Debates of 1 Jul 2020

Hon Members, we have the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 26 th June, 2020, for correction.

Hon Members, we have the Official Report of Friday, 5th June, 2020 for correction.

Hon Members, item numbered 3 -- Urgent Question. The Hon Minister for Finance is to answer the Question.

Mr Speaker, an Hon Deputy Minister for Finance, Hon Charles Adu Boahen, has been directed by the Hon Minister for Finance to come and stand in for him. So he would respond to the Question in the stead of the Hon Minister for Finance.

Mr Speaker, we have no difficulty hearing from the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance on behalf of the Hon Minister.

Mr Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister for Finance when the designated health workers would be paid the ‘'COVID-19'' special allowance of five per cent of their basic salaries as promised by the Government and approved by Parliament.
Deputy Minister for Finance (Mr Charles Adu Boahen) (on behalf of the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, in March 2020, H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced incentive packages for the
health sector as part of Ghana's COVID-19 pandemic preparedness, readiness and response actions, including the special allowance of 50 per cent of basic salaries to designated workers.
Mr Speaker, I would want to reassure the House that adequate provision has been made for this incentive package within the COVID- 19 alleviation plan. In fact, we put aside an amount of approximately GH¢80 million for this package.
However, the Ministry of Health, alongside the Ministry of Finance, are together compiling data and doing the necessary reconciliation, especially to determine the particular health sector workers who are designated as frontline workers and hence are eligible for this 50 per cent basic salary package. This exercise is still ongoing and as soon as it has been completed, the payments would start.

Mr Speaker, I would like to quote the Statement made to Parliament by the Hon Minister for Finance.
“All frontline health workers will receive an additional allowance of 50 per cent of their basic salary per month for March, April, May and June. The March
allowance would be paid alongside that of April.”
Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health have on several occasions requested health workers to submit and resubmit their details, such as bank accounts and basic salary for the payment. Does it mean that they do not know or have details of the staff whom they have paid for years on the national payroll?

No commentary please.
Hon Deputy Minister, your answer please?
11. 45 a. m.

Mr Speaker, I believe the key functional word here is “designated”, and the challenge is to determine eligibility as to who is designated and described or defined as a frontline health worker. And that is why we have had to go back and forth.
Mr Speaker, as you would imagine, we have healthcare workers spread all over the country and on the frontline in various roles. So it has been a challenge to really define who is a frontline healthcare worker and the designation thereof, and what their

Thank you, Hon Deputy Minister. Yes, Hon Member?

Mr Speaker, it is quite clear that the Ministry is unprepared—

Hon Kpodo, what did you say? Please withdraw that; you are not running a commentary, you are asking questions.

Yes.

I said withdraw that and ask your question.

Mr Speaker, withdrawn. Mr Speaker, it is very clear that the Minister has failed to deliver on the promise made to the health workers. Can he now make a new pledge and assure this august House of implementing it -[Interruption]-

Order! Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Speaker, I thought you gave a direction to our Hon Colleague asking
the question, and as a senior man of this House, he knows that what he is doing really offends Standing Order 67(1)(b) -- we do not proffer our own opinion. Mr Speaker, Order 67(1)(b) provides:
“a Question shall not contain any arguments, expressions of opinion, inferences, imputations, epithets, or controversial, ironical or offensive expressions or hypothetical cases;”.
Mr Speaker, clearly, the Hon Member is injecting his opinion and inferences and arguments so the basis of his question is certainly wrong. The Hon Member was directed by the Speaker to refrain from that but he used a window to do the same argument. Mr Speaker, you may further direct him that that one is still not acceptable under our rules; he should ask his simple question.

Objection upheld. Hon Member, withdraw.

Mr Speaker, this is a fact I have read to you; I have read that the March allowance would be paid alongside that of April. This is a fact; it is not my opinion.

Hon Member, public funds cannot just be dished out; there are preparatory works, you are
told, these need to be completed and verified before payments are made. And the Hon Deputy Minister has explained the process. Please, leave your own viewpoint out; that is why the rules talk about expression of opinion. Kindly ask a question.

Mr Speaker, could the Hon Deputy Minister make a new pledge to this House?

Hon Member, that is overruled.

Mr Speaker, could the Hon Deputy Minister renew the pledge? [Laughter.]

There is nothing to renew. Hon Member, you do not have any further questions. Any further questions?

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to ask a follow-up question. May I ask the Hon Deputy Minister, in his Answer, he said, “this exercise is still ongoing”. He said the Government is unable to start the payment because first of all, they need to rationalise and define who a frontline worker is. When the promise was made, what was the definition of a
frontline worker, because there would have been some consideration into who a frontline worker is?

Hon Member, frontline worker was a term of art. At the time it was used, it was of general application of His Excellency, the President's conception of those people who would be, sort of directly involved in this process. Administratively, these have to be translated into action.
Any other question?
Ms Helen Adjoa Ntoso -- rose

Just one moment. Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu?

