Odekro | What has your MP done for you?

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, item numbered 2, formal commu- nication from the President.
I have in my hand a formal communication from H.E. the President of the Republic of Ghana.

Hon Members, the nominations are accordingly referred to the Appointments Committee for consideration and Report.
We now move to item numbered 3, Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report.

Mr Speaker

Yes, Hon Member?

Mr Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, indeed, I was in the House yesterday, and I signed the attendance register, but my name appears on the page as having been absent.

Mr Speaker

Kindly draw our attention to the number on the list.

Mr Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker, it is item numbered 12 on page 8. My name appears as having been absent.

Mr Speaker

The Table Office to take note.
Page 9 … 12
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of the Fifth Sitting of the First Meeting of the First Session held on Thursday, 21st January, 2021 as corrected is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, we would now move to item numbered 4 - Business Statement for the Fourth Week. Chairman of the Business Committee, present the Business Committee Report.

Majority Leader/Chairman of the Committee (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu)

Mr Speaker, the Committee met yesterday, Thursday, 21st January 2021 and arranged Business of the House for the Third Week ending Friday, 29th January,
2021.

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows

Arrangement of Business
Formal Communications by the Speaker
Mr Speaker, you may read any available communication to the House.
Statements
Mr Speaker, your good self may admit Statements to be made in the House by Hon Members, in accordance with Order 72.
Papers and Reports
i. Mr Speaker, papers may be laid during the week and reports from Committees may also be presented to the House.
ii. Mr Speaker, the Committee of Selection is urged to expedite work on the composition of the various Committees of the House and submit its report on same to the House as soon as possible. The Committee Members are therefore implored to avail themselves for this important assignment during meetings of the Committee.
Motions and Resolutions
Mr Speaker, Motions may be debated and their consequential Resolutions, if any, taken during the week.
Review of the Standing Orders
Mr Speaker, in view of the urgent need for the review of the Standing Orders for the smooth conduct of business in the House, a joint Caucus meeting is programmed to be held on Thursday, 28th and Friday, 29th January 2021. The meeting is to avail all Hon Members the platform to make inputs towards the review process. Hon Members are urged to attend in order to make their proposals for consideration.
Induction Seminar
Mr Speaker, an induction seminar would be organised for Hon Members. It is expected to take place during the first week of February, 2021. Further details on the induction seminar would be communicated to Hon Members in the next Business Statement.
Funeral of Former President Jerry John Rawlings
Mr Speaker, the remains of the former President of the Republic of

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows

Ghana, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings is expected to be laid in state for filing past from Sunday, 24th to Tuesday, 26th January 2021. Members of Parliament are programmed to file past the body on Tuesday, 26th January 2021. It is proposed that Hon Members of Parliament pay their respects between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on the said date to enable the House Sit by 11:00 a.m. thereafter.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 160(2) and subject to Standing Order 53, the Committee submits to this honourable House the order in which the Business of the House shall be taken during the week.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(a) Second Report of the Committee of Selection on the Composition of other Standing and Select Commi- ttees.

(b) Report of Leadership on the Formula for the Composition of Parliamentary delegations

and other Parliamentary groups and associations.

Motions --

(a)Adoption of the Second Report of the Committee of Selection on the Composition of other Standing and Select Committees.

(b) Adoption of the Report of Leadership on the Formula for the Composition of Parliamentary delegations and other Parliamentary groups and associations.

Committee sittings.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

(a)Report of Leadership on the constitution of the membership of the Pan- African Parlia- ment.

(b) Report of Leadership on the constitution of the membership of the ECOWAS Parliament.

Motions --

(a)Adoption of the Report of Leadership on the constitution

of the membership of the Pan- African Parliament.

(b) Adoption of the Report of Leadership on the constitution of the membership of the ECOWAS Parliament.

Committee sittings

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

Motions --

That this honourable House approves the membership of a Committee to advise the Speaker on the appointment of four other members of the Parliamentary Service Board.

Committee sittings

Joint Caucus Meeting to consider issues pertinent to the review of the Standing Orders.

Statements

Presentation of Papers --

Motions --

Committee sittings.

Joint Caucus Meeting to consider issues pertinent to the review of the Standing Orders.

Mr Richard Acheampong

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, in item numbered 3 of the Business Statement, in view of the Standing Orders, the Committee has programmed a Joint Caucus meeting to be held on Thursday, 28th and 29th of January 2009, but I am aware that yesterday, a Technical Committee was put in place and Mr Speaker tasked them to present their report on Wednesday. So I am expecting that the Joint Caucus meeting would happen before the Committee presents its report so that we can make our input, which they would incorporate in their report and present to the House. But in this case, they would present their report on Wednesday and on Thursday and Friday, the Joint Caucus would meet and make an input when they have already presented their report to the House. That is my concern. Which one should come first?
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Mr Richard Acheampong

Speaker, I would want to draw your attention to a few typos. In item number 5, the name of His Excellency President Rawlings is spelt wrongly. There should be an “s” at the end of the name. As a former President, we cannot afford to capture his name wrongly.

Mr Speaker, in item numbered (c) (ii), “… the Committee of Selection is urged to expedite…”, “to” was omitted. It is important that we draw attention to these matters.

Having said that, Mr Speaker, I want to seek clarity from the Leader of the Majority group as regards the item numbered (c) (ii) and item numbered 3, Review of the Standing Orders. I was under the understanding that the Committee compositions would tarry a while until the new Standing Orders come into force and then we would have the Committees composed in line with the new Standing Orders but we get the impression when we read (c) (ii) that the Committee of Selection, which is chaired by the Speaker is being urged to expedite work on the composition of the various committees of the House and submit its report on same to the House as soon as possible. So I am not clear. Are we proceeding with the old Committees under the current Standing Orders or we are going to

hold on a bit and let the Technical Committee that we set up yesterday conclude its work in earnest so that the committees would then be established along the provisions of the new Standing Orders? So there is the need for some clarity. Between (c) (ii) and item numbered 3, it is not very clear. Are we waiting for the new Standing Orders before we set up the committees or we are going to proceed to set up committees along the existing Standing Orders? Could we have some clarity?

