:03 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statements ably made by Hon Colleagues on the other Side.
As we celebrate World Disability Day today, I would like to commend the Disability Foundation for the efforts they have put in to support their own. Mr Speaker, we have passed a lot of Acts in this House, like the Disability Act, but the problem that we have as a nation is how to enforce the laws that we have already passed.
We are talking about the built environment, and we are celebrating
World Disability Day. How far have we gone with the Disability Act? A lot of condominiums are springing up.
It is a collective and collaborative effort that we all have to put together between the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and other sector Ministries, as our Hon Colleagues mentioned. We have to collaborate with the Ministries of Education, Health and Employment and Labour Relations.
As we speak now, is Parliament itself disability friendly? If disabled people want to join us in the gallery, how would they even access the areas to the gallery? We have a problem, and it is a big challenge that we all have to address.
Mr Speaker, we always say that disability is not inability. If one is disabled, that does not mean he cannot also function as a human being or as a full grown person as we all are. Some people were born with some sort of disability. Others through no fault of theirs, have been disabled. Anyone of us could also be disabled at anytime so when disability issues come up, we should take it as a very serious one.
Mr Speaker, I would also want to say that the National Disability Council is in place; the Ministry of
Ms Freda Akosua Prempeh (NPP -- Tano North) 11:13 a.m.
Gender, Children and Social Protection has also put together a technical committee and they are currently working on the Disability Act and I believe that very soon the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) would be brought to Parliament.

Mr Speaker, we also hope that the other agencies, especially the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would also ensure that the 3.0 per cent of the Common Fund that is earmarked for the people with disabilities is put into good use.

Unlike formerly, where a group of people would come together at the districts and municipal assemblies as a group of disabled people in those communities to access the fund where we realised that on some occasions, those moneys did not actually go to the disabled people -- Now, they have put some systems and structures in place for the disabled people to be part of how the money is disbursed.

So they actually write to the assemblies; they hold meetings with them and they decide on what they want to use the 3.0 per cent for. Some of them would like to buy some deep freezers and sell some iced water; others would want to do some other things.

So the moneys are not given to them as it used to be. I believe, with this system, the 3.0 per cent of the Common Fund that is earmarked for the disabled people in the Metropolitan, Minicipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) is being put to some good use and it is really helping them.

Mr Speaker, today as we celebrate them, it is part of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence; we celebrate the 16 days from 16th November through to the 10th of December.

Within the period, we celebrate the people with disability; we talk about World's Disability Aids Day, and all these commemorative days fall within the 16 days of gender-based violence. So as we celebrate them today, we want to tell the world that we still talk about activism against gender-based violence; abuse.

Our physically challenged people do not deserve to be abused in any form or in any way; they do not deserve to be molested in any way; they do not deserve to be raped or defiled so we would speak and make a call to all of us to ensure that we give the same treatment that we give to abled people to our friends with disability.

This is because we cannot say that because the person is visually impaired or because the person is sitting in a wheelchair, we have to treat him or her anyhow.

Mr Speaker, when we talk about health issues, how many of our health facilities even have people who do the sign language for our doctors? So, if a visually impaired person goes to the hospital, how does he or she access healthcare which is good for all of us?

Together, it is a collective effort; it is a clarion call and we have to call it out and we have to treat our friends with disabilities as any other persons. It could happen to anybody.

Mr Speaker, let me remind all of us that we are still celebrating the 16 days against gender-based violence.

Women and children are at risk; they are our future leaders as well and they should not be neglected or relegated to the background in any form because they are disabled. So, let us not abuse them; let us not molest them; let us not rape them and let us not defile them. They are part of our society.

We wish all our friends with disabilities a Happy World Disability Day. And we hope that Parliament would also put structures in place to ensure that Parliament itself - there is a saying that ‘charity begins at home'; so Parliament itself should set the pace for this whole House to be disability friendly.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 11:13 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Deputy Minister.
Mr Richard Mawuli Kwaku Quashigah (NDC -- Keta) 11:13 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
Mr Speaker, the issues of disability are very much critical in our society. And the ones that we all know are the visible ones where somebody has lost his sight, or he is crippled or cannot walk. But there are a lot of us who, by the definition of being disabled, are disabled.
For instance, if I take off my glasses, I cannot see who you are; I see an image alright, but until I put it on again, then I can actually make out who is seated here or there. Other than that, I only see an object in the form of a human being.
Mr Speaker 11:13 a.m.
Order!
Yes, Mr First Deputy Speaker?
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 11:13 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
For the record, I have taken off my glasses but I could see Mr Speaker very clearly; I could see the Hon Member very clearly. I could see the arena very clearly and I could see the public gallery. I use the glasses only to assist me read small letters. That is all.
Mr Speaker 11:13 a.m.
Hon Quashigah, you may go on.
Mr Quashigah 11:13 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker has indeed admitted that he needs an aid in order to do certain things that he cannot do without such an aid. That is, he cannot read small letters without the glasses. That in itself, puts him in the category of invisible disability.
Mr Speaker, but any time that we talk about disability, even those of us who are disabled—
Mr Speaker 11:13 a.m.
Hon Quashigah, what did you say that category is? We want to learn and we want you to be clear. You gave us a nomenclature and we would want to capture it very well.
Mr Quashigah 11:13 a.m.
Mr Speaker, invisible disability refers to those disabilities that we have as human beings that cannot be seen. For instance, those with sleeping disorders; they have a disability. Those even with depression have a disability; auditory challenges that use hearing aid is a disability.
As for stammering we can see it because it is visible. If the person stammers, we could say the person has a challenge. Post-traumatic stress is also considered an invisible disability; lung-respiratory problems and dementia are all disabilities.
Mr Speaker, there are people in this House such that when they came to Parliament they were very sharp; they could recall things very easily but with time, they realised that they are gradually losing their ability of recall. They have a challenge with recalling things that have taken place previously.
Mr Speaker, that is a disability that they themselves sometimes do not realise. Erectile dysfunction is a
disability that people do not see but causes trouble in the home between the man and the woman.
Mr Speaker, all these are disabilities that we do not see but we must be concerned about those as well. So in discussing issues of disability, there would be the need for us to look at those areas or people who fall in this category.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to contribute to the Statement that has been made by our Hon Colleagues.
rose
Mr Speaker 11:13 a.m.
Hon Dr, your Hon Colleague on the other Side was very smart to avoid your intervention. But you are the only one on his or her feet on this Side, ‘though you positioned left, you are on the right. So you make your contribution with regard to the relevant reference for which you shot up like a sputnik quickly.
Dr Bernard Okoe Boye (NPP -- Ledzokuku) 11:23 a.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
I would just add my information that I wanted to add to my contribution.
Mr Speaker, an illness is not necessarily a disability. If you get a temporary illness like erectile dysfunction or malaria -- Any illness that would not let you perform optimally is a pathology but not a disability. You are physically challenged when you have an impairment or bodily arrangement which is different from the normal and makes you function less optimal.
Mr Speaker, 80 per cent of all disabled persons in this world are found in developing counties and that is why the discussion on disabled persons or physically challenged persons is most important in our context. Physically challenged people have been described as the biggest minority in the world and 15 per cent of the world's population is physically challenged.
Mr Speaker, because we as a country have a lot of issues when it comes to putting in place the infrastructure to support those who are physically challenged, the best thing to do is to try to prevent people
Mr Speaker 11:23 a.m.
Hon Ntoso. After her, Leadership. We have another Statement.
Ms Helen Adjoa Ntoso (NDC -- Krachi West) 11:23 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statements made by Hon Zenator and Hon Majisi on the celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr Speaker 11:23 a.m.
The Hon Member's good name is Zanetor. I thought I heard you say “Zenator”, that is why I corrected you.
Ms Ntoso 11:23 a.m.
I have been corrected, it is Zanetor.
Mr Speaker, I am happy that this Statement has been made. Recently, the Committee on Gender and Children went on an official visit to a few regions. We went to inclusive schools and the access roads to these schools were so bad that we
wondered how persons with disabilities were able to get to the schools to study.
What we also realised was that there were no trained teachers in these inclusive schools. This meant that the teachers who had been trained for our normal schools were the same ones teaching these children with learning disabilities. They were not specially trained teachers to handle children with learning disabilities. This was in the Central Region.
When we also visited the Eastern Region, we went to schools for the deaf and blind in Akropong. The children complained that there were teachers who came to teach them and were not trained in sign language. As a result, they were unable to communicate with them appropriately.
Also, there was a complaint about when some persons with disabilities were arrested and taken to the police station. There are no interpreters at the various police stations to be able to write their statements for them. So they are not treated fairly like others.
Mr Speaker, I would also like to use this opportunity to urge Government to invest in early childhood development because the early detection of disabilities, like
hearing and speech impairments, would help us in this country. In Britain, they start from the baby room, toddlers' room and preschool before they even go to class one.
They have specially trained teachers who handle children with learning disabilities, so that when there is any child in the baby room or toddlers' room who has a learning disability, they would then bring in specialists to handle them. However, we are not investing in early childhood development in this country but jumping from the basics and going to the senior high schools.
There is the need for us to build on a very solid and good foundation before we get to the senior high schools. So if this country could actually invest in early childhood development, to be able to detect and know children with learning disabilities, then specialists would be able to handle them before their situations get worse.
Mr Speaker, it would also interest you to know that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 is about reducing inequalities. As an Hon Colleague said, we go to hospitals and places of work and there is no disability access to some of our facilities. What are we doing as a nation? There should be a policy,
Mr Speaker 11:23 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Member.
Any contribution from Leadership?
Some Hon Members -- rose
-- 11:23 a.m.
Alhaji Muntaka 11:23 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would pass the Leadership slot to Hon Agbodza.
Mr Speaker 11:23 a.m.
Those who want to speak must consult their Hon Leaders before their Hon Leaders rise on their feet. It gives a smooth operation.
Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza (NDC -- Adaklu) 11:33 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, I take your admonition seriously.
I want to specifically thank Hon Zanetor and Hon Majisi. I noticed that since Hon Majisi came to this House, he has been a very strong advocate for people or issues related to people living with disabilities and I want to thank him for his persistence and consistency on that.
Mr Speaker, few of my Hon Colleagues have made Statements in relation to disability and I would want to add that Albert Einstein, the mathematician and physicist, could not speak until he was three years. I am sure that if he were a child to Ghanaian parents in a village somewhere, they would have given up on him. Today, we all know the contribution made by him to the world.
Mr Speaker, we all know the state in which Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist was in before he died but let us look at the contribution he made to physics and the world. Aaron Fotheringham, the world's famous skating person, was in a wheel chair but he could skate more than anybody.
Mr Speaker, I made these comparisons simply to suggest that sometimes, what people become when they are born or how they come out to be along their life journey, could not be their destination. Things could change along the way.
I heard my Hon Colleague talk about how the society should do well to educate the mothers particularly, so that when a person is born with a little bit of an inability that should not be concluded as if that person cannot become anything in life.
Like Dr Okoe Boye said, some- body may be born unable to do something from birth, somebody could become disabled through an accident, and somebody could become disabled by age.
I have always said that if a person is blessed to live long enough like, 90 or 100 years that person would surely become disabled one way or the
other. It is not something the person would bring to himself or herself but that is how God created the world to be.
Mr Speaker, pregnant women could be said to be disabled in a way because they cannot run and even climb the staircase the way they should do it -- but does the society provide the ways that all these category of people function adequately to the best of their abilities in our country? I doubt it.
Mr Speaker, I have heard a lot of suggestions and as an architect, I must say that the solution is not supposed to be left with people but it has to be in law. For example, are the building regulations in this country fit for their purposes?
Somebody would say that if an audit is done on this Chamber, in certain jurisdiction, it may not pass to be used as a public place because some of the conditions suggest that maybe, certain people with certain disabilities could not function effectively as Hon Members of Parliament without help.
We should also understand that not everybody who lives with disability wants help or assistance from other people. Some people want to function as much as they can. Does our building regulations compel us to
Mr Speaker 11:33 a.m.
Majority Leadership?
Mr Matthew Nyindam (NPP -- Kpandai) 11:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by our Hon Colleagues.
Mr Speaker, there is something I would want us to look at, which has to do with the allocations that the District Assemblies give to persons with disabilities and I want those who advocate strongly and the leadership of persons with disabilities to look at it very well.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, those funds are not judiciously applied. The funds are supposed to establish the individuals with disabilities, so the person has to be given some kind of assistance like a grinding mill or a refrigerator or something that the person could make a living out of.
Unfortunately, it is so difficult to convince these our brothers and sisters so that these money would be applied judiciously. They want the physical cash to be given to them and unfortunately, when they receive the money and get to their homes, their own relatives borrow these money with the intention to pay back but it is never paid back.
So I would want to appeal to leadership of the people with disability that the Assemblies that do not apply the money judiciously, should be looked at well because it is something that could help if these resources are used well.
Mr Speaker, another issue I would want to point out has to do with our educational system. Research has also shown that if we mainstream persons with disabilities in our public schools, they are able to learn faster but unfortunately, our public schools do not welcome such people.
Some headmasters and headmistresses say that when such people with disabilities are admitted, some other children are scared and would not want to be in class with them. The special schools for persons with disabilities are also expensive that parents are not able to send their children to those special schools.
Mr Speaker, I think that the Ghana Education Service must look at this particular issue very well, so that we could mainstream persons with disabilities.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker 11:33 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Members.
The Committees on Gender and Children, Employment, Social Welfare and State may please want to examine some of the issues raised, particularly, with regard to matters of the regulation in the law and enforcement and report.
Mr Speaker 11:43 a.m.
Today is also a day for the abolition of slavery and also this of course has to do with Ghana, on the Year of Return. Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, you would make your Statement and we shall have one contribution from each Side.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa): Mr Speaker, I am thankful to you for the opportunity to make this Statement in commemoration of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery which is a very important day on the United Nations Calendar.