Mr Speaker, may I ask the Hon Deputy Minister, per the preparations ongoing, when can we say that the payments would be effected? Could he give us a period when we would say that from this date, the payment would be made?

Hon Minister, can you give us an idea about dates or time frame?

Mr Speaker, I cannot give a definite answer with regard to specific date, and taking a cue from the past experience, where my Hon Minister is being quoted as having

Thank you Mr Speaker. May I know from the Hon Deputy Minister, why it has taken the Ministry so long -- three months to be able to collate a data of frontline workers in this country?

It is taking long because this is unprecedented. [Laughter.]It is obvious, COVID-19 has never happened before. [Pause] Was a time frame given at the time --?

Hon Member, you have exhausted your opportunities; if you would give your paper to your - no, I am prepared to listen to your Hon Colleague. If you have a document, give it to her. You can share it with your Hon Colleague; do not just keep on waving.
Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Speaker, I noticed that our lady is still very eager to ask some important questions. And so if she could be allowed to —?

She is referring to a document.

Mr Speaker, some questions are being exported to her, and so if she could ask those questions?

Hon Member, you have the opportunity, please ask your question.

Mr Speaker, this is a follow-up to my earlier question. The Hon Minister did assure this House that allowances for frontline workers for March, April, May and June would be paid. Without having the data of the frontline workers how does he assure this House that it would be paid? That is why my question was why it is taking the ministries such a long time in collating and having the data on the frontline workers and to pay them as promised.

Hon Deputy Minister, your response?

Mr Speaker, it has taken this long because we found ourselves in a situation that we have never encountered before. There is an ongoing pandemic and this is spread all over the country. We have frontline workers operating all over the country in these roles, so we have had to communicate with all these units and MDAs all over the country, for them to be able to then give us feedback as to who is on the frontline, and then we compile the data.
Mr Speaker, this has been quite a challenging feat, especially within the current pandemic and that is why it has taken a while to do. We want to emphasise the fact that we are committed to doing this. We have set the money aside and it is just a matter of time, and all health frontline workers would be paid.
Thank you very much Mr Speaker.

Thank you very much.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Speaker, just for the avoidance of doubt, I want to enquire from the Hon Deputy Minister if it is the case that the money is available but that we do

Mr Speaker, the answer is a definite yes. [Laughter]

I know of the objection regarding leading questions in court but I do not know of it in our rules. Maybe in the very final revision, we may want to consider that.
Hon Deputy Minister, thank you very much for attending to the House this morning and answering our questions.
Hon Members, Statements.

Mr Speaker, I am aware that you have admitted a Statement but because the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance is here and has to move out pretty soon, could you vary the order of business for the day and allow the Hon Deputy Minister to do the Presentation of the Papers listed under the item numbered 5 before he leaves us?

Thank you very much.
At the Commencement of Public Business, item numbered 5. Upon appropriate variation, Presentation of Papers by the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance.

Item numbered (c), by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Energy.

Mr Speaker, we would stand item numbered 5 (c) and (d) down and then we can go back to item numbered 4.

Item numbered 4, Statements. Today is the international day of Parliamentarianism and Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs has filed a Statement. It is worthy of note that subsequently, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also brought a Statement, so he would contribute first.
Hon Annoh-Dompreh, your Statement please.

Mr Speaker, the 30th of June, 2020 is a red-letter day in the political career of every Member of Parliament across the world as it has been earmarked as the international day of Parliamentarianism.

The international day is commemorated every year on 30th June, exactly the date in 1889 on which the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) was founded. It is imperative to note that the Day was established in 2018 through a United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution. The rationale behind the celebration

is no secret that citizens do not hold politicians in high esteem. According to an IPU Conference Report in 2015, a survey data everywhere suggests that public confidence in the authority of Parliament is low and falling. The reasons are multiple, which include the competitive nature of politics which means that there are almost always winners and losers, promises that cannot be kept and problems that cannot easily be solved. A toxic combination of adversarial politics, broken promises and the perceived inability to bring about positive change undermines public confidence in political processes.
Secondly, public understanding of the role of Parliament is generally limited and even the most highly educated may struggle to distinguish between the purpose of the Executive and the purpose of the Legislature. Mr Speaker, this contributes to unrealistic expectations of what Parliament and individual Parliamentarians can achieve and commensurate disenchantments when they are perceived to fall short.
Clearly, citizens expect their elected representatives to serve the public good and Parliamentarians to be morally beyond reproach. Parliamentarians are arguably held to higher standard in that way then in other sectors of society;
instances of misconduct are magnified by the media lengths and the perception of an unethical behaviour like corruption can spread to the entire political spectrum.
Mr Speaker, finally, the IPU survey found that people questioned the relevance of Parliament when they do not see what it does on their behalf. It cannot be difficult to demonstrate how the work of Parliament is important to peoples- lives in concrete terms and in what life would be like if Parliaments did not exist?
Mr Speaker, much decision-making power no longer reside at the national level where Parliament can exert the most influence. Global financial markets increasingly shape our national policies and international agreements can constraint a State's ability to regulate the economy independently. More decisions are taken within intergovernmental forums where Parliaments, typically, have little influence. For instance, regarding the rules of international trade, our national politics are seen as powerless to influence developments; unequal power relations between the Executive and the Legislative branches of government.
By extension of this is a large majority of countries where Parliaments have the constitutional right to initiate legislation yet most laws originate with the Executive. Parliament's law making role tends to focus on the scrutiny of Executive
proposals with limited opportunity for individual Parliamentarians. The Executive also often controls the parliamentary agenda, including if and when Bills are scheduled for examination; a power often high-wired into the political system. When the ruling party has the parliamentary majority, even though Parliament may formally set its own agenda, control may remain in the hands of the Executive.
Parliament's power to hold Government to account lies at the heart of the Executive-Legislative relations. Yet in practice, the members of a party in Government have strong incentives not to challenge the governments such that the oversight function is typically left to opposition parties.

