Debates of 20 Jan 2021

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 2:53 p.m.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Hon Members, on item numbered 2 on today's Order Paper, there is no formal communi- cation. I would just remind you of the medical screening and the COVID- 19 test. The COVID is real and deadly. The medical centre is ready. I have gone through the process already, and I was happy to meet a number of Hon Members there already.
And so I encourage all of you to take advantage of this opportunity to cleanse and affirm that you are healthy and COVID-19 free. As you all know, your health is your wealth. I would say nothing more on this topic.
Item numbered 3, Correction of the Votes and Proceedings and the
Official Report. We would start with the correction of Votes and Proceedings.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 2:53 p.m.
rose
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Hon Dominic Ayine?
Dr Ayine 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I was here yesterday, but I have seen that my name has been omitted from page 3 of the Votes and Proceedings.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
You said your name has been omitted from page 3?
Dr Ayine 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes it has been omitted. In other words, I have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
On page 3?
Dr Ayine 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is supposed to be on page 3. However, on page 8, I have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Wait till we get there.
Dr Ayine 2:53 p.m.
Alright, Mr Speaker.
Page 5 -- 7 …
rose
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Yes, Hon Clement Apaak?
Dr Apaak 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 7, item numbered 3, Hon Agbeve Charles was here in the Chamber yesterday, yet he has been designated as absent.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Hon Members, he is referring to page 7, item numbered 4 -- Hon Agbeve Charles. Table Office, take note of it.
Page 8?
rose
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Yes, Hon Dominic Ayine?
Dr Ayine 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have been marked absent at number 8 on page 8 of the Votes and Proceedings, but I was here yesterday.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Table Office, kindly take note.
Dr Alfred O. Vanderpuije - rose
-- 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Yes, Hon Okoe Vanderpuije?
Dr Vanderpuije 2:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 8, item numbered 34, I was here yesterday, but I have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 2:53 p.m.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Edward Abambire Bawa 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Hon Sampson Ahi was here yesterday. I was with him in the Chamber. He has also been marked absent at number 4 on page 7.
Ms Dorcas Toffey 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I was here yesterday but have been marked absent on page 8, number 29.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Hon Member, may I get your name and Constituency?
Ms Toffey 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, “Dorcas Toffey”, Hon Member for Jomoro, page 8, number 29.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Table Office, kindly take note.
Mr Isaac A. Odamtten 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, number 21, I was present but was marked absent.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Table Office, take note.
Mrs Gizella T. Agbotui 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, number 22, Hon Eric Opoku was here yesterday but has been marked absent.
Mr Abdul-Aziz Musah Ayaba 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, item 7. I was here but have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker, same applies to number 9 on the same page, Hon Michael Okyere Baafi.
Mrs Agbotui 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, number 26, Hon Queenstar Pokua Sawyerr was present yesterday and Hon Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye was also present yesterday.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Table Office, please, take note.
Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, Hon Toobu Peter Lanchene was also present yesterday but was marked absent.
Mr David T. D. Vondee 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, number 36, I was marked absent but I was present.
Ms Helen Ntoso 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, number 16, Mr Benjamin Kpodo, Hon Member for Ho Central was in the Chamber yesterday but has been marked absent as well as item numbered 26.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Hon Member, number 26 has already been corrected and so the Table Office should take note of number 16.
Mr Kwame D. Gakpey 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, number 38, Hon Woyome was in the Chamber yesterday but has been marked absent.
Mr Paul A. Twum-Barimah 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, number 32, I was present but have been marked absent.
Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, page 8, number 20, Hon Norgbey Ernest was here yesterday but has been marked absent.
Mr Daniel N. Wakpal 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, number 37, page 8, I was here yesterday but have been marked absent.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Table Office, take note.
Page 9…12 --
Mrs Agbotui 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 12, item numbered 26, my name is spelt with double “l”, not one “l”. It is Gizella.
Mr Speaker 3:03 p.m.
Table Office, please try and get the correct spelling of the names of Hon Members. It is the table on page 12, item numbered 26.
Page 13 --
Dr Clement Apaak 3:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, with all due respect, many of the corrections which were enunciated by Hon Colleagues were as a result of the delay of the circulation of the attendance list yesterday.
Mr Speaker, I would wish to implore you to inform the Table Office to be prompt and punctual in making the attendance list available for Hon Members to sign. I believe this will save us time for the House to engage and conduct the important Business for which we are here on behalf of the good people of Ghana.
Mr Speaker 3:13 p.m.
Hon Members, I do not know what attendance list you are talking of. We have gone over this issue so many times and the Table Office has been earlier directed by Rt Hon Speakers to rely on attendance on the Floor of the House, not any list that has been placed somewhere.
Hon Members come and sign and they are not seen on the floor of the House. So, the Table Office has been directed to observe the attendance. The difficulty we have now is that there are many fresh faces and so they have difficulty in capturing. But if an Hon Member comes and signs any document outside the floor of the
House and thinks that they have attended Parliamentary proceedings, he or she would be marked absent. You must be present on the Floor to participate in what is happening before you could be marked as having attended Parliamentary proceedings that day. But that is a good reminder and I thank you for that.
Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, 19 th January, 2021 as corrected, is adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, I noticed that there are some mistakes in what I have been given. That is why I was pausing to correct them.
Hon Members, we would move to item numbered 4. We do not have any Statement before us and I have not admitted any.
Hon Members, at the Commence- ment of Public Business, item numbered 5 -- Presentation of Papers. A Paper is to be presented by the Leadership of the House -- Leadership, -- the Report of Leadership on the Formula for the Composition of Parliamentary Delegations and other Parliamentary Groups and Associations.

Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu): Mr Speaker, unfortunately, I was not here yesterday but I am informed that this Report is not ready yet, so we can stand it down until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
Mr Speaker 3:13 p.m.
Hon Members, item numbered 5 accordingly stood down. We hope and pray that it would be ready by tomorrow.
Hon Members, we would take item numbered 6 -- Private Member's Motion standing in the name of Hon Mahama Ayariga.
Hon Member, you may move the Motion now.
MOTIONS 3:13 p.m.
Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 3:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of those institutions for the 2021 academic year as part of the national COVID- 19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.
Mr Speaker, permit me to amend the Motion by correcting the academic year, which is in fact 2020/2021.
Mr Speaker, in moving the Motion, permit me to provide arguments based on which I urge this House to support the Motion.
Mr Speaker, the Motion as you have admitted is clear that we are asking His Excellency the President to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of fees by tertiary education students and applicants to tertiary educational institutions who have been offered admissions.
Mr Speaker, those fees are spelt out in a number of legislative instruments. One such legislative instrument is the Fees and Charges, (Miscellaneous). Provisions Instru- ment of 2019. Another one is the Fees and Charges (Amendment) Instrument,
2013, L. I. 2206.
Mr Speaker, I have the fees as spelt out in detail in relation to each tertiary educational institution and I would just crave your indulgence to make reference to the items that constitute the build up to the various fees.
Mr Speaker, page 1 of L. I. 2386 sets out the fees for Cape Coast Technical University and it details every course. I am just going to give an example using maybe just one course.
3. 23 p.m.
The revenue items for the weekend programme, HND Electricals, Electronic, fresh students; the fees include: admission, GH¢75.60; registration, GH¢37.80; medical services, GH¢75.60; medical examination, GH¢97.65; generator water pump maintenance, GH¢48.30; internal examination fees, GH¢258.30; national board for professional and technicians external examination fee, GH¢65.52; identity cards, GH¢20; matriculation, GH¢37.80; student and library hand book, GH¢34.2; sports, GH¢84; verification of examination results, GH¢18.90; industrial attachment and supervision, GH¢88.20; acquisition of new computers, GH¢25.20; insurance cover for industrial attachment, GH¢25.20; laboratory equipment maintenance, GH¢32.76; library user fee, GH¢31.50; sanitation and waste management GH¢40.95; and project fees (development levy), GH¢126.
Mr Speaker, these are some of the constituents of the fee build up, including Student Representation Council (SRC) fees and dues, GH¢19.95; entertainment fees GH¢12.08; GILUPS dues, GH¢15.75; magazine, GH¢12.60; Students Centre (SRC hostel levy) GH¢84.00; Constitution, GH¢90.45; association dues, GH¢11.55; and association lacoste, GH¢26.25.
Mr Speaker, I have gone to great lengths to set out the items that constitute the cost build up to the fees that the students are being charged with the object of pointing to one thing, that it is perfectly possible within the context of this COVID-19 economy, for the universities to run without taking these fees, if these are the constituent components of the fees. The reason is that Government is already paying the salaries and other emoluments of lecturers of the various tertiary institutions across the country.
Government is also paying for their staff, and has constructed the infrastructure, granted that some of the universities on their own initiative are trying to develop additional infra- structure. But it is perfectly possible that within the context of this year and the circumstances that we find ourselves in, levies related to on-going development be at least suspended for a one year period, just so that when
Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 3:33 p.m.
House to take urgent steps to suspend the application of the fee imposing provisions of these Legislative Instruments (L.Is) for a one year period.

Mr Speaker, it is only the President, given our current situation, who can take this urgent step. It is urgent because this is when the admission letters have been sent to the students, and they are supposed to pay.

Indeed, I have a copy of an admission letter which was issued to a student from the University of Ghana, and that admission letter has given the student two weeks within which to make that payment and if he does not do so within the two week period, then that student loses his opportunity to be admitted into the university.

Mr Speaker, for confidentiality reasons, I will not mention the name of the student, but this is a copy of an admission letter offered to a student from the University of Ghana into the humanities. The amount that the student is supposed to pay for the 2020/2021 academic year is GH¢1,516. That is for humanities.

Mr Speaker, I also have another admission letter from the same University of Ghana for a graduate student, and the amount that the student is supposed to pay is GH¢10,601. In the humanities, the figures are smaller. When you go to Business Administration, the Sciences, Engineering and the technical universities, depending on the courses, we would have varying fees. The Law Faculties have varying fees ranging between GH¢1,500 and GH¢6,000 for the first degree and then the graduate programmes range between GH¢10,000 and GH¢15,000 depen- ding on the course that a student is offered.

Mr Speaker, parents are struggling to feed themselves and their children back home. They cannot even afford that. Jobs are lost left and right partly because of COVID-19, and some previous measures such as the financial sector crisis which just came before the pandemic. I am told by PricewaterhouseCoopers report that over six thousand direct jobs were lost as a result of the banking sector crisis. The indirect jobs that were lost would reach over 40,000.

Mr Speaker, I urge this House to support this Motion to the President to suspend the application this year of the Fees and Charges, Miscellaneous Provision Instruments,

2019 and the Fees and Charges (Amendment) Instrument of 2013, L.I. 2206 for one year so that students can go to school without having to pay upfront the fees that those Regulations stipulate.

Mr Speaker, I hereby move in terms of the Motion as a House and amended by myself and thus urge this House to support the Motion.
Mr Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Hon Members, any seconder?
Mr Peter Kwesi Nortsu-Kottoe (NDC -- Akatsi North) 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion moved by Hon Mahama Ayariga that this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by the Government.
Mr Speaker, if you talk about tertiary education in this country, many
people think it is only the universities, but if you look at other areas, such as Colleges of Education, Nursing Training Colleges and other institutions, they run tertiary programmes. So, the idea that it is only public universities is not so. If you look at the area that is covered by tertiary educational institutions it is quite big.
When one gets admission to any of these public tertiary institutions, there are three things involved. Mr Speaker, the first is the academic facility user fee that the student is expected to pay to the institution, and that is normally approved by the Legislative Instrument. Apart from that, the student is also expected for residential facility that he would use on campus, and that is also separate from the university charges.
The third one is for the parents to prepare their wards to enter the school. That preparation alone is so high in cost that they need to buy a lot of items for their wards so that they can go to school, and that is one of the challenges that many parents faced. Mr Speaker, the Motion as moved by Hon Mahama Ayariga is in the right direction.
Mr Speaker, in 2020, businesses suffered due to COVID-19, and many people became unemployed
Mr Peter Kwesi Nortsu-Kottoe (NDC -- Akatsi North) 3:43 a.m.
and they are yet to recover. As he said, if you look at the border areas -- Akatsi North is a border constituency -- even people who want to go to their own farms are prevented to cross the border to go and farm, and they are finding it very difficult to make ends meet. Even to carry food from their own farms across the border has become a challenge, and that has affected economic activities in those constituencies.
It is very important that we resolve for the President to take this bold initiative so that the cost of education, especially at the tertiary level this academic year, would be suspended.
Mr Speaker, if you look at the fees, some institutions would give varying ones. If you look at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, they gave a fee of GH¢4,180.60 and then they said university charges is GH¢1,641.94. Then other approved charges is GH¢2,538.60. You would see that many of the institutions have bypassed what is approved by Parliament to charge other fees, and that is what parents are suffering on. We need to make sure that public tertiary institutions adhere to fees that are approved by this House.
Mr Speaker, one other thing which we need to look at carefully is the demand on Hon Members of Parliament (MPs) for the payment of school fees. This has become so high especially this year because of the effect of COVID-19 on people, and reports that we have received from some districts and municipal assemblies is that some District Chief Executives (DCE) have made it difficult for Hon MPs to access their Common Fund to support in the payment of fees and that is very bad.
I would urge whoever would become the Hon Minister for Local Government and Rural Development to make sure that DCEs are made to release funds to MPs so that this MP- DCE conflicts would stop somewhere. It affects development in our constituencies.