Mr Speaker, the United Nations by Resolution A/REJ/40/212 seeks to constantly remind humanity on December 2nd each year about the despicable horror of slavery which remains a scar on the conscience of perpetrators and their collaborators.

Mr Speaker, it is most appropriate to commend our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo for

declaring in ‘September, 2018 that this year - 2019, shall be observed as the:

“Year of Return, Ghana 2019.”

It is trite knowledge that 2019 marks 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia in the United States of America.

Since this proclamation, it is fair to note that Ghana has attracted considerable interest and high level visits from Africans in the diaspora, perhaps Ghana has taken such Pan- African pilgrimages to the next level since President Jerry John Rawlings institutionalised the PANAFEST celebrations in 1992.

These visits I speak of have included the historic visit of the US Congressional delegation led by Speaker Nancy Patricia Pelosi, the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Motley both of whom graciously addressed this Parliament with profound words. Then there have been other notable personalities such as Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Deborah Cox, AJ Johnson, Mutabaruka and Steve Harvey.

Mr Speaker, kindly permit me to also highlight the conferment of citizenship on 126 Africans in the diaspora by the President last week.

The House will recall that last year, I made a statement urging the state to make greater use of this provision in our laws. Since the days of the exceptional intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois and that great poet Maya Angelou who were granted citizenship by President Nkrumah, it remains my humble view that we have not made impressive effort to leverage this opportunity even though I acknowledge that in 2016 President John Dramani Maharna granted citizenship to 30 Africans in the diaspora.

Mr Speaker, as we now approach the climax of the Year of Return, Ghana 2019 celebrations; it is imperative to urge all of us to play our parts in making Ghana a worthy host and a beautiful destination that shall stay memorable especially to the about 750,000 to 1,000,000 guests that officials say they will be arriving in Ghana this December.

It is my hope that the needed sanitation, security, traffic management and hospitality arrangements be ade- quately catered for to preserve the golden image of Ghana and showcase our potential for the brighter days ahead.

Mr Speaker, the United Nations reminds us all that slavery is not merely a historical relic.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 40.3 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. As Hon Members of Parliament, we have stories of constituents who have been lured by unscrupulous agents who promised them decent jobs elsewhere, particularly in the gulf region only for them to become victims of gruesome modern slavery.

According to the ILO, out of the 40.3 million victims of modern slavery, 24.9 million are in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriages. There are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world; 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children; women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour which thus account for 99 per cent of victims in the commercial sex industry.

Mr Speaker, in this regard I wish to draw attention to the fact that Ghana is yet to ratify the forced Labour Protocol which has so far not met the 90-nation threshold required to bring it into force. To this point, only 42 countries including 11 in Africa have ratified. Progress can be far better.

Mr Speaker, even though the United States Department of State's 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report upgraded Ghana to a Tier 2 status, it
Mr Speaker 11:43 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa for this very well-- prepared Statement.
Yes, Hon Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs?
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Mr Frank Annoh- Dompreh) 11:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity.
Let me begin by commending my good Friend, Hon Ablakwa for the Statement.
Mr Speaker, if you look into history, more often than not, we are all reminded of the pain that our torchbearers and forefathers had gone through in the hands of slavery. So the United Nations (UN) could not have gotten it wrong to have set aside the day for the abolishing of slavery and the celebration of the abolishing of slavery.
What I would want to emphasise is that most of the time, when we celebrate the abolishing, we tend to feed and overly focus on the rhetorics, but over the years the rhetorics have not paid off.
Mr Speaker, I believe that the broader picture is that the African continent -- and that is the perspective that is very critical. This is because but for a few exceptions, all parts of Africa were affected by slavery.
As and when our torchbearers were talking about the United States of Africa, the Europeans had not
thought about the European Union (EU). That is the level of foresight our forefathers had. Unfortunately, these have not been able to translate into concrete developments and the begging question is, what is really the problem of the African continent?
Mr Speaker, the examples can be cited again and again. Today, we have a certain region of the world called the ‘Asian Tigers' and as at the prime time of independence, key African countries were emancipating themselves from the clutches of colonialism and neo-colonialism. These Asian Tigers did not come anywhere near us.
History has it that at a point in time, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was better than that of South Korea, Malaysia and all these big Asian Tigers. So we could choose to talk about the rhetorics but I think that as President Nkrumah said, Africans have to change their mindsets by not living in the shadows of any region of the world. Africa has to develop its own unique developmental model and that is the only way that indeed, Africa can reclaim its respect and recognition among the comity of nations in the world.

These attempts at mimicking development projects from other regions of the world have not paid off. At best, we have turned to live in the shadows of other regions of the world. So we have to focus on our own unique developmental model. That is the only way we can make a difference.

Our continent is blessed. The African continent is the only continent that can pride itself as having the youngest population, which comes with its inherent opportunities and prospects. The African continent is reputed to be the only continent that has the best reserve of natural resources.

Mr Speaker, we are told the Democratic Republic of Congo has the best resources in the whole world, but more often than not, we have allowed the shackles of neo- colonialism to divide us. Today, we talk about Francophone and Anglophone countries and continuously, we are pronouncing that yawning gap.

I feel bad at this time that we are still at this level of development as a continent. I am sure our founders would turn in their graves when they come to the realisation that indeed,
Mr Speaker 11:53 a.m.
Thank you. The time is so much against us. So including the Hon Leaders, I would take one contribution from each Side. It is for the Hon Leaders to determine if they themselves would want to speak or would nominate one person.
Hon (Dr) Pelpuo?
Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid H. Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central) 11:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
This is a very important Statement and we reflect on how Africa is responding to the most inhumane practice that treated Africans as objects of merchandise.
Mr Speaker, slavery started in 1619 in the United States when the first Africans were sent to the United States to work in order to produce profit for the owners of the industries for which the slaves were bought. By 1872, slavery was abolished. However, for more than 100 years, Africans were sold, castles were built
throughout the coastlines and human beings were exported.
It is estimated that about 30 million Africans were exported out of our continent and sold as slaves. At the point of no return when they left the coast, one could imagine how one felt; being at home where one belonged to and have loved ones, and being a person of dignity. Some were royals and people of substance but they were taken away from their homes, villages and towns and sold into slavery.
Mr Speaker, it was a point when the heart of the person was broken and being a human was completely obliterated. This happened to our ancestors and continued until we were again seen as people who should be dominated as colonial subjects. It tells a story about Africa. It tells us that there is something we need to do to finally obliterate this from the scar which has been cut out in the very psyche of the African person.
It is therefore very important and critical that at one point in the United Nations' history, from the League of Nations in 1926, there was a convention that completely abolished slavery and made it a criminal offence. That convention eventually was also adopted by the United Nations. From 1949, every 2nd December, has
always been marked as the International Day of Slavery. That is what we are on now.
Mr Speaker, we cannot do anything to serve the people who were sold into slavery or treat the African from the deep psychological scar. If Africa cannot rise up to the occasion and do what is necessary; especially to stop our people from going through unapproved routes to Europe; to stop our own people from being dehumanised back at home; and to stop the Police from treating Africans from the way they treat them, and politicians from not responding to the challenges of bringing development to our people.
We need to do something about these. Slavery would still persist if we cannot manage our various economies well. Our young people would still continue to run away through unapproved routes to Europe and America.
We would still have situations where people are dehumanised in their own countries and we cannot have any explanation to what happened to them. If the treatment meted out to us cannot be enough inspiration for us to change the circumstances of our people then nothing else can do that.
That is why this 2nd December marked as the International Day of
Alhaji (Dr) Abdul-Rashid H. Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central) 12:03 p.m.
Slavery is a day we cannot forget, and we cannot let it pass without doing something about it. I dare say that the Statement that is made here by our very respected and able Hon Samuel O. Ablakwa must not just be a Statement that would pass without some action.
Mr Speaker, it is important that every single African should have a soul search and a deep reflection about who we are today. What can we do to honour the people who got sold as slaves? What can we do to pay back onto ourselves the challenges they faced since our chiefs were part of it? Our people who were stronger were part of it.
What can we do to pay for it by ourselves. We need to pay some retribution before we ask for retribution from outside. We need to do something about it, and that cannot be beyond the fact that our young ones would have to be given some respect and some amount of comfort because we know that when we do not take care of our youth, they would sell themselves into slavery.
When we do not take care of ourselves? people would go to Egypt and to Libya, and the Libyans would sell them as if they were articles of merchandise.
Mr Speaker, I believe that this day must be celebrated not just because we make Statements about it, but because we do something concrete about it.
Every single Government in Africa must see this day as an important day that would mark some significant action to help people erase from their consciences, from their psyches, from their psychological composition, the scar of dehumanised persons in us and the inferiority we suffered as a result.

Mr Speaker, it is important for us to do something about it. I believe Ghana should always take the lead. We have taken the lead in many things: we were the first to fight for independence and we have done so many other things.

We should be first again to do something concrete even if it is about building a monument to remember what we went through and to put a stop to what we do not want to happen to us anymore.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank you for the opportunity. And I thank the Hon Member who made the Statement for bringing it to Parliament and making it possible for us to reflect on it and think about the fact that once upon a time, we were

not humans; today, we are much more humans than we could ever imagine. It is time for us to demonstrate that being human, we can be equally important and do what our fellow human beings in Europe and America can do; we can do better.
Mr Speaker 12:03 p.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Member.
Hon Members, the final contribution by the Hon Member for Gushegu?
Dr Ziblim B. Iddi (NPP -- Gushegu) 12:03 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
First of all, I would like to commend the Hon Member for North Tongu for making the Statement.
Mr Speaker, I believe the Year of Return, as declared by the President last year has brought so much attention to Ghana. With the full support of the Congressional Black Caucus, the President in September last year declared 2019 to be the Year of Return for Ghana which made a lot of people questioned whether it was appropriate for us in Ghana to be celebrating slavery. The 2019 Year of Return is to commemorate 400 years of the first slaves who left the shores of James
Town, Accra,- Ghana and landed in James Town, Virginia.
Mr Speaker, the opportunity given to Ghana to declare the Year of Return was a follow-up to a Congressional Act that was passed by the United States Congress, which set in motion the support of the USA Government to commemorate the event, 400 years after the first slaves landed in Virginia.
Mr Speaker, for us at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Year of Return has come as a big opportunity to build on the successes that we have chalked at the Ministry.
Mr Speaker, as at October, 2019, the figures that we have recorded so far indicates that this year would record the highest inbound travels that we have ever seen in the history of this country since we started recording arrivals. As the Hon Member who made the Statement rightly said, since last year December, we have received celebrities and African- Americans who have achieved in their own rights.
Their arrival here brought the international media's attention to Ghana. They boosted tourism to the extent that in one day, I had the singular opportunity as Hon Deputy Minister to welcome a group that chartered South African Airline made up of 250 African-Americans on board who came to celebrate James Town to
Mr Speaker 12:03 p.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Deputy Minister, for your contribution.
Hon Members, at the Commencement of Public Business - Item listed 4, Presentation of Papers. Item numbered 4(a) by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
rose
Mr Speaker 12:03 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it was a --[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Hon Chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs, any difficulty?
Mr Annoh-Dompreh 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it was a joint referral. Between myself and the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing, we have reached an agreement that he would move the Motion and I would second the Motion accordingly.
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Hon Member, proceed then.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move the Motion—
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
No, at this stage, you would only present the Paper. -- [Pause.]
Hon Members, one of you should simply rise and bow and we proceed.
PAPERS 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Item listed 5, Motion. Hon Chairmen of Committees on Foreign Affairs and Works and Housing?
rose
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Chairman of the
Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises just laid the Paper in respect of the Budget performance response for the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations for the period, January to December
2018.
Mr Speaker, in the consideration of the various Annual Estimates for the various sectors, it is required that these performance reports would be used as benchmarks for the approval processes of the various Annual Estimates. So the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises must ensure that the right thing is done for this Ministry.
I would like to plead with other Hon Chairmen that these performance reports should be submitted before we come to consider the various estimates. Many of them have not done that and for those of them who have not done that, I plead with them that they should get it done before we come to consider their Annual Estimates.
Mr Speaker, this is imposed by the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA) so that we do not breach the relevant provision in the PFMA.
Mr Iddrisu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I can only concur with the Hon Majority Leader that our other Hon Colleagues who chair committees would learn from the diligence of the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises.
Mr Speaker, I talked on the basis of a meeting he summoned to consider the Budget Estimates for the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations. And as I walked into the room, the room was full but I was told that he was here to ensure that this Motion was carried before we proceed with proceedings relative to Motion number10 relative to 2020.
So if we could get the Hon Chairman to move Motion10, it would do justice to his outstanding work.
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Do you mean we should move on to Motion 10?
Mr Iddrisu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Motions 9 and 10 because he just laid the Paper, we have to suspend the relevant Standing Order and proceed accordingly.
Thank you.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thought it is the Leader of Government Business who should be
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:13 p.m.


