Debates of 20 Jul 2020

MR FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
ABSENCE OF MR SPEAKER 12:35 p.m.
PRAYERS 12:35 p.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 12:35 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Members, we have the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 17th July, 2020 -- for correction.
Page 1 … 10.
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 10, item numbered 9(ii), we have the waiver for “Vestor Oil Mills Ltd”. It should be “Vester” and not “Vestor”. It runs through so, the consequential amendment should be done.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
The Clerks-at-the-Table will take note and effect the appropriate corrections.
Page 11 … 53
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just a minor issue. It has to do with what was done on page 40 in respect of subsection (6) of section (235). We introduced a language -- “Public body” means as an organ of State”. We have agreed on that, but the --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Leader, I cannot hear you properly. Which page?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:35 p.m.
Page 40 -- the first item. The winnowing Committee proposed “public body” and I am saying that it has been defined and it is not capitalised.
Mr Speaker, on page 43, in clause 238 subclause (2), the same “public body” there is capitalised, and I am just saying that we should be
consistent. I think that it is not meant to be capital letters. In a couple of other places too, it has been capitalised, but it is not meant to be so.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Very well, the Table Office would effect the appropriate correction.
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 17th July, 2020 is adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, we would move on to the item numbered 3 -- Statements. I have admitted a Statement to be read by the Hon Minister for Health on Ghana's COVID-19 situation. However, the Hon Deputy Minister for Health would read the Statement on behalf of the Minister for Health.
STATEMENTS 12:45 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Members, I will admit contributions. Hon Member for Awutu-Senya West?
Mr George Nenyi Kojo Andah (NPP -- Awutu-Senya West) 1:05 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker and to the Hon Deputy Minister for this well-detailed and researched update he has given to us on the COVID-19 situation and its management thereof.
Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the Hon Deputy Minister,
what is the acceptable number of days for --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Member, this is not Question time. If you want to contribute, make your contribution.
Mr Andah 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon Deputy Minister and impress on all of us here to adhere strictly to the safety protocols as announced by the Government, especially in these times that we are going ahead with the registration of voters.
Sometimes when you go round these registration centres, it is quite a big concern that people registering are not wearing their face masks properly and are not abiding by the safety protocols.
I am appealing to every Member of Parliament to help assist the Ministry of Health and the Government to make sure that we manage this Coronavirus situation well and come out of this pandemic stronger than ever.
Alhaji Inusah Abdulai Bistav Fuseini (NDC -- Tamale Central) 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, let me add my voice in commending the Hon Deputy Minister who stood in for the
Hon Minister for Health in giving us a comprehensive update on our fight against the Coronavirus.
It is important that as we continue to battle the plague, we are kept up to date on what our leaders are doing to instil confidence and inspire hope in us, that we would not get carried away by the ravaging effects of the pandemic. As said by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “this is the time to spread hope and not fear, this is the time to spread calm in our societies”. Many people are dying because they have underlying sicknesses that make them susceptible to the pandemic.
Indeed, when the Hon Deputy Minister was presenting the Statement to the House, he told us that China is recording new cases of the Coronavirus. It has been known throughout history, and as a doctor he is very aware, that pandemics of this nature can have a second wave.
Hundred (100) years ago, the world recorded a pandemic where less people died in the first wave than in the second wave because people had become complacent, and so got carried away by the pandemic.
To hear that China which fought successfully against the pandemic is now recording new cases of the virus
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation?
Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you. My good friend started on a very worthy note in terms of our responsibilities but it looks like he is going in the wrong trajectory, making statements about lack of money in the kitty and that we have eaten the meat to the bones. He does not offer any empirical evidence. He cannot do that in this House.
Mr Speaker, in provoking this debate about COVID-19, he has to be very careful. I think that all of us here have a responsibility to do the right thing. Let us wait for the Hon Minister to come here on Thursday and if he has any questions, he could put it to him, but to anticipate that he is coming to tell us that everything is COVID-19 is not very fair to the Hon Minister.
Mr Speaker, I think he should withdraw that statement because we do not anticipate what Hon Ministers or Members would say in future.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Member, please, be guided that when you are contributing to a Statement you avoid controversies. You do not generate debate out of it.
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am well guided. I do know that one casualty that this House suffered through Coronavirus was the absence of the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation for a very long time -- [Uproar] -- so, I am much guided because he had travelled outside the jurisdiction and the place was declared. It was a casualty for us. [Uproar]
Mr Speaker, to be honest with you, I agree that the Hon Minister would come on Thursday, but I am
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye (NPP-- Effiduase/Asokore) 1:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker,
I thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Statement ably presented by the Hon Deputy Minister for Health.
Mr Speaker, in no uncertain ways, it confirms that the President and for that matter government is managing the Coronavirus effectively well as a matter of fact. As a medical practitioner, one would want to look at the indicators to speak and to measure where we are going and what has been achieved. It is so clear that when we are speaking over here, we should look at the pertinent areas to which we can do comparative analysis from.
Mr Speaker, it is clear that when we look at the mortality rates which is so low, it is not only by divine intervention. It is because of good decisions and better management. It is because of good protocols and structures that have been put in place.
Mr Speaker, we admit that we do not have a lot in this country but the little that has been allocated has been used efficiently. So, I would want us draw our minds to the issue of mortality and challenge anyone to make argument for or otherwise of why we are having a mortality rate of about 0.5 per cent while other countries are averagely above one
percent. It is not only by divine intervention; it is real decisions that have translated into this and it should not be underestimated.
Mr Speaker, to leap at a recovery rate of about 84 per cent, that is about nine out of 10 people recover. That is no mean achievement, this is not something we can politicise and not to say that we have eaten all the meat around the bones.
This is due to proper allocation of resources which has given us good benchmarks and indicators. What else do we want to achieve if roughly, nine out of 10 people recover? It is a good step, we have not entirely gotten there but it tells us that we are in the right direction and we cannot politicise this.

Mr Speaker, talking about the willingness of Government to provide resources to undertake mass testing is absolutely the way to go. That is choosing more testing over less testing and ignorance, you tickle yourself and laugh.

So, the Government has taken a decision that regardless of what the situation is, we are going to undertake more testing no matter how many positive cases there are. This is what

makes us safer and more secure and we must commend the taskforce, technical people and all the state institutions.

Mr Speaker, in talking about the second wave, this is about relaxing the restrictions and the indiscipline on the part of myself and the rest of the public who choose to say they are going to be more relaxed on the protocols which would increase the spread up. Need we be worried about that if we are going to be so disciplined, that is, on our part and that of the public?

As a matter of fact, countries are confused, a balance of economic management to the reality of the effects of this hardship that the Coronavirus is bedevilling the economies of countries. That is, economy versus health. Countries are confused on this and do not know what to do because they are trade- offs and at any point, something is struggling but life must go on. This is because we do not know when this Coronavirus will disappear; it could take a year, two or three.