Mr Speaker, it is important as I said, that we support this Motion so that we can relieve parents, and I am sure most of us here are suffering same, so that Government suspends the payment of these fees for the 2020/ 21 academic year.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Motion moved and seconded, it is now for the
consideration of the House. I would like to know from Leaders any indication as to how many Members we should take. Should we take six from each Side? Time limits?
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 3:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, four Members each would do. We have agreed on four Members from each Side.
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Four Members each including Leadership or excluding Leadership?
Mr A. Ibrahim 3:43 a.m.
Excluding Leadership. So, that is five from each Side. Each Member will speak for five minutes.
Mr Speaker, this is a very strong and debatable issue of national interest. So if you would increase the time from five minutes to eight minutes so that Members can make meaningful contributions. I think it would serve the interest of this country.
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Hon Members, my understanding is that we are going to admit ten Members in total. The Members will have eight minutes and the Leaders would have ten minutes each.
Yes, Hon Majority Chief Whip?
Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri) 3:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to speak to the Motion moved. Before the Hon Ayariga started, he sought to amend the Motion relative to the academic year. I am not somebody who believes in semantics but if we look at the Motion critically, Mr Speaker, with your kindness, I would like to quote:
“...that this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of these institutions for 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by Government”.
Mr Speaker, I have done some good checks at the various tertiary educational institutions, and parti- cularly, the universities and it came out that we do not have anything as captured by your Motion as admission fees. We do not have anything like that, we have academic user fees. So probably, the Hon Member, in seeking to amend his Motion, should have accordingly amended that portion. But granted, be it as it may, I would still like to speak to it.
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Yes, Hon Member for Wa Central?
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) -- rose --
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader, any —?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with respect, there is a Motion before this House, and the Majority Chief Whip who just spoke has raised a critical issue. He says to us that the Hon Member alludes to a suspension of the payment of admission fees. In justifying his Motion, he himself related to a tall order of fees. My Hon Colleague has drawn my attention that the Motion as it stands in the name of the Hon Mahama Ayariga is flawed. Listening to the plethora of fees that he himself referred to, it cannot be admission fees. And he has amended —
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, I thought that you would have
to wait when it gets to your turn; you are not raising a preliminary objection. The Hon Member opposed the Motion and said it should be dismissed. He did not raise a preliminary objection.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with respect, the Hon Member said, that this Motion, as it stands, is flawed and called on you to make a determination on this. Mr Speaker, in this sense, he is calling on you to, and he used strong words, that this Motion is incompetent which then would mean that you would have to make a determination on the appropriateness or otherwise of this Motion. In other words, he is raising a preliminary issue with respect to the competence or otherwise of this Motion.
Mr Speaker 3:43 a.m.
Hon Majority Leader, the Motion has been moved and seconded, it is now for the consideration of the House. The Hon Member did not raise his point timeously; once the Motion is moved and seconded, it is for debate. If the Motion, before it is seconded, there was a preliminary objection raised, then, I could rule on it as to whether it is competent or not competent but as at now, the point that he put across will be part of the debate, and at the
end of the day, I will put the Question first on that before I move to put the substantive Question. But as at now, I cannot rule on the preliminary objection because it is not timeously raised.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, with respect to you, if a Motion is moved in this House and it is not seconded, that Motion would not be proper, before this House. It must be seconded, and once it is seconded, -- [Interruption] -- as has been done, a Motion is moved, it is only after it has been seconded that the Motion is proper before us. And if anybody wants to raise preliminary objection, that person can lead us. Otherwise, if a Motion is moved and it is not seconded, it is not before us so; if you are saying that it is not timeously raised, with respect to you, Mr Speaker, I beg to disagree and I invite you --[Interruption]--
Mr Speaker, I am not challenging the ruling if you listened to me, I am only saying that by our Orders, this, indeed, is the time for him to raise the matter.
Mr Speaker, I would raise my matter for the time being.
Mr Speaker 3:53 a.m.
Hon Members, you know that I am disabled; Standing Order 90 prevents me from taking part in debates.
I read Standing Order 90.
“Mr Speaker shall not take part in any debate before the House.”
I do not intend and would never intend and I insist that I will never take part in the debate. So, what I intend to do is to let us debate the preliminary objection that has been raised and then I give a ruling. After that we can move to the substantive Motion, if at the end of the day, the ruling does not dismiss the Motion. So, let us now debate the issue that has been raised, that the Motion before the House is incompetent and should be dismissed.
The preliminary objection has been raised by the Majority Chief Whip, so I would listen to the Minority Side. Hon Ayariga, since you moved the Motion, you would have the opportunity to reply, so you just have to abide by your time and let us listen to other Hon Members.
Yes, Hon First Deputy Minority Whip?
Mr Speaker 3:53 a.m.
Yes, Hon Dr Prempeh, former Minister for Education?
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NPP -- Manhyia South) 3:53 a.m.
And the President's representative at the --
Dr Prempeh 3:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the Presidential Transition Act --
Mr Speaker 3:53 a.m.
I have no notice to that effect.
Dr Prempeh 3:53 a.m.
Thank you Mr Speaker. Member of Parliament representing Mahyia South.
Mr Speaker 3:53 a.m.
Yes, that is correct.
Dr Prempeh 3:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, the first line of this Motion is leading us into an absurdity, that this House passes a law, a Legislative Instrument (L.I.) or approves an L. I. and the Chairman at the time who examined
it and brought it to the Floor to be approved, is the Hon Member who moved this Motion.

Mr Speaker, my second point is that he read a tall list of academic facility user fees. It is instructive that when the former Ranking Member of the Committee on Education spoke, he talked on three main areas of fees -- academic facility user fees, residential facility user fees and others. As competent as he is, he knows that the words “admission fee” is only one component of the academic facility user fees, which he read a tall list on.