Mr Speaker, parliaments are therefore trying to develop systems that allow for effective oversight of the Executive without the appearance of launching an inquisition.

Mr Speaker, globally, according to data collected for the 2012 Global Parliamentary Report, a relatively small percentage of state Budget, an average of some 0.49 per cent is allocated to parliaments. Parliaments face the challenge of keeping up the

charges in society such as the use of technology to solicit input from citizens on issues under debate. In all Parliaments, even the long - established and well-resourced ones, there is tension between the need to involve in step with society and the desire to preserve traditions and work methods often forged through decades of hard- fought political battles.

Mr Speaker, in your earnest quest to build a resilient parliamentary institution, it behoves on us to take the following into consideration: promoting the development of democratic culture in society and underscoring the importance of political tolerance in the parliamentary arena; investing more in civic and political education for children in schools; making concerted efforts to encourage, especially young people to vote; making a public commitment to the core values of democratic parliament, one that is representative, open and transparent, accessible, accountable, and effective and putting these values into practice; ensuring that parliament is gender-sensitive in its rules, processes and legislative work; enhancing the power and ability of Parliament to oversee the Executive on behalf of the people; systematically monitoring public perception of parliaments, seeking to understand the reason for such perceptions on how they could be improved; adopting special measures to ensure that the composition of Parliament is more

Thank you very much, Hon Chairman.
Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ranking Member?

I am most grateful, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement that has been made by the Hon Chairman of our Committee, Mr Frank Annoh- Dompreh to mark the International Day of Parliamentarianism.
This is a very auspicious occasion, the 30th of June, which is the same day the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was established in 1889 as it was recognised by the UN General Assembly by a Resolution as the day to celebrate the work of Parliament as an institution that serves as the bulwark of the democracy that promotes good governance, the tenets of accountability, transparency,
oversight and ensuring that the chambers of Parliaments across the world serve as the voice for the voiceless.
Mr Speaker, I must commend your own will since assuming the high office of Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament. You are very well regarded within the corridors of the IPU, and my Hon Chairman and I would recall that at several fora, you have come up for high praise because of the dexterity that you have shown when it comes to parliamentary diplomacy. I recall the role you played in deepening ties with Serbia and restoring the diplomatic recognition that should exist between Ghana and Serbia, using the IPU platform. You have also been successful in securing numerous scholarships for the benefit of young people in our country. You have always profoundly said that diplomacy must translate into the concrete benefits of our people.
I would want to salute you for the work you have been doing using the multilateral opportunity that the IPU offers. I must also place on record that the vision that you show in leading this House to establish a special committee to carry out oversight for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that it is implemented in a way that would inure to the benefit of our people is highly
commendable. I must salute the Hon Minority Leader supported by the Hon Majority Leader in that process.
However, Mr Speaker, this day demands of us to carry out an introspection of our Parliament and parliaments across the world. The greatest threat, in my humble view, is the high attrition rate so far as the Ghanaian Parliament is concerned.
I have been doing some work from the Library of the Parliament of Ghana and the research reveals that for the Second Parliament, we had 45 per cent of first term Members of Parliament (MPs) being debutants. The third Parliament had 38 per cent of first term MPs; the Fourth Parliament had 54 per cent; the Fifth Parliament had 20 per cent; the Sixth Parliament had 47 per cent; and the Seventh Parliament had 43 per cent.
If we look at the outcome of primaries in both parties, particularly the party of the Majority, it is clear that we are on course for another high attrition rate in the Eighth Parliament.
Mr Speaker, when we compare this to other parliaments across the world, we are among the highest. We are not doing well at all. The House of the Representatives in the United States (US) for example is just around 10 per cent of attrition. The House of Commons is about 18 per cent. We are doing an average of 45 per cent.

