Debates of 21 Jan 2021

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS 3:03 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 3:03 a.m.
Mr Speaker 3:03 a.m.
Hon Members, we do not have any formal communi- cation, and so we would move to item numbered 3, Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report. We still do not have copies of the Official Report, so we would handle the correction of Votes and Proceedings.
Page 1…6
Ms Angela Oforiwa Alorwu- Tay 3:03 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am Angela Oforiwa Alorwu-Tay, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Afadzato South. I was at work yesterday but was marked absent.
Mr Speaker 3:03 a.m.
Table Office, kindly take note.
Page 7, 8 --
Mr Frederick Obeng Adom 3:03 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was present yesterday but my name is here for absenteeism. Item numbered 1, “Adom, Frederick Obeng”, Upper West Akim Con- stituency.
Mr Speaker 3:03 a.m.
The Table Office should take note.
Page 9, 10.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa 3:03 a.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 10, the Private Member's Motion was for the 2020/ 2021 Academic Year. The year 2021 has been omitted, so it has to be captured accurately.
Mr Speaker 3:03 a.m.
Table Office, kindly take note.
Page 11.
Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh 3:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 11, line 7, I think that “The Hon Chief Whip of the Majority Group” should be rightly captured. It should read as “the Hon Chief Whip of the Majority Caucus'' but not “Group''.
Mr Speaker 3:13 p.m.
Hon Members, we are going by our Standing Orders, so please check from it and you would get the appropriate terminology.
Mr Afenyo-Markin 3:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on page 10, the Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa, was on his feet to make a correction to the effect that it should have been 2020/2021, but that is not so. The Votes and Proceedings is correct because in yesterday's Order Paper, it was referred to as 2020/ 2021 in the Motion numbered as item numbered 6 and it was corrected subsequently. So, that which is captured under page 10 is correct.
Mr Speaker 3:13 p.m.
Hon Member, before he moved the Motion, he corrected it and that is what he has drawn our attention to. That should have been captured by the Table Office. The other corrected version is captured at page 11. Both of you are correct but the Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa, drew our attention to the earlier one and it is correct. It should be 2020/2021 because he corrected it when he waved it then in the course of the debate, there were further improve- ments and that is what is captured at page 11.
Page 12 --
Hon Members, in the absence of any further correction, the Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 20th January, 2021 as corrected is adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, I have not admitted any Statement for today. So, we move to Commencement of Public Business. Item numbered 5 -- Private Member's Motion.
I have been reliably informed that there is still some more work to be done on this Motion and the discussions are still underway. However, the Hon Member who moved the Motion is in the House to give us more information.
MOTIONS 3:13 p.m.
Mr Ayariga 3:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the indications are that we should do some more work on the rendition of the Motion. I believe that this rendition captures what I intend to convey but the proposal is that given that the other Side wants an enhancement in the current rendition, I would want to suggest that they propose their amendments to this Motion for us to consider.
Mr Speaker, you admitted the Motion because you said it was an urgent matter. Schools have reopened and the students have to pay or at least, wait to hear if this Motion would provide some hope for them. The more we procrastinate to consider this Motion, debate it and take a decision, the more the tendency for the urgency to be lost.

Mr Speaker, I would want to urge the other Side that if they have some proposals for amendment they could put them forward so that they would be considered. I have a difficulty changing the current rendition beyond what I did yesterday, so that there would be clarity in terms of what I want to convey.
Mr Speaker 3:13 p.m.
I am more per- suaded for us to call on the Government to absorb a certain amount of the fees but not all the fees. Therefore, to be more specific, if you say it should be suspended, how long should it take and when it is suspended, it means it has to be paid later.
However, the reasons you brought the Motion was because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic situation and the fact that families, parents and guardians are not able to pay, which is of serious concern to students. So, why do you not call on the Government to rather absorb a portion of it?
That is why I agreed that you should still consult and reformulate the Motion for at least, a more consensual consideration of such an important urgent matter. I gave an indication that we would like to take it by tomorrow. I do not think a day would make a difference.
Mr Ayariga 3:13 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the indications are very clear. If we could arrive at a consensus on a percentage, I would be happy to engage with my Hon Colleagues at the other Side of the aisle so that we take it tomorrow.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I have two concerns. First of all, this is a Private Member's Motion and it has been properly captured as such. It finds space at the “Commencement of Public Business'', so I was just wondering whether it is appropriate to capture it under “Public Business'' or maybe, before it. As a House, we would migrate there and so we need to define it better as to its appropriate location.
Mr Speaker, secondly, is the text as rendered by the Hon Member who moved the Motion. The word “absorb'' yesterday, was first suggested by the Hon Minority Leader and the Hon Member who moved the Motion nodded his head profusely when the suggestion came from the Hon Minority Leader, except that later on, he objected and said that he was comfortable with his own words. However, moving forward, if we have to further brainstorm, we could do that.
Yesterday when we left, the Hon Member who moved the Motion and I had some conversation on a better construct of this and I thought that he would move in a certain direction only to come back today, only for me to be told by the Table Officer who was with us that even though he gave an initial indication that we would move towards some congruence, later he decided to walk alone.
I do not know that he supports Liverpool. I know the Hon Member for Zebilla, Mr Cletus Avoka supports Liverpool but I did not know that the Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Ayariga is also a keen supporter of Liverpool such that he wants to walk alone. That is on a lighter note.
Mr Speaker, I think that if we have to do further consultation, so be it, so that as I said, we can fully debate it. I do not know whether tomorrow or any time soon that you may assist the House to begin with the debate on the Motion.
Mr Speaker 3:23 p.m.
Yes, Hon Alhassan Suhuyini Sayibu?
Mr Alhassan S. Sayibu 3:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, I beg to seek further guidance from you as it relates to the procedure that we intend to take as far as this Motion is concerned.
Mr Speaker, your suggestion is very well noted and I think it is laudable. However, I am just wondering if that conclusion cannot be arrived at appropriately if we are allowed to debate this Motion and at the end of the day, our request is not meant to be perfect.
As I have seen other Parliaments do, our request can result in an agreement of the text that should be used and communicated to the President and the President can also, within his Executive authority, respond to our request by either accepting to suspend, absorb or to use any other means appropriate to cushion parents and students who are currently being faced with the burden of having to pay their fees.
So, I think that the text of the Motion can best be arrived at, after a thorough debate in the House and even at that point, the text will still not be perfect and compelling to the President because with the Executive authority responding to the House, the President may still have the Authority to amend our request to either reject it or to amend it based on what is known to him.
Mr Speaker, so, I seek your guidance in that direction and if it is appropriate, I wish that you allow a debate that will result in the proper
Mr Alhassan S. Sayibu 3:23 p.m.