Mr Speaker, with regard to item numbered 5, the question is would His Excellency the former President be laid in state from Monday or it is Sunday? The statement we have is indicating Sunday. I thought that what I read from the press was Monday. So if we could have some clarity on that as well , we would be grateful.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Alhassan S. Sayibu

Mr Speaker, I beg to seek your guidance and possibly the guidance of the Leader of the Majority Group in relation to an urgent matter of public interest which relates to the recent discovery by the officials of the Ghana Health Service, together with the National Security and Economic and Organised Crime's Office (EOCO), which has to do with a baby selling syndicate in the country.

Mr Speaker, I acknowledge that as we speak, we only have represen- tatives of the President at the various ministries. But I would seek guidance, if it would be possible for the House to get some sort of briefing from the representatives of the President at these ministries so that, we would know whether or not perhaps, work with the agencies that were involved in this baby-selling syndicate in the country has been around for a very long time.

Mr Speaker, I speak as someone who has followed this syndicate for some time now in my past life as a broadcaster. In 2014, when a similar incident happened at the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi which resulted in supposedly the loss of Madam Suweba's baby, it became a national concern, and assurances were given that reforms would be put in place to ensure that the syndicate did not continue to practice.

Mr Speaker, I would seek your guidance and see if it is possible for the House to be briefed on the steps that have been taken so far to assure all of us that the systems would be improved and the people who are behind it -- people I consider very wicked -- would be dealt with and our system would be improved.

Mr Emmanuel Bedzrah

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I seek to find out from the Leader of Government Business why the e-parliament solution that we have all worked on in the previous Parliament, which would aid the whole House in the discharge of our duties is not in operation.
I have noticed that Hon Colleagues have been given their tablets and most of them are new. We have close to about 40 per cent new Hon Members. In these early days, can we not find space, especially next week, to take them through the e-parliament solutions and the usage of the tablet, so that in this COVID-19 situation, some of us can be in our offices and also participate in deliberations of the Chamber. I expected the Business Committee to find space within next week, so that we can go through that e-parliament system in the House.

Mr Yusif Sulemana

Mr Speaker, thank you. I beg to raise an issue of public interest which relates to
COVID-19.
Mr Speaker, I hold in my hand a laboratory report from Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in the name of Acheampong Kofi. This report came with an audio. He went to Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for a test and it turned out that he was

Dr Sebastian Ngmenenso Sandaare

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Also, looking at the Business Statement and realising the state of
COVID-19, we do not really understand what is happening currently. I think that if we could find the space to get the necessary people in charge -- . Even though there is no Minister for Health, we cannot wait until that Minister is appointed. Somebody should properly brief this House on the state of COVID-19 and where we are and what we need to do in this country.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I have just two observations on the Report as submitted by the Leader of Government Business on the business for the coming week.
Mr Speaker, Hon Ablakwa raised a very important matter, subsequently supported by the Hon Sayibu. The Appointments Committee has been constituted in accordance with Order 172 of our Standing Orders. Understandably, we would have to reconstitute committees of Parliament subsequent to the adoption of the new Standing Orders. But as it is, we would have to act with urgency.
Mr Speaker, as Ranking Member of the Committee, I would wish that if the Vice Chairman of the Committee were available, the Committee should meet today to agree on an official
publication to solicit public memoranda on the President's recycled nominees.
Mr Speaker, we need to know today. We have to meet. We cannot wait for the revision of the Standing Orders. That was the understanding that we meet today to agree. As the Hon Member for Daffiama/Bussie/ Issa mentioned, we would have to prioritise the vetting of some of the ministers-designate because we have a long list. We would have to prioritise, so that some of the ministers can be functional. For instance, the ministers-designate for Finance, Health, National Security and others. So, the Hon Majority Leader has to give us clarity. As we meet, we would want to proceed, so that the Appointments Committee would need to reach out to the public to share information.
Mr Speaker, the other is to respond to Hon Bedzrah, and to assure him that the Parliamentary Service, which was ably chaired by Prof. Mike Oquaye and your good self in attendance, was about taking major decisions on improving bandwidth and network access within the precinct of Parliament. We are at work. It is just that it was one of the last decisions the Board had to take,
so it deferred to a new Board. When the new Board is constituted, all the matters relating to e-parliament and the use of information and commu- nications technology (ICT) by Hansard and others, would be done properly. We would need that clarity from the Leader of Government Business.
Mr Speaker, the laying in state of the remains of the former President Jerry John Rawlings would be Monday, 25th January, 2021 and Tuesday, 26th January, 2021. But the emphasis is that, for Parliament and Hon Members of Parliament, their filing past would be on Tuesday, 26th January, 2021.
11. 39 a. m.
That is the understanding that I had.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Yes, Hon Majority Leader, some issues have been raised and so you should take your time to respond to them.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, first, I would speak on the clarity sought by the Hon Acheampong. The considerations of the Joint Caucus would be predicated on the report from the Technical Committee. This is the reason for

