Debates of 5 Jun 2020

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 11 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 11 a.m.
Mr Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon Members, Correction of the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, 4th June,
2020.
Page 1 -- 21 -- [Interruption] --
Yes, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, I recognise you.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa 11 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Votes and Proceedings has captured the terms and reference for the Committee you set up, and I just thought that we should all pay attention to it if the rendition is exactly what you want because I do not recall that we discussed these terms for the referral to the Committee on Works and Housing yesterday.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I honestly cannot speak to this immediately. I think we would have to consult the Hansard in order for us to know exactly what you said and then it would affect this. I am not too sure of what you said even though I drew attention to it as I thought that was not the right course but because it came from the Hon Speaker, we would have to consult with what is captured in the Hansard and do what is needful.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it is rightly so. What the Table Office is to do is to give meaning to your ruling and directives accordingly. The very words which were used by you would constitute what would guide the work of the Committee. There should be nothing more but what the Hon Speaker directed.
Subsequent to the Answer to the Question, Mr Speaker ruled and subsequently had to rule on
parliamentary privilege when the Hon Majority Leader raised issues of disagreement.
So Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa is asking how the Table Office came by this three-point term of reference. They should just capture the exact sense of what the Hon Speaker wished and wanted when he directed that the Committee should take up the matter.
Mr Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon Members, I observed that the Table Office tried to assist me by putting words in my mouth. [Laughter]
I would rather that they do not because if we take the tape recording, you would realise that I said they should come to consider the issues raised as a whole and make appropriate recommendations to this House.
I was very mindful of all the allegations, counter-allegations and figures. Nevertheless, I refused to go into that arena, and it would be borne out clearly by the record. So it is an assistance that should be better avoided, and be captured as I have just said and then the Committee can come and make the appropriate findings.
So the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, 4 th June, 2020, as corrected be hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Business Statement -- Hon Majority Leader?
Hon Members, the presentation of the Business Statement is not an occasion to make whatever statement one thinks is appropriate. Come by the regular procedures. We would be brisk about the matter.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 11:10 a.m.
Majority Leader/Chairman of the Business Committee (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 11:10 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Committee met yesterday, Thursday, 4th June, 2020 and arranged Business of the House for the Fourth Week ending Friday, 12th June, 2020.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its Report as follows 11:10 a.m.
Arrangement of Business
Formal Communications by the Speaker
Mr Speaker, you may read any available communication to the House.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its Report as follows 11:10 a.m.
Question(s)
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee has scheduled the
following Ministers to respond to Questions asked of them during the week:
No. of Question(s)
i. Minister for Railways Development 1
ii. Minister for Health 2
iii. Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection 1
iv. Minister for Works and Housing 3
Total number of Questions 7
Mr Speaker, in all, four Ministers are expected to attend upon the House to respond to seven Questions during the week. The questions are of the following types:
i. Urgent -- 0;
ii. Oral -- 7
Mr Speaker, the Minister responsible for Railways Development was programmed to be in the House to respond to a Question this week. Intervening events occasioned a reprogramming of the Question to the Minister. The Question has accordingly been relisted for the Minister to appear next week to respond to same.
Mr Speaker, the Business Committee hereby informs Hon Members that Questions which may be admitted by yourself during the week, particularly those relating to the road sector, may be programmed for the relevant sector Ministers to respond to same during the week.
Mr Speaker, I am told that some additional Questions relating to roads, numbering 18, have been admitted by you. Of course, it is not possible to admit 18 Questions to be answered in just one day. Mr Speaker, we would look at them and by whatever arrangement, including the casting of lots, determine which ones should be handled next week Friday.
Mr Speaker, that would also mean that we would have to bang on the
doors of the Hon Minister to have these Questions transmitted to him early enough to elicit the appropriate responses.
Statements
Mr Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 70(2), Ministers of State may be permitted to make Statements of Government policy. Statements duly admitted by you may be made in the House by Hon Members, in accordance with Standing Order 72.
Bills, Papers and Reports
Mr Speaker, Bills may be presented to the House for First Reading in accordance with Standing 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.
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.

Questions --

*707. Mr Frank Annoh- Dompreh (Nsawam--Adoagyiri): To ask the Minister for Railways Development when works on the Achimota - Nsawam railway line will be completed.

Statements

Consideration Stage of Bills --

Land Bill, 2019. (Continuation of Debate)

Ghana Communication Tech- nology University Bill, 2020.

Committee sittings.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its Report as follows 11:10 a.m.


Questions --

*725. Mr Philip Basoah (Kumawu): To ask the Minister for Health the status of the Kumawu District Hospital Project being undertaken by the MNS Company from the United Kingdom.

*726Mr Rockson-Nelson E.K. Dafeamekpor (South Dayi): To ask the Minister for Health how much it cost the nation in total to develop the COVID-19 tracking software application and how many musicians came to launch it earlier this month?

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(i) Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of Domestic VAT amounting to the Ghana cedi equivalent of three million, one hundred and fifty-five thousand, two hundred and forty-four United States dollars eighty-eight cents (US$3,155,244.88) on local purchases and services in respect of the Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Equipment in Technical Universities,

Polytechnics, Technical and Vocational Training Centres under the Government Concessional Loan Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Export- Import Bank of China.

(ii) Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of Import Duties, Import VAT, GETFund Levy, Import NHIL Levy, and EXIM Levy amounting to the Ghana cedi equivalent of three hundred and forty- seven thousand, one hundred and seventy-four United States dollars forty-five cents (US$347,174.45) on plant, machinery and equipment or parts to be procured by Camelot Ghana Limited under the implementation of the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme.

(iii) Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of Import Duties, Import VAT, GETFund Levy, Import NHIL Levy, and EXIM Levy amounting to the Ghana cedi equivalent of one hundred and thirty-one thousand, nine hundred and

eighty-eight United States dollars (US$131,988.00) on materials, plant, machinery and equipment or parts to be procured by 01 Limited under the implementation of the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme.

Motions --

Third Reading of Bills.

Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019.

Consideration Stage of Bills --

Land Bill, 2019 (Continuation of Debate)

Committee sittings.

Questions --

*724. Ms Mavis Nkansah-Boadu (Afigya Sekyere East): To ask the Minister responsible for Gender, Children and Social Protection if there are measures to liaise with the Ministry of National Security to get children beggars off the streets.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(a) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Federation of Saint Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports.

(b) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Republic of Suriname on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports.

(c) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Republic of Malta on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic and Service/Official Passports.
Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its Report as follows 11:10 a.m.
(d) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports.
(e) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Republic of Guyana on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic, Service/Official and Ordinary Passports.
(f) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic, Service/Official and Ordinary Passports.
(g) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic and Service/Official Ordinary Passports.
(h)Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the State of Qatar on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Ghanaian Diplomatic Passports and Holders of Qatar Diplomatic and Special Passports.
(i) Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of Jamaica on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic, Service and Ordinary Passports.
Consideration Stage of Bills --
Land Bill, 2019. (Continuation of Debate)
Committee sittings.

Questions --

*720.Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (Nsawam--Adoagyiri): To ask the Minister for Works and Housing what the Ministry is doing about the uncompleted housing projects started by ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor at Koforidua, Wa and Tamale.

*721. Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (Nsawam--Adoagyiri): To ask the Minister for Works and Housing why the Ministry abandoned the “CONTI Project” and what alternative solutions, if any, the Ministry proposes.

*722. Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (Nsawam-Adoagyiri): To ask the Minister for Works and Housing the coastal protection undertaken by the Ministry and its relevant cost to the nation.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(i) Adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of Domestic VAT amounting to the Ghana cedi equivalent of three million, one hundred and fifty-five thousand, two hundred and forty-four United States dollars eighty- eight cents (US$3,155, 244.88) on local purchases and services in respect of the Rehabilitation and Up- grading of Equipment in Technical Universities, Polytechnics, Technical and Vocational Training Centres under the Government Concessional Loan Agree- ment between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Export- Import Bank of China.