Mr Speaker, we should go to item numbered 10. In fact, we should be leaving for —
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Item listed 10, Motions?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we would deal with the procedural Motion first so item 9 and we then come to item 10.
Mr Speaker 12:13 p.m.
Item numbered 9, Motion. Hon Chairman of the Committee?
MOTIONS 12:13 p.m.
Mr Iddrisu 12:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr Speaker 12:23 p.m.
Motion listed 10, Hon Chairman of the Committee?
Budget Performance Report in respect of the Ministry of
Special Initiatives for the Period January to December, 2018
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises on the Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives for the Period January to December, 2018.
Mr Speaker, in so doing, I would like to present your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
The Annual Budget Implementation/ Performance Report of the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives for the 2018 financial year was laid in Parliament on 8th April 2019, pursuant to article 187(2) and (5) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and Section 27 of the Public Finance Management Act 2016 (Act 921).
The Report was subsequently referred to the Committee on Employment Social Welfare and State Enterprises for consideration and report, in accordance with Order 184 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
The Committee thereafter invited the Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Mrs Hawa Koomson, and her team of officials to a meeting on Thursday 14th November, 2019, to assist the Committee consider the referral.
2.0 Reference Documents
The Committee was guided by the following documents during its deliberations.
. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
· The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
· The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2018 financial year.
· The 2018 programme Base Budget (PBB) Estimate of the Ministry.
. The Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act
921).
3.0 Procedure
The Committee examined the Budget Performance Report in the light of the Ministry's Policy Objectives for 2018, then its Budgetary allocation and releases, and the performance targets for the variously planned programmes and activities as contained in the 2018 programme based Budget Estimates of the Ministry.
4.0 Scope of the Performance Report
The 2018 Budget Implementation/ Performance Report of the Ministry covered the following areas among others:
·
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:23 p.m.


8.0 Achievements

During the year under review, the Ministry utilised its budgetary allocation to undertake / initiate the following:

· Established the Head Offices of the three Development Authorities

· Finalised Organisational Manual of the Ministry

· Developed a draft Client Service Charter

· Construction of five hundred and sixty (560) small dams under the ‘One Village, One Dam' initiative

· Construction of one thousand institutional/ community water closet toilets ongoing throughout the 275 constituencies

· Construction of fifty (50) fabricated warehouses in selected districts under the Agriculture Infrastructural Initiative underway.

· Facilitate the construction and co-ordination of the imple- mentation of other consti- tuency infrastructural needs in the 275 constituencies.

9.0 Observations

9.1 The Committee noted that as at December 2018, only GH¢81, 119,012.74 of the approved budget in respect of the GOG's amount of GH¢761,650,008.00 reflected as actual expenditure made by the Ministry. The expenditure covered Compensation (GH¢258, 337.56) Goods and Services (GH¢8, 943,575.00) and Capex (GH¢71,

917,100.50).

It was further noted that although an amount of 53,762,086 was provided from ABFA, total payment made under ABFA during the year summed up to GH¢19,321,675.56. This constitutes about 36 per cent of the approved ABFA allocation for the year.

The paltry release of the approved budgetary allocation made it difficult

for the Ministry to implement its planned programmes and activities for the year under review. Given the important role of the Ministry in implementing programmes aimed at improving livelihoods and reducing poverty, the Committee urges the Ministry of Finance to provide the needed resource to the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives to effectively carry out its mandate.

9.2 It came to the attention of the Committee that some of the projects could not be completed in 2018 because some contractors could not mobilise the initial capital to start the projects.

In some instances, the project had to be terminated for non-performance by the contractors. This, together with the slow pace of processing certificates raised by contractors adversely affected the delivery of a number of projects on schedule·. In order to ensure the smooth and speedy execution of the projects being undertaken by the Ministry, the Committee urges the Ministry of Finance to provide advance mobilisation to enable contractors deliver on time.

9.3 The Committee further noted that the projects are being implemented in various constituencies at the same time, amidst resource constraints, and thus affecting their smooth implementation. In order to
Mr Richard M. K. Quashigah (NDC -- Keta) 12:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion and in so doing, make a few remarks.
It is true that the focus of this Ministry is to coordinate policies and programmes for the implementation of Government's priority initiatives and projects. That obviously included the intended US$1 million per Constituency annually. That whole programme was supposed to have been captured under this Ministry, for which reason, a budgetary allocation
of GH¢1,239,409,969.03 was allocated to this particular Ministry within the period that is under review.
Mr Speaker, it is sad to note that this Ministry which is supposed to be the Ministry to carry out Government's prioritised initiatives was at the end of the day given a paltry amount of GH¢81,119,012.74. It is therefore not surprising that the Hon Chairman of the Committee told us that most of the projects were not undertaken because moneys that were supposed to have been released to the Ministry were not released.
We have been talking about US$1 million per Constituency and if you go round the Constituencies, you would wonder if, indeed, this US$1 million is reflective on the ground. The Hon Chairman talked about projects that had been captured under this particular initiative. The truth is that most of the projects have not even taken off. The source document presented to the Committee is here. For instance it talks about --
Mr O. B. Amoah 12:23 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is misleading this House. He made a statement that most of the projects have not even taken off. [Interruption.]
This is factually incorrect. I would want him to tell us how many projects were earmarked to be carried out, and how many have taken off for him to have concluded that most of it had not even taken off.
Mr Speaker, I have with me the 2019 Budget Statement, and the full list is provided in Appendix 14. So if he gets up to make a blanket statement that most of the projects have not taken off, he should give us the evidence of what he said as against the evidence in the Budget Statement.
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, the Hon Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development has clearly referred to data in the Budget Statement. So can you speak to that and not on your broad sweep?
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we are looking at the 2018 performance report of the Ministry. The Hon Chairman of the Committee, in his presentation alluded to the fact that a paltry amount was released to the Committee for which reason most of the projects were not carried out.
Mr Speaker, if you would permit me, I would read the conclusion of the Report which the Hon Chairman of the Committee touched on. It says:
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Members, Order!
Hon Member, what do you have to say to that categorical conclusion duly signed by the Hon Chairman of the Committee?
Mr O. B. Amoah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have a copy of the Report and I do not have a problem at all as in his submission which he now referred to. [Interruption.] He said US$1 per Constituency; as we speak, most of the projects have not been carried out. That was my problem.
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, are you in tandem with the Committee's Report?
Mr O. B. Amoah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have a copy of the Report and I have even discussed it with them.
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Do you accept that particular part of the conclusion?
Mr O. B. Amoah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I do not have any problem with that but the Hon Member referred to the present and made that statement.
He cannot say ‘'most ‘' when even in 2019 -- that was why I brought the 2019 Budget Statement. If he talks about now and says that most of the projects cannot be found but we say US$1 per Constituency, then he is not factual.
rose
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, do you have any difficulty?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:33 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker, I do.
Mr Speaker, it is difficult for me to follow him on most of the points he has raised because of his high tone.
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Quashigah has read portions of the Committee's Report. Tell me how that is not in tandem with what the Hon Member said?
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I speak in reference to the Report of 2018 and I had said nothing earlier that was different from what I just said.
Mr Speaker, in the source report, a document that was given to us by the Ministry of Special Initiatives, it would be realised that with some of the projects that were initiated, some are at five per cent stage, some are at seven per cent, some are at three per cent, and a number of them at zero per cent which means that nothing had taken place.
All that they stated was that construction was ongoing, or certificates were raised but not paid on those that some work had started.
Mr Speaker 12:33 p.m.
The Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair.
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is true that the initiative in itself is laudable. The Ministry has laudable ideas to implement and to ensure that this country, at the rural level, would move forward; but it would be realised that there is serious overlapping.
For instance, the District Assemblies would construct toilet facilities and then this particular priority Ministry, which is supposed to shepherd Governments' prioritise projects would also construct toilets all over, which are at various stages of completion.
Mr Speaker, it is under this same Ministry that we have the three Development Authorities. Today, it appears as though the Authorities are very much divorced from the Ministry itself to the extent that we cannot tell what the Ministry -- The Ministry for Special Initiatives cannot authoritatively tell us what the various Authorities do on their role and report to them, which is supposed to be their mother Ministry.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, hold on.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member said that he is speaking to the Report. Even though other things had come before us, it is never correct that before the Committee, we were informed that the Development Authorities have been disjointed from the Ministry. That is not true, so the Hon Member should speak to the Report.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, what is your evidence that the Development Authorities do not work in tandem with the Ministry?
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when we had an engagement with the Hon Minister and her officials, I recall very well that Hon Richard Acheampong, who is an Hon Member of the Committee, raised the issue. The Hon Minister largely admitted that there was a stalemate, so I am surprised that the Hon Chairman of the Committee would at this time deny what obviously is the truth. There are other Hon Members of the Committee in the House.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, you said there was a stalemate --
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, a poor relationship that has affected the general performance and work flow of the Authorities and the Ministry.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Chairman of the Committee, did that happen at your Committee?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, never. I am not aware of this and that is why I said that he must restrict himself to the Report. This Report was unanimously written, and we all agreed to it.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, let us focus on the 2018 Report. In 2018, the Authorities had not started work -- there were no heads or agencies, so they are not reflected in this Report. So, please focus on this Report.
Mr Quashigah 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am guided.
Mr Speaker, one other aspect, which in my opinion is very worrying, is the Annual Budget Funding Allocation.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, hold on.
Hon Member for Effutu, what is the matter?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Hon Richard Quashigah, in his submission, has questioned why the Ministry has constructed toilets all over the country. That is his concern.
Mr Speaker, under the SDG 6, Ghana is far behind in sanitation, and he knows that for eight years --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
Hon Member, if I heard him correctly, he said that it is commendable that the Ministry is also doing -- unless I did not hear him right.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, he questioned why the Ministry was so busy with the construction of toilets.
Mr Speaker, that is a serious statement because under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, we are far behind in sanitation.
The Hon Member in his earlier submission conceded that this Ministry is focused on priority projects. So if the Government places emphasis on addressing some of these things, and the Ministry is engaged in the construction of public toilets, but he stands up to speak on the floor of the House to tell the whole
world that it is wrong that this is a very serious statement. My Hon Colleague knows that such a submission is misleading and unacceptable, and he must not -- he is a senior Hon Member of this House.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon Member, let us speak to the Report, please.
Mr Quashigah 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
It is clear that my Hon Colleague, Hon Afenyo-Markin, on the other Side is rather misleading the House. He preferred to hear what he heard and he therefore decided to tell the House what he alone heard.
Mr Speaker, back to the Report, the Annual Budget Funding Allocation (ABFA) to the Ministry in the year 2018 was supposed to have been GH¢36million --
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when Hon Members make statements here, they should be prepared to own up to them. Everybody heard Hon Quashigah say that the Ministry is doing the same thing as the District Assemblies. So, by inference, he told us that they only duplicate what the District Assemblies
Mr Quashigah 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would not want to go back to justify what I said. The Hon Majority Leader obviously captured, in essence, what I said that there is a conflict between the District Assemblies and the Ministry in the construction of toilets; but that obviously does not agree with what Hon Afenyo-Markin said.
Mr Speaker, what Hon Afenyo- Markin said was to the effect that I had intended to say that those projects were unnecessary. Clearly, the Hon Majority Leader and Hon Afenyo- Markin did not say the same thing.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon Member, I asked you to speak to the Report. Let us not generate any further controversy. Finish the debate.
Mr Quashigah 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would make my last point on this Report, which is in respect of the / ABFA/. These moneys were supposed to have been released (GH¢53 million) as a component of the moneys ceded to the Ministry to carry out its project.
At the end of the day, one wonders why the Ministry bought items worth only GH¢19.3 million. What happened to the GH¢36 million? The Hon Minister for Finance should to tell us. The Ministry of Finance has also obviously contributed to the inefficiency and the non-performance of the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives (SDI).
Mr Speaker, this is because if indeed the Ministry had released the GH¢1.2 billion to the Ministry, they would have done a lot. What they released to the Ministry was not even enough to meet the US$1 million per constituency for the period.
This is because if we put the US$1million per constituency together, that should give us some reasonable amount of money, but they were given a paltry amount of US$81 million. How then do we expect the Hon Minister to perform? That was why it was not surprising when the
Hon Minister, at one point out of frustration, indicated that the kind of dams that they constructed were as a result of the moneys that they had been given.
So, if one is given a certain paltry amount of money, that is the kind of work one could perform.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon Quashigah, hold on.
Yes, Hon Minister for Special Development Initiatives.
Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to correct something that Hon Quashigah mentioned that I said; that the dam is not meaningful. Those were not the words I used.
Mr Speaker, I was asked whether I really appreciated the project. I said that yes, that was the amount we had been given for the construction of the dams. It was not to say it was not a meaningful project. That is point of correction, please.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Very well.
Hon Member, bring your debate to a conclusion.
Mr Quashigah 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I apologise to the Hon Minister if indeed, I mentioned -- [interruption.] I did not say “not meaningful”; but if I did, I apologise. I empathise with her because she is obviously a frustrated Hon Minister whose Ministry is supposed to be --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
Hon Member, how many times have you been interrupted because of your choice of words? Please, stay within parliamentary language.
Mr Quashigah 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity, and I would end my contribution on this statement. [Hear! Hear!]
Mr Ben Abdallah Banda (NPP -- Offinso South) 12:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to support the Motion on the Floor, and I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, it is not in doubt that this Ministry is a key one because it is set up to carry out priority projects of the Government, the purpose of which is to eradicate poverty.
During the year under review, certain remarkable achievements were made, and this is captured under paragraph 8.0 on page 4 of the
Mr John A. Jinapor (NDC -- Yapei/Kusawgu) 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in commenting on the Report, I wish to underscore the fact that this was supposed to be a special project, one of the flagship programmes that he the President trumpeted while in opposition. Indeed, we are all Hon Members of Parliament, so we are very much interested when it comes to the development of our constituencies.
We were promised US$1 million per constituency per year. We have had 2017, and this is the outturn for 2018. In 2017, not much was done. When we enquired, we were told that they were establishing the development initiatives and the Authorities, upon which the US$1 million per constituency would be made available.
Mr Speaker, consequently, in the 2018 Budget Statement, an amount of US$1,239,409,966 was made available so that each constituency would get US$2 million. Mid-year downstream, this amount was revised
downwards to US$815 million, meaning that the US$12 million per constituency promised was even slashed and not met.
Mr Speaker, as if that was not enough, this is the outturn for almost the whole year because this goes to the end of November. Out of the initial amount of US$1.2 billion that was promised each and every constituency, only an amount of about US$100 million -- If we do the computation, that represents a paltry seven per cent of the total amount.