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

which we suggested to ourselves yesterday that beginning from yesterday, if anybody had any considerations, then they should submit same to the Technical Committee, which then would meet on Wednesday to factor the relevant proposals into the draft, and then when we have agreed on Thursday and Friday, perhaps continuing into the ensuing week, we would run ourselves through the noted down issues contained in the draft orders. So, that is the explanation for it.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Okudzeto raised issues about something that could be attributed to the printer's job; the spelling of the name of former President Rawlings. I think that in line two of item five, it is properly captured and so I guess we can do the reconciliation ourselves. We do not need any reconciliation commission to do this for us.
Mr Speaker, the point that we raised about the item numbered (ii) under (c), we remember that deliberately, I did not read what is contained there. There is really some misstatement of fact, which has been reiterated by my Hon Colleague, the Hon Minority Leader. What we have indicated to ourselves is that we
would want to hold on, do the approval of the new Standing Orders, and then constitute the Committees immediately. We do not want to run ourselves into any challenges.
If we decide to constitute Committees now, the ones envisaged under the new Standing Orders are down. If we constitute the Committees now and we would get to that level, which ones would we take out? We would run ourselves into some turbulence. So, we have decided to hold on for the time being, and allow for us to as early as possible, approve of the new Standing Orders, then we would be able to put the Committees together. It is the reason I did not read what is captured there and spoke to the truth, which is not apparently captured here.
Again, on the item numbered five, we would also remember that I did not read what is captured here. It is not correctly captured, and that is why I mentioned the relevant date to us, as far as it applies to Hon Members of Parliament, that we are supposed to file past on Tuesday, the 26th of January, 2021 at 9.00 a. m., and that between the hours of 9.00 a. m and 10.00 a. m, Hon Members should rush there, so that the House would be able to Sit at

Mr Speaker, the Hon Suhuyini was seeking some guidance from you and not from me and so you could provide him with the guidance.

Mr Speaker, the issue that the Hon Bedzrah raised has largely been responded to by the Hon Minority Leader, suffice it to say that when we have the orientation, Hon Members would be run through how it is going to be operational in the House. That aspect is not to the induction that we shall have.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for Bole raised the issue about whatever discovery that he has chanced upon, which relates to the Noguchi Institute. I do not know how it finds space in the Business Statement that we have read. It is a major theme that the appropriate persons could respond to, but it has no place in the Business Statement that we read here.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader raised issues about the recycling of Ministers. I do not want to comment on that, but he is baiting me to comment. We are aware that in 1997, there was a complete rehash of the Ministers who served in the First Parliament, and then the concept of holdover Ministers then aroused

that all of them were going to be kicked off into the new Parliament, which was the Second Parliament, and that generated this “J. H. Mensah versus the Republic” issue. The case went to court, and the court determined that the term of those Ministers had come to an end with the termination of the tenure of the President. So, when we are talking about recycling, there is a better example for him to cite.

Mr Speaker

I thought that after the responses from the Hon Chairman of the Business Committee, the Hon Majority Leader, it would have ended it, but I can see three Hon Members on their feet.
Yes, Hon Ahmed Ibrahim?

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, did I hear the Hon Leader of Government Business saying that the Appointments Committee would have to hold on, pending the revision of the Standing Orders and the reformation of the new Committees before the vetting of the Ministers would go on? If so, then what would be the road that would guide us in doing that? Per our Standing Orders, Standing Order 107 (2) says that there shall be an Appointments Committee, and there is an Appointments Committee.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, a communication from Government has come. A referral has been made to the Appointments Committee, therefore, the whole House is waiting for that Committee to bring their report in the form of recommendation for this House to approve.
Mr Speaker, looking at the time in which we are, like the Hon Minority Leader said, that Committee would have to reprioritise even the nominations that have just been communicated to us, so that a Finance Minister would be approved to go and prepare a budget. The vote on account that was approved by this House was for only three months or so. So, if we are waiting for this House to approve of the new Standing Orders for the re-composition of the Committees including the new Appointments Committee before we go ahead and approve or vet the Ministers, it would prolong the time, and Government would not have the time to wait for us.
Mr Speaker, to conclude, not long ago, but just last week Friday, the Majority haw-hawed the Committee that we in the Minority were planning to obstruct Government Business. We are saying that we should facilitate Government Business expeditiously, but they are rather delaying the process
by saying that we should wait. What should we wait for? We are ready to vet the Ministers, and there is an Appointments Committee made up of 26 Hon Members. We should not be told that we should wait; we are ready. So, we should allow the Committee to do their work.
Mr Speaker, I had the privilege of sitting in the Committee of Selection. What we agreed upon was that we must approve the Appointments Committee so that it would prepare the Ministers for vetting, and that there must also be another Committee set up to go and work on the Standing Orders. All these have been done, but now, if there is a referral and that is what they are saying, then there is no need for even Mr Speaker to refer these nominations to the Appointment Committee.

Mr Speaker, I think that we must support Government business to go on; we must help the nation to work. Hon Majority Leader, we are ready to work and so let the Appointments Committee start preparing the Ministers-designate for vetting so that - even if you want to approve them fast, we are ready to help you. So, let us not say it in such a way that we should wait. What if we are not able

to agree on the new Standing Orders, what would then happen?

Mr Speaker, lastly, per our Standing Orders, Parliament should Sit ordinarily at 10 o'clock and adjourn at 2 o'clock. As a deputy whip, my intelligence gathered from the back says that Hon Members are not comfortable with Sitting commencing at 2 o'clock. Not only Hon Members, even our friends from the media themselves, face difficult challenges in filing their stories and other things. That is the intelligence I have gathered, and once the Hon Members speak, we the Whips hear. Some cited security reasons because when we close at 6 o'clock or 7 o'clock, moving from here to our various houses. And I was hurt when one Hon Member told me that, you are a Leader, when you are going at 7 o'clock, you have a police. And I felt somehow --

Mr Speaker, so once there are no new Standing Orders, if hon Members say they are not comfortable with the Sitting commencing at 2 o'clock, if we could go by the Standing Orders and have Parliament commencing Sitting at 10 o'clock and adjourning at 2 o'clock and we make sure that we follow that time religiously so that who would even have to go and do Government business, when they come at 10

o'clock and we adjourn at 2 o'clock, they could go back to their Ministries and do their work and the other Members could go to the FM stations and do other things that they would have to do.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, although I am not part of the Business Committee, I know your good Self would take it religiously and let us go by our Standing Orders.