This is terribly high. On a day like this, we must reflect on how to combat this because the high attrition rate wrought parliaments of experience and institutional expertise which eventually undermines the output of the House.
Mr Speaker, to address this, perhaps, it is time - I know that you have published on this recommendation of the amendment of the 1992 Constitution so that Parliament would be independent and would assert its independence so that majority of Ministers appointed by the President would not be selected from Parliament. That is really the reason leading to the high attrition rates where so many people in the Executive, Chief Executives of parastatals and others really want to come to Parliament. In Ghana, people come to Parliament not really to specialise in law-making and carry out parliamentary oversight but to catch the eye of the President. It is time to recommend that this constitutional provision is amended.

Perhaps we should also go back to the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs). So we can increase the five per cent allocation in the constitutions so that people who

have the interest in serving their local communities can get elected as MMDCEs. That would also take the pressure off Members of Parliament.

Mr Speaker, thirdly, political parties should reform internal party politics to eradicate inducement and the phenomenon of positions for the highest bidder as a way of reducing the vulnerability of Members of Parliament.

Mr Speaker, fourthly, political parties should device new and creative ways of improving relations between experienced MPs and their constituents and introducing mechanisms for their continuous availability in the service of the nation.

The Majority Leader for example has suggested that probably for first- term MPs who are interested in continuing there should be some kind of a protection clause -- some other assessment apart from elections and where the party thinks their output in the Chamber and in their constituency is satisfying, primaries could be held in the mid period of their second term. That is a suggestion that I believe should be taken on board.

Mr Speaker, political parties should also look at some affirmative actions. Perhaps, it is time to even push for the Affirmative Action Bill to

become law so that a quota can be reserved for females. This is because clearly, we are not making much progress and I have read your very erudite publication at the IEA - your views about increasing the role of the female in our parliamentary democracy and I would recommend that publication to Colleague MPs. It is a very insightful publication which can help this country to move forward in terms of going beyond lip service to female participation in our parliamentary democracy.

Mr Speaker, the National Commission for Civic Education also has a role to play. There is a real disconnect between MPs, House of Parliament and the people. What is the role of the Member of Parliament? One goes out there in the constituency and many people think that the MP must construct roads, build hospitals, build airports, create aviation hubs and all kinds of utopian projects which even governments would struggle to construct. It is also because of the way some of our colleagues campaign.

Mr Speaker, finally, maybe it is time to also take a second look at the MPs' Common Fund, which is not much but we create the impression as if some fund has been given to us to develop our constituencies.

Mr Speaker I would like to also associate myself with the Statement made by the Hon Member and to also appreciate you for admitting this important Statement. I just want to make two brief comments on the Statement.
Mr Speaker, whenever we talk about the role of Parliament, especially when it comes to celebrating the success of Government or the

Hon Member, let us be honest with ourselves. Do we merely espouse what manifestos say and make the people know that we are only speaking on manifesto or we say, “I will do” --? [Laughter]
So please, I just want that on the record. I have also been an MP before.

Mr Speaker, I --

Our own promises is not what you are talking about now. Manifesto is manifesto.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, what I want to recommend is for the public to also appreciate the MP -- for the public to appreciate MPs, we need to perhaps, revisit the proposal to have official offices or secretariats for MPs in our constituencies so that we can improve our responsiveness to those who elect us and that would lead to the public appreciating us the more.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, it is wonderful to speak about ourselves in this Chamber, taking this particular
day as an opportunity to reflect on the representative nature of our role.
Just as we have in our traditional societies, we have the broad society but everybody cannot go to the town- square and speak to the issues concerning the town and as a result, we have family heads, elders that speak on behalf of them and collectively, they support the council of the chief. So it is important that the role of the Parliamentarian in our society is emphasised and to be given some level of prominence because of the fact that we represent a large number of people and advocate on their behalf.
Mr Speaker, we have done a good job as a country in having our Parliament since 1992. It has been obvious.
In my only first term here, I have seen other parliaments' delegation coming to visit us from Germany, Zambia and the historic visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America. So it is important to emphasise this international day what we have also been able to do and the reflections from the other speakers actually indicate that.
Mr Speaker, it is important to again associate myself with the comments made by Hon Ablakwa that increasingly, the Parliamentarian and Parliament as a whole is not understood broadly in terms of our
roles. You have corrected the fact that sometimes it is because of our own anxiety and maybe interest in indicating what we would do and what others have not done and as a result of that, too many promises are put out there.

But increasingly, we see that issues on the media and even the type of questions that one is asked by the media is an indication that the role of the parliamentarian is not understood.

The messages that are put out there, including the issues on money - [Interruption] when we talk of the mission of a person as a parliamentarian, is he coming to support law-making? Is he coming so that he helps to advocate for a particular area of our lives as a country in Parliament, or broadly, to help celebrate some milestone in our development as a people?