(Consequential resolution)

(ii)Adoption of the Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of Import Duties, Import VAT, GETFund Levy, Import NHIL Levy, and EXIM Levy amounting to the Ghana Cedi equivalent of three hundred and forty-seven thousand, one hundred and seventy-four United States dollars forty- five cents (US$347, 174.45)
Mr Ras Mubarak 11:10 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to make a correction on item (f) on page 3 of the Business Statement. Mr Speaker, “St Vincent and Grenadines” should be corrected to “St Vincent and the Grenadines.” I believe it has been corrected a couple of times, but it has been repeated.
Mr Speaker, on that same page, I see Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the bilateral agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of Jamaica. The Governments of Ghana and Jamaica have had visa waiver agreements dating several years. As a matter of fact, I travelled to Jamaica in 2007 on an ordinary passport without visa so I do not know if there is any clarification for this particular agreement?
Mr Speaker, I see that a Question that was asked yesterday by my Hon Friend, Hon Mavis Nkansah-Boadu, has been repeated even though in a very different language, the responses of the Hon Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection -- if you look at the Question that was asked by the Hon Mavis Nkansah- Boadu for the ensuing week, that same Question was asked yesterday. I wonder why it has been repeated even though the language differs?
Finally, I see that the Hon Chairman for the Committee on Foreign Affairs has several Questions for next week. In view of the tall list of Questions from Hon Colleagues, my suggestion is that we create space for other Hon Colleagues who may not have asked Questions. For instance, on a single day, one Hon Member would ask three --
Mr Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon Member, that is why we have Hon Leaders meeting.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to make an important correction to the item numbered 4 on page 3 of the Business Statement - Question 720. This is a former President of this Republic and we cannot get his surname, “Kufuor”, wrong. It is important that this House avoids some of these errors.
Mr Speaker, having said that, there are two outstanding issues from the Business Statement that I would want to draw the attention of the House to. The Hon Chairman of the Business Committee and Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs would recall that
there was a discussion about an extended Leadership meeting with Hon Ministers of State on the Agenda for this Meeting.
Mr Speaker, he indicated that he is holding some consultations with Hon Ministers and that he would report back to us. This was about two weeks ago, but I have noticed that it no longer features, so respectfully, I would want to find out from the Hon Majority Leader what has emerged from those consultations?
With the second outstanding matter from the Business Statement that was presented about two weeks ago, the Hon Majority Leader would recall that I drew attention to the list of Presidential staffers and that about six key Hon Ministers of State were omitted, including the Hon Senior Minister, the Hon Minister for Business Development, the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation and so on.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader said that he would cross check and if need be that there ought to be an amendment to the Report, he would let us know. However, it has been two weeks now and I do not know if the Hon Majority Leader has an update on this issue as well.
Mr Speaker 11:20 p.m.
Hon Member, all Questions would be dealt with in the usual way.
Mr Ablakwa 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Mr Ebenezer N. N. Nartey 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Electoral Commission started a pilot project on the registration exercise. I want to suggest if the House can arrange for the Electoral Commission to be here and demonstrate to Hon Members for us to see how the system would be run?
Secondly, we are all aware that now we are not in normal times and our Research Assistants are not being allowed on the premises of Parliament. This makes the work difficult for Hon Members of Parliament -
Mr Speaker 11:20 p.m.
Hon Member, communicate with them via the telephone, WhatsApp and other forms of electronic communication. We are decongesting. That is all for this matter.
Ms Helen A. Ntoso 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I just want to bring to your attention that I submitted an Urgent Question on Agriculture about a year ago.
Mr Speaker 11:20 p.m.
Hon Member, please discuss with the Table Office.
Any other matter arising from the Business Statement?
Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity and I also thank the Leader of Government Business.
Mr Speaker, I am compelled today to invoke the powers vested in you under Standing Order 53(2) and to request you to rule on a matter. Mr Speaker, since 30th April, I have been labouring with my Hon Colleague, the Hon Majority Leader, to summon the Electoral Commission and its Chairperson to update Parliament and the Committee of the Whole, on their roadmap to the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, and to allow Parliament to interrogate matters relative to their procurement, budget and political accountability to this House.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague has repeatedly deferred the matter and given me dates that I can no longer rely on. The last time he said 9th June,
but as he read the Business Statement today, there is no indication of that. Mr Speaker, political accountability and holding the Electoral Commission accountable as an independent constitutional body is an imperative --
Mr Speaker 11:20 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, kindly address imperatively on this matter. Add the matter on the Electoral Commission to your responses.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Kumbungu, Mr Ras Mubarak said that the first Question slated for next week Thursday appears to be a repetition of the Question that was asked of the Hon Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
I do not know where my Hon Colleague is drawing his inspiration from, because if he reads the Question that was advertised yesterday and the Question that has been presented today there is a world of difference.
Mr Speaker, he informed us that he went to Jamaica in 2007 so if he has such close collaboration and association with Jamaica, then asking this question -- I will not go further on that. Mr Speaker, there is a clear distinction between the two Questions.
Mr Speaker, again, my Hon Colleague is saying that you have admitted three Questions, but you have the charge to admit Questions. However, our Standing Orders provide that on any given day an Hon Member may ask not more than three Questions. So if an Hon Member is asking three Questions, then it does not offend any rule.
Mr Speaker, Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa is asking about the extended leadership meeting that I proposed for us to determine the urgent business for this Meeting. The Hon Member would recollect that I charged the Hon Chief Whip to begin the series because I was not available at the time. We would continue to do that and I guess by the close of next week we should come to some conclusion on that.
This is because certainly time is not on our side and especially given the current circumstances, we should be able to deal with priority items. In fact, yesterday I said to the Hon Colleagues in Cabinet that they have to assist in this, especially with critical Bills that we may have to deal with as a House. Certainly, this would be carried through.
Mr Speaker, the other matter the Hon Member related to was the list of Presidential staffers. Certainly, it is
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:30 a.m.
not part of this presentation but it is still a worthy issue that he has raised. I have not really forgotten because I raised it with the Chief of Staff, but unfortunately, following up has been the difficulty. The Chief of Staff has not gotten back yet and I have to follow up on that. I want to believe that by next week I should be in a position to provide an answer to that.

Mr Speaker, the other question that he was about to ask was guillotined, but it was about COVID-19 related Questions, including some that Hon Members have spoken to as having been filed but of which there is no track. Mr Speaker, no such Questions have been filed, yet people decide to bear false witness. This is something else that we could deal with at a proper forum.

Mr Speaker, Hon Nartey is asking that we should invite the Electoral Commission to demonstrate how the pilot registration was carried because we are major stakeholders.

The Leadership of the Special Budget Committee represented by me extended an invitation to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission to be here sequel to the request made by the Hon Minority

Leader who is the Vice Chairman of the Committee. I keep updating him. Indeed, even yesterday, he raised this matter at the Business Committee meeting, and I told him where we are and said to him that the Electoral Commissioner has assured that they would be here on 16th June, 2020. I was trying to pull them to be here on 9th June, 2020 which should be Tuesday.

This has been my stand. Unfortunately, as I told him yesterday, they have indicated to me that they have to fan out to various places in the districts to pursue a cause, and that they would be coming back on the Sunday leading to the 16th June. That is why they gave us the 16th June, 2020.

Mr Speaker, in the intervening period, there has been some development. Sunday is the 14th day of June. That is why they said they could avail themselves on 16th June,

2020.

Mr Speaker, as I said, in the intervening period, a few issues have cropped up including the directive by the Supreme Court for them to avail themselves next Monday, which is 8th June, 2020. In this instance, I might want to follow up with them if thereafter they could avail themselves to us before they go out there to the districts. This is because that only happened yesterday, which is a new development.

Mr Speaker, sometimes I find it rather unfortunate that when we discuss matters there, he imports those matters to the Floor to make it appear as if he has not been given the tentative information.
Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, so when?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:30 a.m.
Mr Speaker, as I was saying, I insisted that they should come on Tuesday, 9th June, 2020 and they said they would be in the districts. Today, because of what happened at the court yesterday, I would want to further consult with them to see if they could avail themselves the day after, which would be the 9th June, 2020.
If it is possible, by the close of day, I believe I could extract this from them, and if we have the assurance, they would come on 9th June, 2020. Other than that, compelling them is a difficulty.

Mr Speaker, somebody is saying that it has been more than one year. That is a palpable untruth.

We have met them. They came before us; presented their budget and so on. However, I agree with the Hon Minority Leader that there are some other matters that they may have to come and relate to because this is an election year.