Mr Sayibu

Mr Speaker, I thank you. Even though that is not the reason why I stood initially, this time I wish to associate myself entirely with the submission that has been made by Hon Ahmed Ibrahim, the Hon Member for Banda, especially in relation to the Appointments Committee.
We think that it is important that our Government is seen to be in a hurry to meet the needs of the people who are very expectant. And it is important that we begin work. Given the fact that the President has already announced the various nominees, it is important that we begin work as early as possible.
And it is related to the question that I asked earlier and I was explicit when I requested your guidance and also, the guidance of the Leader of Government business because there is still a Government in place even

Mr Speaker

Former Minister for Communications, now Presidential nominee for the Ministry of Communications.

Mrs Ursula Gifty Owusu- Ekuful (NPP -- Ablekuma West)

Mr Speaker, I thank you.
I would like to make a small suggestion about the time business commences in this House as has been recommended by the Business Committee and in response to the intervention made by the Hon Member for Banda.
Mr Speaker, the challenges that this House faces because of the outcome of the elections are all too apparent to all of us, and I believe that has necessitated the recommendations made by the Business Committee. In the United Kingdom (UK) and in other Legislatures where all Ministers are Members of Parliament, Sitting commences at 3 p.m. or 4 p. m. to accommodate the work that the Executive would need to do in the various Ministries. And I believe that if a similar situation were adopted by this House, we would all be able to incorporate that into our daily schedules and ensure that the work of the House goes on with the full participation of those who would be members of the Executive who also would like to participate and contribute their quota to the work of this House in addition to ensuring that the work of Government also goes on without hindrance. And I believe that this compromise, if Hon Members would be so minded to consider it, would inure to the benefit of both the

Mr Speaker

Hon Former Minister, please kindly address the Chair; do not react to heckling or whispers, just focus on your point and address the Chair. I will be talking on this issue.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful

Mr Speaker, we are all obliged to live up to the oath that we swore to uphold, defend and apply the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana which ties in with the hands of the President in the choice of his Hon Ministers. Through no fault of ours, we are faced with a situation which makes it difficult for this House to also function fully if we do not make the accommodation necessary to support the work of the Legislature and the Executive.
I would urge Hon Members to live with the situation that we find ourselves in , make the necessary compromises

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, we have a lot of work today, and we are still considering the Report of the Business Committee. I do not believe I can take all of you. I will take two contributions from both Sides of the House and that would end it. So, those of you on your feet would have to allow only two of you. If you have difficulty in deciding, I will decide for you.

Mrs Angela Oforiwa Alorwu- Tay (NDC -- Afadzato South)

Mr Speaker, about the time for Sitting, let us be honest with ourselves. We come to work at 10.00 a.m. and at times, we end up Sitting from either 12 p.m., 1.00 p.m. or 2.00 p.m.
Mr Speaker, let us sit down and discuss this matter in a way that would
not make us continue to waste our time sitting in the Chamber while Mr Speaker and Hon Leaders are not here and then the media men would also be sitting up there and we end up closing very late. I agree with the Hon Deputy Minority Whip that 2 o'clock is not good for us. We must find a way to be in the middle. My point of view is that even though the --

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, this matter is not yet rife for debate; it has been proposed in the new Standing Orders. We would have the opportunity to debate that issue, and I would be bound by the decision of the House. So far as the circumstances of the present is concerned, I exercise my discretion. We usually adjourn the House to 2 p.m. by virtue of the provisions of Order 44 of the Standing Orders of this House. And so, nothing untoward or irregular has been done.
When the issue crops up, please, take the decision, and the Speaker would be bound by it and would do accordingly. As of now, it is too premature to start arguing on that issue. So, let us drop that issue and move to others.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Mr Speaker, I would rely on your good wisdom for your guidance on this matter that I wish to raise. Ordinarily,
I would not have spoken to it, but it is important we set the record straight. My good Friend the Hon Ablakwa --

Mr Speaker

For the guidance of which matter?

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker, with your kindness, I am raising the matter.

Mr Speaker

Do you want to raise a new matter?

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

No, it is the matter the Hon Ablakwa and Hon Sayibu brought to work and I wish to speak to it. The matter is simple. The Hon Ablakwa and Hon Sayibu seemed to have a well-rehearsed strategy to refer to the Majority Caucus as the Majority Group. I heard him loud and clear -- [Interruption] -- and I heard the Hon Sayibu repeat that.
Mr Speaker, I implore you to advise my Hon Colleagues to refer to us as the Majority Caucus as you rightly ruled. I pray they take a cue from that directive from your good self.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, please, kindly take your time and read the Standing Orders. We have two parliamentary parties in the House with one independent Member. The

The term “Caucus” is not used in our Standing Orders; it is a practice, and it refers to an identified group of people. So you can have a regional caucus, gender caucus or Catholic Caucus. We can have so many caucuses, but you have parliamentary parties.

The Standing Orders further provide that the Majority Group would be led by a leader and he is referred to as Majority Leader. Standing Orders 160 and 168 demand that the Business Committee and the House Committee be chaired

Mr Speaker

by the Majority Leader. That is the Standing Orders we have now, and I am guided and bound by it. So, please, do not keep confusing the public. So, the Hon Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu is the Hon Majority Leader -- [Hear! Hear!] -- and the Hon Haruna Iddrisu is the Hon Minority Leader -- [Hear! Hear!].

Hon Sayibu, since the Hon Majority Chief Whip referred to you --

Mr Sayibu

On a point of order, Mr Speaker, Standing Order 93 (2), against the Hon Majority Chief Whip who in his presentation, accused Hon Ablakwa and I of having a well- rehearsed strategy. I think that it amounts to improper motive being assigned to the two of us. There is the need for him to withdraw and apologise to us for impugning improper motives to us.

Mr Speaker

Hon Majority Chief Whip, any response?

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker, in this House, we all rely on your wisdom and experience and you have given the directive. I would want to respect the directive you have given and not go into any uncharted waters.
So, may you live long for putting clarity on this matter and I respect and take a cue accordingly.

