Debates of 19 May 2020

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:39 a.m.
WELCOME REMARKS BY RT 10:39 a.m.
HON SPEAKER 10:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:39 a.m.
Hon Members, Welcome Remarks.
I warmly welcome you to the House to commence business for yet another Meeting. While the House was on recess, some Committees took time
to carry out some official assignments. These include the Appointments Committee which had two Sittings last week to consider the four Justices nominated by His Excellency, the President of the Republic to the Supreme Court; and the Standing Orders Committee which also met over the weekend to review the new Standing Orders. We appreciate the Committee for finally concluding its work.
The Report of the Appointments Committee is ready for presentation and consideration by this honourable House. The works of the Standing Orders Committee would be expedited for validation by the House very soon.
Hon Members, as you would recollect, the final document was distributed to all Hon Members and a deadline set for suggestions to be
Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.
submitted. I extend my appreciation to all Hon Members who sent various suggestions.
By and large, I also hold the presumption that the numerous engagements by the Hon Members in the Constituencies were fruitful, and undoubtedly, would feed into both deliberative and legislative processes of this honourable House.
Hon Members, business expected to be transacted during the Meeting is of tall order. The Hon Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business would avail the House of the details. May I use this opportunity to appeal to Hon Chairpersons of Committees to facilitate timeous completion of work on all referrals to their respective Committees.
Hon Members, I wish to announce that Parliament's strategic colla- boration with STAR-Ghana has successfully run its course ending 30th April, 2020. Target groups, namely the Leadership; Parliamentary Service; Committee on Local Government; Committee on Educa- tion; Committee on Gender; Commi- ttee on Government Assurances; African Parliamentarian's Network Against Corruption (APNAC); all these directly benefited from grand funding of GH¢5.4 million.
Indeed, the partnership has largely facilitated the capacity building of our institutional human resource; it enhanced our engagement with civil society organisations, and last but not least, our responsiveness. Parliament is grateful to STAR-Ghana and their financiers; the European Union (EU), Department of International Development (DFID) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for their support.
Hon Members, plans are underway to mark the official conclusion of this important partnership to coincide with the official launch of the Strategic Plan for Parliament of Ghana for 2020 - 2024, which was partly funded under the programme.
With the STAR-Ghana sponsor- ship, I led the process to direct MPs to get engaged in public education in the media regarding the COVID-19. THE Parliament looks forward to further collaboration with STAR- Ghana, and indeed, we are actively engaged in expanding the frontiers of our cooperation.
Hon Members, some facilities under the Physical Infrastructurale Enhancement Project are expected to be completed and handed over to us very soon. These include the Drivers' and Visitors' Waiting Rooms; the
Administration Block Annex and the Tower (Job 600) Block Annex barring any unforeseen contingencies.
May I also announce to the House the appointment, by the Parliamentary Service Board, of a new Clerk to Parliament in the person of Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah. The appointment was made by the Board at its 23rd Regular Meeting held on Thursday, 7th May, 2020. Until his appointment as Clerk to Parliament, Mr Nsiah was Deputy Clerk responsible for Finance, Admini- stration and General Services and also acted as Clerk to Parliament. May I entreat Hon Members and staff to collaborate and work with Mr Nsiah in his new capacity as Clerk to Parliament.
Hon Members, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, and as the rate of infection steadily grows while there is no scientifically approved cure of any vaccine, we should adhere to all the laid down hygiene protocols to abate the spread. These include washing of hands with soap under running water; cleaning our hands with disposable paper; application of approved hand sanitisers; wearing of approved masks while in public and observing social distancing which are requisites for keeping us safe.
Hon Members, now that we have made arrangement with STAR- Ghana, we have become participants in public education as indeed, MPs must do. Could we imagine we Hon Members here going to educate the public only for us to be seen by the public doing otherwise? It would be most unfortunate.

In addition to observing the established protocols, I have directed, on the authority of the Parliamentary Service Board, the Clerk to Parliament and Parliament's medical officers to liaise with the appropriate institutions to immediately conduct tests for all Hon Members and Staff of the Parliamentary Service for COVID-19. I request your cooperation in this enterprise.

May I use the occasion to express the admiration of the House to all frontline staff of the Ghana Health Service, as they have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate unwavering commitment to the fight against COVID-19 in our dear country. As we commence work for the Meeting, may I request Hon Members to continue to give their best and be punctual to all official engagements of the House.
MINORITY LEADER 10:49 a.m.
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 10:49 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you. I can only thank God for bringing us back to yet another Sitting of the Second Meeting of Parliament, and
to paraphrase your words, be assured that we would engage constructively and cooperate in the discharge of our duties as a Parliament for the good of our country.
Mr Speaker, we recognises that we are indeed in extraordinary times, but it is my expectation that the focus of business for this Meeting would be mindful of the new normal times. We as leadership, need to provide beyond physical distancing, the need to demonstrate to Ghanaians that as Parliament, we are respecting the protocols to contain COVID-19.
I should also further assure you that this House, so far with your leadership and with the support of the entire Leadership, has responded to the national call to duty in supporting the Executive to engage in every lawful exercise to contain COVID-19. We are indeed concerned about the growing numbers. We do not know when Ghana would reach its peak and we do not pray that Ghana would become an epicentre. So, the Executive would need our strong support to contain the pandemic.
Mr Speaker, my caution is that there can be no trade-off between the health and safety of our citizens and the recovery and revival of our economy. We need to be guided on how to safeguard the lives of our
citizens, while at the same time, begin a national discussion on what happens to our proud Ghana post COVID-
19.
I have no hesitation in requesting that probably, the Hon Minister for Finance should come to Parliament earlier than is required of him under the Public Financial Management Act, with a revised budget. I have no fear of contradiction that this could wither away the Budget Statement of 2020. I do not think that the Budget we approved for 2020 can stand the threat of COVID-19. Therefore, earlier than later, the Hon Minister for Finance may have to come to this House with a revised Budget Statement.
We have given him the necessary approvals and he got US$1 billion or its cedi equivalent. We gave him US$219 million or its cedi equivalent post stabilisation, but in granting those requests, we did not provide room for deeper accountability. We need to know how every single penny of those moneys have been disbursed -- the US$1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the GH¢1 billion. That is why we go line by line with the Appropriation. We need to appreciate how every single penny is used and we demand accountability and transparency in respect of those matters.
Mr Speaker, as you are aware, in my Closing Remarks for Last Meeting, I requested for a meeting for us to engage with the Electoral Commission of Ghana. I can only renew that call, that with or without COVID-19, this country's democracy would evolve. They would be expected to conduct presidential and parliamentary elections and we need to know their roadmap in respect of that going forward. We would not accept any excuse about their inability to not live up to their calling under article 45.
Mr Speaker, let me thank you once again and thank the ever diligent and hardworking Hon Majority Leader, except to ask him to sometimes lower his bullying exercise. [Laughter.] I also thank the Hon First Deputy Speaker, Hon Second Deputy Speaker and our Hon Colleagues and wish everybody well. The only thing is that I do not wish him and his party well in the December elections, but I wish him every success. Thank you.
Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
REMARKS BY THE HON 10:49 a.m.
MAJORITY LEADER 10:49 a.m.
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 10:49 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 10:59 a.m.
opportunity offered me to also welcome my Hon Colleagues back to the House to begin the Second Meeting.
The First Meeting was a bit bumpy, given what we had to do, the suspension of the Meeting and the events that followed. I should show appreciation to the efforts of Hon Members who exhibited very great diligence in applying themselves to the work that came before us when we had to suspend the Meeting.
Mr Speaker, within the short period of adjournment, a lot has also been achieved, as referrals to Committees were discharged and the Committees also worked on them. I must commend, in particular, the Standing Orders Committee that has managed to conclude the review of the Standing Orders.
I would want to appeal to Hon Colleagues, because when the Standing Orders come to the House, they would come to the House under article 11(7) of the Constitution. Since they are Orders, they have to be laid and referred to the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and at that time, Hon Members would have little to do by way of influencing the Orders that might come before us.
Mr Speaker, so before we get there, I would like to entreat Hon
Members and because Hon Members have been given copies already, if anybody has any input, it could be done between now and the time it would be laid.

Mr Speaker, Hon Members have been served copies. What they do not have is the amended one that we have done, but every one of us has a copy of the old one -- that is in the old state that it was before the review by the Standing Orders Committee. That one would be done and Hon Members would be served copies. Once we have it, we intend to conclude the business on it at this Meeting so that it would have effect into the next Meeting, which should be the Third Meeting of this Fourth Session of the Seventh Parliament.

Mr Speaker, once we have that, I believe we are assuming things -- whether there is COVID-19 or not, that should engage the attention of all of us. In the review of our Orders, we chanced so many things in the Constitution that really should engaged the attention of this House and maybe, in the process, we could elevate some of these strands to the national level for discussion so that from that we could have a much more holistic review of the Constitution. We need to engage in that.

Over the weekend, we had some discussions amongst us and we even realised that for the House to approve the expenditure of Government, which is what we do at the end of the presentation of a Budget Statement to us, the various sectors -- the Committees that engaged and perused the documents, unfortunately, it is like the Constitution does not provide space for us to really approve of the various Estimates and we need to do this. Of course, by practice, we have been doing that but clearly, as expressed in the Constitution, it does not exist and that is the difficulty. Somebody made a joke that when budgets are prepared by some other people, we could expect some of these problems. However, clearly, as a House and as a country, we need to interrogate some of these matters.

Mr Speaker, I agree that the general parliamentary and presidential elections must be held, because as I indicated the other day, the Constitution is ambivalent in the way to proceed, should there be no general parliamentary and presidential elections and then when January 7h 2021 catches us, we would find ourselves in an imbroglio and we do not want to get there. This is the reason why everything must be done to provide space for the holding of the general parliamentary and presidential elections.

There are processes that we should meet to the holding of the general parliamentary and presidential elections. The Hon Minority Leader raised some of these issues the other day that we should engage the Electoral Commission (EC). It is appropriate that we meet the EC whether at the level of a Special Budget Committee or perhaps, even in a Committee of the Whole.

Mr Speaker, this Meeting would be full of activities. In the Agenda for this Meeting, we have over 36 Bills that have been programmed for us, which I believe would be impossible for us to attend to all of them.