Mr Speaker, they told us that US$1 million would be made available for each Constituency. It has been two years. Based on this Report, when they divide the US$100 million by the 275 constituencies that we have, it tells us clearly that it is a failure.
Mr Alexander K. Afenyo- Markin 12:53 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I would want to refer to page 271 of the 2018 Budget Statement
and Government's Financial Policy. Yapei/Kusawgu -- Mr Speaker, these were the projects, but he says that the Government has done nothing that if it were to be education, it should have been withdrawn from school.
These were the projects that took place in his Constituency; Buipe Vocational School, Mpaha Community, Yapei Community, Buipe SHS --
Mr Speaker, all of these --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
Are they under this programme?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, there is a warehouse. His constituency has benefitted from a warehouse. Does he not hear? Should I repeat? Mr Speaker, let us be fair and factual.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
Are the projects under this programme?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:53 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker. They are under this programme. The Hon Minister is here. If he doubts, may the Hon Minister present a formal Statement on this. For the sake of politics, he cannot mislead this House and say nothing has happened. Something has happened, and he has benefited.
Mr Jinapor 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is important that we read documents before we make comments that are unsubstantiated. This is a Committee Report. As a Member of Parliament, I would plead with him that he takes time and read documents before he rises to make such comments, which are baseless.
His comments are baseless and have no bearing on what we are discussing. This is the Committee's Report. The Committee has given us what they have done so far, and I am responding to the issues in the Committee's Report. He says that there is a Senior High School (SHS); When did the Special Development Initiative bring SHS?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
Hon Member, he is speaking to the 2018 financial year.
Mr Jinapor 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, he referred to the 2019 Budget Statement and Government Financial Policy. He is completely off tangent. He is lost in the wilderness. He should stop that. It is most unfortunate of him.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
You are required to listen to me in silence. I asked the Hon Member whether all the things he mentioned are projects under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), and he said yes they were.
If you challenge that, I would hear you that they are not projects under IPEP; but if they were, then his point is well made. I would rather want to hear you that those projects were under the IPEP.
Mr Jinapor 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to put on record that what Hon Afenyo-Markin said is totally and completely false.
The Hon Minister is here; let us ask her whether she has embarked on any vocational school project in my constituency, which he specifically referred to. He is totally wrong. I challenge him to refer me to the 2018 Budget Statement and the specific page because I have it.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member on his feet referred to some projects and said that what the other Hon Member said is totally false. That language is unparliamentary. It may be an untruth. [Laughter.] For him to say that it is
totally false, that language is not known in this House.
Mr Speaker, I am calling on him to withdraw that expression, “totally false”. It might be an untruth, but it is not totally false. Mr Speaker, I implore you to rule that those words cannot be accommodated in this House. They are unparliamentary, and he must withdraw.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
Firstly, I would want to hear from the Hon Minister on that before I come to whether the language is parliamentary. I would listen to the Hon Deputy Leader on that.
Hon Minister, he says none of those projects have actually been implemented by you in his constituency.
Mrs Koomson 12:53 p.m.
Thank you, Mr President. [Hear! Hear!] I am sorry.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
Hon Members, order!
I like the excitement you are showing. I hope you would show the same excitement if I contest against you.
Yes, Hon Minister?
Mrs Koomson 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it was a slip of tongue. At this moment, I can call you the President of the House.
Mr Speaker, if my Hon Colleague, the Hon Member of Parliament for Yapei/Kusawgu, says these projects are not ongoing in his constituency, I would be very much surprised. It means he does not go to his constituency. [Hear! Hear!].
Also, he does not attend Assembly meetings because these are constituency projects that were brought up by the MMDCEs. So, that was the project his DCE brought for his constituency. Please, the Hon Member should find out from his constituency. That is why it has been captured in the Report; that project is ongoing.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Leader?
Mr James K. Avedzi 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we are debating the Report of the Ministry of Special Initiative Development. The Hon Member from Yapei/Kusawgu said that the Hon Minister is not constructing any vocational school in his constituency. If she is doing so, she should respond. She went round and said that there
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Member, she also said that they are ongoing now.
Mr Avedzi 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the question was whether they were projects under her Ministry.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Members, please let us be fiddle to the fact. If you do not know, that is fine. When you specifically say that it is false, it means you know that somebody is misrepresenting the facts to the House; that is why I am particular about these things.
Please, let us continue the debate, but be fiddle to the facts.
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to take a cue from the Hon Majority Leader. What Hon Afenyo- Markin said was not true. What is the issue? It is that he makes the claim that in the 2018 Budget Statement, Yapei/Kusawgu was captured and that the following projects, including a vocational school, are being established in my constituency.
Mr Speaker, this is Parliament and a House of records and the only way
one could establish that is to refer to the 2018 Budget Statement, which I have. Mr Speaker, without equivocation, I can state --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Member, is it on your iPad?
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have a soft copy of it and a hard copy. I am ready to tender them in. Let him refer us to the page where the vocational --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Alright, can I have the two?
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member should refer me to the page where Yapei/Kusawgu was listed. That settles the matter. [Interruption.]
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Can I have some order? The allegation is that the statements made are false. The Hon Member for Effutu quoted from a document he claims is the 2018 Budget Statement. I would like to have both while we continue with the debate, then I would refer to the matter --
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would first of all want to establish that the Budget Statement is the work programme of any Government for a given year. Mr Speaker, in the year, there could be a review and a supplementary budget -- [Interruption.] So, if he comes and shows the Budget Statement for 2018 without adverting your mind to any other document including a supplementary budget, he may be wrong.
[Pause] --
Mr Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Yes, table them and then we would continue with the debate.
Hon Member, continue.
[Pause] --
So, Hon Member, what were you tendering?
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member referred to the 2018 Budget Statement; I have given mine -- [Interruption.] This is a 2018 Report.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Member, continue your debate, I would look at what you have presented.
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker; may you live long. [Interruption.] The Hon Minister claims that I do not visit my constituency, and I do not sit in Assembly meetings.

Mr Speaker, this is the Hon Chairman's own Report, and I would put it to the Hon Minister. With your permission, I beg to refer to page 5 of the Report, which states that the paltry release of the approved budgetary allocation made it difficult for the Ministry to implement its planned programme.

This is the Hon Chairman's document. It says that the paltry release -- then meagre mere and inconsequential release -- have made the Hon Minister unable to perform.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Member, your interpretation of “paltry” is not “inconsequential” -- [Laughter.]
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, there is even “insignificant” in the document.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
Hon Member, use the words that are put there; your interpretation may be subjective.
Mr Jinapor 1:03 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
It is obvious that everybody watching today's proceedings would conclude that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has failed woefully when it comes to the fulfilment of his campaign promises.
Mr Speaker, they told the people of Ghana that they would give each constituency US$1 million per year. As it stands, they have given only 8 per cent of the total amount by the end of 2018. That promise was nothing but a Trojan horse.
Mr Speaker, even more disturbing is the 2020 Budget Statement. We should check the release and approvals that have been given to the Hon Minister. The amount allocated to her Ministry is US$1,000,050,000.00. We should convert that by GH¢5.50 and divide by US$275 million. It is nowhere near that US$1 million.
Mr Speaker, it is quite obvious, it is quite clear and quite succinct that the people of Ghana have to reject
the Akufo - Addo's Government on the 7th December, 2020 for deceiving them.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Members, there was the issue as to whether there was any allocation to Yapei-Kusawgu. Can I have some order please?
In the 2018 Financial Year presented on Thursday, 15 th November, 2018, page 158, column 799 -- Ministry of Special Development Initiatives; 2018 Performance and 2019 outlook. It starts from 799 and 804 lists the projects:
“In addition, the Ministry is currently going through the procurement processes for the underlisted projects…”
And if we go to the Appendix - Northern Development Zone, Northern Region; number 18 is Yapei-Kusawgu, Buipe Vocational, Mpaha Community, Yapei Community and all that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Leader?
Mr James Klutse Avedzi 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the document you referred to -- I heard you mention 2018 presented in 2018. Is that correct?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
2018 Budget Statement presented in 2019.
Mr Avedzi 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, that is the point we make that he was making reference to the 2018 Budget Statement, not the 2019 Budget Statement. That is the point.
Several Hon Members -- rose
-- 1:13 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Order! why are you all on your feet speaking while your Hon Leader is on his feet? You must respect the rules in the House.
Yes, I want to hear you.
Mr Avedzi 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Hon Afenyo-Markin was making reference to the 2018 Budget Statement, not 2019 Budget Statement. The 2018 Budget Statement definitely was presented in the 2017; the 2018 Budget Statement was also presented in 2018. So if he is making reference to the 2018 Budget Statement and you are quoting from the 2019 Budget Statement—
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, I read Performance Report of 2018 and Outlook for 2019.
Mr Avedzi 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, then, he has made a mistake by referring to 2018 Budget Statement. That is a wrong reference. He should have made reference to the 2019 Bubget Statement and in that, you would quote exactly the page that he has quoted. So he made a wrong reference.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, I read the 2018 Report and Outlook for 2019. That settles the matter.
Yes, who is next in line to contribute? Yes, Hon Member for Ablekuma Central?
Mr Ebenezer G. Nii Narh Nartey (NPP -- Ablekuma Central) 1:13 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. In 2018 allocation for the Ministry for Special Development Initiative, I have had the opportunity to visit some constituencies in the Greater Accra in which I must say that I am a key beneficiary to the US$1 million per constituency.
Mr Speaker, there are some important roads in my constituency that today, through the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives, we
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, hold on.
Mr Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye 1:13 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I wish to draw the attention of the Hon Member for Ablekuma Central to the fact that yes, Odododiodioo has benefited two toilets from US$1 million. They used US$1 million to construct two six-
seater toilets for school children. That is the only thing that we got in Odododiodioo. I live in the Constituency; I am not like the Hon Member who does not live in his Constituency.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, are you stating this as a matter of fact or you are insinuating?
Mr Vanderpuye 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I know it for a fact. Even last week, I was in Ayalolo Cluster of Schools where that toilet is being built.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, would you listen to the question I am asking you? You said two six-seater toilets for US$1 million?
Mr Vanderpuye 1:13 p.m.
Yes, it was constructed with the US$1 million for my Constituency.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
But it is not the same as saying it is the cost of the toilet.
Mr Vanderpuye 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, 2017, 2018 and 2019, all that the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives has done in Odododiodioo is the two six-seater toilets that they constructed for the Ayalolo Cluster of Schools for US$3 million.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
If that is a fact, you are entitled to it but
you added that, from US$1 million. That is a different fact which must be verified. And I want to be sure that we do not put it on record that the two six-seater toilets cost US$1 million.
Mr Vanderpuye 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I wish to state that all the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives has done in my Constituency is to build a two six-seater toilets for the Ayalolo Cluster of Schools from the US$1 million per constituency.
Ms Safo 1:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the allusions that the Hon Member for Odododiodioo made earlier has been captured in our records which he said, he has benefited from only two toilets amounting to US$1 million. Upon further interrogation by your good Self in the Chair, he has come to correct himself.
The rules and practices of this House are that, he actually stands and humbly and honourably withdraw the earlier allegation that he made which is not factual, and he cannot support that indeed, two six-seater toilets amounted to US$1 million. He should do the honourable thing and withdraw. That is the rules of the House; he should learn.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, I think the correction is sufficient that there are two toilets. That is all there is; you have no reason to say that the two toilets cost US$1 million. That should be sufficient.
Mr Nartey 1:13 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker —
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
Hon Member, could you continue with your debate without making reference to constituencies and other areas to generate needless debate?
Mr Nartey 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the reason I made reference to Odododiodioo is because my Hon Colleague, Hon Jinapor said he has not received anything for his constituency.
And I just want to prove that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has really delivered, irrespective of the Hon Member's political affiliation or where he or she stands in politics, the President has been able to provide for every Constituency.
I am happy that my Colleague, Hon Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has confirmed that he has received his portion. That tells me that he normally
Mr Nartey 1:23 p.m.
attends Assembly meetings, so he has gotten the information.
Mr Speaker, apart from that, I know that Odododiodioo has benefited from these water projects at Kpone. I am saying this because I know we are doing politics, therefore, some Hon Members would decide to play the propaganda game.