Mr Speaker, so no matter how it is, and whichever seat one sits in, do not be a limit to what you do. That will be an extent of confusion but in all, our decisions should be in the right
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase) 1:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon Minister for updating the House and to say that this is a very useful exercise. This is because it gives us official positions on whatever we are doing and whereas our country is doing whatever it can to deal with the challenges that come with the Coronavirus, I would like to say that we need to do more.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister would agree with me that we have had more testing done from the end of May as compared to now. Instead of undertaking more testing as the cases escalate, averagely between the end of May and now, we are rather doing less testing.
This is the reason we realise that three weeks ago, most of our testing centres had ran out of the reagents and yet the Hon Minister admits in his Statement that this was because of the pressure of getting the supplies.
However, in these times, planning well ahead is always the best. This is because we agree that all the other countries are all trying to draw from the same source, yet they try to plan well ahead.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister would also admit that if we consider the number of testing we are doing, we are getting more positivity now than before. This means that we are not out of the woes yet because if our positivity rates are increasing, it means we have not gotten to our peak not alone to talk of a reduction in positive cases. So, the rate is increasing looking at the numbers being tested.
The Hon Minister admitted in his Statement --
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 1:25 p.m.
-- rose --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:25 p.m.
Hon Minority Chief Whip, hold on.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 1:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Muntaka says that positivity rate is increasing and it is because of
relaxation in the protocols. He is not wearing his face mask; we have been told that the face shield alone is not enough and that is why the positivity rate is increasing.
[Laughter] --
Alhaji Muntaka 1:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have my face mask and the face shield but to be heard, I prefer to keep the face shield on and then use the face mask when I am done talking.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister also admitted that when they allowed the over 2,000 contact tracers to be disengaged, it came with its challenge of delays in doing the contact tracing. Admittedly, I had to call him a number of times and to tell him of someone who had died of COVID-19 for two weeks in my Constituency and nobody had contacted the family.
I had to draw the Hon Deputy Minister's attention that this is -- it was creating problems in my constituency. Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) was maligning them. This is because if it were true, they would have done the contact tracing and there were about seven of such cases.
So, looking at my constituency alone, if seven people who have had this challenge and for two or three weeks, there had been no contact tracers, it means that we are not doing enough tracing.
I would want the Government to reconsider its decision in using only community health nurses because how
Alhaji Muntaka 1:35 p.m.
not be able to touch every corner of our country as timeously as required. So, they need to engage -- to help the community health nurses in doing the contact tracing as it is very important.
Mr Speaker, this is because the only way we would be able to have this in hand as the Hon Minister has said in his Statement and to which I agree, is when we contact trace. And when we get them early, we are able to manage the cases so that mortality rates do not escalate.
Currently, the last time we were briefed, I said that we needed to have monitors in our mortuaries. This is because in many communities, I know that people are now refusing to go to the hospitals because they have the perception that the hospital staff assume that upon their presentation with a cough or so, they are perceived as COVID-19 patients and then when they die, their bodies are not assessed for burial, especially in Moslem dominated communities.
When people begin to show symptoms, many will simply refuse to go to the hospital until at the last minute then they are rushed to the hospital and when they die on the way to the hospital, they return home, bathe the corpse for burial.

Mr Speaker, so, if we do not monitor what is happening in the public cemeteries, we would have the official records of death to be so low but in actual sense it may be so high. When this brief came the last time, I also said that in many of our rural areas where there are not enough facilities, people resort to traditional medicine; whether by traditional healers or spiritualists.

So, if we do not keep an eye on all these places, all that we would do is to focus on Accra and Kumasi; we are only looking at the urban centres. Therefore, what is happening in other parts of the country may elude us. Mr Speaker, this would not help us because if a person dies in a hospital and it is recorded and the immediate family members are being traced to go through the protocols, it is one thing.

However, if the person goes through the unorthodox means and dies from COVID-19 and when contact tracing is not carried out, it does not mean that it cannot be spread from that end.

So, yes, we are doing well in terms of the statistics of our testing, we seemed to have slowed down in the numbers that we are testing. As at

the end of May, we had done over 200,000 but from the end of May to date that we seemed to have more cases, we have done less than the 200,000 that was done in the first two months of recording cases. So, we need to double up on this. Mr Speaker, I know it is very expensive, as the Hon Minister said. Averagely, it costs about US$100 to do a test.

As the President said, we can find a way to revive our economy but we can never find a way to bring back life. So, we need to be up and doing. I know that we are being stretched but all of us need to up our game. Mr Speaker, if you see the things happening in our communities, it sends shockwaves to some of us who are very cautious.

Mr Speaker, I keep saying that depending on the environment that one may have -- [Interruption] About a month ago when the Hon Minister said that we should learn to live with it, others are giving it a different meaning, and that we should go on with other things because the virus has come to stay.

However, we are not abiding by the necessary protocols of wearing the face masks, social distancing, washing of hands and using hand sanitisers, yet we say we are living with it. Mr

Speaker, how can we live with it when we are not observing the protocols? This would be exposing all of us and risking the lives of many innocent Ghanaians.

Mr Speaker, on the issue of always comparing, I just want to urge my Hon Colleague and the Ministry to note that with the challenges that Mali is facing, the government itself cannot access some parts of the country. In Ghana, our government can access every part of this country and so comparing Ghana and Mali is a different issue. Also, Hon Fuseini quoted the WHO Director that many countries including the United States of America were putting policy ahead of science and wishing the virus was no more.

We are now seeing the escalations in some parts of America as compared to New York that took drastic measures at the early stage, holding on to it and resisting all attempts -- [Interruption]We can now see the results and I think that these are some of the things that we should emulate. If we compare ourselves to Nigeria, we know that because of Boko Haram, the Nigerian government cannot access some parts of Nigeria.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:35 p.m.
Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation?
Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation (Dr Anthony A. Osei)(MP) 1:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I want to start from where my Hon Colleague ended which is the issue of consistency in addressing this problem from the leadership of this country.
We are part of the leadership of this country, and as my Hon Colleague from Tamale Central said, I happened to be coerced into a self-quarantine
Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation (Dr Anthony A. Osei)(MP) 1:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to urge my Hon Colleagues who are part of the leadership of the country to send consistent messages about the importance of following the protocols so that all of us could be saved from it.
Mr Speaker, as my colleague said, Coronavirus does not know the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a woman, a man, a girl or a boy , whether one is tall or short. It comes furiously to anybody that exposes himself or herself.
So Hon Colleagues, as part of the leadership of this country, let us set an example so that the public would see that we are doing the right thing. In my view, when the public sees us do the right thing, they would follow suit. There is no question on my mind.
I would want to commend the Ministry for giving us this information. As my Hon Colleague said, they need to continue to update us. The more people know, the more they realise that we are in the right track. The testing issue is very important. The challenges we face are the challenges that are faced everywhere. The value chain of supply is not very good.
However, it tells us that we should be depending on our own selves to produce these things. So I urge the Hon Minister for Finance that we should be making special efforts to improve the capacity of our local businesses to produce the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). Even the United States that has a law which mandates the President to force people to produce, they are having challenges. What about us?