We also have 18 Bills at the Committee level, and we would have the Second Reading to some of them. Five Bills have also been programmed for Consideration Stage. In a nutshell, we would consider over 60 Bills, which is a mere impossibility. That is why we met the Hon Ministers yesterday to have them lead us into considering the very priority Bills. Given the circumstances of the times, we would practicably be able to deal with, maybe, a couple of them. I do not envisage a situation where we would be able to deal with more than 10 Bills during this Meeting.

The circumstances are extra- ordinary and we cannot even predict where anything may occasion the
Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Majority Leader.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:59 a.m.
Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.
Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 1st May,
2020.
Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.
Hon Members, item listed 3, Business Statement for the First Week by the Hon Chairman of the Business Committee and Leader of the House.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 11:09 a.m.
Chairman of the Business Committee/Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 11:09 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee met yesterday, Monday, 18th May, 2020 and arranged Business of the House for the First Week ending Friday, 22nd May, 2020.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 11:09 a.m.
Arrangement of Business
Formal Communications by the Speaker
Mr Speaker, you may read any available communication to the House.
Questions
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee has not scheduled any Hon Minister to respond to Questions. However, any Questions duly admitted by Mr Speaker would be programmed in due course for response by the relevant Hon Ministers of State.
Statements
Mr Speaker, pursuant to Order 70(2), Ministers of State may be permitted to make Statements of Government policy. Statements duly admitted by Mr Speaker may be made in the House by Hon. Members, in accordance with Order
72.
Bills, Papers and Reports
Mr Speaker, Bills may be presented to the House for First Reading in accordance with Standing
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 11:09 a.m.
Order 120. However, those of urgent nature may be taken through the various stages in one day in accordance with Standing Order 119.
Pursuant to Standing Order 75, Papers for presentation to the House may be placed on the Order Paper for laying. Committee reports may also be presented to the House for consideration.
Motions and Resolutions
Mr Speaker, Motions may be debated and their consequential Resolutions, if any, taken during the week.
Meeting With Leadership of Committees
Mr Speaker, in view of the tall order of referrals pending at Committees, the Business Committee recommends that its Leadership holds a meeting with the Leadership of Committees to determine the priority business to be reported on by Committees for consideration at plenary. The meeting is proposed to be held on Wednesday, 20th May, 2020 at 12:00 noon, and in the Conference Room on the 7th Floor of the West Wing of the Job 600 building.
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee welcomes all Hon Members back from the recess. The
Business Committee concedes that the recess period was very brief. The Committee however, assumes that Members have endeavoured to take some rest.
The Second Meeting is expected to span about Twelve Weeks and would be demanding of Members. All Hon Members are therefore implored to brace themselves up to the task ahead of us and to manage their time to be present in the Chamber for scheduled business.
Conclusion
Mr Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 160(2) and subject to Standing Order 53, the Committee submits to this honourable House the order in which the Business of the House shall be taken during the week under consideration.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(a) Ghana AIDS Commission Regulations, 2020.

(b) Annual Report of the National Road Safety Commission for the Year

2018.

(c) Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on the Sustainability of Sports Stadia in Ghana.

(d) Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation for the Period January to December, 2019.

(e) Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development for the Period January to December, 2019.

(f) Twenty-Sixth Report of the Appointments Committee on H.E. the President's nominations for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.

Presentation and First Reading of Bills --

(a) Borrowers and Lenders Bill,

2020.

(b) Real Estate Authority Bill,

2020.

Consideration Stage of Bills

Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019. (Continuation)

Committee sittings

Statements --

Motions --

Second Reading of Bills

Ghana Cocoa Board (Amend- ment) Bill, 2017.

Adoption of the twenty-sixth Report of the Appointments Committee on H.E. the President's nominations for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.

Consideration Stage of Bills

Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019. (Continuation)

Committee sittings.

Statements --

Presentation of Papers --

Report of the Committee on Mines and Energy on the 2020 Work Programme of the Ghana National Corporation (GNPC).
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 11:09 a.m.
Motions --
Adoption of the Report of the Committee on Local Govern- ment and Rural Development on Monitoring Visits to Selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Country.
Consideration Stage of Bills
Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019. (Continuation)
Committee sittings

Statements --

Presentation of Papers --

Report of the Finance Committee on the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Motions --

Third Reading of Bills

Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019.

Consideration Stage of Bills

Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management Bill,

2020.

Chartered Institute of Marketing Bill, 2020.

Committee sittings
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:09 a.m.
Mr Speaker, just as referrals are made to Committees and they are required to report to the House within three months, the practice in the House is that when Questions are filed and the Meeting ends, the Questions then lapse, unless Hon Members demonstrate interest to resurrect them.
Sometimes Hon Members take it for granted that once that Question has been asked and it has not been responded to in a year it must be responded to by the Hon Minister. Hon Members must resurrect their interest, and indication must be given to the Table Office if they are already admitted, then they will be programmed accordingly.
Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.
I thank you very much, Hon Majority Leader, particularly for saving us reading out the details of the items as they have been duly presented already.
Alhaji Inusah A. B. Fuseini 11:09 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is normal for a meeting of Parliament of this nature, if Government shares with Parliament its legislative programme, to make us all aware that these are the pieces of legislation that are critical in the thinking of Government and might be required to be passed during this Meeting.
Mr Speaker, I am just wondering whether, as Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the Majority Leader is aware of the legislative programme of Government because speaking for my Committee, the reason the Committees are unable to perform on referrals is that we truncate meetings that have been planned, and bring new matters which require urgent attention.
Mr Speaker, in the past, Committee Members were invited to meetings and then the Attorney- General and Minister for Justice shared with Hon Members and Leadership, the legislative programme of Government for the Meeting. In view of what the Hon Majority Leader has said, I am wondering whether he is aware of a legislative programme so that we can all programme ourselves and ensure that we accomplish it within this particular Sitting.
I thank you.
Mr Patrick Y. Boamah 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to believe that during this particular Meeting, this House would put a particular eye on time management.
Mr Speaker, the Agenda for this Meeting is clearly spelt out; there are about 16 Bills -- Bills at Consideration Stage are about seven and there are about 26 Instruments to be laid.
Mr Speaker, things that take a chunk of our time, I believe, are Statements that are made on the floor of this House. I believe that the rules permit that but the same rules also require Hon Members to comment on those Statements briefly.