Mr Speaker, we would do whatever it takes to get them here. This is the assurance I could give.
Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Thank you very much. We would hold you to this promise.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:30 a.m.
Mr Speaker, it appears rather that there is a mix up. [Pause]
Mr Speaker, the issue raised by Hon Ras Mubarak with respect to Foreign Affairs, my information is that Ghana and Jamaica entered into some informal agreement, but Jamaica has been implementing the informal arrangement that we had with them. Now, we would want to formalise it,
Mr Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Majority Leader. The Business Statement as presented is accordingly admitted.
Item listed 4 -- Urgent Question. If the Hon Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration would take the appropriate chair?S
Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, your Question?
ORAL ANSWERS TO 11:30 a.m.
URGENT QUESTIONS 11:30 a.m.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN 11:30 a.m.
AFFAIRS AND REGIONAL 11:30 a.m.
INTEGRATION 11:30 a.m.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 11:30 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the Hon Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration the
plans for evacuating Ghanaians currently stranded abroad due to the closure of our international borders as a result of measures to prevent the importation of COVID-19.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey) 11:30 a.m.
Mr Speaker, Government took the decision to begin the process of evacuating our compatriots home who are stranded in abroad, following the alert from the World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 is most likely to remain a global public health issue until a vaccine is developed. The decision was also informed by the data gathered by our Diplomatic Missions abroad on the categories of Ghanaians who were stranded.
For several weeks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and its Missions abroad, together with key MDAs such as The Interior and Aviation Ministries, and the Ghana Immigration Service have been working closely to bring back home stranded Ghanaians in several countries.
To ensure a well-coordinated evacuation exercise, Government decided to undertake the exercise in phases. This decision was informed by financial and logistical considerations; namely, the capacity
of our isolation centers to hold large numbers of evacuees as well as the human resource capacity of the National COVID-19 Task Force comprising personnel from various security agencies.
Mr Speaker, the evacuation of stranded Ghanaians abroad has been categorized into four (4) groups as follows:
i. Ability-to-Pay
This comprises private individuals, business/corporate-sponsored employees, privately-sponsored students on exchange programmes, Government-sponsored students who are yet to complete their courses but who without any compelling reasons insist on returning home. It also covers foreign-sponsored evacuations which only require Government to provide travel documents and guarantee safe passage as well as Ghana residence permit holders, including diplomats and their dependents.
ii.Government Funded Evacuation
Mr Speaker, Government funded evacuation comprises Government officials who travelled on official
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey) 11:40 a.m.


business, Government-sponsored students who have completed their courses of study, as well as Government-sponsored students who are yet to complete their courses but who are compelled to leave their places of residence.

iii. Distressed/Destitute

Mr Speaker, this group is composed of Ghanaians who had travelled to various countries before the advent of the pandemic, but whose circumstances have been worsened due to the crisis and consequent travel bans and other restrictions imposed by different countries around the world.

iv. Deportees

Mr Speaker, this group comprises Ghanaians who have been scheduled for removal from various countries.

Mr Speaker, you were all witnesses to the return of the 230 Ghanaians from the State of Kuwait on 23rd May, 2020 who were quarantined at the Prampram Quarantine Centre.

Following the return from Kuwait, I am pleased to inform this House about Government's efforts to extend the evacuation to stranded Ghanaians in other parts of the world. Let me,
Mr Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Minister.
Mr Ablakwa 11:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank the Hon Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for the response.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister indicated in her detailed answer that our missions abroad have been collating data. Is the Hon Minister able to tell this House the result of that data collection? Does she have an idea of the number of Ghanaians to be evacuated?
Ms Botchwey 11:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, in my response, I went through the various countries and the data that we have which will result in bringing those people back home.
Mr Ablakwa 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, may I know from the Hon Minister whether there are any arrangements to help cater for those who are stranded at the moment before they embark?
Mr Speaker, specifically, I refer to the issue in Dubai. The UAE media has reported that the police had to take some of our compatriots to temporary shelters. Has that come to the Hon Minister's attention? Is the
Hon Minister putting in place some mechanisms to at least, cater for them as they await these flight schedules?
Because some of the schedules given to us are 13th June, 2020; 26th June, 2020; and 28th June, 2020. In the interim, are there some Consular assistance to our people?
Ms Botchwey 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, let me state on record that our missions outside the country do their best to accommodate such cases of Ghanaians who are stranded and are destitute.Mr Speaker, for example, at the Bole International Airport at Addis Ababa, about 10 or so people were found to be sleeping in rough places because they got caught by the closure of the borders.
Our mission was instructed to find them affordable accommodation because they were stranded and did not have any money, and for about six to eight weeks now, we have had to pay for them. Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who asked the question is aware of the fact that the Ministry does not have any budget to cater for stranded Ghanaians, or for emergencies.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs has been working with us to ensure that this happens. In any case, the Public Accounts Committee has also
recommended that we be given something of a sort, so that we can cater for them. So for now, there is no budget line for it, and officers are having to dig into their own pockets to do what they can.
However, if any Ghanaian is that destitute and desperate in the UAE or elsewhere, we would do all that we can to take care of the person while we wait for the flights to bring them back .
Mr Ablakwa 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, finally, has the Hon Minister considered some bilateral agreement with the countries that are lifting their nationals from Ghana? I am aware that we do open the airport for them, and the chartered flights come in empty.
Is it possible for her to negotiate with her foreign counterparts, or at the presidential level, so that instead of those flights coming in empty, they can bring in some of our compatriots? I am sure that this arrangement would be far cheaper. Has that been considered? Finally, does she have any idea of how much all of these evacuations would cost?
Ms Botchwey 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member has touched on an arrangement that would have been very ideal, which is the empty flights

Mr Speaker, there is one that we are presently negotiating with, since they would be flying empty into the country. I cannot mention the country but the cost per passenger is over US$3,000. So it is even better for us to charter our own flights to bring them in.

We are negotiating with another one that would be coming from Europe, and we hope that the cost would not be too high. The countries are using commercial flights, and it makes business sense to them to charge high fares since we are desperate. It therefore cannot be free, and it has not proved cheaper for us.