For him to say that the President should only remove the admission fees which is minuscule in terms of the total fees -- [Interruption] He said 17 -- He even mentioned Student
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
I have realised that many Hon Members want to contribute but the number was limited to four Hon Members on each Side. Do you want more numbers for the preliminary before you go to the substantive?
Mr A. Ibrahim 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thought you said this was a preliminary issue before we could go to the substantive issue?
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
Yes. So, I am asking if you want that to be different from the four persons from each Side?
Some Hon Members 4:03 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
How many numbers do you want?
Mr A. Ibrahim 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, we have agreed on three members from both Sides on the preliminary issue.
Mr John Abdulai Jinapor (NPP -- Yepei/Kusawgu) 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, as a second termer in this Parliament, I have never in my life seen a competent Motion like this very one. [Hear! Hear!] This is the most competent Motion I have ever seen in my life. It is not just competent but relevant in contemporary Ghanaian economics as far as tertiary education is concerned.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Manhyia South, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who I would engage in due
course, stated that we should rather come on a Motion of rescission. That is a completely different tangent. We are not debating the issue of fees and charges. All that the venerable, intelligent and learned Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, has asked for is simple, that this House as a sign of magnanimity, sympathy, empathy and concern, should just make a request to the President that giving the suffering, the untold hardship and impoverishment of the Ghanaian student, the President should consider to suspend the issue of fees. If this is not a competent Motion, then which other Motion is competent?
Mr Speaker, I would want to refer to what the former Hon Minister for Finance presented to us in respect of an update on the COVID- 19 situation. This very House approved an amount of GH¢1.2 billion, which is equivalent to US$219 million from the Stabilisation Fund. In addition to that, this House took a decision that the Bank of Ghana should suspend the payment of interest which amounted to GH¢1.2 billion and again that the World Bank should be approached for an amount of GH¢1.7 billion and also for International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be approached for an amount of GH¢3 billion and a reduction of Ghana
National Petroleum Cooperation's (GNPC) net and carried interest from 30 per cent to 15 per cent.
Mr Speaker, the President has had cause to annul the suspension of payment of water and electricity, so if this House decides that we want to implore on him to equally suspend the payment of fees, why should it even bring contention?
Mr Speaker, with these few words and seeing my senior Hon Colleague, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu nodding his head, I am confident and certain that this Motion is the most competent Motion in the whole world. [Laughter] -- [Hear! Hear!]
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Yepei/ Kusawgu (Mr John Jinapor) is implored seriously not to bear false witness against his neighbour because he knows that is very unchristian and uncharitable.
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, did you nod your head?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I did not and indeed, I have not and I would not. [Laughter]
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
Yes, Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
Hon Deputy Majority Leader, the preliminary objection was substantive but you are adding procedural.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, perhaps, you could consider it as ex-cathedral.
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
Hon Member, you are entitled to do so but I just want to get you right, so that we would know that the objections you are raising is both procedural and substantive.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, both on procedural and on substance of the preliminary objection as raised. I am further fortifying the positon by referring the Order 50 (4)(a) and that was why I decided to rely on --
Mr Speaker 4:03 p.m.
I admitted the Motion and I considered all those Orders before doing so. So, on the issue of procedure, you are entitled to disagree with me and I have no problem with that but I just want to draw your attention to it.
I have seen the former Hon Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, itching to contribute so let me listen to him.
Mr A. Dery 4:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, this Motion refers to admission fees and admission fees apply to new entrants
only. Mr Speaker, however, the Motion also introduces continuing students. We want a Motion or Resolution from here that would make an impact and therefore, we should issue a resolution which would have weight. But first, an admission fee applies to only new entrants. Secondly, he is by the Motion saying that it should be part of the relief programme.
Mr Speaker, now, even under Order 50, is it a ministerial responsibility or an administrative responsibility? Why are we going to the Presidency? If there is a programme that has been brought here and approved by Parliament, is there still a gap? What is the impact of this on the budgetary situation?
Mr Speaker, I think that this Motion is too important to have been moved in such a vague manner. It becomes difficult for this House representing our people to come out with a resolution that would not amount to anything. So, yes, the intention might be good and I have no difficulty with any motion being moved but what do we intend to achieve? There must be precision.
Mr Speaker, you are a Speaker with so many years' experience in this House. We cannot pass a resolution
that is not worth the paper on which we put it.
Mr Speaker, if we look at the Motion, there are so many unknowns that it becomes a problem. I believe there is good intention. Can we at least ask that this matter be done in a manner that makes it easier for us to interrogate the issue better, in which case we think that as it is we cannot deal with it effectively? We are asking for admission fees which do not apply to continuing students. The students here know they do not pay admission fees.
Mr Speaker, if we do it properly, we would be able to tell whether under the government's programme there is provision for this to be taken off the students but once he is bringing only admission fees, we are constrained. If the President has a programme that has a way of settling it without a COVID-19 relief package, is it not possible?
Mr Speaker, I think that this Motion deserves better details and attention by this House. Let us not make it the usual two-sided argument. If there is a good intention, let us give adequate details and deal with it effectively.
Mr Speaker 4:13 p.m.
Hon Member, I actually thought you were rising on a
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, so if I may remind my Hon Colleagues of the terms of this Motion and at the risk of being repetitive, I would want to read the content of the Motion as it is for one more time to guide the basis upon which this Motion is incompetent:
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of those institutions for the 2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.”
Mr Speaker, the invitation that a resolution from this House will make would be for the President to suspend the payment of admission fees and
payment of fees for continuing students.
Mr Speaker, but the question is, when this House has passed a law which is being implemented, can we by an executive fiat direct that the Executive should suspend the implementation of same?
Mr Speaker, Hon John Jinapor in his argument 4:13 p.m.
None

Mr Speaker, with all due respect, this is a legal argument, they should exercise patience. This is a debate, so, they should exercise patience and listen; they should jot down their points.

Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague, John Jinapor in his submission referred to a Bank of Ghana situation where the Government directed that certain interests - Those were not LIs. Those policy decisions by the Bank of Ghana are not one that would need to come to Parliament. In this case, what our Hon Colleague is inviting us to do is to invite the President of the Republic of Ghana to suspend a law.

Mr Speaker, what we are saying is that no, that cannot be done in any way because the laws subsist. We cannot suspend its implementation. If for nothing at all, a Motion must come

properly before this House for us to rescind that LI and the provision thereof so that the very relief he is seeking could be met.

Mr Speaker, in any event, the Government is at its formative stage, we know that this Government has implemented a lot of COVID-19 relief policies and programmes. We have had free water -- [Interruption] -- because it was not backed by LI. It is not an LI which determines water tariff.

Mr Speaker, we have had support to the private sector which is within the ambit of the Government; National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) is supporting the private sector; National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC). Government has introduced several relief support programmes including school feeding to private schools.
Mr Speaker 4:13 p.m.
Hon Deputy Majority Leader, one of your men is up on his feet. He may have a point of order to raise.
Mr Patrick Y. Boamah 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, rightly so. May I respectfully ask you to refer to article 297 (c) because these are legal issues that
have befallen this House. With your kind permission in respect of LI 297 (C) of the Constitution on implied powers:
“Where a power is given to a person or authority to do or enforce the doing of an act or a thing, all such powers shall be deemed to be also given as are necessary to enable that power or authority to do or enforce the doing of that thing.”
Mr Speaker, this is a legislative instrument which was approved by this House. The processes of annulling an LI are well laid out under article 11 (7) of the Constitution.
Mr Speaker, all public universities are set out under statutes. We have statutes and regulations which are all determined under the Constitution.