The fact that he has received his is enough confirmation, so I give him the credit and may he live long for that. He should continue to do the good work and speak the truth all the time. One major problem we have in this country, especially --
Mr Vanderpuye 1:23 p.m.
On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I thought that my Hon Colleague from Ablekuma Central would take a cue from your advice to avoid mentioning constituencies because he would force me to say things that I am not supposed to say. No water system has been provided in my constituency; not at Bukom or Slaughterhouse as was indicated in the Budget
Statement. Nothing has been provided there. It has not even started yet to be completed in my constituency.
Mr Nartey 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I know Hon Nii Lantey Vanderpuye knows Site 8 in his Constituency very well - - [Interruption.] Abattoir. Every Saturday, I go to Abattoir to buy meat, so I know what I am talking about. Hon Nii Lantey Vanderpuye knows very well where we have been meeting.
It is a clear indication that in the 2016 campaign, the promises made by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo in respect of the US$1 million per constituency, free SHS and all the flashy projects have been delivered and we would continue to deliver them.
Mr Vanderpuye 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I wish to inform my Colleague, Hon Nartey, that there is no place called Abattoir or Site 8 in my Constituency. If he is referring to where we call Gode or Slaughterhouse, I would be kind enough to lead him there and show him its boundary. Site 8 may be in Ablekuma Central but not Odododiodioo.
Mr Nartey 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am happy that today, the President is touring the Greater Accra Region and
would be in Odododiodioo. I hope my Hon Colleague would join me right from here to join the President to inspect some of the projects that he talked about. [Interruption.] To the fisher folk in Odododiodioo, and I know some of them are very close to him and would benefit from the outboard motors. So, he should give credit to the President because it is part of the US$1 million, so he has benefitted.
I would want to thank the Hon Minister for Special Development Initiatives as well as his Ministry, for the establishment of the Coastal, Middle belt et cetera Authorities, which Bills were all passed here. When you go to their office in the Greater Accra especially, and look at the work that they are doing in there, you would be surprise.
Mr Speaker, I can honestly tell you that the 2019/2020 projects are going to be marvellous. One of the things I am happy about is the warehouse. I travelled to Techiman about three or four months ago and foodstuffs like yam were getting rotten. Today however, they would have a place to store them.
Just in the Ada Constituency here, tomatoes, onions -- Some of us mention foodstuffs because we go to
the market, so we know. All these things used to get rotten, but today, they have a place to store them, so that Ghanaians would benefit from them.
Mr Speaker, thanks to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. If it had not been in the wisdom of the President to come out with this Ministry and give them an allocation, it would be difficult for us to have warehouses in some of these constituencies we are talking about. It would be difficult for some of us to have boreholes in our various constituencies, but through the President, we have benefitted from it.
Mr Rockson-Nelson E. K. Dafeamekpor (NDC -- South Dayi) 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate.
This is a very important issue for me in South Dayi. I have four traditional areas in South Dayi namely: Peki, Kpeve which hosts the capital, Tongor and Kpalime. I am told that in 2018, at least three water closet facilities and at least three small community water systems have been constructed in South Dayi.
Mr Speaker, from Adzeibui to Saxoe to Kpongbonikofe, Gborkope, Dzemeni, Dzakiti, Agodake,

Atoklokpo, Tsanakpe, Toh, Duga -- [Interruption.] Please, this is a very serious matter. I am mentioning the names of the communities in my constituency. From Toh to Duga, Ahor, Kaira, Abui, Tsita, Tsatey, New Kaira, Kpeyibome, Todome, Kpeve, Tsopokope, Wegbe, Wawasi Camp, Anyensu, Adzokoe, Agbatey, Wudome, Dzogbati, Blengo, Afeviwofe, Tsame, Avekle, Dzake and so on.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
Hon Member, how many towns and villages are in your constituency?
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have about 55 --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
Only? I have 116, so our sizes differ. It is sufficient, just stick to the issue.
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the point I am making is that now, there are young people who listen to the debate live. They would ask their MP that they have just been told that at least, three water closet facilities have been constructed in this constituency and throughout the country. Why do we not have any? [Interruption.] I just returned from my Constituency.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Yes, Hon Chairman of the Committee?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, with respect, I think the Hon Member is inconsistent. He said that some projects, have been constructed and he went on to say that none of the projects have been initiated. I see an inconsistency -- that some projects have been done in his Constituency and then he said that some have been initiated and then in the middle of his statement he said none of them have been initiated. I do not know which is which.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Hon Member, can you clarify? Has any been constructed; if yes, how many of them and where?
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I never said what the Hon Chairman of the Committee, purports me to have said. I said the Report says that at least, because the Report says over a 1000 -- when I divided it by 275, I got an average of 2.63, so a minimum of three is reported to have been constructed or initiated in all the 275 constituencies and I limited myself to my constituency.
I say emphatically that no such single project is ongoing in South Dayi neither in respect of the water closet toilet facilities nor the small community water systems.
So my worry is that when the Report made such a blanket statement that in all the 275 constituencies, about a 1,000 of these projects are ongoing, my constituents would ask me why all the 275 constituencies supposedly, have received projects of this nature but they do not have any and I would struggle to answer.
Mr Speaker, the Report should be able to tell us that out of the 1000 facilities that have been earmarked, a certain number has been initiated in some particular constituencies.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Hon Member, hold on.
Yes, Hon Chairman of the Committee?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Report is a summary of what the Ministry brought to us. In South Dayi, there is a water project at Abuie, Anyensu, and Kpone Bonikofe -- these are ongoing. I do not know if that is the Hon Member's constituency and whether he visits the constituency of late. This is the water project but I also have the toilet project and if he likes I would cite it.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Kindly mention if there are any water projects in that Constituency.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the water projects in South Dayi are at Abuie, Anyensu and Kpone Bonikofe. These three towns are where the --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
What about the toilet projects?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, for the toilet projects, I would get that for him if he wants. So for him to say that none of these are
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Hon Member, are these projects going on in your constituency?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:33 p.m.
None

Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just so that we get it right because the Hon Member represents his constituency and the interest of the constituents should be paramount to him. So if he raises it, he is right to do so. He dwelled so much on toilet facilities and he mentioned communities but you stopped him in his tracts that he should not mention all these communities.
For the toilet facilities, they are institution specific. They are not meant for the community in general. In fact, the 10-seater water closet institutional toilets with mechanised boreholes are meant for institutions and the institutions for South Dayi are in
Kpeve Peki and Jemene. So he must investigate whether maybe, any of the schools for instance, may have this.
Mr Speaker, I think that is where the challenge may be. It may be for the Hon Member to liaise with the district assembly for them to assure him or not that maybe, some construction of these projects have been initiated in the institutions in these communities. That is where he would get it right. Otherwise, to just say that they are not in the communities, he may get it wrong.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Hon Member, are the facts that have been put before us correct? If they are, accept it and move on.
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, they are not correct. There is no small community water system in Abuie. In fact, Abuie, is located by the lakeside and that area belongs to the Tongu Traditional Area. It is actually called Abuiechita. We are served by an international NGO called Safe Water Systems and I brought them in 2014. The community even struggles to get connected to the Safe Water network. There is no borehole let alone mechanised in Abuie and that is for the fact.
In respect of Kpeve, the toilet facility is to have been built within the Kpeve market which they call the institution. No such project is ongoing. I was there on Saturday. In respect of Jemene, they are also supposed to build the facility with the Jemene market and there is no such project going on.
I just spent part of my District Assemblies' Common Fund to set up a small community water system in Vegbe Wawasi and that is why I said that perhaps, it is part of the programmes of the Ministry. I am chasing projects at the Coastal Development Authority and they have not materialised yet but when the Report suggests that all these are ongoing, the fear is that it is as if they have been completed and South Dayi has been left out.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Has any been started?
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, no.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
This is a very serious matter and the Committee must investigate.
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if it is part of the Ministry's agenda that they would undertake this project in a certain year, they should let us

Mr Speaker, my point is that whether ongoing or completed - and I cannot point to any such ongoing project in my constituency, it is a worry for me because there are communities that cry for water -- like Kpatsahoe, Tongu and Abuie --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
Hon Minister, hold on. Let him finish so that you can respond.
Mr Dafeamekpor 1:33 p.m.
So if these projects could be expedited, I would be very glad. In respect of the water closet systems, if the selected institutions which are the markets - I have made enquiries and I know that they want to build these facilities only in the markets and I agree. But the projects have not started and yet we say that in respect of the 2018 Report, these projects have been started and would be completed and that is a bother.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I support the approval of this Report but I would want to urge the
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
Yes, Hon Minister; I think this is a matter you must respond to.
Mrs Koomson 1:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
[Interruption] -
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
Yes, I left the winding up. In this particular instance, I want you to respond to this specific issue. Or we should wait and do the winding up?
Very well. In the case, you may take notes and then in winding up, you respond to those specific issues.
Leadership?
Mr Albert A. Alalzuuga (NDC- -Garu) 1:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Performance Report by the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives.
Mr Speaker, let me first of all, commend the Hon Minister for at least, coming out with a performance report which has enabled us to assess the performance of the Ministry within the 2018 calender.
Mr Speaker, there are a few observations that I would want to make. First of all, I saw on page 6, paragraph 9.4 of the Report and permit me to quote:
“The Committee was informed that inadequate office space is one of the major challenges confronting the Ministry. Currently, the Ministry is occupying only 7 offices at the Christiansborg Castle.”
Mr Speaker, I think this is a major concern looking at the importance of the Ministry; the fact that the Ministry is one that is going to implement special project initiatives of this
Government, it is proper that they have a befitting office accommodation to be able to execute the priority projects that are so dear to Government. I think that it is not fair to the Ministry to have only seven offices; if you read further, it tells us that:
“In view of the serious space constraints, some of the offices have been partitioned into cubicle, which hardly pass as an office.”
Mr Speaker, this is very appalling because as a whole Ministry having only seven rooms which have further been partitioned into cubicles, I wonder the kind of work that the Hon Minister and her staff are able to perform since it will not be comfortable for them.
My further observation has to do with the releases from the Ministry of Finance. As an Hon Member of the Committee, I think all those who were present that day, had concerns about the releases that the Ministry of Finance had made not only to that Ministry, but all Ministries that have come under our review.
I think that it is something that we should not do politics with, but we should raise concern that as much
as the various Ministries are eager to work to deliver on the promises of the Government, the Hon Minister for Finance must be up and doing.
This is because the initial amount allocated to the Ministry was GH¢1.2 billion which was reviewed to about GH¢815 million by mid-year and out of this amount, only GH¢311,000,000 was released and out of that only GH¢81 million -- even out of this amount as well, it included payment of compensation and goods and services which means the capital expenditure (CAPEX) is GH¢71 million.
Mr Speaker, if you look at the achievements that the Hon Minister and her team have quoted here from the Committee Report; ‘Establishment of head office of the three Development Authorities, finalise organisational manual, develop a draft client service, construction of 506 small dams under ‘One Village, One Dam, construction of 1,000 institutional community water closet toilets, construction of 50 fabricated warehouses …'---
I would want to find out whether this Ministry is performing a miracle or they are really doing genuine work? If you look at the amount of GH¢71 million and they are able to do all these things, what is quality? That should be the question we have to ask ourselves.
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 1:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, certainly, in 2020, the people of this country will show Nana Akufo-Addo, the second stanza of the kingdom. [Laughter.] --
Mr Speaker, no amount of propagandist extrapolations will save the sinners; certainly, they will remain where they are. They cannot even migrate to purgatory. They will remain in ‘hell'.
[Interruption] --

I am not sentencing them to hell, Hon Spio-Garbrah has said that ‘opposition is hell' and I am saying that they should remain in ‘hell'.

I am not sentencing him.

Mr Speaker, once again, let me commend the Ministry for forwarding the Performance Report to Parliament. As I said at the very outset, it is needed for the

consideration of the Budget Estimates. We need to know the performance of the Ministry in order for us to justify the allocation that has been given to the Ministry for the performance of their functions into the ensuing year.

If there is no measure, it is difficult then to follow and as if we are talking from the top of our heads, we would say let us make this allocation to the Ministry.

I agree with my Hon Colleague who just sat down that the Ministry would need a proper and befitting office to operate from. It is a new Ministry that has been created, and at the very beginning, there are challenges in having a befitting environment for the Ministry to operate.

However, Mr Speaker, I think at the very outset, it is very important when people say projects have not started because, perhaps, they have not seen anything physical, and on account of that they say that the project has not started. That could rather be misleading.

The commencement of a project is not really when you see physical development like cutting of sod or breaking of ground to begin a project. We would have started with procurement activities, which is part
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, I am sorry. I forgot that, at 2.00 pm we have to extend Sitting.
Having regard to the business of the House, I direct that Sitting be extended outside the regular Sitting hours.
Now, you may continue.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:03 p.m.
So, Mr Speaker, the point being made is that, with the institutional toilets for Yapei/Kusawgu, they have listed
Buipe Vocational School, Mpaha Community, Yapei Community and Buipe Senior High School. For water, they have Jukuku, Burigi and Kasawgu and Kpalanyase. These are where we have the water.
Mr Speaker, again, an Hon Member cannot just say that he has not seen them and so they do not exist. I think it would be the District Assemblies which would be better placed to let the Hon Member of Parliament know that, indeed, they have started these projects, they are nowhere, and perhaps it is only 5 per cent that has been done by way of procurement. You would not see any physical development there if it is only 5 per cent for instance, meanwhile the procurement might have started.
Those who deal in quantities would let us know that even at that level, about 5 per cent of the project has been initiated or completed, but the Hon Member would not see any physical development. Mr Speaker, that is how it is. So, let us touch base with the Assemblies and the development authorities and then we would know exactly where those projects are located.
We would not come and stand in Parliament and say that nothing is happening. Mr Speaker would then become the symbol of untruthfulness.
If something is happening, we always come here to say that nothing is happening. It would then mean that we are not touching base with the Assemblies and the development authorities.
Mr Speaker, I guess we should do what is right and let us urge the various Committees to be much more proactive than they have done. The Ministries should also submit their performance reports to Parliament in order to facilitate the approval of the Annual Estimates that they submit to Parliament.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity and I believe other people would also take a cue from that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Hon Minister, would you like to conclude?
Mrs Koomson 2:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, I would first of all want to thank the Committee for the good work done. The Ministry was given the mandate to start this project when the development authorities were yet to be set up. Even though the Bill was passed in November 2017, the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were appointed in 2018, so
we started the projects before the development authorities took over. These were the projects that the Ministry started which are ongoing from 2018 till date.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry did not allocate the sites for the projects to the contractors. It was done by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) from the constituencies. When the contractors and the consultants go there, the MMDCEs take them to the sites and show them the locations for the projects.
Mr Speaker, the Ministry has been visiting constituencies and sites of the project to make sure that projects are ongoing. When we got to South Dayi, the Peki Market has reached the roofing level, Peki Senior High School is also on and the biodigesters have been completed.
This is for the information of the Hon Members. They should go to the areas and take pictures or I could go there with them and show them the sites, because I know what I am talking about.
Mr Speaker, to add to what the Hon Majority Leader said, I thought Hon Members, especially, those on the Minority side would appreciate H. E. the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for bringing in this initiative. If not for this initiative, I am
Mrs Koomson 2:03 p.m.