Mr Speaker, once it is all done, I may come back to the House to put a cost on all the evacuations done. However, from China (Guangzhou) to Accra, we are looking at one flight costing over an amount of US$ 800,000. With regard to the UAE, the Dubai airline, which is the Emirates, is charging an amount of 2,500 (dirham) AED which is about an amount of US$670 per person.
Mr Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Minister, for your very thorough answers, which gave us a good briefing of the situation.
Hon Members, there would be one contribution from each Side, in view of the number of Questions that we have this morning for Question time. The Hon Leaders may also choose to decide.
Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, may I know from the Hon Minister, whether or not the evacuees pay their own quarantine expenses upon their arrival? I would also want to know the expenses involved in their quarantine. Do they pay the cost of quarantine themselves?
Mr Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Yes, Hon Minister?
Ms Botchwey 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, indeed, the passengers would have to pay for their own hotel bills for the quarantine, except for those who are destitutes and stranded. However, for those who are not, they would have to pay for their fare back into the country, and for their quarantine.
It is not the Government; no country so far, including our neighbours in Nigeria, Togo and Benin. None of them have brought back their nationals into their respective countries free of charge. All the evacuations we hear about from Ghana to the respective countries, none of them have been free. It cannot be free, Government cannot take that cost on board. So yes, they would be paying for their quarantine as well.
Mr Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon Members, Order!
Hon Members, those who do not know let them know. No country evacuates its members and pays just because there is the need to. But where a person is a destitute, then of course, the country may step in. However, if one is capable, then why should the public purse pay for them? We should not misinterpret these things if we do not really understand them.
Mr Mathew Nyindam 11:50 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to use this opportunity to thank the Hon Minister for the detailed programme so far.
Mr Speaker, my question to the Hon Minister is to know the measures that are in place such that our brothers and sisters who are being brought in do not end up increasing the infection rates. I would also want to know the measures that are being taken to ensure that those that were brought from Kuwait do not increase the infection rates.
Ms Botchwey noon
Mr Speaker, I must say that we have three Deputy Ministers who are part of the COVID-19 task force. We have the Deputy Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the one for Health and for National Security as part of the team. So the health aspect of it is very much covered. We encouraged our nationals to take the COVID-19 test before they get on the flight to come back.
However, on arrival, our nationals would be tested again, and again when they get into the quarantine centres also. The protocols of testing would then be followed through,
which is two or three tests within the 14 day period. So everything is in place to ensure that testing is done.
Mr Speak er, we all know that most of our cases, if not all, to start with, at least, were imported and the mandatory quarantine that was put in place at the very beginning was clear that a good number of those who came from outside the country tested positive.
That is why we insisted on these three tests before they were released. We do not want to have the same situation where people come in and at the end of the day, they are allowed into the society and become a source of spreading the virus.
So everything is in place from the health point of view to make sure that those of us in this country are safe. I have just been reminded of the 230 Ghanaians who came from Kuwait and 35 of them tested positive although the authorities there told us that they had all been tested and were free of the virus.
However, when they got here, we realised from the test results that 35 of them which accounts for some 15 or so per cent were positive. Therefore there is a need to make sure that this does not happen in terms of them infecting others.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister for Health; Dr Okoe Boye would represent the substantive Minister to answer the Questions.
ORAL ANSWERS TO noon
QUESTIONS noon
MINISTRY OF HEALTH noon
Mr Rockso-Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamekpor (NDC -- South Dayi) noon
Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the Minister for Health the concrete steps the Ministry has taken to build an accident centre at the Peki Government Hospital in South Day.
Deputy Minister for Health (Dr Bernard Okoe Boye): Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Health is keen on improving the quality of
healthcare delivery to the people of Ghana. As part of this quest, the Ministry of Health has developed a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Roadmap which has prioritised emergency care services. The essence of the UHC Roadmap is to enable the country achieve the health- related objectives in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3.
At my Ministerial monitoring visit to Peki Government Hospital some time ago, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, had taken some initiative and informed the Ministry that a group from Peki had volunteered to construct an Accident and Emergency Unit for the Hospital. He also requested for funding to support to complete the project.
In addition, I directed the Technical Team to design a complete facility that would house the adjunct clinical services such as pharmacy, laboratory and public Health.
The Ministry has therefore programmed to allocate funds in next year's budget to implement this project.
Mr Dafeamekpor noon
Mr Speaker, I thank the Hon Deputy Minister for his Answer.
From his last paragraph, the allocation of funds for next year to assist in the implementation of the project in the hospital is not clear as to whether it is in respect of the construction of the additional facility to house a pharmacy and the other areas or it is in respect of the ongoing self-funding by the community accident centre?
Mr Speaker, I would please want some clarity with this.
Dr Boye noon
Mr Speaker, what the group is contemplating is one that was going to be without some of these adjunct services. So the funds we are talking about would be funds that would make sure that we complete the emergency with all the services such as pharmacy, laboratory and public health all included and whatever it will take to have that complete structure.
Mr Speaker noon
Hon Member, are you done?
Mr Dafeamekpor noon
Mr Speaker, rightly so.
Mr Speaker noon
Thank you very much.
Question 698, by the Hon Member for Kintampo North?
Accreditation of the Kintampo College of Health to Degree
Programme Status
Mr Kwasi Etu-Bonde (NDC -- Kintampo North) noon
Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the Hon Minister for Health what is stalling the accreditation of Kintampo College of Health degree programmes.
Dr Boye noon
Mr Speaker, the Kintampo College of Health and Wellbeing's accreditation for degree programmes process has been progressive and not stalled as the Question indicates. The accreditation is in two forms: Academic accreditation which is a prerequisite for the professional accreditation.
The College has currently received a Professional Certificate of Programmes Accreditation for six degrees from the National Accreditation Board granted at their 120th Meeting held on December 19-
20, 2019.
This notwithstanding, their degrees have not officially been captured or recognised by the Medical and Dental Council. Below are the specified certified professional degree programmes approved:
Mr Etu-Bonde noon
Mr Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry for making sure that the long - awaited dream of the people of Kintampo as well as the management of the College has come to pass. We wanted the College to be upgraded to a degree awarding Institution.
Mr Speaker, however, my question is, I want to know whether the Bsc Physician Assistantship (Dermato- logy) from September 2010 to August 2016 have they received their degree certificates instead of the Higher National Diploma they were given?
Dr Boye 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, I have to check with the department in charge to give that answer.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Etu-Bonde 12:10 p.m.
Thank you Mr Speaker; I am alright.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Thank you very much.
Hon Minister, thank you very much for attending to the House and answering our Questions. You are respectfully discharged. And if the Hon Minister for Education would please take the appropriate Chair?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Education is not in the Chamber, but this Question, has really been asked of the Hon Minister and it has been answered just in March, 2020. So I think there is a mix-up. This very Question was asked of by the self- saying Dr Clement Apaak so to me that there is a mix up which occasioned this.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader is right. As a Deputy Minority Whip, I got in contact with the Hon Member who asked the Question but he said the Question has already been asked and answered in one of our meetings and so he is even surprised why it has been reprinted.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Thank you very much. Then we would move on to Statements; the item listed 6, Statement by the Hon Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Inovation on World Environmental Day.
Mr Speaker, COVID-19 has taught us some lessons 12:10 p.m.
these exceptional times have sent us a message that to care for ourselves, we must care for nature. We must therefore wake up, take notice, raise our voices and take appropriate steps to conserve and sustainably utilise our natural resources in a way that would serve today's generation and posterity.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Thank you very much, Hon Minister. In view of our time, we would take one from each Side. Yes, Leadership?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, please, did you say two each including Leadership?
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
We are tight.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 12:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity. Mr Speaker, I wish to commend the Hon Minister for the brief, apt and the very important Statement made by him on this very important occasion to mark the World Environment Day. And Mr Speaker, he could not have chosen a better theme than the question of biodiversity and how our survival depends on it.
Mr Speaker, there is no doubt that the recent happenings relating to COVID-19 and the lockdown that became a global phenomenon revealed the impact of our various activities on the environment and biodiversity generally.
Mr Speaker, CNN and other global media outlets, during the period of lockdowns, showed countries that in the past were covered with smoke and dust and the air was so polluted. Due to measures during the lockdown, when those countries were locked down for some time, three
weeks, the air suddenly cleared, the noise reduced and the world became a very pleasant place in some of those places.
This just illustrates the very negative impact that our new lifestyles and ways of doing things are having on the environment. Equally, the world survives on biodiversity, yet the way we live and many of the things we do, threaten and endanger the existence of certain species which are necessary for the existence of other species, including the human species, and that is why we must take this matter very seriously.
I would urge the Hon Minister to continue to evolve policies and programmes that would assist us to improve the enforcement of rules, regulations and laws that would ensure that we do not live in ways that have a negative impact on other organisms, plants and animal species.
I would like to draw particular attention to the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016, which was passed by this House and has very elaborate provisions regarding spatial planning. This is because the question of biodiversity can largely be addressed with strict adherence to spatial planning. All districts must develop
spatial plans, so that they would know where to conserve, where to put up houses and how to preserve rivers and water bodies.
All that should be contained in the district's spatial plan, as well as the regional spatial plan and then the overall national spatial plan. Where population settlements should be and places which should be reserved for agricultural purposes are all encapsulated in the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016. So if we strictly enforce this provision, it would go a long way to assist in preserving and maintaining the best ecosystem in which biodiversity can strive and guarantee our continued existence.