Mr Speaker, I believe that with this load on this House during this Meeting and also being an election year, we expect that proper regulation --
rose
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Hon Member, do I see you on your feet by chance?
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
The Hon Member is not seized with the authority to ask anything of the Table Office. [Laughter]-- Hon Boamah, you may continue.
Mr Boamah 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, my only concern is about the admission of Statements and the time spent on it on the Floor. Looking at the agenda set out for this Meeting, we beg of you to regulate the admission of Statements and the time allotted for which the rules set out that we should not spend more than one hour on Statements. Very often we spend about two or three hours while we
have huge Bills that are of economic importance to the Government.
Mr Speaker, so I plead that you regulate the admission of Statements and the time allotted for it during these times. Thank you very much.
Mr Ras Mubarak 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader has said, time and again, the tall order of Business we have. I would appeal that indeed, we make good use of the time in these early days so that we do not have to lump up loads of work towards the tail end of this particular Meeting.
Secondly, in view of the COVID- 19 pandemic, Parliaments across the world have adopted measures like virtual Parliaments where some are allowed to take part in the debate of the House online.
Mr Speaker, I would like to appeal that we consider -- this is because on a day where we would do Mid- Year Budget Review, for instance, the House will be full; even if we offloaded other Hon Members of Parliament onto the Public Gallery, we may still not have enough space for the safe social distancing measures that we encourage.
So, if there could be a possibility of a virtual Parliament as in Westminster, Australia and France,
where some Hon Members of Parliament have been allowed to take part in debates from their offices and elsewhere as a way of reducing congestion in the Chamber and the number of Members in the House.
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Thank you very much. Notably, in all those cases where they particularly describe this as “fanning out” in what we read in the English papers, they also looked at matters of quorum within the exigencies of a nation at war. All these are issues that Hon Members may want to bring to their attention whiles we proceed with our work in a very difficult season.
Yes, Hon Mahama Ayariga?
Mr Mahama Ayariga 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much. It is obvious that wearing the face mask is a bit uncomfortable and sometimes, we notice that when Hon Members of Parliament are speaking, they tend to take the mask out. I think that you need to issue appropriate directives that everyone who is speaking must make sure that the mask, at least, covers his mouth -- from the Hon Majority Leader to the backbenchers -- everybody should respect that rule.
Mr Benjamin Komla Kpodo 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want some further clarification on item numbered 3 on the Business Statement which has to do with meeting with the leadership of Committees scheduled to take place tomorrow in the conference room on the 7th floor, of the West Wing Job 600.
If we are talking about leadership of the Committees, I think that we have four; Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Ranking and Deputy Ranking. If all the leadership of the Committees will be brought to that small place where we hold Finance Committee meetings -- If we have to respect the protocol of social distancing, I think that the Hon Majority Leader would have to reconsider the venue as well as clarifying who will attend the meeting so that we can all be comfortable with such a major activity.
Mr Sampson Ahi 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we are all working very hard to protect ourselves from the COVID-19 pandemic but if you look at the Majority Side, you will see a “Diva hand sanitizer”. Looking at the Minority Leadership table, you will see “Diva hand sanitizer” as well as the two Hon Deputy Speakers of Parliament.
I would like to draw the attention of the Hon Majority Leader that we
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Hon Member, thank you. It is well taken. I was just going to end here by saying that we are moving away from the real matter. Hon First Deputy Speaker and then Hon Minority Leader?
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, for the information of the House, the hand sanitizers at the front tables are for the entire House. Hon Member for Bodi, Mr Sampson Ahi has actually used it twice this morning. [Laughter] --
However, that is not the only issue: the Chamber Ushers of the Marshal's Department in the Chamber moves them around for Hon Members as and when they call for it.
Mr Speaker, if we need more, that is a different request to suggesting that the Leadership has introduced
discrimination. Ever since they were introduced in the House, however, I have seen Hon Members come themselves or ask for the hand sanitizers to be taken to them and we have duly complied. For Mr Ahi, he has used the hand sanitizer twice today. [Laughter] --
Hon Minority Leader?
11. 29 a.m.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, this is just one issue. The Leader of Government Business will have to guide us on the nature of the Business for this Meeting.
It cannot be every business. For instance, while I am wearing the nose mask, I cannot contribute to Consideration Stage for more than an hour or two hours. So we must be very selective of the nature of the business because we are not in normal times. For instance, we have the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management Bill, 2019 and the Chartered Institute of Marketing Bill, 2019, but I failed to see the urgency of these Bills.
Mr Speaker, in an extraordinary time, we must engage in extraordinary matters. If there are matters concerning finance, budget or
regarding COVID-19, then we can take them, but I have a difficulty with any other business. We should define the nature of the businesses so that when we start at 10.00am, we can dispatch the business with speed and move on. However, saying “any other business” as if wearing the nose mask is convenient, Mr Speaker, it is difficult for Hon Members, and as we wear it we would want to work within a limited time on limited business.
In other countries, we would have asked for physical isolation but we are mindful of article 102 of the 1992 Constitution, so the Hon Majority Leader should guide us well; the character and the nature of business that he brings must convince us of its urgency and exigency.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with the legislative programme of Government, we are still in the process of making a determination with respect to the very urgent ones. Hon Members heard that I related to the number of Bills that are before us and there are about
36 of them, and that is why I said that we need to make a determination on the 36 Bills.
Mr Speaker, regarding the Instruments for presentation, they are in the pipeline and there are 27 of them. However, two of them are already before the Committees and there are also about 25 Papers to be presented. That is why I indicated yesterday and Leadership met all the Hon Ministers, for us to know the priority areas. It is because of this that we are not able to circulate the agenda yet. We hurried here and we were not even able to change the colour of the document from white to the usual green. This is because we are yet to make a final determination on this, but once that is done by the close of the week, as I believe, then Hon Members would be given the legislative agenda of the House.
Mr Speaker, concerning time management as stressed by Hon Patrick Yaw Boamah, we would certainly deal with that. I think Hon Ras Mubarak also repeated almost what Hon Boamah said about time management .However, if he wants us to manage time better, then he should not repeat what has already been said. Mr Speaker, he does not help us to manage the time when he keeps
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, thank you very much.
Hon Members, the Business Statement as presented is hereby duly admitted.
At the Commencement of Public Business, we would take item listed 5 -- Presentation of Papers. Hon Minister of State responsible for the Ghana Aids Commission?
PAPERS 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Item numbered 5 (b).
By the Majority Leader
Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on the Sustainability of Sports Stadia in Ghana.
Referred to the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Item numbered 5 (c). Hon Minister for Transport?
Mr Matthew Nyindam 11:19 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways would lay the Paper on behalf of the Hon Minister for Transport.
Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.
Very well.
By the Minister for Roads and Highways (on behalf of the Minister for Transport) --
Annual Report of the National Road Safety Commission for the Year 2018.
Referred to the Committee on Roads and Transport.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Thank you very much. Item numbered 5(b), by the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Hon Member, you do not say the Hon Minister for Roads and Highway would present. You ask if the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways would be allowed to present on behalf of and for the reason that, then you are in business.
Mr Nyindam 11:39 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. With your permission and the leave of the House, the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways would lay the Paper on behalf of the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
For the reason that?
Mr Nyindam 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is for the reason that the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation is out of the jurisdiction. Unfortunately, he is not around to lay the Paper.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
The parliamentary language, to avoid unnecessary trouble, is that the Hon Minister is unavoidably absent. These are parliamentary language you would find in Erskine May. In fact, when you have used that, you then used a term of art to save yourself a lot of trouble.
Hon Whip, if you may please help us in that direction?
Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, just as we were talking about time management and all that, we need to send notice to Hon Ministers, especially those who are Members of Parliament (MPs) that this is also their House. They must make time to be in this House and attend to the Business of this House.
Mr Speaker, we hope that this excuse would not run deep into this Meeting. Obviously, it was for the unavoidable reason for which the Hon Minister is not around. Today, we might go with my Hon Colleague from the Majority, but we hope he would take the necessary steps to ensure that all Hon Ministers get to this House to attend to their Businesses.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
I would want us to note that as much as we want Hon Ministers to be here, “unavoidably absent“ includes a bad cold. It is on the records. If a Member of Parliament has a bad cold and would not want to be sneezing on others every five minutes, it is a good reason to be unavoidably absent. Let us just get our terminologies right. Nobody also controls the movement of colds. However, on an occasions such as
this, we must do all our best to respond to the call of duty.
Yes, Hon Minister for Communica- tions?
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe that the statement you just made is the right statement of fact, but as far as possible, whenever it is humanly possible, Ministers of State should appear in the House to conduct Business of the House, particularly those of us who are Members of Parliament, recognising that this is also our home. So I was a bit at a loss at the comment of the Hon Minority Chief Whip that we should be here.
Mr Speaker, we are here and we participate actively in the work of the House. The evidence before us is clear. The Hon Minister for Roads and Highways is here; the Hon Minister for Communications is here; the Hon Minister of State is here and the Minister for Information is also here. The Hon Minister for Education has been here this morning but he has a meeting to attend and has sought leave to attend the meeting. Mr Speaker, the evidence shows that we indeed come and participate actively in the work of the House and do not show any disrespect at all to the work of the House.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, a moment ago, my colleague the Hon Member was here when permission was sought for a Paper to be laid on behalf of the Hon Minister for Transport who is not here. Same was done for the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, and I can bet that same would be done for the Hon Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development; I cannot see him in the Chamber. This is what I am talking about. Those who have Business in the House must make it a duty to be here. I am not talking about those sitting here.
If a minister does not have a Business and you are here because you have Business, I am not referring to him. I am making reference to those who have Businesses and are not in the House to attend to those Businesses. In my view , this is a fair demand that we should make, if all of us are expected to be here. We are here and they must equally be here.
Mr Speaker, whereas I perfectly agree with you that there is nothing we could do about when there is a genuine reason, however, in the spate of ten to fifteen minutes, we have three ministers who are not around.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Hon Minister for Roads and Highways?
By the Minister for Roads and Highways (on behalf of the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation) --
Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation for the Period from January to December, 2019.
Referred to the Finance Committee.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Item numbered 5(e), Hon Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development?
Mr Nyindam 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your permission and leave of the House, the Hon Minister for Roads and Highways could lay this Paper on behalf of the Hon Minister for Inner- City and Zongo Development: My Colleague has already conceded that he should lay the Paper and so I do not expect him to rise on any objection again.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Very well. Hon Minister?
By the Minister for Roads and Highways (on behalf of the Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development) --
Budget Performance Report in Respect of the Ministry of Inner- City and Zongo Development for the Period January to December, 2019.
Referred to the Finance Committee.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Item numbered 5(f), Hon Chairman of the Committee?
By the Chairman of the Committee --
Twenty-Sixth Report of the Appointments Committee on H. E. the President's nominations for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Chairman.
We may go on to item listed as 6 - Presentation and First Reading of Bills. Item 6(a), Hon Minister for Finance?
Mr Nyindam 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with your permission and leave of the House, the Hon Deputy Minister for
Finance would lay the Bill on behalf of the Hon Finance Minister who is also unavoidably absent.
Mr Speaker, our colleague, the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance is capable of doing some of these things and so we should not object.
Mr Speaker 11:39 a.m.
We are not making an exception of Hon Deputy Ministers.
Hon Deputy Minister you may please lay the Paper.
BILLS -- FIRST READING 11:39 a.m.
Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 6(b). Yes, Hon Chairman of the Finance Committee, any assistance?
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 11:49 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to ask if the leadership on the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Par- liamentary Affairs would join because this is heavy on -- ?
Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.
Hon Member, that is not a problem. Sometimes when the committees become rather big, they do not seem to help.
rose
Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
Alhaji Muntaka 11:49 a.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
I agree with the Hon Chairman of the Finance Committee because whereas the Bill emanates for financial regulations, its nature and form is more legal. Had it not been what you said, the ideal situation would have been to have a Joint Committee.
Mr Speaker, I agree with you. The Finance Committee alone has 25 Hon Members, so we should add the
Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.
The four Hon Members to be added accordingly.
Hon Members, item numbered 6 (b).
BILLS -- FIRST READING 11:49 a.m.
Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.
Hon Members, before we move on to item numbered 7, the Hon Minister for Health is in the House to make a Statement on the current situation on Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) and COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. At this time, the
Hon First Deputy Speaker would please take the Chair.
STATEMENTS 11:49 a.m.
Minister for Health (Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) (MP) 11:49 a.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
I come before this honourable House to present the current situation on the CSM and COVID-19 Pandemic in our beloved country, Ghana.
Mr Speaker, few weeks ago, I presented to this House the situation with CSM and COVID-19. As at last Friday, 15th May, 2020, we had recorded 273 cases of CSM in the Upper West Region, unfortunately with 43 deaths recorded. As I stated then, majority of the cases were caused by the Sero X type Strain of which there is no vaccine on the globe. In fact, approximately 60 per cent of the samples analysed were NM (Sero X), which is a strain for which there is no vaccine globally as at now due to its rarity at causing epidemics. Mr Speaker, we ended yesterday, the 17th of May, 2020, with 42 new cases which brings the total case count to 315 cases.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, we have recorded two more deaths since
the last count two weeks ago which brings the total number of deaths to 45. No death was recorded in both weeks 19 and 20.
Mr Speaker, two weeks ago, Jirapa Municipality recorded eight cases within a defined window. This made the municipality cross the alert as well as the epidemic line. Such episodic spikes when triggers further it strengthens the already activated public health activities, in order to get hold on the trajectory of this disease.
Consequently, the number of recorded cases at the end of week 20 which is 17th May, 2020 fell to two cases in Jirapa Municipality, with Nadowli, Lawra and Nandom recording a case each. So, in all, five active cases are being managed in the Upper West Region with three patients on admission and they are all in stable condition.
Mr Speaker, the Regional Health Emergency Team together with the Municipal and District Health Emergency Teams are still at work. They are meeting weekly, coordinating efforts of staff and community officers as well as sensitising people on the need to report early to the clinic at the slightest sign of ailment.
Mr Speaker, CSM is an endemic condition. We would continue to work and provide updates and in the unfortunate situation of an outbreak, coordinate the output of all stakeholders to speedily arrest the situation as has happened by the close of week 20.
Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 Pandemic is still of global relevance. As of 17th of May, 2020, 4,795,000 cases had been recorded worldwide with about 316,000 deaths sadly chronicled.
The total case count for Ghana stood at 5,735, with 1,754 recoveries and 29 deaths. Most of the deaths had comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes and another organ pathologist has unfortunately died. When we subtract 1,754 and the 29 deaths from the total case count of 5,735, we would arrive at 3,952 cases that are positive with us today and they are receiving medical attention. The 3,952 cases represent our current disease burden and they are referred to as active cases.
Mr Speaker, Ghana has done a total of 174,077 tests, with 173,096 individual persons tested. The percentage of positive tests out of the total number stands at 3.2.
Minister for Health (Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) (MP) 11:59 a.m.