Mr Speaker

Please, let us allow matters to be as they are because he said a well-rehearsed strategy. He did not use any word to impugn improper motive. The strategy is well- rehearsed, and there is nothing wrong with having a well-rehearsed strategy, provided that it is not against anything that we do here or the national interest. It must be to further national interest and the discourse in the House and also facilitate the business of the House. So, there is nothing improper about that.
Please, let us move on. Any other important matter?

Mr Speaker

Hon Ablakwa, what is so important and urgent, that you cannot wait?

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker, this is very important. The Leader of Government Business seeks to get the Appointments Committee to hold on with its work. We need your guidance based on the approval that this House --

Mr Speaker

I am to respond to three issues including what you are
talking about, so please hold your peace. I am going to respond to that.
Hon Members, the communication from the President ended with this, and I quote:
“I would be grateful if Parliament would expedite the process of prior approval of my nominees, so they can take up their positions in Government forthwith…”
We have already composed the Committee on Selection, the Business Committee and the Appointments Committee and I accordingly referred the nominees for prior approval through the process that has been established by this House. I referred them to the appropriate Committee, which is the existing Appointments Committee. So please, you are directed to immediately commence work with the processes for us to give approval to the persons who have been referred to us by H. E. the President.
Please, as we go along, the other matters would be sorted out. As at now, we are bound by the provisions of our Standing Orders. We are masters of our own rules, and this is constitutional, but there is no good
reason for us to differ on the current practice.
With regard to the issue raised by Hon Sayibu, I do not think that we always have to rely on the Executive to give us briefs. It is for us to do research and use the tools available to Members of Parliament (MP). That would compel them to be available. A well-researched Statement could be made available to the other Side, and then the Minister would be compelled to come to the House.
As we raise the issues and make comments and inputs, the Minister would be given the opportunity to respond. We do not always have the luxury of time to give the Ministers the opportunity to go and prepare, and then come and brief us. Usually the briefs are not even done in plenary and it is usually difficult to handle the Report. I am sharing this experience with you.
This third issue about the time, even though I have ruled, started as far back as the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic. It is not me. I want us to bring finality to this issue. I would be there to guide the House together with some of my Colleagues, with the experiences of other jurisdictions, but with more particular

Mr Speaker

details as to the reason it should either be 10 a. m., 2 p. m. or 4 p. m.
Ghana's unique situation and what is expected of us would be the guide. We would draw inspiration from other jurisdictions but we would actually base our decisions on our circum- stances as a country. I think that these are the three outstanding issues and I would plead with you to let us move on to the other items.
Hon Members, the Business Statement as presented by the Chairman of the Business Committee is adopted.

We would now move to item numbered 5, Statements. I have admitted three Statements, but for a very good reason, I would defer two to Tuesday, because we have a very important Statement standing in the name of the Hon Minority Leader; Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Member of Parliament for Tamale South which is a tribute of the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, our late illustrious former President [Hear!] [Hear!]

So, we want to give Hon Members some opportunity to express themselves before the funeral begins on Sunday. I will give the opportunity

to the Hon Minority Leader to present the Statement.

Hon Member, you may do so now.

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu)

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings; former President of the Republic of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, trying to tie up a tribute to the longest-serving political leader Ghana has ever had in a few minutes would be similar to attempting the impossibility of summarising a third of the post-independence history of Ghana on a few sheets of script. But within the restrictions apposite to such a tribute, we ask, who was Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings? Born on June 22nd, 1947 and who passed on to eternity on 12th November, 2020.
Flt. Lt Jerry John Rawlings or Papa Jay as he was affectionately called, was a paradox, an enigma of an institution. He is an enduring institution with values that will continue to define us as a people and guide the progress of our Nation. His commitment to the principles of justice, equity, probity and accountability is unparalleled. No
wonder, in the preamble to the 1992 Constitution which was promulgated under his leadership, those words remained high.
Mr Speaker, the 1992 Constitution remains the most enduring Constitution since the birth of Ghana, surviving almost three decades and seen through the transition of power from one political party to another; unprecedented again in our history.
Mr Speaker, President Rawlings burst into the political space in Ghana on 15th May, 1979 driven by a mission to have the political leadership at the time to account for their misrule. The Military Regime at the time was composed of senior officers of the Armed Forces who used their positions to exploit and to accumulate unjust and undeserved wealth, the social fabric and the economy was run-down by the Regime. In his view, the Military Administration had completely and blatantly desecrated the Military Code of Conduct, thereby sinking the image of the country aground.
As a young officer, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings led a group of “Men of the Ghana Armed Forces” (other Ranks) to bring their senior officers in Government to book and to account to the people by taking over the reign of Government.
Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and were arrested and court- marshalled. President Rawlings' selflessness and courage was demonstrated when he pleaded with the court to acquit all the other men standing trial with him. He was willing to bear the consequences and suffer the punishment for the insurrection alone with those famous words, “leave my men alone”.
Mr Speaker, the trial of President Rawlings for the May 1979 insurrection led to the June 4th Uprising when a group of Junior Officers and other Ranks who bought into his vision to cleanse the system of the rot, stormed the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) cells where he was detained, and freed him to lead the Uprising.
The success of the Uprising led to the formation of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) with the core principles of Probity, Accountability, Justice, Equity and Transparency.
At the time, the nation was tottering on the verge of a failed State. Driven by his passion to see progress, Rawlings rolled up his sleeves and together with the masses who so revered him, he raked the muck from the gutters, carried on his bare back, sacks of cocoa locked up in the hinterlands, laid railway tracks, ate with his fingers with the masses at

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu)

Mr Speaker, President Rawlings was an enigma of a personality; liked by many and disliked by some. His sense of justice endeared him to many.