Mr Speaker, on that note, once again, let me thank the Hon Minister for making the Statement on this very auspicious occasion.
Mr Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Thank you very much. Yes, Majority Side? [Pause] Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Yaw Frimpong Addo (NPP -- Manso-Adubia) 12:20 p.m.
Thank you Mr Speaker, for allowing me to make this contribution to the Statement ably made by the Hon Minister who is so passionate about the environment.
Mr Speaker, the theme for this world's celebration of the World Environment Day is “Celebrating Biodiversity” as our survival depends on nature. This brings to mind the way those of us in the Third World countries, limiting ourselves to Ghana, have so carelessly taken this issue to the extent that we are destroying our environment with careless abandonment.
Mr Speaker, we should always keep reminding ourselves of the dangers of the destruction of our natural habitat. I will limit myself to a significant aspect of our lives in this country which is practised in about three quarters of the regions in this country and that is small-scale mining. As we speak, the large tracts of land that have been destroyed by small-scale mining all over these regions are still lying there whilst we talk about the protection of our environment.
When you travel across the country, especially in the regions where small-scale mining takes place seriously, you will see all these lands that have been destroyed. I wonder when we as a country will begin the reclamation of these lands through afforestation programmes that can give employment to our youth, so that we can rebuild our natural habitat to fight the climate change crisis that has engulfed the whole world.
Mr Speaker 12:20 p.m.
At the Commence- ment of Public Business, item numbered 7, presentation of Papers. Item numbered 7 (i), by the Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I understand that the Papers are ready for presentation but the Chairman of the Finance Committee is not available, so any member of the Finance Committee could lay the document on behalf of the Chairman.
Mr Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Thank you very much.
Alhaji Muntaka 12:20 p.m.
[Inaudible]
Mr Nyindam 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, as an Hon Member of the Finance Committee, I can confirm that we have worked on these documents, and the Hon Chairman of the Committee called me last night and asked me to lay these Papers on behalf of the Committee. So I could say without any contradiction or fear that I could comfortably with the permission of the House lay these Papers.
PAPERS 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Item listed 8 -- Motion, by the Hon Chairman of the Committee.
Hon Majority Leader, what is the position?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, what is outstanding now are items 8, 9 and 10. However, I understand the Committee is working on the Report for item numbered 9, which could be available in a few minutes from now. So in the meantime, we could deal with item numbered 10 -- the Consideration Stage of the Land Bill, 2019, which we started yesterday.
Mr Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I do not have a copy of the Report on Motion 9. This morning when I came to the Chamber, I walked to the Hon Majority Leader, and indicated to him to speak to the Hon Chairman of the Committee who I spoke to earlier and the Clerk to the Committee and I made a request to him that we could as well consider it on Tuesday. However, before he responded to me, the shout “Mr Speaker'' came so we parted company and I walked back to my seat.
Mr Speaker, I do not have a copy of the Report for Motion 9, so agreeably, we could take item numbered 10, but the Instrument --
Mr Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, nevertheless, you are talking about Tuesday but the Hon Majority Leader said we should wait for a few minutes. What is the position?
Mr Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I know your position is a heartbeat when Leadership builds consensus on a matter but we have not built a consensus yet because the Instrument does not mature today but on Tuesday. Why must we suspend the Standing Orders on an important matter such as a Constitutional Instrument (C. I.) from the Electoral Commission? We have not been able to build consensus, and I do not also have a copy of the Report.
However, I think that Tuesday, is ideal. There is nothing we could do about it. We cannot add on, subtract or deduct -- we could debate the principles as reported but there is no Report. I understand the Hon Chairman, Vice Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee have their own as to context. I spoke to the Hon Member for Bolgatanga East, Dr Ayine and the Clerk to the Committee. I in fact encouraged them to speak to the Hon Majority Leader, so that we could take item numbered
10.
Mr Speaker 12:30 p.m.
We want to know what our approach is towards items listed 8 and 9, so that we know where we are.
Mr Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader, would be in a better position to advise on that.
Mr Speaker 12:30 p.m.
We moved from items listed 8 and 9, with the view that what?
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader indicated to me that we could have the Motion listed as item numbered 9 on Tuesday, but I responded that I do not see the reason we should wait until Tuesday, that we could do it today. Indeed, the Motion for this C. I. was programmed for debate yesterday, and then they gave an indication that we could do it today rather.
Yesterday the Paper was laid in this House by the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and the Hon Chairman is from the Minority Side. If the Hon Minority Leader is telling us that he does not have a copy, does he want to tell us that the Hon Chairman was untruthful to this House when he laid the document yesterday?
Mr Speaker, I took it in good faith that the document was ready and it was laid. Today, he gave indication but he proposed to me that we could stand it down and do it on Tuesday, and I said I do not see the reason why we cannot do it today, given the fact that Hon Members when they go to
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Ranking Member of the Committee, you have been mentioned so --
Yes, Hon Minority Leader?
Mr Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague must help this House and himself. I take strong exception where he questions and impugns the integrity of the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation.
Mr Speaker, yesterday you could have noticed at some point that while you were ruling on the proceedings on the Committee on Mines and Energy, I walked to sit at the backbench to invite the Hon Ahiafor to consult him and the Chairman after which I had to call Mr Coleman to go and share with the Hon Majority Leader what my position was on this matter.
Mr Speaker, I leave it there.
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, now, you are speaking in parables. [Laughter] --
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, ordinarily, we should not have gotten here but what actually happened must be stated to clear the air.
Mr Speaker, the Report was well written by the Chairman of the Committee through consensus building. The Chairman showed the Report to the Ranking Member just to go through. The Ranking Member cancelled the Report. So as we are talking, the Chairman is now writing another Report.
Mr Speaker, we are not questioning the Report that was laid here, but the Hon Ranking Member cancelled it. So what Report are we to debate?
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Member, when we develop hyperbolic language, we sometimes get into unnecessary trouble. Did the Hon Ranking Member cancel the Report?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, he cancelled portions of the Report -- [Laughter] -- which
deformed it. As we speak, the Chairman is now rewriting the new Report.
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Member, if you respond in this manner, I would have to give you the gavel or even more. Now, you have corrected yourself. Maybe, you were just excited and you went to that pathway. We are not on a political platform; this is Parliament.
An Hon Member -- rose --
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Member, you may take your seat; I have not called you. I gave you the privilege.
Hon Ranking Member?
Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoah 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, indeed, your Committee on Subsidiary Legislation has a strong tradition of consensus building and in pursuit of that consensus, the Committee Report is shared across the leadership for editing.
Mr Speaker, as I speak, the Report has been properly and effectively edited and a functional copy is before me, agreed by the leadership of the Committee. The editing that was done yesterday to the draft Report has all been accepted and incorporated and a final draft is available. The only matter outstanding now is the signature of the Committee
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Members, I order that the Hon Chairman of the Committee should appear in the House in view of this statement.
Hon Members, we shall move to the Consideration Stage.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we can deal with the Land Bill, 2019, but to conclude on this matter, you have given an order that the Chairman of the Committee should appear to come and append his signature so that we can move on.
Mr Speaker, what if he decides not to appear or maybe he comes to tell us that it was impossible for him to appear in the House to sign? This is because as the Ranking Member is telling us that they have come to some agreement on the content, can anybody not sign so that this House can debate the matter?
Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, when we get to the river, we would cross, either by bridge or by boat.
But Clerk to Parliament and the relevant officers should please let the Hon Chairman of the Committee come before me now.
Hon Members, we would move to the Consideration Stage. I have ruled on this matter for now and I would respectfully say, let us have the Chairman here. No amount of discussions would replace that.
Hon Members, item listed 10, Land Bill, 2019 at the Consideration Stage.
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 12:40 p.m.
STAGE 12:40 p.m.
  • [Resumption of consideration from Thursday, 4 th June, 2020]
    • Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    Hon Chairman of the Committee, are we able to move on with item numbered (i), clause 9?
    Mr Francis Manu-Adabor 12:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, yesterday we got to clause 5 but we do not have any advertised amendments to clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8.
    Clause 5 -- 8
    Mr Haruna Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, with your leave, on clause
    8 --
    Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    Very well, then, let me put the Question on clauses 5, 6 and 7 --
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, really, I must admit that I have not had much time to go into this but then I see in clause 9, an attempt to effect some amendments at the instance of the Chairman of the Committee.
    Mr Speaker 12:40 p.m.
    Hon Majority Leader, we have not got there yet. You are too far ahead of us.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am raising the principle; in clause 9, where we have “stool, skin”, we are inserting inbetween “stool, skin” the word “or” so that it would read, “stool or skin” and wherever it appears consequentially. That being the case, we would see that we have such construction in clause 2: “held by the State, a stool, skin” --
    When we begin from clause 2 (b), it is here; when we come to clause 3 (a) and (c) and clause 4 having the same construction. So if indeed, the intendment is to effect that correction, then he ought to have begun from clause 2 and not clause 9.
    Mr Manu-Adabor 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we are all right with that amendment.
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    Hon Chairman, does what has been advocated for affects the item listed 5?
    Mr Manu-Adabor 12:50 p.m.
    No, it does not.
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    Does it affect the item numbered 6?
    Mr Manu-Adabor 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, anywhere we find “stool, skin”, then we put the word “or” between “stool” and “skin”. It is procedural.
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    Does that mean that there is an amendment with clause 5?
    Mr Manu-Adabor 12:50 p.m.
    Yes, with clauses 5(1)(a) and 5(2)(a).
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    By way of announcing to you, the Hon Chairman is on his way to the House. We are waiting. [Laughter]
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, while the Hon Majority Leader's observation is right, the amendment is wrong because clause 2 talks about the classes of people who can hold the allodial title, and so,
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 12:50 p.m.
    we have the state, a stool, a skin, a clan, a family, an heir or an individual. So it is not alternative.