According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), countries with the right testing capacity are those likely to have lower infection, that is positivity rate. The greater the testing efforts, the lower the infection rate. Positivity rate is total positives over total tests.

Mr Speaker a country like Ghana has recorded 3 per cent average positivity because of the greater tests undertaken. Ghana's impressive testing regime has been recognised by the Washington Post in an article that sought to suggest to the so-called developed of the first world countries the need to learn from smaller countries.

Mr Speaker, kindly indulge me to quote sections of the article in the Washington Post titled: “When it comes to Coronavirus Response, Superpowers may need to study smaller nations.” Mr Speaker, on paragraph 11 of the article, it is stated as follows:

“In Ghana, the West African nation of some 30 million people, the government has had more than 161,000 people tested ...

Ghana found plenty of cases ..... with over 5,600 infections and 28 deaths confirmed. But extensive testing allowed the country to track individual outbreaks, including one at a fish-processing plant where one person infected 533 others.

The WHO is studying some of Ghana's techniques, including the potentially time saving practice of “pool testing”, in which multiple blood samples are tested together and processed separately only if a positive result is found.”

Mr Speaker, this recognition of Ghana's inspiring management regime beyond our borders is felt not only in the international media outlets but also in the statistics we have on COVID- 19 in Ghana.

Ghana's mortality rate stands at 0.5 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in the USA, 14.2 per cent in the UK, 3.8 per cent in Israel, 3.9 per cent in Japan, 6.3 per cent in Sierra Leone, and 3.0 per cent in Mauritius.

Mr Speaker, the rates simply tells us that for every thousand cases of COVID-19 in these countries, 59 deaths would occur in the USA, 63 deaths would occur in Japan, with 142

deaths occurring in the UK. Ghana on the other hand would have had five deaths for a thousand (1000) cases of COVID-19.

Mr Speaker, we are working hard to save every life and avoid even a single death. However, disease burdens and fatality rate comparison helps us to appreciate the yield from our efforts so as to bring out the best in us and not to portray that fewer deaths are not a big deal. Mr Speaker, out of the 3,952 active cases in Ghana, five are in moderate to severe conditions, that is 99.8 per cent are in good condition with either no symptoms at all or mild symptoms.

With such a high percentage of wellness for the positives, it comes as no surprise that our recovered counts have started rising steeply. Any COVID-19 patient who is well is more likely to test negative in the days ahead and subsequently be declared “recovered” after a second successive negative test.

Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 patient who is declared recovered would have been well weeks before his second negative test. So unlike a malaria condition where “recovered might mean one is no more vomiting or sick, COVID-19 patients must first be well and secondly test negative for COVID-19 the second time before being classified as recovered. Recovery in this sense is not synonymous to being fit, it is only a designation given for satisfying three

different criteria. Wellness to first negative to second negative would be equal to recovery.

Mr Speaker, the good news is that our active case count has seen two successive declines. The following data indicates dates of active case counts.

10th - 4,184

11th - 4,611

13th - 4,832

14th - 4,150

15th - 3,952

The last two updates for our case counts produced active case counts of 4,150 and 3,952 respectively. As at the 15th, the total case count went up to 5,735, but due to the large number of recoveries, the net count or active cases dropped to 3,952. This refreshing observation of two successive declines in active cases is of significant importance. The further we go down on this path of decline, the quicker our steps are out of the COVID-19 valley onto higher ground.

Mr Speaker, our approach as a Government has been an all- government approach with almost all government ministries working in
Minister for Health (Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) (MP) 11:59 a.m.


concert, propelled by inspiring leadership from H. E the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Mr Speaker, I see light at the end of the tunnel, with the two successive declines in the number of active cases. This light I see can remain and even appear brighter if we wear our masks, wash our hands frequently and practice social distancing. Mr Speaker, I appreciate how my Hon Colleagues are seated in the Chamber. The efforts of the Government must be met with positive attitudinal change from citizens to realise a victory over

COVID-19.

Mr Speaker, Government is committed to aggressive tracing and testing. Ghana is dedicated to a practice of early monitoring and management of all COVID-19 cases to keep the sick count very low and possibly avoid deaths from COVID -19. This is the reason for all the testing and tracing, so that we can find the virus and save lives with early supportive care.

Mr Speaker, it is important to mention that we should maintain healthy living practices such as eating balanced diets, regular exercise and have adequate rest.

These are necessary for building the strong immune system necessary for preventing and defeating a COVID-19 infection.

Mr Speaker, we should keep our blood pressure under check. Our blood sugar levels must also be under control, especially for those with diabetes in order to survive a COVID-19 infection. Surviving COVID-19 demands an effort at keeping other health problems under check as well.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I consider this moment a unique opportunity to celebrate all health workers in the country who have committed their skills, energy and lives to the national effort to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 29 souls or people who have unfortunately exited this world through COVID-19 related deaths, I solemnly entreat the House to join me pay a minute‘s silence to their memory.
Mr Agyeman-Manu 11:59 a.m.
May their souls rest in perfect peace.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the attention.
Dr Sabastian N. Sandaare (NDC -- Daffiama/Bussie/Issa) 12:09 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Minister for Health on the current situation on CSM and COVID-19 in the country.
Mr Speaker, I just want to say that some weeks back, I explained that we have to be careful about the use of the terminology; “CSM”. I still stand by my assertion that we should talk of meningitis as a whole and not CSM. This is because what the Hon Minister for Health just presented talks about Meningitis, and not CSM.
Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that the people of the Upper West Region are battling the two serious conditions; Meningitis and COVID -19. There is therefore the need to continue to mobilise more resources to support the Region.

Mr Speaker, on COVID-19, I would want to say that we would have to go beyond the numbers. We would have to go beyond the fact of being proud and stating that our recovery numbers are increasing.

Mr Speaker, the concerns of many are that, are we really testing enough? The answer is no! Mr Speaker, of

more concern is the fact that there is still delay in the time frame taken for us to have the results. Mr Speaker, to buttress my point, in the Upper West Region, just a few days ago, a fifteen-year old child absconded from Nabdam Hospital because they could not provide the test result of a third sample that was taken around the 2nd of May. And it is not only that hospital but we could find this same situation in many parts of the country , hence the need to be accurate with the numbers that we report.

Mr Speaker, with your permission, let me quote the good motivational speaker, Professor Lumumba who said:

“If you have to spend an hour talking about things that you have done, then, you have done nothing because the very things that you have done would speak for you.”

Mr Speaker, we might be doing well as a country but I also think that we are talking too much as a Government and not really interrogating and explaining the data that we bring out. I would like to say that we should stop comparing ourselves and being proud that we are being quoted by a Washington Post or whatever.
  • [MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER IN THE CHAIR.]
    • Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:14 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member for Sefwi Wiawso?
    Minister of State (Dr Kwaku Afriyie) 12:19 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
    The last time we spoke about CSM, the Hon Member who just spoke made a comment which I thought was not accurate.
    When we talk of meningitis, it is an infection of the brain, the spinal cord and its coverings. And it is caused by various agents: viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites; even drugs. When one is on certain cancer chemotherapy, the drugs that one is given could cause paradoxical meningitis.
    When the Minister for Health was speaking, he however, was referring specifically to bacterial meningitis. He might not have stated it but it is very implicit because that is the outbreak which has happened in Ghana all over decades. So in that context, there was no equivocation.
    Mr Speaker, secondly, even within the bacterial meningitis, there are two main bacteria which cause that. It is either Streptococcus or Neisseria which some also call Meningococcal meningitis. It is the latter one which turns to cause outbreaks. And the Minister was implicitly also referring to that and he said that the one that we are dealing with has no vaccine so; I do not see where the Hon Member got that from?
    Mr Speaker, but that was just for the education of other Members. I would just want to say that with regard to COVID-19, he implicitly was trying to criticise the Minister for Health for referring to a publication in the Washington post. Mr Speaker, that publication was very apt because there is a phenomenon which is going on in this world which tends to undermine the self-belief of Africans in systems that they have drawn.
    Mr Speaker, since the outbreak, I have always stated that Ghana has a very robust public health system and that is what has stood us in good stead all these years; that is what has made us to be able to fight polio; that is what has made us to be able to eradicate smallpox, petices, even have a handle on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, filariasis and other diseases.
    Mr Speaker, when we go to the Western world, yes, they have done well in clinical care, unfortunately, they have neglected their committing or preventing healthcare services and that is why they are suffering from the Coronavirus. When Coronavirus hit the Western world, they had the knowledge; they had the institutions, but unfortunately, they were in disarray especially, America. And I schooled in Lousiana. They were even debating whether their insurance
    would cover even the test or not. They were debating whether the cost of the test would be covered under core payment regime which they call -- [Interruption] They do not use the term , I would come to that later.
    Mr Speaker, the point I would like to make is that, the fact that we have capacity; we have systems, if we do not organise ourselves well, we would not respond well.
    Mr Speaker, however, in the Ghanaian situation, our President seems to have everything right, and at this stage, it would not be hyperbolic to proclaim him as an honourary consultant and public health physician because he understands every term and every advice that was given, he took it.

    Mr Speaker, when they reported the first cases, the President even argued against experts, that we should stop the in-flights to Ghana. He mooted the first idea, so that we could have a handle on those who were coming in and it worked. I know the closure of the borders worked and the lockdown came in aptly, that is why we were able to do the active contact tracing.