All of these factors somehow impact the parliamentarian to the extent that the goals and purposes as enshrined in the Constitution, the role of a parliamentarian may not even be performed effectively and broadly.

However, besides that, one of the questions that we would have to ask also has to do with the well-being of parliamentarians. People line up in our houses, and as early as 6.00a.m. in

Yes, Hon Minority Leader?

Mr Speaker, let me thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by the Hon Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, supported by the Hon Ranking Member.
Mr Speaker, you lead Ghana's delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union meetings. Indeed, it is worth celebrating because when it comes to measuring the performance of the institution of Parliament, its processes and procedures, Ghana is not found wanting as one of the democracies endeavouring to build a strong,
accountable and transparent Parliament.
We are not at the zenith of it yet, and that is why you are probably supporting a revision of our Standing Orders in order to strengthen and make Parliament even much stronger in the exercise of its traditional- historical role and mandate of legislation, oversight, representation and others.
Mr Speaker, I note that in 1889, about 131 years ago, the Inter- Parliamentary Union was put in place. Its focus was on individual parliamentarians, but today, it is attended by world Parliaments as a forum. It is just like what heads of States do with the United Nations General Assembly. It is more like the general assembly of parliamentarians or MPs.
Mr Speaker, it is supposed to facilitate political multilateralism and negotiations, and I also should recognise and commend you for the leadership that you have provided so far. For me, the words that you spoke in Belgrade are still instructive. You called for a change in the international economic order. That is still relevant today, and would be relevant tomorrow, even as you called upon
world leaders to appreciate the inequalities that exist among our various countries.
Mr Speaker, however, there are still issues. The United States of America is still not a part of the Inter- Parliamentary Union, and we should find out why.
Again, even in Belgrade, you used the process of multilateralism to facilitate a better relationship between Ghana and Belgrade, and also to promote and support Ghanaian students in that country. You also used your privileged position of a friend to the President of Serbia (Belgrade) to get additional scholarships for some of our youngsters to study abroad.
Mr Speaker, I would conclude my contribution to the Statement with just one comment -- corruption and unethical behaviour. We conduct parliamentary primaries that are occasioned by vote-buying and inducement, yet, we all sit here and speak as if it is lawful and permissible under Ghana‘s electoral laws. It is not. Under the Electoral Commission Act, (Act 451), vote-buying and vote inducement are not acceptable practices, yet they happen in worrying magnitudes.
Mr Speaker, as for political parties, article 55 of the Constitution defines what they should be doing. At the

reading of special budgets, the Hon Majority Leader has always been critical of the mushrooming of political parties, and even the non-existing strength of political parties. They do not contribute to policy acculturation, and they do not even contribute to policy debate. They do not have the countrywide presence as is required under article 55.
Mr Speaker, you know and taught what the role of a political party should be in a democracy, as a vehicle for mobilising not interest, but shaping policy in that particular respect.
Mr Speaker, I would therefore commend the maker of the Statement, but I think that the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) can still do more. When we attend their meetings, they sometimes measure the human right abuses of parliamentarians. At least, in the last decade, Ghana has never been cited for any human right abuses, but much more can be done.

Mr Speaker, we would have to amend the 1992 Constitution if we would want to improve women participation in our politics. The character and nature of the Constitution today does not provide for that. Compared to Rwanda, it has a proportional system of representation that encourages and enhances the participation of women. However, in our case, even if we wanted to say that every region and district must send a woman to Parliament, our Constitution does not support it.

Mr Speaker, I used to be a strong advocate for the amendment of the Constitution to decouple Ministers from Hon Members of Parliament, but as a result of my recent experience at a governance forum in London, which was attended by some Kenyan MPs, I think that we would have to think about it again.

Kenya has just revised their Constitution from that position of Ghana, and five Kenyan MPs spoke to me and said that they are in regret because it is affecting the grassroots building of the constituencies and the country ; that the attitude of Ministers-none MPs to their constituencies was not the same as how the Minister-MPs related to their constituencies.

I used to be a strong advocate of it, but maybe the Foreign Affairs

Committee must visit Kenya and learn from the issues that led to the amendment of the Kenyan Constitution, and the lessons that they have learnt, in order to guide us as a country.

Nonetheless Mr Speaker, I should commend the Hon Member who made the Statement and commend you personally as the leader of Ghana's delegation to the IPU and the leadership you have provided so far. At least, you have made it a part of your trade while abroad, to engage with Ghanaians abroad and it is refreshing sometimes the reports we get from those affected. I believe that you would convey that to the Executive; to the President -- sometimes as I witnessed in respect of Belgrade.