    No, both stool and skin can hold a title. In the set-up of the State of Ghana, there are traditional areas that hold the allodial title by skin and those traditional councils do not hold by stool.
    Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I support the position of the Hon Ranking Member for the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. We are naming the particular groups or categories of people that may have interest in land -- stool, skin, family, clan and state.
    The Hon Majority Leader has suggested that where a stool has land, skin may not have it. That may well be so, but where a stool is, there can be a skin which may not hold land but -- For example, Kumasi is extremely multi-tribal, multi-group and multi- traditional, and they are recognised by the Asantehene.
    Mr Speaker, when the Asanteman Council sits, Zabzugu -- Sarikin Zongo have seats because of their traditional relations. So if we use “skin or stool”, we suggest alternatives, but it does not mean that there is no skin at where the stool is or there is no stool at where the skin is, but the ownership of interest in a land is in a skin, stool individual, state or a clan. I believe we should not alternate “skin” and stool”.
    Mr Ayariga 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is a simple matter. It does not really go to the substance of allodial title et cetera. I believe we are just talking about categorisation. So what the Hon Majority Leader said is that skin and stool are in the same category. It is either a skin or a stool. Family is family, whether it is in the southern, northern or western sectors. Clan is clan whether it is in the southern or northern sectors or the middle belt.
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    In fact, we can put a dash after “stool” and say “skin”. If we say that in every instance, it is either a stool or skin, we all know what that means.
    Mr Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu 12:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I disagree with the assertion of both the Hon Majority Leader and Hon Ayariga. Mr Speaker, I come from Dagbon. To suggest that we either can have a skin or stool, and I would want to give an example using my traditional area.
    Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
    Do you want to give an example to the contrary?
    Mr Sayibu 12:50 p.m.
    Yes. In the Northern Region, for the Dagombas, you could have a skin but beneath that skin is a stool, because we have people who are titled “warrior chiefs” who do not own land but- [Interruption]
    An Hon Member 12:50 p.m.
    But they do not own land.
    Mr Sayibu 12:50 p.m.
    Yes, they do not own land, but you see, in this instance, the skin is not limited to that traditional area. Mr Speaker, the argument is that, it is not correct to say that stool is for the people within the southern area. In the northern part of the
    country however, where skin is used, you would have in some jurisdictions people who occupy stool other than skin.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am in full support of the position of the Hon Majority Leader because even in legal documents, as soon as you chance on the term “stool”, you encounter “or skin”, the alternative.
    What the Hon Leader is saying is that we are trying to put into category the types of entities that can own the allodial. We are running into some difficulties because yesterday I raised the issue when we got to clause (2) that the State, for instance, cannot own an allodial title.
    Mr Speaker, I was defeated in my argument but I am still fortified in my position that all other entities that are listed can own the allodial but the State cannot. So in classifying the types of entities that can own allodial interest in land, when they encounter a stool they immediately would want to look for the alternative term that applies.
    To where traditional authorities own land in terms of the allodial title but are not the stool; so we would use the skin.
    Mr Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, may I respectively draw your attention to article 267 of the 1992 Constitution and whether the headnote would not guide the decision we want to take? The headnote reads: “Stool and Skin Lands and Property”
    Mr Speaker, the Constitution does not use the word “or”. It reads “Stool and Skin Lands and Property”. Further in the provision it states, “stool lands and skin lands and property”. I just thought that we can be guided by the words that have been used in the Constitution for this legislation.
    Mr Speaker 1 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, please tell us why we should be guided because stool and skin
    lands alone do not make any meaning so far as what you are saying is concerned. Please, explain so that we follow you.
    Mr Iddrisu 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am simply saying that I do not agree with the use of the word “or”. Rather it should read “skin and stool” because
    -- 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker 1 p.m.
    Hon Minority Leader, except that it then assumes that there must be a commonality that that particular part of the Constitution is assuming with regard to stools “and” skins. That is why I am asking you to look at the context in which it is being used.
    Hon Chairman, you have heard all the arguments. What is your position?
    Mr Ayariga 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I think the Constitution resolves it in favour of the Hon Majority Leader and I am saying this on authority. If we check the Interpretation clause of the Constitution, it interprets stool lands as “stool land includes any land or interest in, or right over any land controlled by a stool or skin …”
    Mr Speaker, the Constitution uses the expression “land controlled by a stool or skin, the head of a particular community or the captain of a
    company, for the benefit of the subjects of that Stool or the members of that community or company”. So it is clear that the Constitution intends that it should be the alternative. It is stool or skin.
    When we look at the article that the Hon Minority Leader referred to, even though the heading is “stool and skin lands and property”, the rest of the clauses talk about stool land. It does not mention skin, but under the Interpretation clause, it says that stool also means skin. So it is stool or skin.
    So, the Hon Majority Leader's rendition appears to be more consistent with the intention of the Constitution.
    Alhaji I.A.B . Fuseini 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, that is the Interpretation Section of the Constitution --
    Mr Speaker 1 p.m.
    Hon Member, let me help you to develop the argument. That is not just Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Ayariga's personal interpretation. The Hon Member was referring to the interpretation expounded by the Constitution. So please make yourself clear.
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my submission is that in the Constitution, it does not talk about skin lands, rather, it talks about stool lands and it has defined stool lands to include skin lands. We would not find skin lands in the Constitution, rather, you will find stool lands.
    Secondly, we are talking about the same thing -- Mr Speaker, clause 2(b) reads: “The allodial title is held by the State …” Mr Speaker, it is important that you take note of the definite article -- “… the State, a stool, a skin, a clan, a family or an individual”.
    Mr Speaker, the “or” between the “family” and “an individual” defines the whole sentence. It means that the allodial title is a title held by the State or a stool or a skin or a clan or a family or an individual. So what is wrong with the sentence? Mr Speaker, this is proper drafting and that is why they referred to discreet units of structures that can hold the allodial title.
    This is what has been done here. The problem is that if we introduce “or” between “a stool” and “a skin”, we would be dividing them into classes. So, in the interpretation we would be reading the family and an individual as different from a stool or a skin. Mr Speaker, but that is not the intention. The intention is --
    Mr Speaker 1 p.m.
    In fact, since time immemorial, Ollenu and co had strongly and clearly included the family as a valid and proper owner of land well-distinguished from that of the stool. For that matter, that position is very appropriate.
    Mr Ayariga 1 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I think that this matter should be laid to rest. There are two approaches and I think what the Hon Majority Leader is seeking to do --
    Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Ayariga, in fact, I agree with you that the matter should be put to rest because either way you would be right.
    In fact, you could just use “stool” and not use “skin” here and give the interpretation as per the Constitution. You could also choose to say stool, skin and so on, and you would get to Rome, whichever road you take, legally speaking.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the difficulty in that construct is this: that if you state that we use the disjoint as in clause 2 “Allodial title is held by the State or a stool or a skin or a clan or a family or an individual” that could be right if that is the understanding. Other than that, if we say that they are disjoint, technically, we would be saying that where we have a stool, we could have a skin owning land which is not right.
    With the issue about Zongos, there may be a Zongo chief at Otumfuo's palace, he does not come in at all. The Zongo community itself is a settler community, and the chief there cannot own any land because he himself is the head of a settler community. They cannot have allodial title. So that example would not hold anywhere.
    Mr Speaker, where we have allodial title to a stool, within that, we cannot have a skin also having allodial title within that enclave. It is not possible. That is why we should use “either or”. If the understanding is that we do the disjoint with the understanding being either or, that should be allowed to stay.
    However, if the understanding is not that way to have them existing alongside, that is incorrect. This is the
    issue we are raising. That is why we are saying it should be a stool or a skin.
    Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    In fact, even as long as the Aborigine's Rights Protection Society matters, it has been decided right away from England when the British were trying to take what they regarded as vacant or ownerless lands from the Gold Coasters. John Mensah Sarbah and others went to England and demarcated clearly the areas of land ownership in Ghana.
    It is either owned by a stool which of course included all skins or by family or individual and that no land was a bona vacantia which was being advocated in other colonies in Africa. The British court ruled in the Gold Coasters favour.
    From that point, until the case of Ollennu and others, the categories of land ownership had been well- established. So in the year 2020, let us not try to create problems for ourselves. Meanwhile, the Hon Majority Leader says if there is a clear understanding as to the fact that the allodial cannot be vested in both family and a chief or whatever at the same time, then he is okay. But that is the essence of it. It is “either … or”.
    If this is the understanding, we have no difficulty. Shall we go on with our work? But this has been an interesting exercise. It made us to recollect all the land laws and political history.
    Very well. Hon Chairman, is there any amendment on clause 5?
    Mr Manu-Adabor 1:10 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, from what we have discussed, we have to.
    Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    That has been abandoned, and so let us proceed.
    Clauses 5 and 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, if you start from clause 2, talking about allodial title, it could be held by the State, a stool, skin, clan, family or an individual. However, when you come to clause 5, they are introducing another term “group”.
    Mr Speaker, this is the issue that I thought I should raise, but some explanation has been proffered, but I do not know whether it is persuasive enough.
    Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.
    Very well, we would go on with putting the Question on clause 7 as standing part of the Bill.
    Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.