    At this stage, because Ghana had the capacity and a core of community health nurses and public health nurses
    Mr Samuel Atta-Mills (NDC -- Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem) 12:19 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to get some clarification from the Minister for health. He said that 161,000 people had been tested. Is it 161,000 who have been tested or 161,000 tests that have been performed? Those are two very different expressions.
    Mr Speaker, just last week, I was in my Constituency which has been listed as one of the hotspots in the country right now. They did random testing of 714 people and the results that came back are about 163. Out of that number, close to 40 per cent of the people tested positive and out of the 68 people who tested positive, only 16 are in quarantine because they cannot find the others. They cannot even find those people to do contact tracing and that is very alarming for me.
    It was yesterday that the Assembly was going to have a meeting and get all the Assembly members involved, so that we can identify those people who tested positive. Now, some of these people who tested positive were not showing symptoms and were walking around in the community. In fact one of them was helping the authorities to distribute nose masks a day before, so when the results came, they had to pick him up.
    So Mr Speaker, we get stories like this from the Minister and the reality on the ground in some areas are a little bit different. This makes the people on the ground not to believe that there is any disease or to think that this is just the big men's problem.
    This is because the story that I am getting from the Minister is a little bit different from what is on the ground right now, at least in my Constituency. It is now that they are going to round up those people who have tested positive. Now, they tested these people more than two weeks ago, so how many other people have they come into contact with and how much of the spreading are we doing in our constituencies? I think that we need to leave self-praise on the side and make sure that we tackle this disease.
    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Atta-Mills 12:19 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that the Hon Member would say that what I said was wrong. She was not at the meeting. The Health Director said they were doing random testing. She is telling me a different thing even though she was not there. If she would --?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:29 p.m.
    Hon Member, you have made your point.
    Mr Atta-Mills 12:29 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker. However, she tried to impune that I do not know what I talked about.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:29 p.m.
    No, Hon Member, I do not see it that way.
    Hon Minister, please, conclude.
    Mrs Owusu-Ekuful 12:29 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, even on the website of the Ghana Health Service, they indicate the numbers that are tested routinely, that is, those who report to health centres with symptoms or who suspect that they may have been exposed to the virus. Those who report to health centres and are tested are labelled as
    those who are tested routinely. There is another category of people who are tested as part of the enhanced contact tracing process which this country has adopted to follow the virus. So anybody who has come into contact with anyone who is positive for the virus is contacted and tested.
    There are a number of protocols that have been put in place, which include technology, which assists us to also follow up on those who have been exposed to the virus. This is not a question of praising ourselves but a question of enumerating the steps that this Government has taken to contain the spread of this virus -- what works and what has proven challenges and the things that we need to do to also improve our response to the virus.
    Mr Speaker, according to the Statement made by the Hon Minister for Health, it appears the number of daily infections have reduced. That is statistic worth celebrating, instead of being denigrated. I would want to urge us all to solicit more information from the health authorities, educate ourselves so that we could also be part of the public education. Anyone whose sample is taken for testing ought to self-isolate because the person does not know whether his or her sample would be positive or negative.
    So once the person has been identified as somebody who could potentially be infected, it is incumbent on the person to protect his or her self, his or her family, acquaintances and everybody that he or she may come into contact with by self- isolating until the result comes in and at which point the person might know whether he or she is positive or negative.
    So, if a person's sample has been taken and he or she walks around as if nothing is happening, the person is not helping the Government to help all of us. We all have a part to play and that is why as Hon Members of this House, we wear our masks, practise social and physical distancing, make sure that we wash our hands regularly and if it is not necessary for us to come to town, we stay at home.
    That is the message that we all have to spread. Once a person's sample is taken and he or she walks around without knowing the result, he or she is acting irresponsibly and may unwittingly be a channel of further spread of the virus. The Government cannot do it all by itself. Each and every one of us, Ghanaians have a role to play.
    Mr Speaker, I want to urge us all as Hon Members of this House to also assist the Government in public
    Dr Robert Baba Kuganab-Lem (NDC -- Binduri) 12:39 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
    Mr Speaker, I want to also join the Hon Minister to commend our health staff, particularly, those who work in the very deprived areas and work without PPE and put their lives on the line and have up till today, survived and have put in their best. We are aware of the number of nurses and other health staff who have been infected through serving humanity.
    Mr Speaker, the issue of comparing the death rate in Ghana with other countries, particularly, European countries and America, who reported their first cases somewhere in January and yet we want to be Africans but we do not make an effort to compare ourselves with our neighbours.
    In fact, that kind of comparison is extremely crude and of no relevance. In Europe and in other countries, most of them have peaked and the tie has flattened. We in Africa, had our first case around the middle of March and most of the people who have died in these countries are those who are over the age of 80 years, so to make that quick comparison, when our neighbouring counties like Togo, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to compare with, we conveniently pick up something somebody has written. We do not study what has been written but we are happy to go round with such information.
    Mr Speaker, currently, we have experienced some miraculous recoveries but what we need to do is that other countries have reported issues of reinfections or cases other than new or lingering infections that were not detected by the test.
    What we need to do and what the Hon Minister should have told us is that this number of people recovered after the second tests were negative but after two or three weeks, they would need to do a tests to confirm that they have no infections or there was no lingering infection that was not detected by the test. This is where we could feel comfortable knowing well that in other jurisdictions they have reported cases of new infections.
    Mr Speaker, water is a very important barrier that prevents human to human infections but in some areas of Accra right now, water is a problem and yet we require that we have to wash our hands and sanitise our environment. Of what use is it, when throughout the month, my tap does not flow and at the end of the month, I would be brought a zero bill? It is not the zero bill that is important but the flow of water that is.

    So, if we are serious about putting in infrastructure for the control of the virus, the provision of water to make sure that the system runs so that people get water because converging at the points for the collection of water are points where the disease could spread.

    Mr Speaker, we hear the issue of the infection rates coming down. Probably some people have some data that the general public do not have but the data that we all know and read around do not tell us that. That is why a week ago somebody came up to say that we have peaked and the following day, we were in our thousands.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:39 p.m.
    Hon Member, do you have evidence of anybody manipulating any data?
    Dr Kuganab-Lem 12:39 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I withdraw the word, “manipulate”.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:39 p.m.
    Very well. [Uproar]
    Dr Kuganab-Lem 12:39 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let us be talking to one set of data the figures are coming from and that data is very crucial to help in the fight because if that data ends up deceiving and taken for granted that we are peaking which in reality we are not, then that becomes problematic.
    Having said this, I believe that we as a country would need to do a lot more particularly on the issue of stigma. A lot of families are suffering because somebody has said something about their family and that has created problems for their businesses and their kids.
    We must be able to appreciate that medical data or information about patients should be private and not talked about in a way that people are able to make conclusions and cause a lot of problems -- problems that you and I would not be there to solve but ones that would stigmatise parents and their families forever.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:39 p.m.
    Hon Member, please hold on.
    Yes, Hon Member for Akim Oda?
    Mr Quaittoo 12:39 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I strongly believe that his statement is rather stigmatising those who have recovered because he does not believe in the data that the Ministry of Health is churning out. He says he does not believe that those figures are correct. How could he say that?
    Mr Speaker, he even used the word “miraculously”. What is the meaning of that word? Has he performed any miracles or is the Ministry of Health performing any miracles?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:39 p.m.
    Hon Member, it is alright; other Hon Members would respond to that.
    So Hon Member, please, conclude.
    Dr Kuganab-Lem 12:39 p.m.
    Well, Mr Speaker, I do not think I need to respond to that [Uproar] Yes, so it is ignored.
    Mr Speaker, to conclude, where we have that sudden jump in numbers, it is quite a miracle and therefore we need to appreciate what is happening so that we could tell people.
    Mr Speaker, I do not want to go deep into those areas of conflict but I would appeal that stigmatisation will be reduced. Nobody bought the disease in the market and if they have it, they are still our brethren and therefore, we should work with them in a manner that alleviates their pain and suffering.

    Deputy Minister for Health (Dr Bernard Okoe Boye) (MP): Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.

    Let me quickly say that to have my Hon Colleague doctor who just contributed say that Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) is not what we are talking about and that it was meningitis, it tells how difficult it is to have education converted to behavioural change.

    The last time, the senior doctor and our Hon Colleague, Dr Afriyie explained to him the issues so as to address that confusion and he still insisted that we are talking about meningitis and not CSM. This tells you that it is not easy with all the explanation from our senior doctor. So I thank him for addressing that one.

    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague again said that the testing is not enough and I have a graph, which unfortunately I cannot show on the screen that shows the testing regimes of all the 54 African countries.

    Mr Speaker, when we look at the testing regimes in Africa, there are three countries that are showing the way on the whole continent. They stand out of all the others and that is Ghana, South Africa and Mauritius.

    Mr Speaker, today, Ghana started with a capacity of about 1,500 tests a day when we combined Kumasi Centre for Collaboration Research (KCCR), Noguchi Memorial Institute and Medical Research and Korle-Bu Reference Laboratory. In fact, Korle-Bu Reference Laboratory came later but we started with about 1,500 test capacity a day. Today, as we speak, we are doing a minimum of 5,000 tests a day.

    Mr Speaker, Nigeria with a GDP that is obviously bigger than ours and with a population of over 300 million is doing maximum 1,000 tests a day.

    Mr Speaker, the testing capacity and augmentation --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:39 p.m.
    Hon Members, order!
    Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Muntaka 12:39 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague just said Nigeria has a population of over 300 million. That is a gross mislead of this House. The population of Nigeria is just a little over 200 million. So he should just get the facts right because he is giving statistics and so if he starts getting the population of Nigeria wrong -- the one which all of us know -- it creates doubt about the other things that he may say on facts. That is why I would

    want to correct him on the population of Nigeria which is not over 300 million. It is just about 200 million.
    Dr Boye 12:49 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, granted it is 200 million, in fact, that is more than three times our population. So if we have a country that is more than three times Ghana's population doing 1,000 a day, it should tell us that having moved from 1,500 to 5,000, we must feel proud of ourselves in terms of the achievements.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague also said something that if we have done well, our works would speak for us. Unfortunately in Parliament, our works out there would not come and talk for us here. This is a House of records; we do not bring pictures of the work. We must state and speak it and that is what we are doing.
    Mr Speaker, the impression was created that with the 0.5 mortality we referred to, we are trying to say that because the deaths are few it does not matter. That is not the message.
    Mr Speaker, in medical practice, if one does his work well to prevent disease or to treat them, deaths would be fewer. So the number of deaths is a very important indication of whether the steps we are taking are producing
    the end results because all that is going about -- the treatment, testing and all we hear -- the summary is that we want to keep the sick very low and avoid deaths if possible.