Some Hon Members -- rose
-- 2:03 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Hon Member, please withdraw.
Mrs Koomson 2:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I withdraw. That was on a lighter note -- [Interruption.]
I thank Hon Members for their contributions.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Available Hon Leader, I am going to put the Question what else.
Mr Chireh 2:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we did not hear her withdrawal. She shouted, and I think that as an Hon Minister who is winding-up, her language must be one that should not be provocative. She cannot be referring to people like that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Hon Members, I heard the withdrawal myself, so there is no issue outstanding.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we could deal with item numbered 7.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 7, Motion by the Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing.
Nana Amoakoh 2:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, before I move, I would seek your permission, because there are two Motions that we have put together as one. So we have Motion numbered 5 and Motion numbered 7 on the Order Paper. They would not be separate Motions. We would move them together.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
The Report covers the two Motions. Is that what you are suggesting?
Nana Amoakoh 2:03 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
Very well.
MOTIONS 2:13 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Amoakoh) 2:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move that, this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Works & Housing and Foreign Affairs on the Convention and on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes serviced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (1992 Water Convention).
That this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Works and Housing and Foreign Affairs on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non- Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997 Watercourse Convention).
Mr Speaker, in so doing, I present your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
Requests for the ratification of the two Conventions, 1992 Water Convention and 1997 Watercourse Convention were presented to the House by the Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah on behalf of the Hon Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources on Wednesday, 23rd October, 2019 in accordance with article 75 of the 1992 Constitution.
In accordance with Orders 180 and 183 of the Standing Orders of the House, the Rt Hon Speaker referred the request to the Joint Committee on Works and Housing and Foreign Affairs for consideration and report.
2.0 Deliberations
The Joint Committee was assisted in its deliberations by the Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, Chief Director of MSWR, Mr Noah Tumfo, Executive Secretary for Water Resources Commission (WRC), Mr Ben Ampomah and other officials from the Ministry and from WRC.
The Committee is grateful to the Hon Deputy Minister, Chief Director,
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Amoakoh) 2:13 p.m.
effect, would help to facilitate transboundary developments to ensure pragmatic solutions anchored on negotiations and dialogue which will reinforce Ghana's strategic position of cooperating fully with her riparian neighbours and other global watercourse countries.
6.0 Division of the Conventions
a. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, serviced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (1992 Water Convention)
The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, serviced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (1992 Water Convention), is divided into three (3) parts with twenty-eight (28) Articles and four Annexes.
Article 1 of the Convention provides for the general definitions while Article 2 makes provisions relating to the general responsibilities relating to all parties. Prevention, control and reduction of trans- boundary impact are provided for in Article 3.
Monitoring is provided for in Article 4 whereas Research and development and exchange of information are respectively provided for in Articles 5 and 6. Parties' responsibilities and liabilities are stipulated in Article 7 and Article 8 provides for information protection.
Principles and procedures governing bilateral and multilateral agreements and other arrangements between and among the riparian parties are catered for in Article 9, while Article 10 provides for consultations. Joint monitoring and assessment; common research and development and exchange of information between riparian parties are respectively provided for in Articles 11, 12 and 13.
Provisions are respectively made under Articles 14, 15, and 16 for Riparian Parties to inform each other about any critical situation that may have transboundary impact, provide mutual assistance upon request and ensure that information on the conditions of transboundary waters and associated prevention measures are made available to the public.
Articles 17 and 18 deals with meetings of parties and the right to vote respectively and the Secretariat annexes; and amendments to the convention are provided for in Articles, 19, 20 and 21 respectively.

Matters relating to settlement of disputes; signature; depository; ratification, acceptance, approval and accession; entry into force; withdrawal, authentic texts are respectively dealt with in Articles 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28.

The annexes among others, provides for guidelines for developing best environmental practices and Water Quality Objectives and criteria (Annexes II & III); and Arbitration (Annex IV).

b. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non- Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997 Watercourses Convention)

The Convention is grouped into seven (7) parts with thirty-seven (37) articles. General scope of the Convention is provided for in Article 1 whilst Article 2 provides for the use of terms.

Watercourse agreements and parties to watercourse agreements are provided for in Articles 3 and 4 respectively.

Article 5 provides for equitable and reasonable utilisation and participation in an international watercourse as factors relevant to

equitable and reasonable utilisation of an international watercourse which is dealt with in Article 6.

In utilising international watercourse, parties are obliged under Article 7 not to cause significant harm and further obliged under Article 8 to cooperate on the basis of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, mutual benefit and good faith. Parties are also obliged in Article 9 to regularly exchange data and information on the condition of the watercourse and relationship between different kinds of uses are provided for in Article 10.

Article 11 places an obligation on Watercourse States to exchange information on the possible effects of planned measures on the condition of an international watercourse. A watercourse State wishing to implement a planned measure is also obliged in Article 12 to notify other watercourse states of the possible adverse effects on them.

Period for reply to notification, Obligations of the notifying state during the period of reply, reply to notification and absence of reply to notification are respectively provided for in articles 13, 14, 15 and 16.

While Article 17 calls for consultation and negotiations concerning planned measures;
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
Hon Member for Ho West?
Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah (NDC -- Ho West) 2:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motions numbered 5 and 7 on the Order Paper.
Mr Speaker, it would interest you to note that our water policy in 2007 has recognised the fact that we have international conventions which needed to be ratified. Unfortunately, we have not ratified any of our Trans boundary Waterbody Conventions that have been in existence over the years.
All that we do in Ghana is to have some moral cooperation with our neighbours who we share our water bodies with, either underground water or rivers.
Mr Speaker, with the water body that leads to La Cote d'Ivoire, you would be surprised that La Cote d'Ivoire has on numerous occasions contacted us that we have been polluting their water bodies. But because there is no agreement between us, there is nothing we could do.
That is why it is very important for us to ratify these two Conventions so that we could have an agreement
Mr Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri) 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I rise to support the Motion moved and to make few comments.
Mr Speaker, these are very important Conventions and I would urge the House to support the Motion. First of all, as the previous Hon Member has said, we have often been inundated by the reports of pollution of water bodies, especially, in the area of transboundary catchment. So these Conventions are very important.
Mr Speaker, at the Committee level during the deliberations, one of the issues that came out that seemingly was contentious was the financial implications that could come as a result of the adoption of this Report. And it came out clearly that indeed, the Water Resource Commission would come under some influence of bearing some financial implications and in calling for support for this Report, I would like to urge the Ministry to continuously -- I am aware that they are already supporting the Water Resource Commission but this Convention coming in wake calls for some further support to strengthen the Water Resource Commission.
Already, we have an Act of Parliament enabling them to engage certain functionalities; now that we would get additional ones, and then,
there are cross-border issues, it is important we get more support.
Mr Speaker, this Convention would also lead to the protection of biodiversity and preservation of both flora and fauna. And this is why I am particularly interested in that. We are aware of conflicts in many parts of Africa as a result of water bodies. Currently, there is the matter among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan because of the eminent construction of a dam. So, transboundary water bodies have their inherent potential of causing a lot of conflicts.
So our friends in Benin and La Cote d'Ivoire have always been concerned about the pollution of water bodies. So it is important that this Convention is ratified accordingly.
Mr Speaker, the ratification of this Convention also would rake in a lot of benefits. For instance, it would ensure that there would be technical assistance which is one of the areas I find very important because we need the capacity to be able to ensure that the collaboration from diverse areas is ensured.
Then it would also help in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which is one of the critical requirements. I think that this is a very
important Convention; we have ratified a number of such international conventions in this House.
What I would like to say is that, in essence, I would like to urge the Hon Deputy Minister who is very passionate about this Convention that the institution mandated particularly, the Water Resource Commission which should be strengthened because there would be further obligations as a result of the ratification of this Convention to ensure that we do not just ratify and also stand the risk of facing a lot of conflicts and dealing with these conflicts.

Mr Speaker, the Convention made provision abundantly on the resolution of conflicts which is one of the areas that tend to pose problems on such Conventions. I recall the case of Namibia and Botswana where had it not been for the existence of a Convention which both parties had ratified, both countries would have been in turmoil by now. So this is an important and straight-forward Convention and I urge the entire House to support its ratification.

Mr Speaker, with these words, I support the adoption of the Report.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Leadership, do you wish to contribute to this debate?
Mr Joseph Y. Chireh (NDC -- Wa West) 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I think that these Agreements are important and I would urge that the whole House adopts it because there are benefits. If we do not do this and there is an argument anywhere, we would have difficulties.
Apart from that, the purpose of these understandings that are contained in these Agreements are for mutual benefit. Again, I would urge that each and every Ministry should go through and with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, identify parts of the agreements that need to be ratified. Just signing them on is not enough. If we want to benefit from anything at all, we need to have a ratification.
Mr Speaker, many times, people want to attend conferences based on these Agreements and when we attend and they noticed that we have not ratified, your position is relegated. As a nation, we must always be looking forward to occupying these positions with people who are interested in what we do and not just those who want to attend conferences.
On this note, I urge that we all support this Motion and ratify the Agreements.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Items numbered 6 and 8 are the Resolutions.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources?
Mr Boamah 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move that --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Hon Deputy Minister, I have not granted you leave to move it on behalf of your Hon Minister.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when the Hon Member rose, I thought he was praying to you to grant him leave to speak in the stead of the substantive Hon Minister. If that is not what he did, then I want to make the application for him to stand in for his Hon Minister in order to move the Resolution.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Very well. Minority Bench, he is asking leave for the Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources to move the Resolution. Any comments?
Mr Chireh 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the man is in a hurry to become an Hon Minister. [Laughter] We would grant him the right to do so.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Very well. Hon Deputy Minister, you may move the Motion on behalf of the Hon Minister.
RESOLUTION 2:23 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Amoakoh) 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, item numbered 11.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:23 p.m.
Item numbered 11, by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing?
MOTIONS 2:23 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Amoakoh) 2:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development and Environment; Science and Technology on Monitoring Visits to Solid Waste Treatment Facilities/Sites (Landfill Sites and Material Recovery and
Compost Facilities) in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern and Western Regions.
Mr Speaker, in so doing, I would like to present your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
Pursuant to article 103 (3) of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 180, 181, 185, 192 (2) of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, which among other things enjoin Committees of Parliament to conduct investigations and inquiries into matters of public concern and make recommendations to Parliament, the Committees on Works & Housing, Local Government and Rural Development and Environment Science and Technology jointly undertook monitoring visits to municipal solid waste treatment facilities/sites in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern and Western Regions from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th September, 2019.
The joint visits were occasioned by the inferno that engulfed the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Engineered Landfill site at Kpone on 15th August, 2019. The consistent complaints made to Members of Parliament by constituents and civil society
organisations in the area triggered the investigation and the subsequent field visits by the three Committees to ascertain the magnitude of the problem. Preliminary investigations conducted showed that landfill sites across the country were in a similar precarious state and if urgent measures were not taken, what happened at the Kpone Landfill in Tema may replicate in the other regions.
1.1 Purpose and Objectives
Generally, the visits were to afford Hon Members the opportunity to have first-hand information as well as to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the issues that were brought to the attention of Members. Specifically, the visits sought to:
i. Assess the general environ- mental sanitation situation in the country;
ii. Inspect the condition of some landfill sites in the country;
iii. Evaluate the capacity and management of some transfer stations, landfills and material
recovery and compost facilities;
iv. Identify the funding gaps and mechanism for funding sanitation in Ghana; and
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Amoakoh) 2:23 p.m.
6.4 Mechanism for Funding Sanitation in Ghana
To help bridge the funding gap in the sector, the Committee proposes the under-listed alternative funding sources for the consideration of the House and Government:
6.4.1 Ring-fencing Dedicated Funds for Waste Management
The National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan identified various sources of raising revenue to fund specific waste management activities. The practical approach would be to ringfence these funds for the sector. Some of the revenue sources include the following:
• basic rate;
• special rates;
• property rate;
• licensing; trading services and royalties from minerals development fund and investment income;
• mining levy; and
• market levy
6.5 Special Levy for Waste Management
It is recommended that a dedicated (pool) fund with inflows from special levies, development partners and GoG to finance sanitation and waste management in the country.
The Committee was informed that La Cote d'Ivoire and Brazil operate such a fund to support the private sector in the management of waste in their respective countries as indicated in Appendix 2.
In La Cote d'Ivoire, an eco tax is levied on imported products in accordance with the “Polluter-Pays” principle. The eco taxes are used for servicing waste management bills.
In Brazil, both the State and the local government provide an annual dedicated budgetary allocation to support the private sector to procure the required machinery and logistics for the management of waste and sanitation in that country.
7.0 Conclusion
The Committee believes the journey towards sustainable waste management may be a long one but what the country needs now is a strong commitment from Government and all stakeholders to take the required measures as recommended so as to

inject the needed capital into the sector. The Joint Committee accordingly, calls for a national debate on the sustainable management including funding of waste management in the country.

Finally, the Joint Committee recommends to the House to adopt and approve its report in accordance with Article 103 (3) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

Respectfully submitted.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:33 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Odododiodioo?
Mr Edward Nii Lantey Vanderpuye (NDC -- Odododiodioo) 2:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Motion ably moved by the Hon Chairman for the three Joint Committees that undertook the tour of the sanitation situation in the country.
Mr Speaker, adding to the presentation from the Hon Chairman of the Committee on the Report, I believe it is time for Ghana to move to the modern technological systems that are used in various parts of the world in order to manage waste and sanitation in this country. I have said that the problems that the communities of landfill sites go through do not inure to any other community's attention to want to give their land for the siting of landfill.
Mr Speaker, in the Greater Accra Region, Kpone is on fire, so people have reverted back to the old dumping sites. If those ones get finished, Accra and Tema would not have anywhere at all to dump waste.
For the intervention of the Integrated Compost and Recycling Plant (IRECOP), situated in my
Constituency and in Adjen Kotoku, however, we shall grapple with the problem of waste management in Accra. The same happens in Kumasi.
In Kumasi, the situation is bad to the extent that three months ago, residents in the Asokwa municipal area totally blocked access to the landfill site. Tamale is the same, and Takoradi is worse. So this tells us that as a country, we must begin to think about how we could appropriately manage waste with modern technology.
What has happened in IRECOP, is not only the management of waste, but the by-product of the waste management - fertilizer and manure. We used to have lavender hill to the extent that this country was even blacklisted by the International Maritime Association for throwing effluent into the ocean. Today, we have the Accra Sewage System that has virtually brought a halt to the improper management of liquid waste.
Mr Speaker, your team went to Kumasi. It was an indictment on all of us when we saw the leakage of liquid waste drip off into people's houses and into other river bodies within the community. The people who live in those areas are human beings and Ghanaians who pay taxes, so they deserve the best.
Mr Edward Nii Lantey Vanderpuye (NDC -- Odododiodioo) 2:33 p.m.