His classmates from Achimota School note with some nostalgia, his passion for justice which dates back to his days in the school cadet corps; he always stood up for the weaker students and he carried this attitude of justice into his adult and professional life. It was this attitude

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, I have been guided by the Hon Leaders so I have a list of Hon Members who would comment on this Statement.
Hon Joe Ghartey, Hon Member for Esikadu-Ketan would make the first contribution.

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for this opportunity to contribute to the Statement and from the onset add my voice, adopt and identify with everything that has been said by the Hon Minority Leader.
However, Mr Speaker, like him or hate him, for several decades of our politics as a nation and of my life as a person, former President Rawlings ruled over Ghana like a colossus. Even after President Rawlings tenure as president was over, his relevance in Ghana and in Ghanaian politics could not be denied. We remembered that the whole country was waiting and hoped that at the appropriate time, he would make comments on national issues and he made statements that came to be known as “Boom Statements”. Whether one likes it or not, President Rawlings was relevant in our lives.
Mr Speaker, May 1979 when he attempted his first coup d'état, was when he came into national prominence. On June 4th, he was successful, and I remember as a
young man then in secondary school, we were all marched to Palmasol Oil Plantation to weed at the time.
Mr Speaker, the reason that was given to us was to sacrifice and carry cocoa and so on which were attractive business at the time. We were been asked to be nationalistic and to support our country. The most attractive reason for some of us at the time was that President Rawlings promised that within three months, he would hand over back to democratic rule.
Mr Speaker, for some of us, democracy is the best form of governance even though, perhaps it is not perfect. However, there is no perfect one, but God. So I must confess without any ill will towards President Rawlings that when he came back in 1981, my enthusiasm for him was not as much as my enthusiasm was for him in 1979. In 1982, indeed, I happened to be at the University of Ghana then, and I was part of the students who embarked on a series of demonstrations, calling for the return to democratic rule.
I remember that at Graphic Road, a gunshot was fired, Mr Speaker, ostensibly into the air, but I had not heard a gunshot so close to me before, and so I thought and was thinking I was dead. Mr Speaker, after lying down for a few seconds, I

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

realised that I was not dead; -- [Laughter] -- and I realised that I was not bleeding. So I scuttled away as far as I could, and that was the end of our demonstration at Graphic Road. This ended us to stay at home for a year. The Universities were closed down for a year. I must say that by the time I came back after a year, I had become hardened in my views that the best form of governance is democracy.
So, Mr Speaker, I am somebody who spent the greater part of my political history fighting for the return of democratic governance. However, after 1992, with the return of the country to democratic rule, I had the opportunity to present the Country Report on Ghana on behalf of the Committee on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Addis Ababa at a meeting of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. At the time, the Hon Minority Leader was also a member of the Ghana Committee on Human and People's Rights. I was the National Secretary. Our current President was the National Chairman, and the Hon Minority Leader was on our side at the time, but today, he is on my other Side, and that is life.
Mr Speaker, he worked with me, and I remember I made the point to

Some of my colleagues from other African countries with whom we had been in the human rights groups said “Ah, but Rawlings is still there. Why are you saying?” Some of them thought that, perhaps, we were not entirely saying the truth at the time.

Mr Speaker, when you look at the history of governance of this country, we cannot but admit that the 1992 Constitution has been the most endearing constitution, even though it has historic antecedents in various constitutions. For example, the provisions on human rights can trace its history to the 1969 Constitution where the Bill of Rights was extensively made on human rights. We cannot deny that this Constitution has something for Ghana.

In fact, the hybrid system that we operate is as a result of what happened during the 1979 era when the Executive was different from the Legislature. So I am somebody who is against the whole review of the

Constitution, and we must thank President Rawlings for shepherding the 1992 Constitution into effect.

Mr Speaker, we are aware that there are people who were Heads of State in President Rawlings' time who are still Heads of State now, so many years later. [Interruption] Well, I did not mention names. Somebody is enticing me to mention Museveni's name. I did not mention names. [Laughter.] I would resist that temptation from the Hon Member. [Interruption] - Sorry, did the Hon Member say I mentioned it already?

Mr Speaker, this is the man that we are talking about; a man of many sides; a man whom we know that before the 1992 Constitution was not a democrat but became a democrat.

Mr Speaker, in the year 1992, the Presidential Election was held before the Parliamentary Election. When the Presidential Election was held, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) boycotted the Parliamentary Election. [Laughter.] The NPP boycotted the Parliamentary Election and wrote The Stolen Verdict. Once again, Mr Speaker, as your humble servant, I was part of the team that wrote The Stolen Verdict. That team was chaired by the current President.

However, the interesting thing about it is that, at the time I was also the Secretary to the Legal Committee of the Ghana Bar Association. Even though Parliament was largely constituted by that party with a few minor parties, we appeared before various Parliamentary committees. At that time, Parliament was sitting at the International Conference Centre. I remember that in considering the Serious Fraud Office Bill, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) had serious exceptions to it. We appeared before the Committee.

Mr Speaker, I think I saw you there then. I see you nodding your head, and I remember Hon Doe Adjaho as well. We appeared with Hon Peter Ala Adjetey, Mr Sam Okudzeto, and we made extensive inputs into the Bill. Indeed, the Executive at the time, which was President Rawlings's Government did not fight us when we made those extensive introductions. He accepted the Bills when they went there with the introductions that we made as civil society organisations.

Mr Speaker, unfortunately for us now, today, the civil society organisations and the GBA and so on no longer contribute to our processes. I think it is now easier for one to talk on radio today.

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

So, Mr Speaker, I am using this occasion to encourage Civil Society Organisations, the Ghana Bar Association and so on to keep us on our toes. There was a time that no Bill went through without input from these organisations. I am sure that under your guidance and the guidance of the two leaders, this would be reintroduced.
Mr Speaker, the most interesting thing about President Rawlings for me as a student of investment law is that when you look at the history of law of investment in our country, you would see that during President Acheampong's era, he was involved in what he described as Ghanaians taking the commanding height of our economy.
So during the Acheampong Era, what happened was that there was a separate law for the promotion of Ghanaian business and there was a minor law for the promotion of foreign business. Indeed, it was during President Limann's era, with the Limann's 1981 Investment Code. At the time, the two laws for promoting Ghanaian businesses were merged into one.
President Rawlings came in as a socialist and he believed in a certain form of governance, but when you
research on our laws, you would notice that it was during his era that the most progressive laws were made on investment promotions. I recall I happened to give a lecture in South Africa after the Minerals and Mining Law at the time had come into effect in 1985.