So, the Motion before us which my Colleague Hon Member and my good friend is asking us to do culminates from an LI which is properly so called which the public universities are amending. The question is, has the President got the power?
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, I thought you were going to raise a point of order.
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, that cannot be a point of order. You are making a substantive submission for the consideration of the House.
Yes, Hon Deputy Majority Leader, you may conclude.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, so, all that the Hon Member who moved the Motion is saying is that we should invite the President to do what by law, he cannot do.
Not too long ago, no less a person than the Hon Minority Leader; Mr Haruna Iddrisu questioned the conduct of the President in respect of the Presidential Transition Act; he questioned certain appointments. It means that they are in red alert in respect of the laws of this country; how then do they invite the same President to absolve fees to suspend the payment or to instruct the universities not to charge fees?
Mr Speaker, this Motion in its form and substance cannot be considered as that which is competent for the purpose of consideration in this House.
Secondly, under the same preliminary legal point raised by my Hon Colleague, the question again is a matter of appropriation. If you say that the President should suspend the payment, who pays? The Hon Member knows that there must be an appropriation in support of this because one cannot just say that fees should be waived. What is fiscal impact of this on the economy?
Mr Speaker, if indeed, this Motion is coming to this House in good faith then one will expect that the Hon Member waits for the Government to appoint its Hon Ministers, consider various options available to it as part of its relief programme bearing in mind that Government has already absolved the fees of all secondary school students. We know that. So, if it is within the Government's mandate to support tertiary students, it will be so done.
In any event, if the Hon Member who moved the Motion is minded by the supporting arguments to his Motion, he would have realised that his Motion was being discriminatory. Why should he say that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are finding it difficult to raise money and this only has to do with wards in public institutions?
So, is he therefore suggesting that all other students in other tertiary institutions do not matter? [Interruption] -- Mr Speaker, if he is raising a point in good faith, he should anchor same within the remit of the law.
Mr Speaker, what we are being told here is illegal which does not sit within our laws. The Hon Member for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka and Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa --
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Afenyo- Markin, your last words.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, very well.
Mr Speaker, not long ago, they had insisted that we give full effect to the Constitution and other laws of this country. They were loud on radio. Why would you --?
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, please, do not use such unparlia- mentary words here.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I never said ‘lying'. I said they were loud.
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, you said they were lying on radio.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, that is not my line of language as I do not use those words; check the records. You know me and may disagree with me but you know my choice of words. I do not use such language. My Hon Colleagues may disagree but that is not me; I do not use foul language.
[Interruption] --
Mr Speaker, they would not listen quietly and that is why they heard ‘loud' as ‘lied'.
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, you are addressing me.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I will plead with you to protect me.
[Uproar] --
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
I raised the issue and so, you should address me.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, very well.
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
That is, if you are saying that you did not use the word ‘lying' but ‘loud'. You may continue but I said you have your last words.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, when they bring to your attention a
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Hon Member, be sure that anytime the heckling is reckless, I will call the person to order. [Interruption] --
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I will oblige you by concluding -- He said “my last words”. So I would oblige him. That is the right word. [Interruption] --
Mr Speaker, I must yield to your directions -- [Interruption] -- Accordingly, you are being invited under this preliminary legal objection to hold that the Motion is very incompetent to the extent that by our resolution of same it would lead to an illegality when that resolution is carried out by the President.
Mr Speaker, I so submit.
Mr Speaker 4:23 p.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Leader, are you on a point of order? It is not yet your turn.
Mr Iddrisu 4:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if you would indulge me to share my view on the preliminary objection that is being raised and to see whether or not -- [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleagues; the Majority Whip and Deputy Majority Leader have sought to reduce the preliminary objection to this rather competent Motion to some procedural matters and also to go further to state that why we are requesting the President and no other person than the President to take those consequential decisions.
Ideally, if I were to walk the path of law, equity looks into the substance and not the form. Therefore, we would have been interested in the substance of this Motion and the substance of it, is whether or not parents are struggling with fees and whether or not the President of the Republic is clothed with the authority [Interruption] -- just as he did.

Mr Speaker, I would have simply asked my Hon Colleagues who suspended the payment of water and electricity bills by Ghanaians. Hear!

Hear! It was President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. It was the President. Mr Speaker, are there no laws governing those regimes?

Mr Speaker, in this House, we passed very important legislation; Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020, the novel COVID-19 National Trust Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1013), and in all these instances, what Hon Ayariga seeks to do, if it is the decision of this House, is for the President to use his powers under the legislation passed on COVID-19 to free parents from the payment of school fees or to share the burden of school fees. Mr Speaker, our Standing Orders provide for amendments to Motions, so Hon Ayariga can simply amend the motion by deleting the word “admission” in the second line to be deleted. Then we can just deal with the fees by new entrants and nothing more.

This is not the first time because on 14th August, 2020, the House debated an important matter and before the Question was put on the Motion, Hon Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu moved an amendment to the Motion. Mr Speaker, so it is permissible, therefore, it is not about the Motion being incompetent but it is about the

issue and the decision we would take as a House on this matter. Mr Speaker, therefore the Hon Member can just amend the Motion in accordance with Standing Order 83 and 78. I have reminded Hon Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu that he amended a Motion and he knows that. So, it is possible.

Mr Speaker, but with the argument by the Hon Deputy Leader that we are calling on the President - we would not call on the Hon Deputy Leader because he has no authority or mandate to help any parent or student. Mr Speaker, he raised an important point but that is debatable -- fiscal impact and others are the matters.