Mr Speaker, finally, this Corona- virus has brought to the fore, the inadequacy of our health facilities. All of us should be interested in improving the infrastructure and the human resources of our health facilities. As I said, it is a public health issue. If I am not healthy, I cannot go to work, and the economy would not grow.

The way every country is dealing with it is not the old orthodox fiscal and monetary policy. It is to improve your public health and the economy would come through. So let us not emphasise --

I would be surprise if I hear people talk about the Gross Domestic Prodct (GDP) having gone down and the deficit has gone up. So what?

When people are dying, we are talking about deficit? It does not make any sense. But once we improve the public health situation -- [Interruption] as I said, human beings are of confidence. If they feel that the restaurant is alright, they would go and eat there. If they feel that the movie house is alright, they would go and watch. Over the weekend, I was involved in some matter.

Mr Speaker, when we went to church, everybody was doing protocol. When we came to the reception, almost everybody had taken off their nose masks and wanted to dance. I was sitting and asking if we are serious people? That cannot help us. I know people have been indoors for a long time and I know how it feels like, because I was indoors for three and half months watching TV.

It can be difficult but if your life is important to you, you do what it takes and eventually, it would come around. Maybe , if they find the vaccine , as they are telling us they might by the end of the year, we might be safe .

Mr Speaker, one final issue that I do not understand and the Hon Minister may want to educate us on is that nobody knows that if I am

infected today, I can be re-infected. We do not know that because we do not know how long the antibodies are going to stay. So I could be positive and in two weeks' time I may be re- infected. I do not know that. The scientists are still looking at that. Let us hope that they come up quickly with some information so that we know what to do. They say mutation, but all that I want to know is that I am not infected so that I can go about my business.

Mr Speaker, we thank the Hon Minister for bringing this information to us and we urge them to continue doing what they were doing.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 1:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Deputy Minister for Health. While commending him, I believe my honest assessment is that the Statement is too loaded and therefore, no matter his good intentions, the message may be clouded. Therefore, the young Minister must be guided by brevity in the future. While speaking to the people's representatives, he is talking directly to the people of Ghana. We see him wanting to communicate too many issues at the same time.
Minister's Statement is 1:55 p.m.
were we not in this country when the Ghana Health Service chose to mislead the President of the Republic? I heard the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation refer to America. Our science and medical practitioners owe the President and the people of Ghana a duty of accurate statistics.
On May 5 when we barely had 2,700 cases in Ghana, the Ghana Health Service led by Dr Badu Sarkodie told the country that Ghana was at its peak. So at 27,000, what would they call it? Are we now at our peak or we were at our peak when he was speaking to the country far back on May, 5?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:55 p.m.
Hon Members, having regard to the state of the business of the House, I direct that the House Sits outside the regular Sitting hours.
Mr Iddrisu 1:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when we come to what the Hon Minister was agitated and debating himself, Ghana --
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:55 p.m.
Hon Kpodo, do you have a point of order against your Leader?
Mr Kpodo 1:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am struggling to hear my Leader through the microphone. If you can permit him to remove his mask and wear it after his contribution, it would be appreciated? This is because he is alone there and he is not going to infect anybody.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:55 p.m.
Very well. He has replaced his mask.
Hon Minority Leader, you may continue.
Mr Iddrisu 1:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I had to fly in from Tamale and I struggled to get this on board the flight. As I arrived, I was looking for my own for use in the Chamber here. They just brought it to me.
So we should thank the Hon Minister for sharing the position of Ghana. But as I said, if he told the world on 5th May that Ghana was at its peak at 2,700, mathematically and statistically, that would be inaccurate. If we have 27,000 today, what does he describe this as? Certainly, we were not at the peak.
Mr Speaker, we should, as a country, avoid those storms that can spike an increase in the COVID-19 cases in the country. We need not repeat many of them like the example given by the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation. Night clubs, pubs, restaurants and others should follow the restrictions.
We were in this country again when there was an announcement that in the hospitality industry, there was a lift in the morning and then in the afternoon, there was a change in position. That confuses the public as he said. We should also be guided by those ones.
Mr Speaker, if we come to schools, he gave us statistics but every parent is concerned about the privacy of the ward or the child's health and would not want to bear any consequences associated with it. I know that some consultation went on but there could be further consultation on many of these issues.
We are doing well with monitoring, testing, contact tracing and others. But on the mandatory wearing of face mask , if they make it mandatory and want it to succeed, they should provide it. Health workers still do not have adequate PPEs in the country. That is a fact. There are no sufficient PPEs made available for health
Mr Iddrisu 2:05 p.m.
workers throughout the country and we should not just be looking at Greater Accra or Greater Kumasi.
Mr Speaker, I hope I can share this experience. Just last week, I bumped into a family that were very agitated about a death at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and the medical directorate decided that they wanted to satisfy themselves by conducting a COVID- 19 test on the patient, one Iddrisu Zakari Ganaa.
So I had to engage the head of medical services at the hospitals. Mr Speaker, this is what he said and I hope the Hon Minister takes note. He said that the equipment they are using in Tamale for the purpose of testing is what was installed by the USAID for the purposes of meningitis. That is what they have improved.

So where are the testing equipment that he said they have supplied? I am talking about Tamale.

Mr Speaker, this is very profound. Mr Speaker, I hope that you would permit me to share this: As Moslems, every society has its mortuary rites -- how we see off the dead. One particular family wanted the dead body of a relative who had died at 1

o'clock the previous day. So on Wednesday, the family could not understand, even I was under attack. They said I was not helpful to get them the body. It was revealed by the doctor that they do cluster testing. Why did they have to do cluster testing for 96? So, they had to zero to 10 and six.

So, I asked them to give me the particulars of Iddrisu Zakaria. So, they had to take him out of 90 to do a six. So Hon Deputy Minister, let us be more serious about the testing equipment. If they have been provided, they should be made available in the regions. I am talking about Tamale. What would happened in Savelugu, Nanton, Zabzugu or Yendi? Some of these issues are difficult.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister should also accept that Ghana has been listed among five countries which contribute to the rise in the numbers of COVID-19. It is a fact; that is what has been scientifically reported. Even though some people have associated it with WHO, I agree with him that it did not come from the WHO. It came from the African Disease Control Centre, which gave that particular report. It is a fact that our numbers keep soaring and it could be worrying.