After I had given that lecture, it was generally agreed that, perhaps, we had one of the most progressive laws on minerals and mining in the country. So this was a man who was a socialist who at the same time was part of the process which saw our economy taking a certain shape.

Then we come to President Rawlings' posts, his presidency and some of the most interesting things we see are pictures of him and President Akufo-Addo in tete-a-tete. These are two men who previously were against each other. But talking about President Akufo-Addo who was one of the leaders of the ku me preko demonstration, who was committed to ensuring that a certain form of governance would come and President Rawlings who was also committed to another form of government who can now arrive at a situation where they are seen talking to each other and we do not even know what they are talking about. What does that teach those of us

here? That is the question we must ask ourselves.

Mr Speaker, in talking about the changing scenes of life each man has his entry and exit. It teaches us that we must be happy. It teaches us that life changes. It teaches that we may not agree with each other but we must not be enemies. It teaches us that we must tell our supporters that after we finish talking in this Chamber, we would go and drink tea at the bar.

Mr Speaker, I hardly have to pay for my tea myself. When I sit down and buy my tea, then Hon John Jinapor is standing by [Interrup- tion.] I must say that I have seen him as a stingy friend [Laughter] -- if he wants me to mention him for the record, then when he sees me going to the tea place, he should follow me and go and pay for my tea. -- [Laughter]

Mr Speaker, we argue here but after that we meet at the tea place and have a chat. They must learn from our leaders, President Rawlings and President Akufo-Addo and from us that we do not kill each other. Mr Speaker, I want to put it on record that Hon John Jinapor has never even bought water for me -- [Laughter] -- if he wants me to recognise him in the books, when I finish speaking, I am going to drink tea. So he should

follow me and buy my tea for me. [Laughter] Mr Speaker, that is the beauty of life. That is the maturity that age gives and that is the maturity of democracy that, people can disagree with each other vehemently for 20 to 30 years but end up becoming friends.

Mr Speaker, all the people who occupied that high office of President must realise that it is such a high office that it must be clothed with some decorum and they must be in a position to talk to each other.

I never referred to them as former presidents. As far as I am concerned, once a person is a president, he is always a president. President Rawlings should rest in perfect peace.

I end by once again paraphrasing Shakespeare who said that the evil that men do lives after them [Interruption] I pray that it does not apply to President Rawlings. He was not a perfect person. Nobody is perfect. But when we look at his life as a whole, we cannot but say that he came and played his part.

May his soul and the souls of all the departed faithful rest in perfect peace. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, we now listen to Hon Cletus Apul Avoka, Member of Parliament for Zebilla.

Zebilla): Mr Speaker, kindly permit me to add my voice to the tribute that we are paying this afternoon to our great leader who is no more with us.

Mr Speaker, my first encounter with President Rawlings, then Chairman Rawlings was in 1979 when he was Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). At that time, I was doing national service in Bawku and he came there to address a rally. It was at that time that the Bawku conflict was raging. I remember that while he was still at the Community Centre in Bawku, our part of the group that led the demonstration with written placards indicating the challenges that we have in Bawku as far as the chieftaincy matter was concerned came. He and his lieutenants who were about six were sitting on a bench and then we held the placards all over and he read them passionately. After that, he spoke. Before I talk about what he said, my tribute to him is that this is a man who is forthright. He believed in social democracy. This is a person who believed in peaceful co- existence. These are the attributes that one can give to the late President J. J. Rawlings.

Mr Speaker, when he got up to speak, following our placards and the briefing that he had on the spot, he discovered that there were two chiefs in Bawku. One was at the Community

Centre and the other was not there. So he said, “I understand there are two chiefs in Bawku. Where is the Kusasi chief? Go and bring him. Give him VIP treatment”. Then the police went out and brought the then Kusasi chief who was at home. I was there when he held them together - the Mamprusi Chief on the left, and the Kusasi Chief on the right and appealed to them for unity.

He indicated to them that he had come for a house cleaning exercise for three months and therefore there was no time for them to delve into chieftaincy matters but if they love the people and Ghana, they should live together. They should co-exist and that Dr Hilla Limann had won the elections and they would hand their petitions over to them and they would look at it and bring about amicable settlement in Bawku. That was why I said that this is somebody who on the spur of the moment, wanted to bring peace in Bawku.

By merely saying that the other chief should be brought and given VIP treatment, he had brought about peace and harmony. He had brought equilibrium to the town and to the group and everybody admired him.

Mr Speaker, Bawku was then noted for smuggling. That is how majority of the people in Bawku lived -- Hon Mahama Ayariga and others

are here -- [Laughter] -- I am saying so that you know what was happening in Bawku at the time.

Mr Speaker, he wanted to let the people know that it was important to have revenue to develop the country. He was being nationalistic and what he also said that angered the people was, “You Bawku people, every day you drop your head against the ground like lizards and then after that you go and smuggle.” Some of the people were annoyed and started leaving the rally grounds. But the message had been sent to them to try to be nationalistic and support their country and not smuggle. He was forthright in terms of handling the chieftaincy matter and on trading activities in the area.

Mr Speaker, my second encounter with him was in 1983 when he was the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Chairman. We wanted lawyers to head the public tribunals and it was very difficult. More so, the Bar Association had declared that they would not take part in the administration. So they approached some of us and I agreed to become Chairman of the Public Tribunal for the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions and I served for two years - 1983 to 1984.