    Mr Speaker, annually, thousands of Ghanaians lose their lives on our roads. People die of malaria, stroke and in fact, every disease has a burden when it comes to mortality. So anytime we are looking at the mortality of a particular disease, it is to inform us in terms of how we allocate our resources and our programming.

    When we state the mortality rates, it does not mean we have annoyed the dead, it means that we are preparing to manage them in the future. It is important to mention that there are things we are doing in this country that this ‘almighty USA' is not doing, for which reason we ought to be proud of ourselves.

    Mr Speaker, I will mention just two reasons; as we speak, all the 1.7 million plus positive cases in the USA are not being kept at one place in isolation. They are in their normal environment and so questions are being asked in the USA as to what they do to have all of them come to the centre like we are trying to do at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Kasoa. These are important steps that the larger nations have been advised to learn from us.

    It is important to clarify some things -- when we say that the positivity rate is three per cent, it does not mean that everywhere we go, it will be three per cent. We have a positive case in Legon of a student who tested positive and all the over 70 contacts that were traced not even one was positive.

    Mr Speaker, we also had a case in the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), a man who died there was actually found to have died from the COVID-19 disease and all the doctors and medical staff, not even one tested positive. The fact that they test people at a place and some percentage, for instance, 40 per cent came out positive and we assume it is so, this does not mean that that is the average picture. We do not want to fall into the trap of using the

    percentage at one location to describe the average percentage in the country.

    Mr Speaker, I particularly take interest in the case of the Hon Member because these are scenarios that can send serious fear and increase the anxiety of the population.

    It is important to clarify a few things; the substantive Hon Minister for Health did not seek to compare us to only the developed or first world and by way of information, our neighbours have been mentioned. Sierra Leone has a mortality rate of 6.3, that is for every 1,000 cases, 63 individuals lose their lives. In Tanzania, one of the nations that is always mentioned as a co-equal of Ghana when it comes to leaders in Africa it is 4.0 per cent for every 1000 cases, 40 people lose their lives. Egypt has a mortality rate of 5.0 per cent and I will mention that for them, in the ‘league of nations', we assume that they are stronger. They have 12,764 cases as we speak and their number of deaths stands at 544 and when I did the mathematics, their rate is at 5.0. This means that for every 1,000 cases, 50 people lose their lives.

    Mr Speaker, so, if we have a country that we belong to, and has managed the situation so well such that our mortality is at this rate, we do not need the international media to urge us on.
    Dr Boye 12:49 p.m.


    Let me also say that I can forgive anyone who uses the term ‘miraculous' to describe the recoveries because maybe, in terms of sufficient knowledge in the area, it might not be so and I will explain it simply.

    Mr Speaker, for the ordinary man, recovery means that yesterday someone was sick and today that person is well. So when we say that someone has recovered from typhoid fever, we assume that now, they are well and have no temperature. That is not the kind of recovery we are talking about for the COVID-19 pandemic. It is because it is an international disease, criteria have been set that we must meet to declare a patient as recovered. So that we do not have a situation that Benin will tell us that their patient has recovered only because the patient can eat and then when we come to Ghana, we say that a patient has recovered because they tested negative. So there is a standard.

    The standard is that, the patient must first be well without any symptoms. Secondly, the patient must test negative and thirdly, he or she must go for a second test and record negative in succession before that patient is tagged recovered. So if today, 1,000 individuals who are doing well and fine, tested negative

    already and are in their own homes or in isolation and all they are waiting for, is for Noguchi to bring their results that have recorded a negative status for the second time.

    Mr Speaker, let me say that we have to respect and appreciate the work of all health workers in this country. If we go to the Noguchi Medical Research Institute, they are virtually working 24 hours a day dealing with samples of people who might be positive and are taking risks for the country by putting their lives on the line. The last thing we can do for them is to question their integrity. Most of these people started dealing with laboratories before the HIV/ AIDS arrived in Ghana and so, we have to be careful with our words.

    In conclusion, looking at the latest figure that was updated in that now that we have 5,918 cases, what it means is that 183 more positive cases were recorded. If we add the 183 and subtract the number of deaths as well as the recovered, on calculating the

    active, it comes to 4,133. It is my hope that those who doubted the number of recoveries will also doubt the increase of the positive cases. The message is simple that when we gladly embrace positive cases, we should do same for recovered cases as well.

    Mr Speaker, very soon, the beginning of the end of the COVID- 19 pandemic stories will start to be told.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:49 p.m.
    Hon Second Deputy Speaker? After him, I will give the opportunity to the Leadership.
    Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin (NDC -- Nadowli-Kaleo) 12:59 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you so much.
    We have listened to the Hon Minister for Health and we need to -- I am told that my voice is very low and so sonorous that I am not being heard and so with your kind permission, if I may remove the nose mask?
    Mr Speaker, I thank the Hon Minister because he has come to the House to update us on what he earlier
    submitted to the House in the form of a Statement. I would also want to add my voice to other Hon Members who have highly commended the work of the frontline workers. These frontline workers are not only those in the health sector but it includes security persons, and even some of my Hon Colleagues including the Hon Minister himself who is now a frontline worker as well as His Excellency the President who is a frontline worker and so are many Hon Members of Parliament who are also frontline workers.
    So, it is important that we commend everybody for at least, putting their hands to the rail.
    However, there is one issue I would want to clarify on the issue of the CSM.

    The facts that I have from the technical people on the ground in the Upper West Region is that we have both bacterial and viral infection, but the majority of the cases are bacterial and they are from the Cere group of X of which there is no known vaccine in the world. I have tried to get some from outside the country but I have not been successful because I have been told that there is no vaccine. Mr Speaker, that is why there is an increase in the number of deaths in the Region.
    Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin (NDC -- Nadowli-Kaleo) 12:59 p.m.


    Truly, what we are experiencing in the Upper West Region now is not CSM, it is just meningitis simpliciter. The common one is the Neisseria which is Cere Group X and it has no vaccine. So, let us get this right from the technical people in the Region.

    Mr Speaker, we have been experiencing Cere Groups A and C because they were common until around 2015 when the Jirapa District experienced the Cere Group W. However, with the help of the World Health Organisation, Jirapa was able to acquire vaccine for that one, but with the recent Cere Group X, truly, there is no vaccine.

    Mr Speaker, in one of the speeches by His Excellency the President, I was expecting that he would have assured Ghanaians that the Government had put in place efforts to provide a laboratory for each region so that we can expedite the delays in the testing of not only COVID-19 but also the samples of meningitis. I also think that we would need to up our advocacies, awareness creation and education. A leader must know well the people he is leading.

    Mr Speaker, in Ghana, - the Hon Minister for Communications was trying to say that even though we do not see God we believe that God

    exists. Mr Speaker, we cannot see God because God is a spirit and we cannot say the same for these diseases because they are not spirits. The important thing is that the people we are leading want to see -- in fact, I want to see on television some evidence of death and admissions because when it is stated that a number of people are dead, but we have not seen anything like that -- Mr Speaker, this is not from me, but I am giving a feedback.

    Mr Speaker, as leaders, we would give feedback so the Hon Member should not be emotional as though somebody is not believing them. It is just a feedback that I am giving now because we have met so many people who have said that ‘we keep on saying that people are dying' but we have never seen any of them.

    Mr Speaker, I believe that we should apply the various strategies and measures according to the situation and the people we are leading. I was even expecting a shock therapy because situations of this nature need a shock therapy to wake the people from slumber and let them know that COVID-19 is well.

    Mr Speaker, some people are even asking why it is called Coronavirus. It is called Coronavirus because of its shape which is like a crown. The word Corona is Latin,

    and the “D” in the “COVID” means Disease which started in 2019 so we have COVID-19.

    Mr Speaker, people do not really understand it and some people even think that it is the white man's disease. Some even say it is coming from abrokyire to wit “coming from a foreign land”. In fact, I called some people in the Bono Region and this is what they said. That they have heard there is a disease coming from Europe which would only affect big people. We need to up our game in educating our people about COVID-19.

    Mr Speaker, another area that we have not added -- we only talk about droplets from talking, coughing or sneezing but what about kissing? Mr Speaker, kissing also -- [Interruption] Hon Minister, have you stopped kissing --
    Mr Agyeman-Manu 12:59 p.m.
    Social distancing --
    Mr Bagbin 12:59 p.m.
    I am not too sure about that because now it is not “social distancing” but “physical distancing”. In our society we do not have social classes.
    Mr Speaker, we need to add such issues because it is not just the closeness, sneezing or coughing but kissing even transmits the disease. I
    am saying that we need to invest a lot in public education because there are still a lot of places in the country where they do not believe that there is COVID-19. I am definitely against those who say publicly that there is nothing like that. Particularly, those who claim to be prophets. Mr Speaker, it is sad that a person who is prophetic would rather prophesy against something that is real and exists.
    Mr Speaker, I want to add to what the Hon Minister has been saying to us. Even though he is not the Hon Minister for Finance, it is important for us to get information on the areas that Government is investing in because at critical junctures such as these, it depends on how a society or a country positions itself that would determine whether it would benefit in future. We are all now talking about the new pandemic and history has taught us that since the 1,346 outbreak of the Bubonic Plague till the 1918-1919 Influenza, it is the countries that focus on the opportunities that end up growing and doing better.
    So it is important for us to be informed as to how Government is taking the opportunities along what we are doing to overcome the challenges we are facing as a country. So we need to get information on the areas of investment. It is not just about the
    Mr Bagbin 1:09 p.m.
    GH¢600 million to support the small to medium scale businesses. That is definitely there but in governance, there are a number of institutions that need to be supported by Government, particularly in the health and utilities sector.
    Mr Speaker, it is not just for the Government to subsidise the utilities but what is the Government doing to invest in those utilities so that in future we would not even need to say that Government would subsidise the consumption by its people because of the current situation where we are not earning income anymore?

    Mr Speaker, in his best brief, could the Hon Minister give us an indication on how far we have gone in this area?

    Mr Speaker, in conclusion, we are here as Hon Colleagues and it is important that we have fellow feelings in our contributions and use language that is not insulting. We should not belittle the intelligence or integrity of each other. That is not parliamentary. We do not teach each other here. We share information and perspectives. So sometimes I am a bit jittery as to what I hear my Hon Colleagues say about each other because learning is

    a livelong thing. We learn every day, and nobody is a repository of knowledge.