Mr Speaker, I would conclude with one observation. We would need to do something about Ghanaians who are still stranded abroad. We need to do something for me. They are our citizens. Everywhere in the world -- [Interruption] I would admit that some efforts have been made, but we would need to get our citizens back home. Many of them are locked up in foreign countries.

We know what it means when a person is not working in the United States of America or London. At least, if they are home, family members would share some bread with them. That is not the case in Europe and America. But there are huge numbers of Ghanaians who are still stranded abroad. I am sure all of us get text messages.

They ask about what we are doing to get them back into the country. So Government must prioritise essential repatriation of Ghanaians into the country as we deal with the COVID-

19.

Mr Speaker, as for demanding accountability on COVID-19 resources, the day will come because, you are not the Hon Minister for Finance. We have heard his report of US$34.5 million which has been

spent. We would ask for accountability on the US$1 billion, US$100 million and US$290 million as and when it is appropriate.

Mr Speaker, I would commend the Hon Deputy Minister who made the Statement for sharing. I would join him to wish the Senior High School (SHS) students well and I would urge them to keep safe and observe the protocols as directed by high authority and other persons in our country.

Again, Hon Deputy Minister, this is not the time for criticisms. We would encourage Government to deal head-on with this pandemic. The numbers are not quite satisfactory as compared to other African countries. We should allow more of the science and medical people to speak on those matters.

Mr Speaker, for these comments, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:05 p.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 2:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, let me also commend the Hon Deputy Minister for coming in this morning to inform Ghanaians about the status of Ghana's COVID- 19 outbreak.
Mr Speaker, the mortality rates that he provided us 2:15 p.m.
0.5 per cent for Ghana; 4.0 per cent for the USA; 15.4 per cent for the United Kingdom;
14.3 per cent for Italy; 8.1 per cent for Canada; 0.9 per cent for Israel; 1.6 per cent for Morocco; 5 per cent for Mail and 1.4 per cent for South Africa is most revealing and it really means that Ghana is doing quite well in the fight against this pandemic. That is not to say that we should lower our guts.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister has also indicated to us that the frontline workers have thus far been identified to have been paid the amounts that they were promised. He said that from April, 2020, they have been paid. What we should all realise is that the figures would be dynamic; they have never been static, and I would want to believe that for May 2020 and June 2020, perhaps, the figures could even go up.
But what is required of us is that, now that we have done quite well in the identification of these frontline workers, we should be paying much more promptly than maybe has been done thus far by paying them up to April 2020. We should be able to pay May 2020 and June 2020. Perhaps, we have not paid July 2020 yet, but we should be able to pay May and June by now.
Mr Speaker, on the issue about statements that we put out there, some of them were really occasioned by
mischief. People go out there to engage in deliberate perversion of the truth. In this country, we have been told that PPEs are in acute short supply. No country is able to supply adequate numbers of PPE, but for people to learn that in Ghana PPE are in acute short supply, that to me is a dangerous statement to make. It is made to appear as if Government is not doing anything at all, and that is not assuring enough.

Mr Speaker, somebody alleged on air that Government, and indeed, the Republic has not done anything and that 10 years ago, some countries were doing research in Coronavirus Disease and Ghana did nothing.

Where is the truth in this? And yet, that person is a seasoned journalist. He goes around and casts all manner of aspersions against Government. Even when his attention was drawn to the fact that, no country had, before 2019 conducted any research on COVID-19, he was insistent that indeed, he was right. Perversion of truth.

Mr Speaker, I cannot understand what is happening to us these days as a nation. People just put out statements which have no bases.

Mr Speaker, we always talk about politicisation. All of us should be concerned. Last week Thursday, the Hon Minister for Education had just ventured to critique the candidacy of the running mate to former President John Mahama, and hell descended on him. People ventured -- somebody called in on one radio station to say that the brain of the Hon Minister for Education had been eaten up by Coronavirus. How could anybody say this? Yet, the media allowed such a statement to come out there. We should be careful.

I believe that is not how the average Ghanaian is trained in his or her home, yet, in the name of politics, people make all manner of vitriolic statements about people, who otherwise are held in high esteem in this country. Pouring acid and petrol on people is now the joy of some people. They make and attribute statements to people which have no bases, and on account of their own misinformation they descend on other people; insulting them. As a country, we cannot go on this way.