Mr Speaker, as for oversight, this Parliament, and our Parliament, given our attitude of majority parties and ruling governments, until we move away from being a clearing house for Executive embarrassment, we would not be a stronger house of legislation and exercising oversight.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to also add my voice to the Statement ably
made by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr Speaker, today is the day for parliamentarism, and I would want us to draw a distinction between parliamentarism and parliamentarianism. It is a day for celebrating Parliament as an arm of government, not for Hon MPs. That is how we should appreciate it. I do recognise the fact that Parliament is populated by Hon MPs and they contribute in very significant ways to making a parliament visible and strong. So perhaps the two should go together.
Mr Speaker, but the first issue that I would want to relate to, and indeed mentioned by the Hon Member who made the Statement and the first person to contribute to it, the Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, is about the role of Parliament and indeed of Hon MPs. Parliament exists as a third arm of Government and to hold the Executive in check.
Mr Speaker, for that reason, Hon MPs have assigned roles defined by the Constitution of the Republic. The first recognised function is the representation that we perform because we are elected to Parliament by various citizens residing in various

developments. The Hon First Deputy Speaker has reminded me of positions of some academics that Parliament should be engaged in development. Let them peruse the Constitution. Most of them are getting it entirely wrong. By our Constitution, the agents of development are three levels - the President, the Hon Ministers and the District Assemblies. Those are the agents of development. It is the reason an Hon MP could attend a function and the chiefs and people of the place may ask him or her: “have you seen that the road is bad? Kindly do it for us''. The Hon MP cannot say that he will fix it in two or three days or even a year. He would say that he would carry the concerns to the appropriate authorities.
Mr Speaker, the President goes there and the same issues are raised and he turns to his Hon Minister for Finance and asks: “Do we have money? Did we budget for it this year?''
12. 55 p. m.
The Minister's response is ‘‘no'', and the President can assure them that he would fall on the Contingency to develop for them. The President is the prime executor of development; the President, assisted by Ministers. Then, at lower ranks, we have the district assembly. The Member of Parliament is not an agent of development.
Mr Speaker, that is why it is a tragedy in the holding of primaries when people go and make promises that they are going to fix these roads.
Last week, after the NPP primaries, on my way to Accra, one radio station was interviewing one successful candidate and he was saying that he knows he is going to win the general elections; that when he comes to Parliament, he has made many promises relating to development so for the first two years, he is going to ensure that all those promises are fulfilled. Let him come to Parliament and he would realise that he has really misled his people.
Mr Speaker, it is the reason I invite the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to increasingly and continuously educate our people so that when people come promising high heaven to them, they would see that such people are misleading them. And it would be a basis for rejecting such candidates.
Mr Speaker, we all recognise that as Parliament of Ghana, we have tremendous potential to grow but we are not growing. Our growth has become stunted; it has become stunted because the attrition rate in this House is too high. At this moment, the NPP Side is made up 169 Members of Parliament. Of the 169, a total of 89 Hon Members are first
timers. Mr Speaker, close to 57 or so per cent are first timers. How do we grow Parliament that way? The NDC has 106. And of the 106, about 50 per cent are first timers. How do we grow a Parliament that way?
Mr Speaker, growing Parliament and indeed, Members of Parliament, I keep saying is not a one-year matter. It is not a four-year affair. Not even eight years. Generally speaking, yes, the longer the person stays in Parliament, the better he becomes; the more mature that person becomes. Today, when we are talking about Parliament, people would mention the name of Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader. He is not an instant product; he is not a yesterday product or even a day before yesterday. And a certain Kyei- M ensah-Bonsu -- [Interruption] -- Mr Speaker, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa is saying that I am an ancient figure. If I am an ancient figure, I do not know of what would be said about the Hon Bagbin.
Mr Speaker, it transcients the belief that the longer the person stays -- generally speaking, the better he becomes. Of course, there are exceptions. We could have situations where a person would stay for three terms in Parliament, and as I keep saying, he is just passing through
Parliament. He might have stayed for three terms but in terms of function delivery, there would not be much to speak about that person. That person would say, he passed through Parliament, he did not allow Parliament to pass through him.
So we could have such individuals, but generally speaking, the longer the person stays, the better, which is why I keep saying that the political parties should have an inbuilt mechanism for reinforcing, and indeed, on occasions introducing new persons in the House.
Mr Speaker, we were here in this House last year when Nancy Pelosi entered here with the Black Congressional Caucus. And the person she kept referring to was Congressman Willie who has stayed in Parliament for thirty-eight continuous years. And yet, he is not the longest serving Parliamentarian in the Federal Parliament. The longest serving Parliamentarian is forty-five years in Parliament.
Mr Speaker, so this terminology of somebody staying for twelve years, fifteen or sixteen years being referred to as a Mugabe of Parliament, is so discomforting because we are not looking for best examples. We must look for best examples and cite that this is, maybe, a Kennedy of Ghana's Parliament; this is the McCain of

Ghana's Parliament. Mr Speaker, these are better examples.

Mr Speaker, so as I am saying, we really need to build the capacity of Members of Parliament and we should engage the political parties because it is the political parties who are not helping to build Parliament as an institution, and indeed, to build Members of Parliament in this House.