    Clause 7 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 8 -- Incidents of interest in land
    Mr Iddrisu 1:10 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to move, last line, delete the words “source of” so that it reads “the applicable law”. We do not need to add “source of law” which is the basis of that interest. This is to make it more elegant to read:
    “Subject to sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, the bundle of rights and obligations that attach to any form of interest in land shall be determined by the applicable law which is the basis that interest.”
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:10 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, that construction is actually taken from article 11 of the Constitution which talks about sources of law. So it is about the applicable source. If it is the Constitution, common law or customary law.

    Clause 8 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 9 -- Stool, skin, clan and family lands
    Mr Manu-Adabor 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 9, subclause (1), line 3, delete “stool, skin” and insert “stool or skin, and members of the”.
    Mr Speaker, from the discussion we have had, we would leave the “stool or skin” and consider “members of the” between “skin” and “clan”.
    Mr Speaker, the new rendition would be 1:20 p.m.
    “A stool, skin, clan or family shall vest in the appropriate stool, skin, clan or family on behalf of, and in trust of the subjects of the stool, skin and members of the clan or family in accordance with customary law and usage.”
    Mr Dafeamekpor 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I wonder why we should use “members of the clan” because the use of “clan” means that consists of families and members. So I do not think we should say “members of the clan.” We should just say, “The clan”. It is like a corporate entity.
    Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Hon Members, we have stated all these earlier. Why do we want to worry ourselves -- exactly, and not stick to our original formation?
    Please, for the sake of consistency, let us go by the same order we had established earlier.
    Mr Manu-Adabor 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, when we talk about skin and stools, we say, subjects. But when we talk about clan and family, we say, members of the clan or family. So that is appropriate.
    Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Hon Member, so why do you not say “clan, family” but “or”, as if to say it is an alternative. Maybe that is the concern being raised here. It is not an alternative; we want it inclusive.
    Mr Manu-Adabor 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is “clan or family”, they are not the same; just like “stool and skin”.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, a clan is larger than a family. So for me to say the “members of the clan” or “members of the family”, I think when we say “clan” -- [Interruption] -- Yes, I said that; that is the point I am making. When we use the term clan, it is an entity. So to say that “members of the clan” or “members of the family”, it is not necessary.
    Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Hon Members, when we say “clan”, let us leave it at that, knowing very well that --
    Mr J. Osei-Owusu 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, there is no dispute that there is an entity called clan; but in the entity, there are constituent members. The clause says that subclause (2) does not take away the right of a constituent member.
    Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to read 1:20 p.m.
    “(3) Subsection (2) does not take away the inherent right of a subject of a stool or a skin, or a member of a clan or family to the usufructuary interest in a vacant portion of a stool, skin or family land.”
    Yes, the land is owned by the clan, but a clan member may have acquired usufruct, by virtue of being the one who occupies that part of the clan land. So the fact that the land belongs to the clan, it does not take away the usufructuary right of a clan member. That is why it is appropriate to use a clan member.
    Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    What the Hon First Deputy Speaker has said is clearly in line with the fact that once more, Ollenu's definition of usufructuary right to land. The land originally belongs to all, but when one had used his labour
    Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:20 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, subclause (2) of clause 9 is a position of law, which says that, only members of a clan or subjects of a stool or skin who have allodial title in the land can have freehold interest in that land.
    So if a person is a member of a clan, a family, a stool or a skin that has allodial title in the land, only that person can have a customary freehold. Nobody else can have a customary freehold.
    Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
    Hon Member, on that note, let us suspend the Consideration Stage and move to - [Pause]
    Hon Members, Motion listed 8.
    Hon Chairman of the Committee? -- Hon Dr Dominic Ayine is here.
    Dr Dominic Ayine 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, unfortunately, the report of the
    Committee is not ready, and the reasons are as follows:
    Mr Speaker, we met with the Electoral Commission on Wednesday, 3rd June, 2020. We finished the deliberation around 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday. I had other commitments and was not able to work on the report. So on Thursday, 4th June, 2020, I quickly worked on the report and sent same to the Hon Ranking Member of the Committee for him to see if I have diligently captured all the issues raised during the deliberations of the Committee. -- [Interruption] -- Yes, I worked on the Report myself as Hon Chairman of the Committee --
    Mr Speaker, what happened was that the Hon Ranking Member decided that he would correct my report, which I did not have any problem with. But he significantly altered the report such that, what he presented to me did not resemble what I had given to him to read. He basically, rewrote the report that I had submitted to the Secretariat.
    Mr Speaker, if what he had rewritten was sent to me early enough, I would have been able to finalise it yesterday. But the record is that, the Secretariat sent it to me at 11.29 p.m. yesternight when I was probably asleep. It was only this morning that I
    saw the e-mail from the Secretariat. When I opened it, it was a significantly altered draft report that I was supposed to review.
    Mr Speaker, I then had to compare the original report that I sent to him in which, for instance, there were a number of paragraphs on the justifications for the Constitutional Instrument.

    I thought that it was necessary for us to capture what the Electoral Commission itself as an independent constitutional body had provided as the reasons for bringing the Instrument to this House. So I had a section on justification, but that section was taken out. I cited --
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    Hon Members, order!
    Dr Ayine 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I cited cases in the United Kingdom; at least, one page on facial recognition technology, which the Electoral Commissioner had indicated was going to be part of the registration process. That was taken out.
    The Hon Ayariga made some significant contributions, directed by the Rt Hon Speaker himself, which I
    tried to capture in the report, but again, that was also taken out. So I had a significantly altered report that I had to work on.
    This morning in my private office when I started the work, I got calls from the Hon Ranking Member, and subsequently from Mr Djietror, that the Rt Hon Speaker wanted us to present the report today.
    Mr Speaker, however, the report was actually laid yesterday. By the Standing Orders, we have 48 hours and the these hours have not yet expired --
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, please leave that portion to me; whether or not we can abridge the time is a different part of our rules. You should speak to your Committee's work.
    Dr Ayine 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, with all due respect, I know that yourself and the Leadership of this House have the power to abridge time, but it is also only proper that the Hon Chairman is reminded that either the Leadership or this House which entrusted him with the responsibility of leading the Committee is consulted and told that time had been abridged, and also to inquire whether he could work assiduously to bring his report to the House. I was never told that time had been abridged.
    Dr Ayine 1:30 p.m.


    Mr Speaker, that is where the problem has been, and all this while, I had been working and also calling on other members of the Committee to know whether or not I was mistaken in the views that I captured. That is where we are, and unfortunately, the report is not ready for it to be distributed to Hon Members.