Mr Speaker, we should allow the debate to proceed and before the Question is put on the Motion, Hon Ayariga would do the needful and amend it. There is a burden on fees and so the word “admission” can be deleted from the Motion. Mr Speaker, the Motion has been moved --
Mr Speaker 4:33 p.m.
Hon Leader, before you conclude, let me hear from the former Hon Minister for the Interior. What is the objection?
Mr A. Dery 4:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I think that the Hon Minority Leader has
Mr Iddrisu 4:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in concluding, the word “admission” can be expunged and “suspend” can be substituted with ‘absorb'. We are only calling on the President to absorb fees that are payable by university students and parents and look at the other matters related to this. Mr Speaker, when Dr Mahamudu Bawumia announced at the port that he was suspending 30 per cent and 50 per cent charge on imported products, what was his basis for it?
Mr Speaker, I rest my case.
Mr Speaker 4:33 p.m.
I thought the Hon Leaders agreed that they would have the last bite?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I want to encapsulate.
Mr Speaker, we raised this matter because you wanted us to move on but I said no. But after the Motion had been seconded, the Motion would be before us and so anybody could thereafter raise preliminary issues. Mr Speaker, you bowed to that and allowed us to raise the preliminary issues which have really been articulated on both Sides.
Mr Speaker, I just want to encapsulate and the issue is about the competence of the Motion before us and the Hon Minority Leader is struggling and indeed stuttering to provide amendments at various places from the cap of his head. The Hon Minority Leader said that we should substitute “suspend” with ‘absorb', but is he the Hon Member who moved the Motion?
Mr Speaker 4:33 p.m.
That was his contribution. The Hon Member who moved the Motion is there and I would give him the opportunity.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am minded and I am walking with him on the worried path. Also, he said that we should delete “admission” and insert ‘fees'. It is the combined effect of his own acknowledgment that we are telling him that this Motion is incompetent.
Mr Speaker, the principle being espoused, in my view, is a good one and the House may be supportive of the principle, but as to how to achieve it is the reason we are raising these preliminary issues.
So, the Standing Order 81 that was quoted has now been responded to and our attention has been drawn to the fact that the Speaker is the sole judge in the admissibility of a Question and it would include the admissibility of a Motion, and this is covered by Standing Order 66(1).
However, this House has a responsibility especially, the Hon Leaders, to assist Mr Speaker in maintaining law and order in this House and to make appropriate rulings that come before the Speaker.
Mr Speaker, the Motion reads and I beg to quote 4:43 p.m.
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees …”
Mr Speaker, this is at the heart of this Motion and in the meantime, my Hon Colleague who rose referred to a litany of fees which include the
admission fees. Mr Speaker, he referred to about 16 or 17 fees and he implored this House to suspend the payment of fees. The admission fee is just one component of the 17 fees that he mentioned. So, what does he want this House to do? Going forward, there should be clarity on what he is urging this House to do. That is the reason we are urging him that he could amend it but he should not lead this House on the path of unrighteousness, and that is why we are telling him that as it stands now, this Motion is incompetent. If he wants to amend it, as the Hon Minority Leader has indicated, then he has every right to do so and we would be with him to debate the issue.

For now, if I heard him right, of all the list that he referred to, the admission fee is about GH¢18.00 or so. He should please refer to it again if it is the only one that he wants to urge the President to suspend. I believe it is not. He wants the broad consideration of the list that he provided us. I believe that is his intention. And if that is his intention, it is not so expressed in the motion.

It is the reason we are telling him that what he has done is inappro- priate. So if he cannot do what is
Mr Speaker 4:43 p.m.
Hon Member, I see from your gesticulation that you think you are not catching my eyes. What is it? Is it a point of order?
Mr Ebenezer O. Terlabi 4:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yes. The Hon Majority Leader is misleading the House.
Mr Speaker, when a person is applying for admission to the university, he is given an admission letter. Incorporated in the admission letter are fees without which a person is not admitted into the facility. Therefore, it is not wrong.
Mr Speaker, one either pays it or is not admitted into the institution. So the issue about isolating some percentage of the fees is neither here nor there. We are just playing with words, but the fact of the matter is that one needs to pay fees before entering the Facility, and that is the fees.
Mr Speaker, it is the admission fees. Otherwise, a person would not attend lectures. A person can go and sleep anywhere. If a person goes to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), that person could sleep at Kejetia and attend lectures. He does not need to pay hostel fees. It is not compulsory.
However, the litany of whatever he has listed is compulsory without which a person would not be allowed to enter the Facility. This is admission fees which is incorporated in the admission letter.
Mr Speaker, so it is not wrong to --
Mr Speaker 4:43 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, you may continue.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:43 p.m.
Mr Speaker, with respect to my colleague, I would not be made to relate to this plea for mercy submission.
Mr Speaker, the point we are making is this. He himself alludes to it that once a person is admitted, he is required to pay fees. The issue is that are those fees listed as admission fees? That is where the Hon Member is wrong. That is where he is wrong.
Mr Speaker, Hon Member himself listed to the hearing of all of us and the admission fees are just a minute complement. [Interruption] The Hon Member can say not because he did not hear.
Mr Speaker, so if we could go through it again for all of us to hear, it is a minute component of the user fees. And I believe he meant the user fees.
Mr Speaker, he is saying that it is the academic user fees. So my friend should not attempt any litigation on this. The thing is listed for all of us to hear. It is not his opinion that matters. It is what is legal, stated by the university, that we are debating and not his own personal opinion, with respect to the Hon Member.
Mr Speaker, as I said, I think our colleague, the Hon Ayariga, needs more than the admission fees contained in his Motion. I think that he can carry the House with him if he does the proper thing. This is what we entreat him to do, and we move on. For now, he must admit that the motion as it stands is incompetent.
Mr Speaker 4:43 p.m.
Yes, Mahama Ayariga, the mover of the motion?
Mr Ayariga 4:43 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, the Chief Whip of the Majority Group and the Deputy Leader of the Majority Group have jointly raised some objections and have been supported by the Leader of the Majority Group. In arguing the preliminary objection, two issues stand out, if I heard them clearly. One is that they have no issue with the substance of the Motion, which is to address the plight of students who are being admitted into public tertiary institutions or who are continuing as students of tertiary institutions. What they claimed to have issue with is the clarity of the language in which the motion is expressed.
Mr Speaker, could we deal with the clarity of the language? This is a standard letter from the University of Ghana. A portion of the letter reads:
“I write to offer you admission to the College of Humanities, University of Ghana to pursue a four-year fulltime course of study leading to the award of Bachelor of Arts Degree.”
This is paragraph 1. Then paragraph 4 reads:
“The fee for the Bachelor of Arts programme for the 2020/2021 academic year is GH¢1,516.00.”
Mr Speaker 4:43 p.m.
Hon Member, just a minute.
Yes, Hon former Minister for Works and Housing.
Mr Samuel A. Akyea 4:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, what was foundation, and I thought he would answer that first before we go into the areas of
amendment and the rest of them, is as to whether this House having been invested with legislative powers which culminated in Legislative Instrument on fees and charges could persuade the President to suspend those fees and charges that have been approved by this House?