Mr Speaker, the Committee has recommended that as a matter of urgency, this House must implore the Executive to see how we could encourage more private people who are already in the business or encourage to invest in modern technology to manage waste and sanitation in this country.

Mr Speaker, as stated in the Report, one of the most serious disincentives to private investment in waste management and sanitation is lack of funding. The whole world has a standard pricing mechanism to take care of waste management, which is about US$35 per tonne. In Ghana, the private investors are paid GH¢25 per tonne.

This does not encourage people into the business, and the Committee recommended that it is important for the Government, which is supposed to provide that social need, to look at how it would take up measures to encourage the private sector to invest in this area. We recommend that Off Taker Agreements between the Ministries of Sanitation and Water Resources and Local Government and Rural Development, other stakeholder Ministries and private investors all be encouranged to invest in the system.

Mr Speaker, thanks to our Hon Colleagues, Hon Benjamin Kpodo and Hon Sampson Ahi, who secured something for us in addition to our Common Fund. We believe that one of the key things that would enhance all of us, as Hon Members of Parliament, is when we have been able to use this funding mechanism to ensure that sanitation management and provision in our constituencies have been improved.

What would it look like to have 16 IRECOPs 16 sewage systems across the country that the people of Suame and Bekwai, for example, would know that when the effluent from the homes and houses are dislodged, they would not be thrown into the open environment, but that there is a good
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:33 p.m.
Hon Member, at Bekwai every suburb has a dedicated borla. So the Bekwai example is [Interruption] all; I am sure that if the Committee went there
-- 2:33 p.m.
Mr Vanderpuye 2:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, then Dome Kwabenya rather. [Laughter] It is very serious.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:33 p.m.
It is seriously also part of the failure for planning the local areas. Bekwai was fortunate to have had plans from the
beginning for dumping sites, and we have maintained them as such to date. So we really do not have challenges on that.
Mr Vanderpuye 2:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the situation is such that the population has increased, and Bekwai would develop and have more people. Very soon, a lot of the people in Bekwai would use the water closet system, which would call for sewage --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:33 p.m.
Hon Member, Bekwai is more developed than Odododiodoo -- it is not now developing. [Laughter.]
Mr Vanderpuye 2:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, a lot of our communities today have moved from the traditional system of liquid waste management to water closet toilet, which would demand that there must be dislodgment trucks that would dislodge. When those are dislodged, they must be managed somehow. That is why we have recommended that if we could have the type of Accra sewage system in every regional capital, or possibly the district capitals, it would help so that we would use modern ways to manage both our solid and liquid wastes.
Mr Speaker, I would suggest that we look further so that the moneys we would gather from the judgement of the Supreme Court on the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) could be fenced specifically for the provision of these facilities across the country.
Mr Speaker, if we continue to look at only the national capital in the provision of these facilities, very soon, epidemics would break out. I think that I have to say this without reservation; the situation in a place like Sekondi Takoradi is so damning.
First of all, I do not know the technology that went into the siting of the landfill site because it is on a hill. So when it rains, the liquid waste just washes down the road, and this is inappropriate.
I believe that as Hon Members of this House, we should be concerned about the plight of the people who voted for us.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, the Committees have done a great job and we would wait for your direction to ensure that the recommendations and conclusions in this Reports are taken very seriously.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:43 p.m.
Hon Member for Ahafo Ano North?
Mr Suleman A. Sanid (NPP-- Ahafo Ano North) 2:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for allowing me to support the Motion on the Floor.
Indeed, three Committees from Parliament and I took a tour of the four Metropolises to assess the waste management situation. I must report that what we actually saw was not encouraging at all.
I believe that the Hon Chairman and leader of the delegation has done justice to the issues, and our Hon Ranking Member on the Committee for Local Government and Rural Development has also given the other perspectives to what we saw.
Mr Speaker, however, what is intriguing is that as a country, sanitation has become a very big issue that we have not been able to handle over a period of time. Governments over the years have put in a lot of effort, but we still have a lot to do. Every step within the chain, from the collection at the domestic and public places to how to manage the transfer points and the final disposal points has challenges.
As we speak, how to get waste from domestic and public places is a very big challenge to us and we do not even know exactly how we would manage these things. So we go to
public places, and we have an overflow of what has been gathered within the day. Collection has become a problem. When they collect the rubbish even to the transfer points, people do not even know where the transfer points are. So within the chain, we need to really have a policy on how we want to handle these things.
Mr Speaker, again, your Committee realised that the critical point within the chain is the final distribution end, and that is where the concentration is as we all call for the replication of the IRECOP concept, which has a recycling plant across the entire country.
If we zone the country, not necessarily along the regional lines, where we talk about 16 regions but possibly 20 to 22 zones so that we can have facilities at certain areas where we have majority of our population concentrated to take care of the waste generated, we could derive enormous value from this recycling facility that we would put out.
What we realised at the recycling plant in Accra for instance was that the end result of waste that was recycled is manure, which is used for farming. The metals that are extracted get back to the industry. So there is a
lot that we could get, and we think that waste should not just be seen as waste, but a resource.
If we want to convert waste to be useful to the society, then we have to make investment in that. This is where we need to think of sustaining it by making it attractive to the private sector, so that they do not go in and pull out after three to four years. The examples are very depressing, as there have been a lot of private investors who have gone into the waste management sector, but they have pulled out. Only few have survived up till now.
Mr Speaker, so we need to make the right investments. The Government, knowing very well that it is for public good, must find a good way to continuously provide money so that whatever is collected from the domestic and public places is supplemented by the Government to help the companies in that industry to survive and in turn, give us what we want.
We are calling for a number of initiatives such as the sanitation levy and how to fence something out of our Common Fund arrangement so that it could be specifically dedicated to waste management. Along the line, we are also looking at the
Government partnering with the private sector in terms of capital injection so that the needed investment, by way of machinery, would be replicated at the facilities across the country.
Mr Speaker, your three Committees that undertook this tour did a fantastic job, and I must use this opportunity to thank the Hon Members who made time for the tour.
I would also want to urge this House that we should all take interest in sanitation matters. I call on the Hon Speaker to allow us to form a sanitation caucus within Parliament, so that we would dialogue on sanitation matters and bring it to the fore. Out of these discussions, I am sure that we would come out with something that would be useful to us.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:43 p.m.
Hon Member, do you belong to any Caucus in the House?
Mr Sanid 2:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I belong to the population caucus.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:43 p.m.
Alright. Did you seek permission to form that? You can start your caucus if you wish to.
Mr Sanid 2:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am very grateful for the encouragement. I
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:43 p.m.
Hon Member for Asuogyaman, Mr Ampem Nyarko, is that right?
Mr Thomas N. Ampem (NDC-- Asuogyaman) 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes.
I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Report by the three Committees that undertook this tour.
I wish the Committee's Report had included some pictorial evidence of what we saw on the ground, which would have actually allowed Hon Members to appreciate the situation. It was an eyesore in most of the areas we went to. I would like to cite Sekondi Takoradi, for instance. The Hon Member for Odododiodioo mentioned their landfill site, and access to it was a problem. So most of the trucks that went to offload refuse had to do it anywhere along the road, and it was so bad.
Mr Speaker, one striking observation in most of the places that we went was that there was a marked difference between areas managed by private companies and those by the public institutions. So we need to encourage the public institutions to learn from those under the management of the private sector, or we need to find a way to blend these issues so that we could have improvement in the management of our refuse.
Mr Speaker, we would want to support the President to fulfil the promise he revised. Initially, he was to make Accra the cleanest city by 2018. He then revised it to making Accra the cleanest city by the end of his first and only term in office.
Mr Speaker, however, there is a tall order. If the President would be able to realise this, the evidence on the ground does not show that he is anywhere close to achieving this target. We all have a duty to support him so that we achieve it not only in Accra, but everywhere else in this country.
Mr Speaker, in the last but one paragraph of page 5 of the Report, there is something I would want to bring your attention to. It says that the stench emanating from the disposed waste was unbearable, and the site
poses a health threat to residents in the area in particular and the metropolis in general. This is in respect of the Oti landfill site.
The Committee also observed that the liquid waste disposed has a possibility of contaminating the Oti River. If this is true, then we can all imagine the health threat it poses to the people there. So I would want to humbly request that there should be a further investigation into this to find out if this is true, so that something is done about it quickly.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Members who spoke earlier mentioned that globally, it is expected that realistically, some amount of money must be spent for a tonnage of refuse collected. In Ghana, we are doing way below that. It is about US$25, but we are doing below US$5 per tonnage. That is not even the challenge.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Is it not curious that when it comes to construction, our charges are way above the global market? Meanwhile, when it comes to service provision, then we are way below the world market prices. It is very interesting.
Mr Ampem 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is rightly so, but my emphasis here is not even on the amount. Rather, it is about
irregular payments, per the Report. So these private service providers borrow and pay more on the borrowed funds. If we are unable to pay realistic charges, we could help the situation by improving upon the period which we make payments, so that these services could be rendered promptly.
I would also want to say that the Hon Minister for the Ashanti Region called for a landfill site and a recycling plant that is under construction in the Ashanti Region to be completed early enough, so that they could begin to process their waste. I would want to call on all stakeholders that would support such initiatives to improve upon the sanitation situation in the country. We would want to help the President to succeed in the area of sanitation management. So he should help himself as we also help him.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Yes, Hon Minister for Zongo --
Minister of State (Alhaji Abu- Bakar S. Boniface) (MP) 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you. [Interruption.]
The Ministry in charge of Zongo development exists, and I was the substantive Hon Minister before. Right now, I am the Hon Minister of State in the Office of the Vice- President.
Minister of State (Alhaji Abu- Bakar S. Boniface) (MP) 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to support the Motion on the Floor and hence call on Hon Members to support this Report. The issue of sanitation has been much of a concern to the people of this country. At a point, H. E. the President of the Republic of Ghana declared that he wanted Accra to be the neatest city in the whole of West Africa. It is true.
Mr Speaker, following the concerns expressed, the joint Committee went on the field and saw what was quite alarming. Waste generation has increased rapidly at a geometric rate. Our visit to at least, three regions really exposed us to our weakness and the need to take immediate measures. In fact, some of the causes of this issue could be seen from either rural-urban migration and population growth, which generates most of these problems. In fact, if we do not take immediate measures, it would affect the good intention of H. E. the President.
Some of the dumping sites we saw -- Mr Speaker, most of the public entities are overwhelmed in the sense that -- let me put it in Akan parlance--agye nsam; to wit, it is out of control. They cannot manage because most of these wastes are either dumped in the bushes, some in
the valleys and some in running waters. Some of the dumping sites cannot be used again. Unfortunately, if we go through,we would realise what happened in recent times in Tema. This is because if we cap most of the dump sites, normally, we would have pipes planted in the dump sites that emit gas to control the sites.
Unfortunately however, with the way they compact the waste when dumping, they have closed the pipes. I am sure this is one of the causes that led to the explosion in Tema. If we care to know, we are sitting on time bomb if we do not deal with the issues very well.
Mr Speaker, when we went there, some of the sites emitted fluid leakages produced out of the waste. These leakages also indirectly flowed and permeated through the ground into people's wells and the mainline of some streams. An example was the Oti River in Kumasi. This happens in other areas.
Mr Speaker, our health is so important. I think this could cause some health hazards for this country one day because people drink water from their wells without treating the water. If this leakage passes through, in the end, it would be a problem. At the end of the day, when we are looking for something good, the little
money given to the Ministry of Health would now be directed as emergency to save people's lives.
So Mr Speaker, this is another thing we realised aside the deplorable roads. In fact, because the roads leading to the dumping sites were so deplorable, some of the vehicles and the tricycles that carried the waste materials dumped them at any places they felt convenient, which has closed the roads to the actual dumping sites. That is so dangerous for us.
It is something that would become more expensive in treating. Right now, the estimation that was given was that a place like Kumasi should generate about 500 tonnes of waste a day; but at the moment, it is estimated to generate about 1,200 to 1,500 tonnes of waste a day.

If we cannot control 500 tonnes, how could we control 1500 tonnes in a day? There is no problem in this world that has no solution. One interesting and commendable thing we saw was a private institution that was able to raise funds close to GH¢50 million to construct an asphalt road. It engaged the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as consultants to construct

the roads to one of the plants that has been established. I believe that if it is well done, it could be replicable to other regions.

Mr Speaker, if it is controlled, we would be able to encourage - because we are trying to enhance our tourism sector, for people to visit this country, and the best thing to do is to keep it very clean. If we find people dumping waste in our water bodies -- even along the shores have become a place of convenience for our people. I do not think this would attract tourists. If we are able to control ourselves, it would help us a lot.

Mr Speaker, we came to the conclusion that we have to encourage the Government to try and raise a financial package in a concessionary manner, where the Government could have a lien on the equipment that would be produced because one of the challenges was with equipment. So, if Government could support the private sector by getting equipment and also having a lien on the equipment based on the work and the certificates they raise, part of it could be used to service the debts.