    Mr Speaker, with this I thank you for the opportunity.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:09 p.m.
    Yes, Minority Leadership?
    Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase) 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me thank the Hon Minister for coming to the House to update the House and to also take this opportunity to thank all the frontline health workers, all the technical persons who are working in assisting us as a country to overcome this challenge.
    Having said this, Mr Speaker, let me start by saying that we have asked the Hon Minister a number of times to take the opportunity of briefings of the House to tell us about the country's preparedness plan. This is because the challenge we are having is that, once the Coronavirus has come, almost every government agency is making one procurement or the other in the name of the emergency, and they are spending in duplication of the efforts of some other agencies. It is for this reason that we need to have our preparedness plan, knowing where we are, where we
    would want to be, and in the worse scenario, how it would look like even with its expenditure and also in the best scenario or what we are doing in conjunction with other government agencies?
    Mr Speaker, if we do not do that, we would end up realising that we have spent far more than anticipated because we have almost all government agencies trying to do one procurement or the other with regard to the COVID-19.
    Mr Speaker, there were media excerpts about a number of things the Hon Minister said. Once he is here in the House, it is very important that he takes the opportunity to explain to us. I heard it to be very worrying when he was seen on Ghana Television saying that Coronavirus has come to stay and so we must learn to live with it. When he talks like this, the ordinary person sitting at home thinks that the Coronavirus may be over. This explains the kind of behaviour we see in our markets because of some of these comments.
    As the Minister for Health, if he says Coronavirus has come to say and we must learn to live with it, it is very weighty. Mr Speaker, in my view, I do not think this is the time to make such statements because while we
    continue to make such statements, we discourage the efforts being made by the ordinary citizens to fight the disease. Even till date, we still have people who do not believe this disease exists.
    Mr Speaker, Joy FM did a documentary. When they went to the fisher folks, they said this is a disease for the rich who fly abroad and come. For them at their place, the Coronavirus could not even come there. With this mentality, if one makes the statement that the Coronavirus has come to stay and we must learn to live with it, obviously, we should expect escalation.
    Secondly, Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister was heard to have said there is the complaint of shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which are being stolen and resold by some health workers. With the greatest respect, I find this statement to be unfortunate because the Hon Minister for Health knows that if anybody steals, it does not matter whether the person is a doctor or an administrator, we are supposed to get the person arrested and dealt with according to the law. At the time that our health workers are sacrificing their lives, when a person makes a blanket statement, for me, it sounds discouraging to them.
    Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase) 1:09 p.m.


    I wish the Hon Minister did not make that statement. If he genuinely thinks there are some people misapplying the use of the PPEs, he is supposed to deal with it. That is why the Bureau of National --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:09 p.m.
    Hon Leader, hold on.
    Yes, Hon Minister?
    Mr Agyeman-Manu 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is a House of records. My Colleague, the Hon Member, is alluding that I have said that health workers are stealing PPEs. Was this statement made here? Where was it said? Some of these must stop. I do not know what I have done to him. These personal attacks continue to come from the Hon Member for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka. What is all this?
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister said he was coming to update us from his last update. They give a lot of updates live on television. I said this statement was made in one of such briefings by him, and it is all over. That I questioned why they kept it and misrepresented him? Mr Speaker, we were in our homes and heard the statement from him. I understand that this was from his last update.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:09 p.m.
    Hon Minister, kindly hold on. After that, I would allow you to respond.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, one of the measures Government is putting in place that I hope the Hon Minister and his team would review regarding how we are dealing with this pandemic so far is that we are being reactionary. We are not being proactive.
    Mr Speaker, I am saying this because almost every country that has been able to overcome this virus has been proactive. Let me give a typical example. Parliament was on recess, Members of Parliament moved across the country and converged today. If we were in those countries that have been proactive, all of us would have been tested together with the staff before meeting today so that we would be able to know who has it. We do not wait until one MP feels ill, goes to test positive, then they would say all of us should be isolated. We do not do that. Almost all the countries that have been able to deal with the virus have been ahead of the disease. They do not chase the disease, rather they try to stay ahead of it.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister and his team should do well to --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:09 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
    Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is quite interesting that my Colleague, the Hon Member, is talking about everything we need to do to protect ourselves and to make sure that we do not contract this dangerous disease. However, right from day one, I was here when the Hon Member told this House that he does not believe in the wearing of the face mask.
    Indeed, until he sat down, he was not wearing a mask when he was talking, and he is the one teaching us the things we should do to be saved.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:09 p.m.
    Hon Deputy Minister, I was expecting you to point out what he has said.
    Mr O. B. Amoah 1:09 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is part of it. He is saying we are not keeping ourselves safe, but he is the one who stood in this House and said that he does not believe in the wearing of the mask.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:19 p.m.
    Hon Member, your point is well-made.
    Hon Minority Chief Whip, continue.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:19 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me remind him. The wearing of mask comes with regulations. We need to learn how to use them.

    Mr Speaker, my view is that Government is being reactionary. By now, all the arms of government, namely Parliament, the Judiciary and the Executive together with our staff should have been tested. You do not wait because these are very important institutions. You do not wait for a case to break out there before you say you are going to do contact tracing. I can bet you, may God forbid, if it does happen in this House, contact tracing would be extremely difficult because of the way Hon Members travel in this House --
    rose
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:19 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Minister for the Interior?
    Mr Ambrose Dery 1:19 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    The Hon Member is misleading this House by saying that in other countries, they are ahead of the disease but we are chasing it. I would want to give him one example that shows that we are ahead.
    Mr Speaker, just two Sundays ago, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said that they would quarantine anybody who entered London for 14 days. We had started that months ago and we are actually tracing ahead of the disease and that is why we are where we are. So it is a mis-statement for the Hon Member to say that we are waiting.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:19 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague is giving a very bad example. The United Kingdom is a very bad example, if he cares to know.
    Mr Speaker, they were doing what he said we are doing already but they decided to relax it and they now have a relapse and they decided to go back.
    So that is a bad example he has given. If he wants to give a good example, he should cite Vietnam. He should cite some of the eastern countries; Cambodia that has done so well, and some of the countries that had borders with China and he would see what they have been doing.
    If he wants to give a good example, he should find out what New York City is doing. They have been locked down for the past 80 days. How many days did we lock down? When you decided to lift the lockdown, how many were the cases? Today, how many cases do we have?
    Mr Speaker, if we listen to each other and pick what can be implemented, the better for us. If you think you can rubbish everything -- as for us, our responsibility is to make those points.
    Mr Speaker, recoveries are good but we should keep our eyes on the spread and testing. Everywhere that the graph has been produced, without exception, it is because they give themselves a target that they must test every day. If we say we have a capacity of up to 5,000 tests a day, that should be our target. Every day
    we should try to do that and we would have the same number. But when we accumulate samples for three or four days and then we do the test, we would never be able to get the right data. We need to do it daily and make sure that our tentacles are properly spread.
    Mr Speaker, we should find out what is happening in the rural constituencies. Some people do not even have district hospitals. We should find out what is happening in the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds. Some of them have been closed down, so people who are sick in those communities do not have a place to go to and they are in Accra and they think they are doing well. Please, this is not the time to pat themselves on the back. We are still in the danger zone. Let us not deceive ourselves, especially those who write statements for the President. They should please be careful because they embarrass all of us.
    Mr Speaker, the President made a statement that in the whole of Africa, we are number one in testing, only for a news agency to provide data which pointed to the fact that Mauritius, Djibouti and South Africa are doing better than we are doing. So who are
    those writing the President's speeches? It is time we fought the disease.
    Mr Speaker, we should know that circumstances of African countries are not the same. Mr Speaker, you are a member of the Pan African Parliament and you get the opportunity to travel across Africa. In many African countries, access to healthcare is a major challenge. We know right from the Roman Empire that the more efficient a country's transport system is, the faster the spread and the easier it would be to also test. Ghana's infrastructure cannot be compared to many of these African countries.
    Mr Speaker, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned Africa again that we are not testing enough. So we should not sit in the midst of poor performers and say that we are champions.
    My son's school went for interschools programme and they were the last. When I asked, he said they were last, but they were the best losers. How could he say that they were the best losers? WHO has said that we are not testing enough? What are we doing to “up our game”?
    Mr Speaker, I must congratulate the Government and the team because we started with only two testing centres, but today, we have about nine and are still counting. We need to do more of that, so that we can test more.

    Let us not deceive ourselves and make it look as if everything is rosy.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:19 p.m.
    Hon Member, please hold on.
    Yes, Hon Minister?
    Mr Agyeman-Manu 1:19 p.m.
    On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I just want to draw the attention of my Hon Colleague to the fact that WHO has placed Ghana as the sixth best performing country in terms of fighting COVID-19 Pandemic -- [Interruption] -- last week.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:19 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Member?
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:29 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I keep reminding the Hon Minister that when the whole of Africa is tagged as not doing well, obviously, WHO would say that we are doing better, so we should “up our game”. That is exactly what I am saying. [Interruption]
    Mr Speaker, when we are doing what others are doing, do you want someone to come and tell you that you are doing well? [Interruption] -- Watch what others are doing. If you
    try to please yourselves with this instead of dealing with the challenge, it would be better for all of us.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister said that we are sixth in the world, but our people are still dying. We cannot say that the rate of death is low.
    Mr Speaker, I have said this somewhere but I would take the opportunity to say it again. When Prof. Jacob Plange-Rhule died, we said he was an individual, but I can bet that he was a professor who was training many doctors. He was a professional who helped so much in health delivery in our country. Would we just say he was just one person who died? No! So, if he says that the rate of death is low, so we should congratulate ourselves -- every death is death. He should imagine if he dies -- may God forbid -- imagine what would happen to his family? So we should not say that it is only one person who has died. Let us “up our game”.
    Mr Speaker, I would end by saying that as a country, we can choose to argue and not listen to constructive criticisms about what is happening. We can choose to pop Champaigne and say that we are the best. So long as this disease lives with us, so long as its challenge continues to confront us, it is only the wrong doers who
    would know the right thing and keep quiet because government, or government agencies are praising themselves continually.
    Mr Speaker, I believe that our team is doing well, but they must do their best because we are not doing enough. When this disease -- May God forbid -- gets out of hand, it would not know who is short or tall and who is fair or dark among us. It would affect all of us and that is why for those of us who know a little more of what can be done, continue to speak for it to be done, so that all of us can remain safe.