Foundationally, this is what he should answer. The rest of the matters of amendment are of core consequence. If he cannot address the fact that when we have concluded our matters there is no other authority that can tamper with what we are doing [Interruption.] That is where the incompetence lies. The rest of them have no importance. So with the greatest respect, if he does not address this fact, he cannot rehabilitate what is a foundational constitutional flaw in what he is attempting to do. He cannot use any language, semantics or nuance to try and make the President the one who can review our orders. No. The President cannot do that. So he is trying to say that a man should be pregnant. A man cannot be pregnant. [Laughter]
Mr Ayariga 4:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, a number of issues were raised by them and I am addressing them serially. One has to do with the language of the Motion. How we can structure the
Motion in such a way that there is clarity. That is the first issue that I am addressing and that is an issue that Hon Ambrose Dery forcefully pointed out that if this House is to communicate to the President by way of a motion, that Motion must be very clear in language and my understanding is that Hon Members of the other side do not understand this Motion as rendered. I believe that parents sitting out there; parents paying admission fees sitting out there understand this Motion very clearly -- [Hear! Hear!] -- Those who are against this Motion are pretending that the language of the Motion is not clear enough.
Mr Speaker, to satisfy them, pursuant to Order 78(b), I seek to amend the rendition of the Motion to read:
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of fees by new entrants into public tertiary institutions and fees of continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/ 2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.”
Mr Speaker, the argument has been made by the other side that the fees and charges regulations having already been passed by this House, the only way to deal with it is through a Motion of rescission.
Mr Speaker, a rescission motion cannot set aside an L. I. that has already been enacted.
Mr Speaker, the only person on whose behalf a policy measure can be introduced in this House that sets aside a financial instrument is the President. So once it is already a part, then it is only the President who can take steps to set aside the regulation by introducing in this House, another L. I. suspending the application of the fees for one year and that can be an amendment to the existing L. I. That is the only way that it can be done and that is why the Motion is not asking the President to suspend the fees --
Mr Speaker 4:53 p.m.
Hon Member, just a minute. Please, strictly on a point of Order. If it is not on a point of Order, kindly allow him to conclude and then I would give my ruling.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 4:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, our Hon Colleague seeks your leave to amend his Motion and anchors it on Order 78(d). Mr Speaker, this is how Order 78(d) reads:
Mr Speaker, the point here clearly 4:53 p.m.
None

Mr Speaker, our Colleague came on notice. So if he now takes refuge under 78(d), we cannot entertain that amendment under 78(d). In any event, unless he wants to --
Mr Speaker 4:53 p.m.
Hon Member, he did not come on notice. This Motion was not on notice.
Hon Ayariga, you may conclude.
Mr Ayariga 4:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the argument I made during which I was interrupted was that --
Mr Speaker 4:53 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, you know that when you are on your feet, it is difficult for the Speaker to deny you the opportunity.
So I plead that you use it sparingly. So you may go on.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 4:53 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the reference made by my Hon Colleague, the Deputy Majority Leader to Order 78(d) -- and you quickly jumped in by way of ensuring order in the House -- that the Motion did not come on notice -- [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, what is not on notice is established in the Order Paper. Mr Speaker, in Order 69, matters coming to this House without notice are described. It provides:
“As soon as a Question is answered in the House, any Member beginning with the Member who asked the Question may, without notice, ask a supplementary Question
…”
Mr Speaker, that is the form of coming to this House without notice.
Mr Speaker, I am just saying that he used the phraseology, “without notice” and then you came in to say that he came without notice, and I am saying that the form of coming to this House without notice is described in Order 69. In that case --
Mr Speaker 5:03 p.m.
Hon Member, this Motion that is before you as Private
Member's Motion has been admitted for debate by the Speaker. It is not on notice because of the importance of the subject matter, I decided yesterday to inform the House to prepare for the debate today that I have admitted this Motion. It has a very serious and important matter for the country and I wanted Hon Members to prepare to come and debate it.

I admitted it as an Urgent Motion, not on notice.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 5:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, exactly what I wanted to hear from you, because you said it was admitted without notice and that was why I came home with this.
Mr Speaker, on the Hon Member's submission to you, he said, “he is submitting the Motion to you for prior approval in terms of Order 50 (2)” and Order 50(2) stipulates that:
“A Member who desires to make such a motion shall, before the commencement of the Sitting submit to Mr Speaker a written notification…”
Mr Speaker, so that is the notice. This is the reason why - if you would
remember, I was proposing greater clarity on this. When it comes without notice, how it should conform is prescribed under Order 69. My Hon Colleague, the Hon Deputy Minority Side said that in Order 66, I was relating to Questions. Yes, the format is prescribed under the admissibility of Questions. Otherwise, why did he say that the sole judge of the admissibility of --
Mr Speaker, when he quoted from Order 66 -- [Interruption] -- That suited you? God bless you -- [Laughter]
Mr Speaker that is in respect of the admissibility of Questions but we extend to Motions as well by our own practice. So, that was why I was drawing your attention that we should be careful with that. But to say that he came without notice, it is a difficult thing to accept. He came on notice and without notice he is rising on his feet and it is only with the approval of Mr Speaker. But this one came with notification.
Mr Speaker 5:03 p.m.
Hon Members, Order 50 deals with specific matters of urgent public importance. This is a matter of urgent public importance. The procedure is what has been laid
Mr Ayariga 5:03 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the other grounds on which my Hon Colleagues are opposing the competence of the Motion is that I am asking the President to suspend the enforcement of a law.
Mr Speaker, that is what the Motion says. It says 5:03 p.m.
“…to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend…”
What are those steps? For the President to urgently bring an L.I. for us to admit amending -- [Interrup- tion] -- this L. I. That is one of the urgent steps.
Mr Speaker, so it is within the discretion of the President to take those steps. So, I am not by this Motion asking the President on the application of a law, but to take the steps leading to the application of the law.
Mr Speaker, I think at this preliminary stage, the issue before you is whether or not -- [Interruption] we have not even gone into the substance yet -- this Motion is competent or incompetent. And a deciding factor for the competence of
the Motion is whether it has been properly admitted by you in accordance with Order 50 or not. If any indication is to be taken seriously, from the indication you have given, then you have seriously considered Order 50 and you have carefully read the text of the Motion. It is based on your careful reading of the text of the Motion and your analysis of Order 50 that has led you to admit the Motion. Any challenge to the Motion now constitutes a challenge to a decision of Mr Speaker -- [An Hon Member: Yes!] -- That is what we are seeking to do.
Hon Members can debate the Motion. They can say they do not agree with it, they can walk out and they can tell Ghanaians across the country that they are not suffering and they do not care about the fees that they have to pay -- [Uproar] -- But they cannot say that the Motion is incompetent.
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
Hon Members, I have listened to the submissions of every Hon Member who spoke and I am very clear in my mind that this

Hon Members, I would give full reasons for this ruling. I looked at Order 50, which deals with Motion on specific matters of urgent public importance. I also looked at Order 53, which deals with order of Business and I looked at Orders 78, 79 to 85 and all other relevant Orders in the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana. I even sought legal advice, and I had a written legal advice to me. The Motion was submitted. To admit a Motion of this nature, I must convince myself that the Motion is competent and relevant.