Mr Speaker, an Hon Colleague made a statement about what happened at the New Patriotic Party (NPP's) primaries. They made it appear as if it is the one that is accounting for the spread of the disease. In the NPP primaries, 61,200
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:15 p.m.
Very well.
Hon Members, that brings us to the end of Statement time for today.
I just have two observations. Whatever else you do, observe the safety protocols to avoid the spread
of the COVID-19 virus. Do not blame anybody else for your own behaviour if you get infected by not observing the protocols.
Hon Members, thank you.
Hon Members, at the Commen- cement Public Business -- Presentation of Papers.
Hon Majority Leader, are we ready to do the presentations on the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development is here with us. Therefore, he could present the Papers on behalf of the Hon Minister.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:15 p.m.
Very well.
Hon Members, we would take the item numbered 4 (a) (i).
PAPERS 2:15 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
The item numbered (b) by the Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would like to present the Paper on behalf of the Hon Minister.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Very well.
By Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) (on behalf of
the Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development)—
Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of the Ministry of Inner- City and Zongo Development for the year 2019.
Referred to Committee on Social Welfare and Employment.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Yes, Hon Leader?
Mr Iddrisu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just an observation; I tried to catch your eyes. We hardly see the Hon Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development in this House; we only see him when the President is coming to give Address on the State of the Nation or during the Budget time. He should be encouraged, either him or the deputy to come here.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Am I right? Is the Paper to be referred to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development?
Dr A. A. Osei 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it should be referred to the Public Accounts Committee. It is not a Local Government, District or Municipality. It cannot be going to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development. This is from the Audit
Committee of the Ministry, not of the district.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Yes, Hon Kpodo?
Mr Kpodo 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, these presentations are odd to me. I think we get the Auditor-General's Report from the Ministry and it is submitted to the Public Accounts Committee, but these Audit Committees are internal Committees of the assemblies so; I am worried why it should be presented to Parliament for discussion by the Committee on Local Government and Rural Develop- ment?. I think that is what the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation is also raising.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, these statements are really part of the Annual Reports of the various MMDAs so; they are not to go to the Auditor-General. They are supposed to go to the relevant sector Ministry or the Ministry with the responsibility. I think that in this case, the Report should go to the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises. That is the one for Zongo Development.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Very well, the Paper is duly presented.
Dr Twum-Nuamah 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I need your guidance; normally, the Estimates for the the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development is handled by the Finance Committee. So, I was thinking that is their current Committee so; it should go to the Finance Committee. Just like the other ones went to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, I thought this should also follow and go to the Finance Committee.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
The consensus is that it should go to the Committee on Employment and Social Welfare and State Enterprises.
The item numbered (c)?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, really, these Reports should be going to the Committee that superintended over the Budget of the Ministry. And I would want to believe that it is the Committee on Employment , Social Welfare and State Enterprises. If it is not that Committee, then, it should go to the Committee that really took charge of the Budget of the Ministry. And I want to believe that it is the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises that did it.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when we started the Seventh Parliament, the understanding was that the new Ministries: Inner-City and Zongo Development; Monitoring and Evaluation; Planning; Regional Reorganisation; Special Development Initiatives and the Office of the Senior Minister were going to sit at the Office of the President.
And because the Finance Committee considers the Budget of the Office of Government Machinery, in the 2017 Budget consideration in March 2017, all of them came to the Finance Committee. So, that had been the trend in the subsequent years except that in considering the 2020 Budget, the Hon Kwame Anyimadu- Antwi came to see me and then, I ceded off Special Development Initiatives to him.
So, the rest, including the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development have always come to the Finance Committee but I think this should go to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development. --[Interruption]-- we look at their Budget but strictly speaking, this should be going to the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Yes, Hon Chairman of the Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises?
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much. Mr Speaker, you would recall that at the beginning of the term, the President, actually, in view of social development, broke the country into three: Northern Belt, Middle Belt and Southern Belt and added the Zongo Development for social interventions. So, the Leader cannot be wrong for referring this to the Committee on Employment and Social Welfare.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Very well. I have already directed that it goes to the Committee on Employ- ment Social Welfare and State Enterprises; let it be so.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the President did not divide the country into three belts; he did not do that.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:25 p.m.
For administrative purposes.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:25 p.m.
No, he did not do that; he set up Development Authorities but he did not divide the country into three pieces.
Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 2:25 p.m.
I agree.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:25 p.m.
All right.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Point well made.
The items numbered (c)(i) and (ii); is the Minister for Health ready?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Deputy Minister for Health would lay the Paper on behalf of the Hon Minister for Health.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
By the Deputy Minister for Health (Dr Bernard Okoe Boye) (on behalf of the Minister for Health
—
(i) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research for the year 2019.
(ii)Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of the Kyebi Government Hospital for the year 2019.
Referred to the Committee on Health.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
The item numbered (d), Hon Chairman of the Committee? --[Pause]-- Very well. The Hon Chairman of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development is also not ready. Very well.
Item numbered 5, Hon Majority Leader, are we ready to continue?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we would deal with the item numbered 5.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:25 p.m.
Very well, the item numbered 5, the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Bill, 2020 at the Consideration Stage?
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 2:35 p.m.
STAGE 2:35 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:35 p.m.
Yes, clause 4, Chairman of the Committee?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4 under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 5, subparagraph (4), delete and insert the following:
“Where the chairperson is not a member of the panel constituted in subparagraph (3), the chairperson shall designate one
Mr Haruna Iddrisu 2:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have two difficulties with the Hon Chairman's amendment. I may have to seek your leave and indulgence to look at one. With permission, it reads:
“Where the chairperson is not a member of the panel constituted in subparagraph (3), the chairperson shall designate one of the members of the panel to preside at sittings of the panel”.
For the purpose of elegance, the words, “of the panel” should not be repeated. Even the last words, “at the sitting of the panel” -- when you reference subparagraph (3), what
does it say? So, if I had my way, those words should also be expunged. So, it should read, “designate one of the members to preside” and end there. [Interruption] I insist the words in the third line, “of the panel” be deleted. The rest can fly, but we do not need to repeat that.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:35 p.m.
The designation is not intended to be a permanent one, it is only at a particular sitting. So, if you change it, you may generate confusion, by saying that I am the Chairman of this panel, however, the panel can change. So I think that it should be that.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I also have a problem. We are talking about the Appeals Board and it does not have to say that all three members must be lawyers. It does not say that, so the Chairperson must designate somebody with the same qualifications as him. That person does not have to be on the Appeals Board but just has to be a member of the Board. So, he has to designate a member of the Board with the same qualifications and that is all we are looking for.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:35 p.m.
If the Hon Minister would advert his mind to clause 5, paragraph (3), under business of the Appeals Board, it says:
“The Appeals Board is duly constituted for its work by three members of the Appeals Board which shall constitute a panel.”
So, we have a 12-member Appeals Board and then the Chairman with the panel. Three of them at any point in time can sit and adjudicate a matter before it. So, in setting up the panel of three, the Chairman has to go further to indicate who chairs out of the three. That is what we are saying here, that when the Chairperson himself is not a member of the three- member panel that he puts together, then he would designate one of the three as the person presiding at any point in time.
Mind you, there could be a number of panels sitting at any point in time. The idea is to constitute many panels, so that there would be faster adjudication. Earlier, we were saying that if the Chairperson is not presiding and we want somebody with legal training, then how do we ensure that?
However, we went into the composition of the Board and saw that there would be two other members with the same qualification. So, in all likelihood, the Chairperson would designate one of them to preside.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:35 p.m.
It does not say that all three members of the Appeals Board must be lawyers.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:35 p.m.
The Appeals Board's membership is not three, they are more than three. In addition to the Chairman, there would be two others who must have the same qualification as the Chairman. That means they must be lawyers, so when he is constituting a panel, either the Chairman presides on the panel or one of the other two nominated by the Chairman.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we have agreed that no person can chair a panel, unless of course, he is a lawyer with the same qualifications as the Chairperson. So, if we say that he shall empower members of the Appeals Board and thus, they are the panel, it does not say that all the members of the Appeals Board or the panel must be the three lawyers.
However, the Chairperson must have the same qualifications as the original Chairperson. That is all we are requiring and if the three are not available, the Appeals Board cannot sit.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:35 p.m.
So, what is your complaint? Which clause are you complaining about?
Dr A. A. Osei 2:35 p.m.
That panel has people there but not all of them necessarily have the same qualifications as the Chairperson. So, if he just sticks himself to the panel and the two are not lawyers with the same qualifications, whoever is left cannot chair.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:35 p.m.
But this captures exactly that.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, remember that when it came to dealing with that provision, I was saying that I thought by the construction, we meant that the Chairperson of any of the committees was not required to be a lawyer of some standing as prescribed in the provisions.
Our attention was drawn to the fact that two others -- I related to the issue that in the absence of the Chairman, can anybody chair the meeting and they said yes because two others have similar qualifications.
That being the case, it was said that because this is an Appeals Board, any panel that is constituted should reflect the character of the Board. In that case, what is here should be amended and I agree with the Member for Old Tafo that there should be an amendment:
“Where the chairperson is not a member of the panel constituted in subparagraph (3), the chairperson shall designate a member who has a similar qualification as the chairperson to preside at the sitting of the panel.”
Mr Speaker, in that regard, we shall always have a lawyer to chair any of the panels. I believe that is the intent.
Alhaji I. A. B. Fuseini 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have no objection to the further amendment except that I am seeing “panel” which is not part of the law. It is not in the law; it is the Appeals Board. So, it should read:

But we are talking about the appeals. It is supposed to be at paragraph 3 under “Composition of the Appeals Board”. There is only paragraph 3 (1) and (2).
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if I may take the amendment proposed by the Hon Majority Leader so that the Table Office can capture it. With your permission, I read:
“Where the chairperson is not a member of the panel constituted in subparagraph (3), the chairperson shall designate a member with the same qualification as the chairperson to preside at sittings of the panel.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 9 --
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the further amendment by the Chairman of the Committee on Finance to what I proposed really must be further interrogated. I had said that they should have similar qualifications and he says they should be the same qualification. It means that if the chairperson is of 15 years standing as a lawyer and the person to take over from him has 13 years, he cannot take over?
Mr Speaker, it should be similar and not same qualifications.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader should go to subparagraph (3) (c): “two other persons with the same qualifications”. That is what is wrong. It should have been similar.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, yes, with the same qualification. That is the text. And subparagraph (1) (a) is clear; “not less than ten years”.
So, if one is 15 or 20 years, they are still not less than 10 years and it is the same. [Interruption] -- The person qualifies under subparagraph (1) (a).
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if we have two lawyers, do they not have the same qualification?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Let us move on.
Mr Iddrisu 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, you said we should move on but I was going to say that to make it easier, we could use “requisite qualification” then that defines it for all other persons.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Let us move on because “not less than ten years” qualifies everybody. He has 27 years and I have 30 years; we are all not less than 10 years. So, for that purpose, we qualify.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 9, subparagraph (1) (a), delete “the Minister” and insert “Parliament”.
Mr Speaker, so, it will read 2:45 p.m.
“The sums of money appropriated by Parliament;”
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Is it under the Appropriations Act?
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Parliament approves the moneys of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the budget but a committee formed by an MDA or any public institution is paid allowances and those allowances have to be approved by the Ministry. [Interruption]
I am reading “Allowances of members of the Appeals Board” [Interruption] -- All right but even with “Sources of money”, why should it be by Parliament? Do we mean moneys for the Appeals Board is going to be a line item in their budget? The Hon Minister is here --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Hon Member, it will be in the budget of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) but why do you want to change from “approval” to “appropriation”?.
“The sum of money approved by…” --
What is this “appropriated by”…? You are introducing a new lexicon into legislation when we have always used approved.
Mr Iddrisu 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I support your guidance. The Chairman of the Committee should know that Ministers do not appropriate; it is a real mandate of Parliament to do appropriation. So, “approved” is a better word; Ministers can give approvals as they always do.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the bone of contention is whether to use “approved” or “appropriated”?. As for the “Minister”, we are changing it to
“Parliament”. So, regardless of whether it is “appropriated” or “approved” it would be by Parliament but we can go back and use “approved” as we always do.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:45 p.m.
Hon Members, I think we should stay with the words that we have always used in the House. So, it should read “approved by Parliament”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “Fourth Schedule” paragraph 9, subpara- graph (1) (b), delete and insert the following:
“donations, gifts and grants approved by the Minister”.
Mr Speaker, what we have in the Bill is that the sources of money for the Appeals Board will include any other moneys which may be paid to the Appeals Board in the course of the discharge of the functions of the Appeals Board.
We do not think that the Appeals Board should be getting moneys from anywhere else other than the clearly defined nomenclature that we have always used: donations, gifts and grants approved by the Minister so that they are not compromised.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:45 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to suggest to the Chairman of the Committee a finer amendment because if the Minister approves and Parliament does not approve it, they cannot use it. So, I will suggest:
“donations, gifts and grants recommended by the Minister and approved by Parliament.”
Mr Speaker, how are they going to use it if Parliament has not approved it? [Interruption] -- No, they approve it; they bring it here.
That is why I am saying “recommended…” Actually they should be able to use it. So, as part of the budget, the Hon Minister must bring it eventually.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
If a donation is given and not accounted for and it is not in the budget, I understand we can --
Yes, Hon Ranking Member?
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thought that the purpose of this Bill is to ensure expeditious resolution of tax issues. That is why the Hon Minister came to Parliament and declared upon the Finance Committee to ensure that we passed this Bill expeditiously. It says:
“To establish an Independent Tax Appeals Board, provide for the payment of a shortfall in tax liability without payment of a penalty”.
Mr Speaker, we are saying that we should allow the Appeals Board to receive donations or gifts. That is
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
Dr A. A. Osei 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Tamale constituency must --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
Hon Member, you are not a deputy Minister. I called the Deputy Minister for Finance.
Mr Kwaku Kwarteng 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the original text for this rendition in the Bill had to be changed because at the Committee level, it appeared that this was not specific enough and that moneys paid to them in the course of their duties could even include those moneys that Hon Fuseini is worried about.
So, the clarification we gave the Committee was that we must create room for the donor community for instance to support such an initiative. So, we went back to the -- if one goes through the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other Acts, this is the rendition when we want to create room for donor support. That is why we ended up with this. So, if we go back to the original, I think that will be lost.
Dr A. A. Osei 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I think that if we want the donors to be able to contribute, what they do is to contribute to the GRA and they in turn gives the Appeals Board money. This is because the Appeals Board is not on its own and so, if one puts it here, it is as if the Appeals Board itself is
acting out of the GRA and that is not good. The donors must contribute to the efforts of the GRA in good governance and then they can use the money.
So, we can delete this part. That any donation must go to the GRA and not to the Appeals Board.
Mr Kwarteng 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I agree with what the Hon Dr A. A. Osei just said. However, the reality is that the donors may be interested in giving the money to GRA but will specify the purpose and say that they want this money to go to the Appeals Board. They always do that.
Mr Iddrisu 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, maybe it should change as I hear the whisper of exchange -- donations and grants and not gifts. As for gifts, it is a very public source of bribery and corruption and we cannot import gifts in matters of tax administration where the essence of this Bill is to resolve conflicts when there are objections then people will raise objections and then go around and give them gifts. They will compromise the interest of the state and so, we should go for donations and grants.
Mr Speaker, after all, if the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD)
is supporting the Ministry of Finance, it will come as a form of grant.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