I keep saying that there is no democracy anywhere in the world where the system is not guided or guarded in a way. There is no democracy anywhere in the world where at the end of a term of a Parliament, it is an all-comers game. I mean anybody can come to Parliament. -- [Interruption] -- Mr Speaker, the First Deputy Speaker is urging me strongly to breakdown what I mean by all-comers. We do not open the sleeves gate to everybody who thinks he has the desire to come to Parliament.

Mr Speaker, I have just related to the work of Parliament, and so, it requires a lot of experience, it requires a lot of intelligence, knowledge and indeed, depth. A Member of Parliament is supposed to be a role- model in his or her constituency. So we are looking at the conduct of that

person; the integrity of that person. People do not look at these. Increasingly now, it is dependent on the size of a person's wallet. And that is dangerous because we are sowing the seeds of corruption. And I keep saying that there is nobody who is in Parliament or who is into politics who is a Father Christmas. If a politician sows today, he wants to reap tomorrow.

Mr Speaker, is that what we want to do to our country? It is a very slippery road and yet, we are pretending everything is normal with us. The political parties have a big role to play in this, and I want to believe that they would do what is appropriate.

Mr Speaker, my Ministry, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, has started engaging the various political parties. The good thing is that, all of them; NPP, NDC, PPP, PNC, CPP and the rest of them recognise that what is happening is not the best. They all recognise that we need to change; but who starts first? Mr Speaker, we must really talk to each other and come to the realisation that what is happening is not the best.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader raised another matter about what a first-past-the post system engenders. Yes, the IPU insists that we should have 30 per cent of women representation latest by 2024. How

are we going to be able to achieve this if we go by first-past-the post? We cannot! All countries who engage in first-past-the-post system [Interruption] Wherever we have huge women representation like in Uganda, the President reserves the right to appoint about a third of women to Parliament. Would that be acceptable in Ghana? Certainly, nobody would accept that. So perhaps, we need to have a second look at the Constitution, I believe the time has come for us to; the first-past- the-post system is not helping us so much and perhaps, we have to resort to proportional representation as people have alluded to.

Mr Speaker, I think that while we are at that, we really need to have a second look at our Constitution; whether it has served us all this while; the twenty-eight years that we have been with it. It served indeed to stabilise our system but, are we out of the woods? I think that we are not out of the woods. My own personal opinion is that the presidential system that we are practising in this country is contributing hugely to the corruption in this country.

Mr Speaker, we perhaps would have to look at it again; whether Parliamentary democracy, having a

Prime Minister would not serve a better cause. And whether that peer review that obtains in that would not help us to really maintain cool heads than what we have.

Mr Speaker, finally, the strength of every Parliament is hugely dependent on the committee systems. I have spoken time and again about this. Our committee systems here in Ghana are very weak and we need to strengthen them. We are working with Mr Speaker's kind assistance and help to review our Standing Orders. One hopes that we would be able to bring this matter to a closure at this Meeting and have the document laid, so that into next Meeting, some progress would be made on that.

Once again, let me thank the Hon Member who made the Statement. I would like to add by way of conclusion that whereas the Constitution in article 55 employs the parties to sell their agenda, objectives and programmes to the people, it is the business of the people at the grassroots such as the polling station executives, to do the canvassing for votes. They canvass for votes by telling the people down there about their programmes and activities and that is number one.

My own party's constitution provides that the polling station executives should, apart from doing that, update the numerical strength of the party at the polling stations every six months. They do not do that. They engage rather in selecting who becomes an office bearer in the party and it appears that is what they are looking at.

When a person has to vie for any position and he goes to the king makers, it is acceptable he approaches them with drinks, and maybe because they have to meet at central locations, they would give them some envelopes for transportation. However, attention is really focused on the drinks, cola nuts or the size of the envelope given to a person before a person comes to be elected or selected. That is certainly dangerous and we cannot continue on this path.

My party's constitution provides that after we have selected the polling station executives and we want to select -- [Interruption ] In fact, at the level of polling station executives, all card bearing members should participate. When it comes to the constituency, the “all card bearing members” is cut out. We should transport that to the selection of regional and national executives and to the selection of parliamentary and

presidential candidates and then we shall cease looking at envelopes, drinks and cola nuts that are distributed. That would then build the basis of strengthening our democracy, parliamentarism in Ghana and indeed parliamentarianism in Ghana. Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity.