text that should be communicated to the President. Hopefully, the President will also take the action that he deems fit.

I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker 3:23 p.m.
Please, it is not just a request. It is a Resolution. So, if the House is to resolve, it should resolve on something specific which is clear for Government to be called upon to act upon. So, it is not just a request, it will be a Resolution.
Former Hon Minister for Education?
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh 3:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, yesterday, in trying to bring a resolution to this Motion, your advice was very clear, that we start thinking about the specific items of the fee list that we must consider to be either absolved or suspended. We obviously listened and in line with your thoughts this afternoon, some of these fees --
Mr Speaker, I think that as you rightly said, there should be room for discussions around it. Like I said, there are some of the fees that we cannot obviously suspend or absolve but there are some too that may be
possible, if necessary. So, I think that more work should be done and I am just drawing your attention to the fact that none of that was put up here.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu 3:23 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe that we live in some extra-ordinary times with the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.
Mr Speaker, the understanding I got from the briefing is that Leadership should be capable of handling this matter and to assist you and the House in arriving at a common text to constitute the Motion which must allow for a thorough debate arising out of the debate. As you have advised, we will resolve it in a manner that we can convey to the Executive; that is, what it is that as a House, we would want to be guided with.
So, our team is ready to be led by Hon Mahama Ayariga with his text juxtaposing it against any text that will come from the other Side and then we will improve upon it and have a Motion.
Mr Speaker, however, what is important is that we want Ghanaian parents and students to be cushioned in respect of the payment of their fees. So, I understand that immediately after this Sitting, we should get the two texts together and then we can do some smiting of those texts for our purpose.
Mr Speaker 3:23 p.m.
Hon Members, I will leave this matter in the capable hands of Leadership and I direct that it be done today so that we could conclude the debate tomorrow. This is an urgent matter.
Hon Members, I am informed that the item 6 is still not ready whereas item 7 is Committee sittings and I am informed that we want to have a joint Caucus meeting to discuss some very important matters. I would like to urge all Hon Members to attend because the issues to be discussed are germane
Mr Kennedy Nyarko Osei 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, you have just mentioned names of members of a technical committee to look at the Standing Orders and I would want to find out if there is anything of such nature before the 8th Parliament. I am not sure there is any such thing before the 8th Parliament. The 7th Parliament had extensively discussed that matter and as it stands now, this is the 8th Parliament and there are a lot of new Hon Members amongst us. Mr Speaker, so with your leave, I would want to know whether that has been properly laid or tabled before the House to consider as proposed new Standing Orders.
Mr Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Hon Member, we would be having an induction and orientation course and the learning process would commence seriously there. So, you would get your answers and I expect that you would attend.
Is there any guidance from Leadership? If not, I would call for the Motion for adjournment. Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Akyem Swedru raised an issue and I agree with him that there is --
Mr Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader, we have gone past that issue and it is for good reasons I decided to parry it for us to move on. Else we would get similar requests as we go on.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, it is not intended to send us back but to amplify the announcement that you made with respect to the constitution of the technical committee. It is supposed to emanate from the informal discussion that we would be having on the Standing Orders.
As I was saying, I agree that nothing formal has been laid in the House and it is the reason we would move into the joint caucus to have the initial discussion on the way forward in respect of the review of the Standing Orders. Certainly, we would do that and this is just for the elucidation of my Hon Colleague who wanted a response.
Mr Speaker, we have agreed that Sitting should begin tomorrow at 10.00 a.m. in the forenoon because
of a few things we want to engage in. Accordingly, I beg to move, that this House takes an adjournment till tomorrow at 10.00 a.m. in the forenoon.
Mr Iddrisu 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Mr Samuel N. George 3:33 p.m.
Mr Speaker, respectfully, I just want to make a humble appeal to you and my Hon Colleagues that given the situation of COVID-19 and the current strain of the virus, when anybody rises to
speak, we should do so while wearing our face masks. Mr Speaker, because the --
Mr Speaker 3:33 p.m.
Hon Member, that is one of the issues to be discussed at the joint caucus meeting. Thank you.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 3:33 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 3.40 p.m. till Friday, 21st January, 2021 at 10.00 a.m.