    Mr Speaker, lastly, what example are we giving to the people of our country? We the 275 Members of Parliament have come to congregate because we think that the use of face masks and hand sanitizers are enough. There are churches in this country which do not even have members of up to 275. There are some Mosques which also do not have members of up to 275. There are people who would have had their weddings with less than 200 invited guests. We as a Parliament must set good example.

    Even in those countries that this disease has escalated, only 50 people

    are allowed to Sit in their Chamber at a time. However, when we look at us, what example are we setting? When we are shown on national television, those in the markets would think that the disease is not real because if it were real, then we would not be sitting in the Chamber this way. I therefore think that there is a little more that we can do, so we should do it so that all of us can stay safe.

    Mr Speaker, with these words, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:29 a.m.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 1:29 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would just want to give these few words before the Hon Minister for Health winds up.
    Mr Speaker, first of all, we know that when it comes to decision- making, our Constitution and indeed our Standing Orders provides that we would require at least one half of Hon Members to be in the Chamber to take decisions. I do not know how else this Parliament would manage to take decisions. The very people who say that we should not populate the House are the very people who would raise issues about the decisions that this House takes, for lack of quorum.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:29 a.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, please hold on.
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:29 a.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader misleads this House when he says that it is not the responsibility of the Hon Minister for Health to ensure that this House gets tested. This is because the Hon Minister for Health is in charge of advising the Government on health matters, and Parliament is part of Government. We have three arms of Government, so the Hon Minister should have done that.
    Mr Speaker, for any reason, if the Hon Majority Leader knew that there were plans to do the testing, then why did he not make it as part of his opening remarks?
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:29 a.m.
    The Rt Hon Speaker actually said that in his Welcome Remarks, if you were listening.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader, continue.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:29 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is a House of record, and the 1992 Constitution in article 295 defines what Government is. It says and I quote that Government means:
    “any authority by which the executive authority of Ghana is duly exercised”.
    This is the Constitutional definition of “Government”, if the Hon Member cares to read.
    Mr Speaker, we should therefore inform ourselves before we make inputs in this House. I do not like this attitude of people saying that “we keep deceiving ourselves”. Who deceives whom? A person is entitled to his or her opinion, but a person is certainly not entitled to his or her own set of facts; the facts speak to themselves.
    Whereas one may disagree with a comment made by somebody, one is not entitled to his or her own set of facts. The set of facts, as given by the Hon Minister and Hon Deputy Minister for Health, are assembled by competent officers charged with that responsibility, and nobody can sit in his or her room and manufacture his or her own set of facts and come and force them on this House, talking about miracles happening.
    Mr Speaker, we should be serious with ourselves as Hon Members of this House. After all, our deliberations should inform the populace. We should therefore not script our own facts, and as I said, foist it on this country. When experts had spoken, we have non-experts disputing the facts. Where else does this happen?
    Mr Speaker, the issue about the containment centres, the positivity rate and so on are facts based, and my Hon Colleague, the Hon Second Deputy Speaker said that he believes in these matters that we should apply shock therapy. He said that people should see deaths and recoveries. How can he say this?
    Mr Speaker, here we are talking about stigmatisation. The one person who contracted the disease and came out triumphantly, who thought that he should be in the position to espouse

    his own status so as to make people believe in him, as we speak today, people are even afraid to associate with his kids, and that is the other side of stigmatisation.

    If people get to know, for instance, that I have lost a family member through the Coronavirus, to the extent that perhaps I may have gone to visit the person before he or she died, I may be “a suspect”, even though I have tested twice and come out triumphantly by God's grace. We therefore need to be careful, and be consistent in our thinking that this is where we want to go as a nation.

    Mr Speaker, the rest of the issues that have been raised, I believe that the Hon Minister for Health has the competence to speak to them, especially when he has been quoted and misquoted. Some Hon Members of this House talked about miraculous recoveries, and it was pregnant with sarcasm. If someone does not understand the figures, the person should please interrogate it better, but to say that it is “miraculous recovery”, with the greatest respect, the load of sarcasm in it is very offensive.

    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:29 a.m.
    Yes, Hon Minister, you may wind up.
    Minister for Health (Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu) 1:39 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you and the entire House for contributing to the update of the Statement that I made in the House on both the meningitis and the COVID-19 pandemics. I would like to thank my Hon Colleagues for their contributions and for the suggestions that have come on board. I would definitely take on board the suggestions that are justifiably right for me, I would so do.

    Mr Speaker, but I would like to remind the House that I did not come here to praise myself, neither did I come to praise the Government for efforts and investments that we are putting in to try to fight the COVID- 19 battle.

    Mr Speaker, it would be sad and unfortunate for anyone of us in this House to say that Government is being reactionary or we are not being proactive. We started with a strategy. And even before we got the deaths, we had started working seriously on tracing people to test them.

    The New York Governor did not know contact tracing and testing days

    and weeks into the time when this disease got into America and was killing people in New York. Was that reactionary response? No!

    Mr Speaker, but it is unfortunate again for people to stick to their opinions and not allow another person to come out with scientific facts; and when we say this and update the House about what we are doing, it is translated and interpreted to mean that we are praising ourselves. So what else do we do?

    Mr Speaker, we tried to bring in news about deaths and we mentioned the death rate that we are picking. And nobody is celebrating death no matter how small it is. When Professor Plange-Rhule died and -- the way the Minority Chief Whip is saying that one individual has died, who said that and why? Professor Plange-Rhule was an agency head in the sector, he knows. And his death saddened almost everybody to the extent that the President had to go to visit the wife. The Hon Member should listen to what I said in the Statement.
    Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I would read just one paragraph again 1:39 a.m.
    “We are working hard to save every life and avoid even a single
    death. However, disease burdens and fatality rate com- parison helped us to appreciate the yield from our efforts so as to bring out the best in us and not in a way to portray that fewer deaths aren't a big deal.”
    Mr Speaker, are we celebrating the deaths? The way we are drifting towards what we are talking about the disease makes some of us begin to think that we as Ghanaians would be happy to see positives and more deaths instead of recoveries. And I do not think that augurs well for any serious country.
    Mr Speaker, I think the Hon Deputy Minister has gone to a whole large extent to explain the recovery principle and the number of tests that we are doing; so many things that came up, he has explained them and I do not need to continue on this tangent.
    Mr Speaker, it would only be a very non-performing person who would be working without doing self- evaluation of where he is, what he has done and where he wants to go to . And one cannot do only that with trend analysis on their own performance. It behoves one to do comparisons and to look at what other people are doing to be able to rank oneself.
    Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I would read just one paragraph again 1:49 a.m.
    live our normal lives. Whoever dreamt that one day to come, I, standing here, Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu would be wearing this mask in this Chamber to be talking to issues?

    Nobody predicted it but that is the new life we have to learn to live with. We have to manage to protect ourselves from the disease.

    So due to physical distancing, as opposed to our culture, we have even stopped greeting one another. The Hon Second Deputy Speaker even talked about kissing and I said we had stopped because social distancing rules would not permit you to get close to anybody. [Interruptions] Even these days, I hear if you do not give your wife housekeeping money, when you go to touch her, she would say “physical distancing”.
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister is violently violating the laws of this House. In this House, no person is allowed to make two Statements. The Statement that the Hon Minister made has been --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    Hon Member, you are out of order, I have permitted him to respond to all the issues raised.
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:49 a.m.
    How can he make two Statements?
    Mr Agyeman-Manu 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for disallowing my Hon Colleague from continuing his vituperations because when people talk about public education, miraculous data and reactionary responses, the Minister at the final stage should not say anything. Is that what he wants me to do? That is also not the culture of the House, so I would summarise to the Hon Member's distaste.
    Mr Speaker, I was talking about how we would have to learn to live with COVID-19. We have some protocols and a lot of guidelines. Those of us hiding in our homes, who are so scared to even come out have to be talked into coming out to begin to do certain things.
    We still have some regions that have not seen COVID-19 yet because of some of the things that we have asked them to do that they are doing a bit well. Groupings would not help us so much and we continue to look at how best we can bring out more protocols to see how people can come out and work.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    Hon Members, that is the end of Statements. I have this announcement to make.
    ANNOUNCEMENTS 1:49 a.m.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    COVID-19 testing for Hon MPs -- Date: Wednesday, 20thMay, 2020; Time: 9 a. m.; venue: Foyer.
    COVID-19 Testing for Staff of Parliament -- Date: Wednesday, 20th May, 2020; Time: 9 a.m.; Venue: Parliament Clinic.
    Please take note of the two locations. Thank you very much.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the pro-term leader of the Minority made an emphatic statement when the Hon Minister for Health was responding to Colleagues who had made comments. He said the Hon Minister did not have the right to talk twice on the matter and that in this House, nobody is allowed -- I do not know where he got his inspiration from but certainly, what he said does not exist anywhere in our Standing Orders.
    Just for the record, Standing Order --
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, I ruled him out, so let us move on.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, you did but just for his own elucidation.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    When you meet at the winnowing, then you -- [Laughter]
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:49 a.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker, but he should not inflict this on the House any longer.
    Mr Speaker, we intended really to continue with the Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019. Today being the first day and given how far we have travelled, I do not know whether we would be able to work on that. The closure of the House is what I would await. This is the first day, so perhaps, given where we are, that is three minutes to 2 o'clock, we could grant ourselves some relief today and do it tomorrow.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    Is that the Motion?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I was just trying to gauge the mood of the House.
    Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:49 a.m.
    The mood of the House is that you move the Motion. [Laughter]
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, in that regard, I beg to move, that this House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 20th May, 2020 at 10 o'clock in the forenoon. I would like to remind us, as you just read, that Hon Members of Parliament would have to subject themselves to testing tomorrow in the Foyer at 9 a. m. and for the staff, at the Clinic of the House.
    Mr Speaker, this is an adjournment of the Sitting, so it should not be misconstrued. It is not an adjournment of the Meeting.
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:49 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion for adjournment and probably sit squarely on your very competent reading of the mood of the House. I just hope that tomorrow, we would have an opportunity to look at the Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2020 because I have just looked at the legislative programme for the Second Meeting of the Fourth Parliament and it is a tall order. So, the earlier we start, the better. I entreat Hon Members to make ourselves available for testing tomorrow.
    Question put and Motion agreed to.
    ADJOURNMENT 1:49 a.m.