Mr Speaker, as we speak, almost all the public authorities are indebted. They cannot pay based on the budgetary allocation that is often given to the them.
Mr Speaker, we were also looking at a place 3:03 p.m.
None

Mr Speaker, if you would remember, a time when the workers of a particular institution went on strike -- the Ministries and Parliament are connected. When they blocked it for just one day, we could not use the toilet facilities. The whole system blew back to us, and the whole of Ministries was overwhelmed with bad odour. If the faecal matter is well-connected, waste would no longer be a dangerous product. Waste is wealth because it could be recycled.

Even the faecal matter is being recycled into fertilizer. All these would help us to reduce the amount of foreign exchange that we invest to import fertilizers into this country. If one-third of the amount is diverted into that sector, this country would be saved and H. E. the President would be able to achieve the promise he made to this country.

So we would call on Hon Members to support the Report such that some attention would be given to the sector, and it would help in the country's growth in terms of development.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. We are requesting for support for the sector because it is capital intensive. I do not know whether I would be corrected. It is only in some of the socialist countries. There is nowhere in this world that we have the Government getting itself so much involved in waste management.

It is often done by the private sector. In the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), they are done by the private sector. However, the public sector gives them support from the beginning because in the beginning, they are considered an infant industry. They are supported to a level that when they are matured, the Government withdraws its support and leaves them to operate. I believe if we do same in this country -- Ghana is always being emulated based on our good policies. If we do this, other countries would come and understudy.

Mr Speaker, thank you for this opportunity.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Leadership?
Alhaji Muntaka 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I hope you would take Hon Ahmed before me.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Hon Member, you have been out and back, but I am here. Please, we are not saying anything new. We are repeating the same things.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarack Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase) 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would commend your Committees for the great job done.
Mr Speaker, when someone reads the Report and walks on our streets and puts together what he sees, especially in densely populated communities, he would appreciate the challenge before us.
Mr Speaker, sometimes we wait for the problem to get out of hand and then we begin to call others from abroad to come and help. Sometimes it makes us look like we are less intelligent in dealing with our own problems.
Mr Speaker, there has been a number of important issues raised in this Report, which have been articulated strongly by our Hon Colleagues in the Chamber. I would
start from where the Hon Member for Madina ended. Maybe, communist country China may be the only country that -- I am not sure, or Cuba -- where the Government may be deeply involved in waste management, and has succeeded.
If we look at most developing countries, and even middle developed countries, we would clearly see that those who try to use Government agencies to manage waste have a terrible situation.
Mr Speaker, it does not sound diplomatic to cite some of the countries that you and I have travelled together to see filthy countries and neat ones. These are because of the way they have managed their waste. It is just like food.
Once a person has his stomach and he is healthy, when the day comes, even if it means we would have to find any other means to put food in the stomach, we have to put in food.
3. 13 p. m.
Once we put in food, when the time comes to get rid of its by- products, there is nothing we could do. Even if provisions have not been made we find our own ways of doing it and our own ways of disposing it.

Mr Speaker, when we go to most of the densely populated com- munities, we see people who ‘shit' into polythene bags, tie it and throw them across their fences.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Hon Leader, what did you say? That is very unparliamentary.
Alhaji Muntaka 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we could choose to be diplomatic about the kind of words we want to use.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
You are bound to.
Alhaji Muntaka 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, people ease themselves into polythene bags and tie them, look left, look right and once nobody is observing, they throw it over their fence walls or probably in a drain hoping that nature would take care of it. It would rain, some of them would get choked and cause flooding. It sometimes causes faster silting of the drains. Now we have come with highly earned taxpayers' money pretending to be collecting, desilting
-- 3:03 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
There are two Hon Deputy Ministers.
Alhaji Muntaka 3:03 p.m.
Why has the Hon Minister for Sanitation not signed the Off-taker Agreement?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:03 p.m.
The Ministry of Sanitation has two Hon Deputy Ministers, one of them should be here to explain to us why.
Alhaji Muntaka 3:03 p.m.
Why have they not signed the Management Contract? What prevents them from carrying out this act? I think this is a very important issue that this House needs to get a full briefing from the Hon Minister so that we do not get just
Mr Matthew Nyindam (NPP -- Dambai) 3:23 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I think that a lot has been said about sanitation and it is an undeniable fact that as a country, we are seriously battling sanitation. Presidents upon Presidents have promised to make sure that this
country is clean, and for that matter, as a House, we need to take this exercise very seriously.
We should be in a position to manage our waste and any country that is not in a position to manage its waste would be seen as a country that does not think ahead. As some other Hon Members have said, we should not wait till the day we would get up and the odour of the whole country has changed.
Mr Speaker, I am reliably informed that at the Ministries, and even here in Parliament, in relation to the waste that we generate, if we do not take time and do not fulfil our financial obligations, and those who manage it decide to stop work for just two days, we would not be happy to stay here. For that matter, I think that we should look at it very well.
Mr Speaker, your Committee said something on page 10 about the Sewage System Ghana Limited; and I must say we need to look at it very well. If you look at Kumasi and Accra, this particular company has engaged and built a lot of the plants. It is a Ghanaian owned company and if you look at the Report, everything about it is Ghanaian. These are the kind of companies that we all must, as much as possible, support.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:23 a.m.
Hon Deputy Minister, I want to hear you after the Hon Majority Leader.
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to make just a few remarks but not really contribute.
First, I guess we must express our profound appreciation to this Joint Committee for the kind of work that they have done. It was a huge task that was assigned to them and they have done a tremendous job by the Report that they have produced. We must highly commend them for this work. Having said that, they have made very serious observations on the challenges in the sanitation sector.
Mr Speaker, the information provided to us should inform us that this nation is at the precipice of disaster. It is a catastrophe of monumental proportions that is waiting to afflict us if we do not take immediate steps. The observations talked about the tonnage of waste
churned out on a daily basis in all our cities. I even want to believe that the 1200 to 2500 metric tonnes is a huge understatement.
Accra alone is in the region of 4000 metric tonnes a day and Kumasi is around 2500 a day. One can talk about Tamale and Sekondi-Takoradi. In the last sentence of paragraph 5.1 of the Report, we are told that with urban population growth predicted to rapidly increase due to rural urban drift among other factors, there would be the need for city planners and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to factor population growth in the planning and provision of facilities, particularly, basic sanitation facilities.
Mr Speaker, there would be no need because the need is here and has arisen for these things to be done. Already, the need is with us, so it is not a tomorrow event but a yesterday event.
Then on the management of landfill sites, the statement in the Report is revealing. It was noted that the various departments allocate a greater proportion of their annual budgets to the collection and transportation of waste, with an insignificant proportion allocated for the management and
maintenance of the landfills. Why do they do that? This is because rapid results inure to them when they do this at the various District Assemblies and they all know that.

Mr Speaker, if they say they are collecting and transporting it, they know how to manage it, which is nothing that we can visibly measure. They do not spend money on that, because it would be difficult to justify. If they tell us what they pay per trip, they would do that and then God knows where those allocations go to. We all know a huge chunk goes to line private pockets.

For how long would we continue in this enterprise, when every year, Reports from the Auditor-General tells us the huge mismanagement that goes on there.? Yet every District Assembly would tell you that a great proportion of the moneys that are given to them from the District Assembly's Common Fund (DACF) goes into management of these things. We all know that they are not able to do it.

Mr Speaker, another observation under the “dependence on landfill sites as predominant method for soil waste management'' in the Report was that:
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote article 103(3) which says 3:33 p.m.
“Committees of Parliament shall be charged with such functions, including the investigation and inquiry into the activities and administration of ministries and departments as Parliament may determine; and such investigations and inquires may extend to proposals for legislation''.
So what would the Committee tell us to do?
Mr Speaker, going forward, I want us to have maybe, a select group - I do not know whether from the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, perhaps, the leadership of the three Committees that dealt with this to come with proposals for us to confront this reality before we have our maggidim unleashed on us.
I would want us to seriously consider this. It is a matter that we should not leave hanging. There should be proposal to us. Beyond that we should extend this into legislation that should be the natural sequel of this that we have discovered. Maybe, for us as a House -- I do not know whether the three Committees because it is a referral to the Committees, they should lead us to do this - to establish and formulate proposal for legislation. Would it come from these three Joint Committees?
I suggested that we should have maybe, the leadership of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to be added to the leadership of these three Committees to come up with some formulation. Once they have done
that -- we are struggling with the Private Members Bill and maybe, this could be a lead for us or if still there is a headlight, we could then submit the proposal to the appropriate Ministry for us to have this reality happen in Parliament. We should not leave it hanging because it is disaster in the waiting.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the space granted but I think that we should lead ourselves to make proposals for legislation and however it should be constructed, I believe the Chair could guide us to the way forward so that in the foreseeable future - this is a budget Meeting, so I am not too sure if we could create for that but into the next Meeting, certainly, the Joint Committee, plus the leadership of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamen- tary Affairs should submit a proposal to us in this direction.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, would you tell us anything on why the delay in signing the Off-taker Agreements?
Mr Boamah 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the parties are still in negotiations and we know what goes into negotiations. So
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Let me hear you.
Mr Boamah 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is a very detailed Report and I must commend the Committee for that. It captures the sentiments of Ghanaians in the sanitation subsector and that is why I have seen the signatures of three able Hon Chairmen, who were part of the Committee that went round - Hon Nana Amoakoh, Hon Kennedy Agyapong and Hon Yaw Frimpong Addo.
Mr Speaker, let us speak as Ghanaians for once. I have been to Oti, Kpone and Sekondi Takoradi -- most of the landfill sites--- and we do not want to put our moneys where our mouths are. The recommendations by the Committee is correct. Brazil, La Cote d'Ivoire and the rest, pay proper rate and therefore, attract the right investors to deploy modern technologies to resolve the challenges. It is not rocket science.
If we pay what is not acceptable internationally, we would not get any investor to come into the country
because there would not be any return on our investment.
Secondly, it is about time that senior members of this country visit where their waste go to. Also, Hon Members of the Committee like Hon Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, have made serious recommendations -- they listed about eight challenges. Would there be a U-turn when we bring a levy or a Bill to charge the proper rate -- would politics be played?
This is a unanimous Report from Hon Colleagues but when the Government decides to bring a Bill to increase the rate to attract the investment that we all desire to get in the investors that they have recommended, I pray there would not be a U-turn. Hon Members have to support such an initiative from Government.
Mr Speaker, paragraph 6.4.1 of the Report, gives a list of what has been recommended in terms of --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
Hon Deputy Minister, I have heard you. I thought you probably had a solution but you have repeated the challenges.
I think we must meet with the ministries that are responsible.
I would have wished that we could meet the city managers but our Rules do not permit us to call the city managers and so, we will call the Hon Ministers. They must tell us the solution they have, show why we should continue to pay one quarter of the internationally accepted fee and why the Offtaker Agreements are not being signed.
Mr A. Ibrahim 3:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the question you asked the Hon Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources and he said negotiations are ongoing, the substantive Minister (Ms Cecilia Dapaah) was here about two weeks ago and when the question was posed, she said that she was going to sign the Offtaker Agreement.
Mr Speaker, the challenge why it has not been signed was the question you asked. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the private sector. So the Hon Minister for Local Government and Rural Development now says that sanitation is now the baby of the Ministry of Sanitation and not the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. That is the challenge why the Hon Minister has not continued with the signing of the Offtaker Agreement.
The one that has to do with Kumasi, if you are to invite the Hon Ministers, it should be in less than one week. This is because the Report cannot contain everything. The Tamale issue where there was an outbreak of poliomyelitis, was due to the landfill sites. Secondly, upon checks, the river was identified to be the source of the virus.
Then in Kumasi, when we went to the Oda River, the Committee gave instruction to the Mayor of Kumasi that he should stop the people from dumping faecal matter into it because we asked the environmental officer if people do not drink this water. He said those downstream drink that water. We further questioned him if he does not think if people could contract some diseases, he said, by natural siltation, by the time the faecal matter gets downstream, there might be natural treatment.
So as a matter of urgency we need to call on them within a period of a week. Looking at the Report of the Offtaker Agreement, the private sector is saying, whether it is the international or local rate, find the Offtaker Agreement for the local rate so that the waste will be treated before -- So it should be within a period of a week to call the Hon
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
So are we talking about either the Hon Minister for Sanitation, Local Government and Rural Development or both of them?
Very well.
In the circumstance, I direct that the Hon Ministers for Water and Sanitation and Local Government and Rural Development appear before the Committee of the Whole on or before 10th December, 2019.
Mr Patrick Boamah 3:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Sanitation will be traveling to Kumasi to visit the Municipality from Sunday, 8th to 11th. I just want to --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
You must meet us so that you have something to take with her but the Hon Leaders will programme the meeting so they will be in consultation with her to programme the meeting.
So that is my direction. Hon Leader, I think that we can bring proceedings to an end today.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thought the directive deals with just one leg of the issue. I propose that you constitute an ad-hoc group to deal with formulating proposals to deal with this canker. We cannot go on like -- Or you want us to -- ?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
Allow that to come out after the meeting because any proposal should include their input.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, very well. I guess we can adjourn today and then --
As I indicated, we started extended --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
We have not adopted the Report; we have not put the Question on the Report.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
Now, unless there is any announcement, I intend to adjourn the House.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just to remind you that we have heavy Business before us especially, the three Bills that we intend to finish before the 21st.
So tomorrow, we will certainly continue with the Consideration of the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, 2019 and then the others when we finish with this, we will attend to them.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:43 p.m.
Very well. The House is adjourned to
Wednesday, 4th December, 2019, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
ADJOURNMENT 3:43 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 3.51 p.m. till Wednesday, 4th December, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.