Thank you very much Hon Majority Leader. It is interesting the various references made to our activities in African Parliamentary groups, the Commonwealth and in fact, the world. It is very interesting to recount, particularly with regard to those comments made, that just last week, the Speaker of the House in Nigeria, whom I have not been in touch with apart from our meetings abroad, contacted me. Among other issues, he raised the need for our Parliaments in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to meet urgently by whatever means, in terms of telephone conferences et cetera to engage in two main matters -- debt cancellation in the face of COVID- 19 and the post-COVID era of a new world economic order. He emphasised the stance Ghana has taken on this matter in a number of these conferences and wants us to have a contribution from the
Parliaments of West Africa to start with.
He said he was in the process of nominating a committee and advised that Ghana do the same so that we act as the focal point to ginger West Africa in this direction. I would want to take the opportunity therefore to invite the two Leaders to immediately nominate two people from the Majority and one person from the Minority as they think best. They would work along with me and Dr B. B. B. Bingab who is the head of the research team at the Speaker's Secretariat, so that we would tackle this very important matter at the Parliamentary level.
He discussed this and a few other matters with me, not excepting the recent difficulty with regard to incidents at the Nigerian High Commission. I assured him that justice would be done to them. I think that this is one way in which we can keep in touch and promote democracy, development, peace and the absence of conflict in the sub-region, applying the parliamentary relationship.
So this is a very good Statement at a time like this and we must as Ghana, always take the initiative and the leadership. They want us to be co- leaders in the process and we should
seize the opportunity of this respect they have extended to us, so that we proceed to do something for our sub- region.
Thank you very much for this Statement and all the good things that have come out of it.
Order Paper Addendum, Presentation of Papers by the Hon Majority Leader, Public Elections Regulation, 2020. Thereafter, the Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair. Hon Majority Leader, the Addendum please?

Mr Speaker, I was just having a side discussion with the Hon Minority Leader and that is why I did not hear you invite me. I believe Committee on Subsidiary Legislation has done considerable work on the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 and with the indulgence of the House, I want to present the Paper to the House.

Mr Speaker, when I saw the Order Paper Addendum, I requested the Table Office to give me a copy of the Instrument. In fact, the Clerk to the Committee was sitting far at the back, so I invited him outside. I understand that the Committee met over the weekend but they would meet at one o'clock to finalise it. Mr Speaker, this is not an Instrument that

anybody has a problem with or objects to. It is only fair that the Hon Majority Leader allows them to exhaust their meeting today. The difficulty is that because of the Supreme Court's ruling on Regulations, we cannot add or subtract and we cannot amend or make any correction. So any final product of their pre-laying consultation means a lot. I understand that they are meeting at one o'clock, so he can lay it tomorrow, then it is gazetted and we start counting 21 days.

Mr Speaker, you have my word that even if it means sitting on Saturdays and Sundays -- [Interruption] If we do not approve this, there would be no presidential and parliamentary elections and I would not be here again as Member of Parliament. Therefore I would just persuade him that he allows the Committee to exhaust it.

It could be laid as the first item tomorrow and then we proceed to gazette same so that we would all follow through. I do not want to go into the details; as they met, they needed to fine-tune some things which were referred to the Hon Attorney- General and Minister for Justice. I

understand that she has come back with it. Let them meet and conclude and when they are satisfied, tomorrow he could lay it. It is not like a voter registration exercise where he should be afraid of an opposition from the Minority. This is to guide the conduct of the crucial elections of 2020. We are all for it but if he could do it tomorrow, the better --

Mr Speaker, I would want to assure the Hon Minority Leader that I have never been afraid in my life even though sometimes I fear a little -- [Laughter] --
Mr Speaker, we are just relating to the same issues and I was there with them on Saturday. The only thing they just would want to add is the security services in respect of voter transfer. It is a minor thing that I thought we could resolve. Indeed, we agree in principle on that but with the commitment from the Hon Minority Leader -- because already, as I indicated, we would be adjourning on the 7th of August, 2020. Beginning now, we have just 18 days. It would mean that if we do not do it and we do it tomorrow, we still would require about four more days. That was my worry.
Mr Speaker, in fact, we may then have to agree perhaps on Mondays we would be sitting. So I hope that
the commitment would be scavenged by “coup makers” from backbench of his Side -- [Laughter] --

Hon Majority Leader, I just would want to know the end or result.

Mr Speaker, the result is that we could stand it down until tomorrow and let us have the resolution. So tomorrow we would do the presentation of the papers.

It is stood down till tomorrow accordingly.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader, where do we go from here?

Mr Speaker, we can deal with item listed
9.
[Pause] --
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader is strongly urging that we take an adjournment at this stage. There are a few things that we need to firm. So let me agree with him and move that we adjourn until tomorrow at 10.00 a.m. and endeavour to meet at 10.0 a.m. indeed and then create enough space to deal with this Bill.
Mr Speaker, as I said, we must certainly close the chapter on this Bill before we adjourn finally. In that regard, I do want to move that this Parliament adjourns until tomorrow at

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion for adjournment and to assure the Hon Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business that the Lands Bill is such an important Bill that we need to give it a more diligent and thorough attention. Therefore this consultation can be healthy for the good of the Bill.

Hon Members, I am glad to note for the record that both Sides of the House are committed to completing relevant business before the House whether it means sitting on Saturday and Sunday according to the Hon Majority Leader. It is well appreciated.
I would put the Question on the Motion then.
Question put and Motion agreed to.