First, I want to be clear; what is the nature of this Board? I will go back to clause 1 -- There is established by this Act, an Independent Tax Board. Is it a body corporate? If it is not, can it receive gifts or donations? It can only depend on budget that as part of GRA but not on its own to receive gifts and so on.
I think that as he suggested, whatever donation will go to the mother agency which will budget for it.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, so, if the Hon Inusah Fuseini Foundation for example, thinks the Appeals Board is doing a good job and so, wants to give some moneys directly to it, why are we preventing the Hon Inusah Fuseini's Foundation from giving money to the Appeals Board?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
It is like saying that somebody can donate to the Finance Committee of Parliament. Donations may be made through Parliament and may request that Parliament uses these donations
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, this is just on the issue you have raised. There are Committees in this House -- the Appointments Committee receives direct support from outside and I think it is either from GTZ or some other institutions. They assisted the Appointments Committee.
Also, the Public Accounts Committee has been receiving assistance.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 2:55 p.m.
With all due deference, if I recall correctly --
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:55 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if maybe it is, something that you will not recommend that is a different matter, but they have. In this case, I think that we want this Body to be able to assert its independence and so, if they could have some donations and grants, certainly not gifts approved by the Hon Minister, I think it could be part of the legislation.
Mr Speaker, you remember that when we came to dealing with the Special Prosecutor's Office, we
argued this matter. Eventually, we agreed that we could have grants approved by the Hon Minister for Finance in consultation with the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.
So, if we had a similar construct that we could have donations and grants approved by the Hon Minister, I think it should satisfy this.
Dr A. A. Osei 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have two issues; the fact that we have been doing it does not make it right. We should not allow any Committee of Parliament to take moneys without Parliament's knowledge. I think we need to revise that practice as it is very important.
Yes, the donors want to help the PAC but they must come through Parliament otherwise, we set up -- the practice has been on-going for a long time and the sooner we stopped it, the better.
Mr Speaker, secondly, I think that we do not need this provision here because GRA already has the provision and so it is up to GRA to say that if the Appeals Board is to be helped, then just bring it to GRA and they would know what to do.
Mr Speaker, we do not have to put it here because in terms of good governance it does not help. Supposing that I am a tax payer and I know that the Commissioner is making a mistake, then I go behind to the chairperson of the Appeals Committee and give 100,000 for the committee. [Interruption] That is what we are saying here and that cannot be correct.
We should not allow them to go out looking for money at all. It is part of the GRA‘s function and so they should sufficiently fund them. But that earlier practice of Parliament either as the Committee on Communications --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Frankly, I am not aware of that. I thought that STAR-Ghana supports, but they enter into an agreement with Parliament and out of that agreement, they say that they would support a particular Committee. It is not an agreement between the Committees and the supporting bodies.
Mr Kwarteng 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I get the point that you have made and I think it is legitimate, except that this provision is not creating room for entering into agreements. Within that agreement between GRA and the
donors, we want it to be possible for the donors to say that this money is going specifically to the Appeals Board.
The reason we are saying this is that unless we give the donors that freedom to specify how the money should be used then they would not donate to GRA for GRA to on-donate to the Appeals Board.
That is why a provision such as this would create the room for the donors to do that, especially after this debate on this Floor, if we take out the provision altogether.It would also be unlawful for a donor to specify in an agreement with GRA where they want the money to go because Parliament considered it and said no to that type of donation.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
All we are saying is that this is not a body corporate. It is not constituted by law to receive gifts. It has not been set up as a legal entity to receive gifts. It is only a branch of the revenue authority and so it cannot on its own receive gifts because it does not have life. I think we are ad idem.
Mr Chireh 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the issue that they have at the Ministry and the Committee is that somebody is saying that they need an independent board to handle tax matters before
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Hon Chairman, you may have to withdraw this.
Dr Assibey-Yebaoh 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to do as I have been advised.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Item numbered (iv).
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4 under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 10, sub-
paragraph (2)(b), line 3, delete “Board,” and insert “Board that”.
It would now read:
“Where the Appellant is absent, the Appeals Board may adjourn the hearing to another date and time if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Appeals Board that the Appellant was prevented from attending …”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Item numbered (v)?.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move , clause 4 under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 10, subparagraph (2)(f), line 2, delete “additional” and insert “adjusted”
Mr Speaker, the Commissioner- General is not prevented from making any further assessment so the idea was that an assessment would necessarily lead to an increase, but it could lead to a decrease.
It would now read:
“… shall not prevent the Commissioner-General from making any adjusted assessment which does not involve reopening of any matter that has
been determined on an appeal or an assessment”.
Mr Speaker, the “additional” suggests that it could only lead to an increase.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Item numbered (vi).
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move , clause 4 under “Fourth Schedule”, paragraph 10, subparagraph (2)(g), lines 4 and 5, delete “additional assessment,” and insert “adjustment”.
It would now read: “where any fraud or any gross or wilful neglect has been committed by or on behalf of any person in connection with or in relation to any tax, duty or levy, the Commissioner-General may make an adjustment on that person despite the fact that the adjustment involves reopening a matter which has been determined on an appeal”.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:05 p.m.
Does the new rendition sit well?
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the sense of the amendment is alright, but the problem is that, it is
being used for two meanings in the same clause. In the first (f), we came across “additional assessment” and I agree with them that that is adjusted assessment. In (g) , there is the same construction of “additional assessment” and in this case it is not adjusted assessment but rather adjustment. That is the inconsistency that must be addressed. If it is adjusted assessment then that is alright because we have accepted that in (f).
Dr A. A. Osei 3:05 p.m.
The amendment on --
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 3:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation has not caught your eye …
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
It is because both of you had your microphones on that I could not give him the opportunity, but I have given him the Floor.
Dr A. A. Osei 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the amendment on page 4 for subparagraph (2)(f) does not say “adjusted assessment”. It says delete “additional” and insert “adjusted”.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to tell Hon Inusah Fuseini that the same amendment we effected in subparagraph (2)(f) should apply , so that instead of saying
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.


Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it appears I may need further elucidation on what we are doing? Clause 10(2) (e) says:
“Where the decision of the Appeal Board results in an amendment in assessment, the Commissioner-General shall amend the assessment accordingly, will cause a notice setting out the amendment and the amount of tax payable on the person assessed.”
So first, an assessment is made, then there is a call to amend the assessment in (e). And subparagraph (f) says that notwithstanding the amendment of the assessment that has been done, the Commissioner- General himself, apart from what the Appeals Board might have done,
could call for a further amendment to the assessment on its own. Why are we talking about adjustment to an assessment?

Yes, if it is additional or further, it is fine. When we are talking about adjusted assessment, I cannot understand. Without prejudice to subparagraph (e), which is done or recommended by the Appeals Board, (f) says the Commissioner-General on his own could also call for an amendment or further amendment. Why are we talking about adjustment? I do not know where the adjustment is coming from?
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
Why “further”, since he may decide to reduce it, which might not be “further”?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:15 p.m.
He on his own could call for the amendment. What is the adjustment here?
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader is right. A further assessment could lead to a decrease. So I think the right word should be “further”. In trying to delete “additional” then the Committee settled on “adjusted”.
Mr Chireh 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Majority Leader has a point. This is because, if you look at it, unless you are saying that after the amendment on subparagraph (e), the GRA or the Commissioner-General cannot additionally assess.
If we are saying so, then we would leave it as it is. We would just say he should not assess again without even using the word “adjusted” because it stipulates that adjustment is not for the Commissioner-General to either increase or decrease it based on subparagraph (e).
After it, he could just decide to do an additional assessment unless it is contradictory what subparagraph (e) stands for. However, the idea we were toying with was that it should be a change, whether downwards or upwards, and that is already done in subparagraph (e), which is by the Board.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
The confusion with the word “additional” is that it might suggest that we are
adding more to the taxpayer. However, we are saying that his further assessment could either be more or less. That is why he suggested the use of “adjustment”. However, the Hon Majority Leader is saying that we should amend this to “further assessment”. Let me listen to Hon Kpodo.
Mr Benjamin K. Kpodo 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in normal tax practice, we refer to ‘the word “adjust“. I think the use of “further assessment” or any of those terms would not add professional meaning to what we intended to convey. This was extensively discussed in Committee and we agreed that “adjustment” would be more appropriate because it could go up or come down.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
Are you suggesting that that is a term of art for auditors or finance people?
Mr Kpodo 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes. If you look at tax practice, the appropriate word is “adjust”.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:15 p.m.
Hon Members, let us proceed. We are advised that it is a technical term.
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we draft in the British English language and not in American English. The word “wilful” has one “L” in the middle.
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 11, subparagraph (1), line 3, delete “advise” and insert “notify”.
Mr Speaker, the new rendition would read 3:15 p.m.
“Under hearing of an appeal, the Executive Secretary shall notify all parties in writing of the time and place of the hearing.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 11, subparagraph (3), line 2, before “tax”, insert “a”. Mr Speaker, it should read: “… registered as a tax consultant, accountant or auditor”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah 3:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”,
paragraph 11, subparagraph (4), line 2, delete “on that behalf”.
So subparagraph (4) reads:
“The Commissioner-General may be represented by any person duly authorised.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 13, subparagraph (3), delete “shall” and insert “may”. Mr Speaker, it would read:
“A decision of the Appeals Board may be made available to the public.”
Mr Speaker, we are saying that we should not make it mandatory that all decisions of the Appeals Board be made available to the public.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 13, subparagraph (4), delete and insert the following:
“Effect of an Appeal
Unless the Court otherwise orders, an appeal to the Court shall not operate as a stay of execution of an order of the Appeals Board.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Chireh 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the amendment we just voted on, if we look at it, according to the Hon Chairman, we are doing the headnote, which is supposed to be replacing -- [Interruption]This should be a paragraph. In paragraph 13(4), if we look at paragraph 13, it is “Decisions of the Appeals Board” then we have subparagraphs up to 5.
But he is saying that we should delete subparagraph (4) and insert the following, and when we are inserting, we have a headnote which is different from the headnote that is governing the whole of paragraph 13, unless he wants to introduce a new paragraph which would be 14. That is what I want to draw your attention to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:25 p.m.
I think that should be the case.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
I want to agree with him.
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in the formulation of the amendment, the appeal cannot operate as stay of execution. So he is right, except that he should have just said that delete paragraph 4 then we would finish 5 and then he would insert a new clause. That is all.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:25 p.m.
Well, the draftspersons would effect the appropriate changes.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if that is not done, it would mean that 5 would have to come after the suggestion that has come from the Hon Chairman and it would be so incongruous, which is why he is saying that we need to do it first and then by your ruling, they would find a place for this new proposal that is coming from the Committee.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:25 p.m.
So 5 would then move to be part of “Decisions of the Board”, which was paragraph 13.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we brought the headnote in there because the earlier one in paragraph 13 says: “Decision of the Appeals Board” then all of a sudden, we were saying the “Effect of an appeal to the court” --
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:25 p.m.
The point is well made. The draftspersons would re-arrange to let the effect stand on its own and the 5 -- [Interruption]
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, there is an amendment on the 5.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:25 p.m.
Very well. So let us do the amendment.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 13, subparagraph (5), line 1, after “fails”, insert “to comply with an order of the Appeals Board”. Mr Speaker, it would read:
“A person who fails to comply with an order of the Appeals Board to produce any book, document or thing…”
Alhaji I.A.B. Fuseini 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if we put it that way, we do not need “to produce any book, document or thing” again. We must delete everything and just say: “A person who fails to comply with an order of the Appeals Board without reasonable excuse”. So whatever the nature of the order, if a person fails to comply, it is an offence.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, so we would delete all the words after “fails” up to “thing”. “a” at the end of line (1) is also deleted. So paragraph (5) would read:
“A person who fails to comply with an order of the Appeals Board without reasonable excuse commits an offence under this Act and is liable to the penalty specified in section 78.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, under “FOURTH SCHEDULE”, paragraph 14, line 4, delete “exercise or purported”.
Mr Speaker, it would now read 3:25 p.m.
“A member of the Appeals Board, the Executive Secretary or any other person empowered to perform a function under this Act is not personally liable for an act done or omitted to be done, if the act or omission is done in good faith during or in the performance of a function under this Act.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:25 p.m.
Mr Speaker, “… if the act or omission is done in good faith during the performance of the function” -- Mr Speaker, we do not need the “during”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr Kpodo 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, despite having taken a vote on item (xii), I would want us to take a look at it -- the portion, “… without reasonable excuse”.
I do not think at that point, it is still necessary, because an assessment was made and there was an objection. An Appeals Board sat and it has come out with a decision. Why is it that the person would have some reasonable excuse not to comply? What is that reasonable excuse?
I think that is not necessary, it should be removed. If the person fails to comply with the decision after the Appeals Board has sat, then the person commits an offence. There is nothing like “without reasonable excuse”.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Hon Member, I think that we are saying that in the course of hearing the
appeal, the person is ordered to bring a document or a report and for no reason should the person refuse or fail to bring it. It is not after the decision.
Question put and amendment agreed.
The FOURTH SCHEDULE as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Long title ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Hon Members, that brings us to the end of the consideration stage of the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Act, 2020. [Pause]. Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we can take the item numbered 6?.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Hon Member, item number 6 -- Motions.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if I seek the indulgence of the House to allow the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance to hold the fort for the substantive Minister.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
MOTIONS 3:35 p.m.
Mr Ras Mubarak (NDC -- Kumbungu) 3:35 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 7. Yes, Hon Deputy Minister?
BILLS -- THIRD READING 3:35 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 3:35 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, I have seen the Addendum Order Paper, but I would suggest that we conclude the winnowing, so that when we take it, we will finish it in one day. In the circumstance, the House is adjourned till tomorrow.
ADJOURNMENT 3:35 p.m.