Again, I am guided by the Standing Orders to make sure that the Motion is of urgent public importance.

Hon Members, I took the trouble to go through all this. The Motion was submitted to me in accordance with Standing Order 50 (2), which talks about specific matters of urgent public importance, and I quote:

“A Member who desires to make such a motion shall, before the commencement of the Sitting submit to Mr Speaker a written notification and statement of the matter to be raised.”
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
This was submitted to me, and the intention was for the Motion to be taken yesterday. I looked at the importance of the Motion, and I concluded that it would arouse surprise in the House because this is a very important matter. I came here to inform you that I have received the Motion and have admitted it, but I would not permit it to be moved yesterday. I wanted all of you to prepare for us to debate it today. That was the discretion that I exercised, and if you have any problem with that one, then the rules are clear as to what to do.
So, the Motion is properly before the House, and as I said, I would submit a written ruling on this matter. As to whether the Motion is competent, we all know what a Motion is. It is clearly defined by our Standing Orders. A motion means a proposal made by an Hon Member that Parliament or a Committee thereof do something, order something to be done, or express an opinion concerning some matter. That is the definition of a “motion” in our Standing Orders.
This Private Member's Motion before us simply says: “That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend…”
The Motion does not say “suspend”. It says “to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.”
The word is not just “programme”, it says “programmes”. So, I considered it, and admitted it as a competent Motion for the House to express its opinion, to decide or reject the Motion. It is not for me to take that decision, it is for the House to do so. You all know that this House has on a number of occasions outnumbered the motions and picked out all the words, but retaining the phrase “that this House…” All the other words are deleted, and in their place, new phrases are substituted. It has happened a number of times in this House. So, as a House, when we have a problem with the wording of a motion, we are completely entitled to amend it. You cannot say that because of the choice of words, the motion is incompetent before the House.
Some of you raised issues about law, that one cannot call on the President to suspend the implementation of an instrument. That is not what the Motion seeks to do.

You can reject it or adopt it, with or without amendments. I repeat, I would submit a written ruling on this matter.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 5:13 p.m.
None

Hon Members, once the Hon Deputy Majority Leader is up on his feet, I cannot deny him. Yes, what is it?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 5:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, first of all, we are grateful to you. Mr
Speaker, however, in concluding, you are --
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
Which conclusion is that?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 5:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it concerns the conclusion of your statement.
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
My conclusion?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 5:13 p.m.
Yes, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, in your conclusion you had said that we should proceed --
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
Are you talking about my ruling?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 5:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is so. Mr Speaker, you said “your full ruling”, and that is why I was careful in my choice of words. So, Mr Speaker, in your ruling, you used some veritable words, which would guide us in future, and that is all right. However, you had said that we should proceed with the debate, with or without the amendment, but I would want us to be further guided. This is because now that the Motion has been admitted and you have made a determination on the competence of the Motion, we need to know what we are debating on? The Hon
Mr Speaker 5:13 p.m.
If it has been in a court of law, I would have invited both Sides to approach the bench. Unfortunately, that is not the situation here, but I have given clear indication as to how we should go about this matter. I believe that the message is sound, and the proper thing would be done. If it is not being done, then I would come back to guide the House. [Interruption]
Hon Members, clearly from the debate, the subject matter has been accepted to be very important.
The issue now concerns the wording of the Motion, so, I would leave it to the Hon Member who moved the Motion.
Mr Ayariga 5:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have listened carefully to your ruling and your analysis of the wording of the Motion, and it is my position now that with your leave, the new rendition of the Motion would be as follows --
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Hon Member, not just my leave; it should be with the leave of the House because it was laid and seconded and is now before the House. So you would need to crave the indulgence of Hon Members, on at least what you are going to do. So, you need the leave of the whole House.
Mr Ayariga 5:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, by your leave and that of the House, the rendition now would be:
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and fees of continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-
19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.”
Dr Prempeh 5:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker --
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Hon Member, just a minute. I would want to get the wording of the Motion.
Dr Prempeh 5:23 p.m.
I would want a clarification as well of the wording. Mr Speaker, he listed 17 items and he listed for only one technical university's fees.
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Actually, he listed more than 17 items.
Dr Prempeh 5:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in order to carry that properly, he needs to separate items of which fees because -- [Interruption] when the Hon Member said lacoste or for that matter SRC or GNUPS dues, he should have state clearly which fees he wants suspended so that the SRC or GNUPS representatives know that they came here to say that they should not pay fees. He should state it all so that we can support the amendment.
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Hon Members, the amended private member's Motion reads as follows:
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and fees of continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID- 19 relief programmes being implemented by Government.”
rose
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Former Hon Minister for Education?
Dr Prempeh 5:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my point is, fees are very broad and general. The proposer of the Motion even restricted himself to only 17 examples of the fees of one Technical University he brought. Mr Speaker, it would be so unfair. For example, the technical university fee he brought included GH¢12.90 for lacoste. He said it included SRC and GNUPS fees and others.
Mr Speaker, that is why the former Hon Ranking Member for the Committee on Education said that in the universities, there are two broad categories of fees. They are the academic facility user fees, for which he stated some, and the residential facility user fees. When a student stays
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Hon Member, that is what this whole debate is about. Actually, I put down about 30 items from what he read, and so, it is for the House to say that no, we cannot agree to all this. We may resolve on
one or two items, but he has put across to the House to take a decision and resolve. That is what this debate is about.
If you would want us to suspend Sitting for some time, I would be more willing to do that because it is not healthy to sit at one place for more than three hours. It is now more than three hours since we were glued to our seats. I would be more than prepared to suspend Sitting for one hour.
rose
Mr Speaker 5:23 p.m.
Hon Mahama Ayariga, why are you on your feet?
Mr Speaker 5:33 p.m.
Hon Members, I got an indication from Leadership that in view of the important nature of the subject matter, space should be provided for the House to go and consult and reconsider the wording of the Motion to be specifically on some fees, not the whole fees so that by tomorrow, we could have a healthier debate.
But I would like to take this opportunity to commend Hon Members, highly; this is an indication as to what will happen for these for
years. And it is very good for the development of democracy in Ghana. I will give you ample space to debate issues on the floor of the House.
Hon Members, I am attempted to adjourn the House. The House is accordingly adjourned to Thursday,
21st January, 2021 at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
ADJOURNMENT 5:33 p.m.