    Mr Speaker, we are a deliberative body. Therefore, how can Hon Members contribute to a report that they have not seen?
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, as to whether it is available to be laid or not is what you can speak to, but the other side is not your business. Have you finished with your explanation?
    Dr Ayine 1:30 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker, I have finished with my explanation.
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    I thank you very much, Hon Dr Ayine.
    Yes, Hon Ranking Member?
    Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I find it inexplicable that it would be canvassed on the floor of this House that a Committee report is the sole preserve of the Hon Chairman of the Committee.
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    Hon Members, this is what brings that difficulty which I always talk about. Anyone who wants to speak may please get up, and then I would see whether to give him the position to talk or not, but sitting and ranting is wrong, and it must be said. It is un-parliamentary -- simple!
    Mr Asamoa 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, happily, as the Hon Chairman of the Committee has said, the Clerk worked assiduously. Last night, the Hon Chairman of the Committee was able to receive a copy of the reviewed report; he went through it this morning, and submitted it to the Clerk. I heard of his arrival to the House.
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    He submitted the report to whom?
    Mr Asamoa 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, he submitted his draft that he had worked on to the Clerk to the Committee with all my input from yesterday as well as his final revision from this morning. That report had been submitted to the Clerk to the Committee before the Hon Chairman of the Committee arrived in the Chamber. So as far as I am aware, as at an hour ago, the report that the secretariat had is the report that is likely to be considered by this House, save the signature.
    I did report that we had the draft, we had received the final edit of the Hon Chairman of the Committee and were waiting for his signature. As at this morning, I do not believe that there was any dispute about the content. Therefore if we could go ahead to have the document signed and distributed to Hon Members per the rules of the House, I do believe that we can debate the existing report because it does not need any more editorial input.
    Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    Hon Member, the document that you say is ready except for signature of the Hon Chairman of the Committee, do you have it?
    Mr Asamoa 1:30 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is with the Clerk to the Committee as I speak.
    Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
    The Clerks-at-the- Table may retrieve that for the Hon Chairman of the Committee. It is for the Hon Chairman of the Committee to say whether that is the report or not.
    Mr Speaker 1:40 p.m.
    Mr Clerk, you may kindly give this to the Hon Chairman of the Committee, who is the person to tell whether this is actually the end report or not.
    Hon Chairman of the Committee, you may please have it.
    [Pause] --
    Dr Ayine 1:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have gone through the Report and when I sent it to the Clerk to the Committee, there was one issue relating to a factual inaccuracy which I corrected at paragraph 5.7 of the draft Report. I told the Hon Member to confirm if the factual correction that I had made with respect to the number of names deleted pursuant to the order of the Supreme Court in Abu Ramadan and Nimako v Attorney General and
    Mr Speaker 1:40 p.m.
    Hon Chairman, you have the Floor.
    Dr Ayine 1:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, also by Standing Order 210, there will be the need for me to put this Report before the Committee as the draft Report for
    Mr Asamoa 1:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in all good faith, telephone conversations were held with the Hon Chairman this morning in order to meet the needs of the Motions listed on the Order Paper. That is, the Motions numbered 8 and
    9.
    Mr Speaker, my understanding from those conversations was that the Hon Chairman of the Committee was transmitting the Report ahead of his arrival and so what he was transmitting by e-mail was the final draft report.
    So the Motions numbered 8 and 9 could be taken and if, upon the Hon Chairman's arrival, he determines, as the Rt Hon Speaker has said, that he has the prerogative to determine whether that is his final Report for the Committee and that, that is still a work in progress, then I am bound by the Hon Chairman's current stance which was not so barely an hour ago.
    Mr Speaker, barely an hour ago, the position of the Hon Chairman of the Committee was that he was meeting the exigencies of the House; we had spoken on the phone and he was sending his final correction ahead by electronic means so that we could prepare for the Motion to be taken in the House subject to agreement between the Hon(s) Majority and Minority Leaders, whether it be taken today or Tuesday. That, I believe, has been resolved and the decision was that it be taken today.
    So, as at an hour ago, there was no dispute as to the final content. That Report before the Hon Chairman which has passed through the Rt Hon Speaker's desk and the Clerk's office was supposed to be the final Report.
    Mr Speaker, so I rest my case. Once the Hon Chairman of the Committee is here and you have ceded the prerogative about final determination to him, then it is up to the Hon Chairman of the Committee to tell us that what he has, indeed, is still a work in progress.
    Mr Speaker 1:40 p.m.
    Any comments by the Hon Leaders?
    Minority Chief Whip (Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka) 1:40 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it seems to me that the
    Committee is not done with its work. This brings to the fore -- anytime a Paper is being laid, I am seen to be a “professional obstructionist” by the Hon Majority Leader when I keep stressing the point that our Standing Orders enjoins us to ensure that we do so only when sufficient copies are available.
    Yesterday, when this was going to be done, I raised this point but I was seen to be obstructive; we would have avoided all this confusion. Our Standing Orders are very clear and both the Hon(s) Majority and Minority Leaders have canvassed this on the Floor of the House several times that the Report of a Committee is the Report of the Hon Chairman.
    He has heavily relied on Standing Order 210 and that if one has any other report as an Hon Member or Ranking Member, he or she should then bring it for it to be deleted and re-incorporated under the authorisation of the Hon Chairman.
    Mr Speaker, there has not been any instance where the Hon Ranking Member of the Committee determined how a Committee's formula will be to the extent that he or she can take the Hon Chairman's Report and even change the format. The Hon Ranking Member only states his or her comments and the Chairman looks at
    Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much. Many times when referrals have been made to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee -- and I am not referring to this Subsidiary Legislation Committee, but the Subsidiary Legislation Committees that we have had in this House -- there have been many instances when referrals have been made to them and they do not submit a report to this House.
    Mr Speaker, I have always insisted that that is not the way to handle affairs; I have always insisted that it is
    Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
    Order!
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:50 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, people do not acquaint themselves with the Standing Orders. People should read the Standing Orders; we operate within rules.
    Mr Speaker, finally, I am sure the gospel according to the Hon Minority Chief Whip never happened anywhere when he said that the Chairman submitted his Report and the Hon Ranking Member cancelled the Report. -- [Laughter] -- he did not do that. Mr Speaker, you would have to forgive his trespasses. [Laughter]
    Mr Speaker, but as I am saying, people want to insist that we do what is right; the Hon Chairman has
    indicated to us that the Report is not yet ready. What it means is that what was laid or purportedly laid yesterday was not the Report of the Committee. We await the Report of the Committee to be laid in this House, either before we adjourn today or Tuesday. And when it is done, we shall wait for the forty-eight hours.
    Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
    Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Chairman?
    Dr Ayine 1:50 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker. On a number of issues raised eloquently by the Hon Majority Leader, I would want to make it abundantly clear that it was pursuant to the spirit of Standing Order 210 that I gave the Report to the Hon Ranking Member, because he is the representative of his Side, for him to go through and see whether it reflected the views of his Side as much as the views of my Side. So that is the reason I gave it to him.
    Secondly, the Hon Majority Leader says that what was done yesterday is a nullity. Mr Speaker, it cannot be a nullity by reason of what he has said; the Report was laid yesterday and it has never been withdrawn. We have to withdraw it by a Motion -- [Interruption] --
    Mr Speaker 2 p.m.
    The Hon Chairman has made it clear to this honourable House that the Committee's Report is not ready, notwithstanding the earlier indications of the Hon Ranking Member. We are not in the position to subjugate the Hon Chairman's position to any other view in this particular circumstance.
    We are further instructed by Standing Order 210, particularly with regard to the views of Members of the Committee, that any Member of
    a Committee may bring up a Report for consideration -- and then it goes on to tell us what we are to do.
    In the circumstances, the Hon Chairman of the Committee should get his Members to have a look as he desires, at the Report. In fact, when a Chairman stands in this honourable House to say that whatever it is, “I have not been able to align the other suggestions with the views of my Members”, it must definitely be taken seriously, so that it will be a Committee of the House's Report.
    So I am not going to curtail anything whatsoever. I will ask that the Hon Chairman should ensure that his Committee would meet as soon as possible even if today.
    Then at the next possible day of return, which is Tuesday, the matter would be taken up accordingly, by which time, even if on Monday, your Report would have been distributed to all Hon Members, so that we can all effectively take a good debate and a decision on that matter. Thank you very much.
    The Hon First Deputy Speaker to take the Chair.
    Hon Members, in view of the time and the business ahead of us, I direct that Sitting be extended beyond the regular hours.
    Hon First Deputy Speaker?
    Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, respectfully, given how much work we have done and also considering the fact that when we attempted to begin with the Bill, we run into some hurdles, I would submit that we suspend consideration of the Land Bill, 2019 to confer further on that.
    On the other matter, you have already given direction, that is the matter relating to the Constitutional Instrument (C. I.), that we await the
    Report on Tuesday. That being the case, I want to move that the House take an adjournment until Tuesday, 9th June, 2020 at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
    Mr Iddrisu 2 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, without any hesitation, I second the Motion for adjournment.
    Mr Speaker 2 p.m.
    Hon Members, the Motion for adjournment has been moved and seconded.
    Question put and amendment agreed to.
    ADJOURNMENT 2 p.m.