Mr Speaker, the point I want to make is that at that meeting, he said that he did not want discrimination and favouritism. He wanted me to dispense justice fairly. He wanted me to dispense popular justice and that is how the 1992 Constitution was formed. When we talk about popular participation, I would come to that later.

Mr Speaker, my other encounter with him was in 1986. Following the intermittent clashes in Bawku in 1983, 1984 and 1985, the PNDC Administration decided to make the Police cum military intervention in Bawku. The idea was to try to end the intermittent clashes in the area. I was in Bolgatanga at the time. So, they said they should go and investigate and arrest those who are causing the conflict, those who have been fighting, those causing arson and those who are the opinion leaders of the area to see how we could bring peace in Bawku. I was one of those who were picked. For ten days, I was kept in a guard room at Mognori, a village in Bawku without even bathing. I had to protest for my freedom -- [Interruption] -- because I was not a common criminal. I said I was arrested because I was an opinion

Mr Speaker, let us look at decentralisation

rural electrification and rural development. These are attributes of the late former President Rawlings. I think he is somebody we should eulogise and emulate his examples. I am happy about the example Hon Joe Ghartey gave.
Initially, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and former President Rawlings may not come together to shake hands, not to talk about nor share ideas. prior to, his demise, they were doing that. This is a lesson to all of us that politics is not a do or die affair, but it is sharing of ideas and that is the way we should live. We should not treat each other in hostile manner.
Mr Speaker, I would like to conclude by quoting what Macbeth said. I remember as a literature student, I read that Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth had died, and when they told him that the lady was dead, he paused and said these in honour of his wife. Mr Speaker, with your kind person, I would want to also quote without reading. As a literature student, I still remember it because that was General Certificate Examination (GCE) Ordinary level 1970 that I wrote -- [Laughter] -- [Hear! Hear!]

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote

“To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow;
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”
Source: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Mr Speaker, there is one phrase, I would guide this august House to take note of. That “Life is but a walking shadow.” Do not think that what you are today is what you would be tomorrow. If you get up in the morning and see your shadow, in the afternoon, it is very short, at 2.00 p.m. it is very long, and at night, it diminishes and it is not seen.

That is how life is, and that is why Macbeth said that life is but a walking

shadow. I therefore, humbly invite everybody to take note that when we are taking care of the needs of the people and the rest, we should know that tomorrow is very important.

Mr Speaker, on that note, I thank you for this opportunity, and I pray that the death of former President Rawlings would unify this country. I also pray that the family would take note of the concerns expressed in this lavish tribute that we have paid to the family. Our condolences to the family from Mother Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and everybody else.

Mr Speaker

I would now call on the Hon Jinapor, Samuel Abudlai, the Hon Member for Damongo.

Mr Samuel Abudlai Jinapor (NPP -- Damongo)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Hon Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, in his life time, it was very difficult to dissect the life of former President Rawlings, and I think that it is even more difficult to do so after his passing on.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, I hope that other contributors would take a cue from the last contributor. Time is now of essence. It is now the time of the Hon Kofi Adams, the Hon Member of Parliament for Buem constituency.

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this very important Statement of paying tribute to no less a person, than the founding father of this Fourth Republican constitutional democratic process that we are all enjoying today.
Mr Speaker, indeed, with this being the very first time that I am on my feet to speak on this Floor, it is difficult for me that the first thing that I am to do, is to pay tribute to

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem)

someone I describe as my boss, who I would have wished were alive to see me on my feet or hear me speak from this House.
Mr Speaker, indeed, I associate myself with the Statement ably made by the Hon Leader of the NDC Caucus. I also associate myself with the comments made by the other previous speakers.
Mr Speaker, indeed, the former President, who we speak of today, paying tribute to, his words of “leave my men alone” did not end in May 1979, it stayed with him till death. He was one person who would put people way above himself. Indeed, sometimes, at the risk of his life.

Many persons who used the Vome-Tema Road most times would be surprised that a land cruiser would pull up and would want to even offer them lift and you would find only President Rawlings and the driver or sometimes, he alone because in his mind, where that person was standing would be very difficult to get a vehicle to the next destination so he was willing to do that.

Mr Speaker, I have listened to the tributes, and one thing that saddens

me, and I pray it is never done to any leader of this country is what we visited on our late former President. I happened to be his aide at certain time of the period when these courtesies were --

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, Hon Second Deputy Speaker to take the Chair. [Hear! Hear!]

Mr Adams

Mr Speaker, these courtesies were withdrawn and an illustrious son whom we are paying tribute to today - as he travelled around the world, sometimes, having to carry his own bags, using the ordinary route - One thing he taught that we must all learn was that he was really never angry. He took advantage of these attempts to humiliate him to rather build good will. He used the stones that were thrown at him for a solid foundation. It gave him the opportunity to interact with the ordinary persons even as he travelled to know the understanding of situations then. He was courageous, but also very humble.
Mr Speaker, today, he is gone, but there were still a number of things that were very dear to him that we can
take up as a people and a country. He was particularly interested in decentralisation that the lot had spoken that he really drove it. He was much more interested in how he could infuse tradition and culture into our governance. He was particularly interested in how we could make the government appointment position at the decentralised level much more useful than it is done today. I believe we can seriously look at that.
Mr Speaker, one thing that we can never forget about President Rawlings is one key law that helped a lot of disadvantaged persons especially our mothers who lost their husbands who did not have a will. It is the Intestate Succession Law (PNDC Law 111). Indeed, women who lost their husbands had property taken away from them and thrown out of their homes almost immediately after the death, but through this law and the intervention, mothers from such homes got something to take care of their children. I stand here today to say President Rawlings, damirifa due! Due!

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Hon Afenyo-Markin?

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity, save that I have my own views to express as a result of some personal encounter. I would have said that anything in addition to what has been said would merely be superfluous.
Mr Speaker, growing up, I did not like the man Rawlings. It was for a simple reason. I was told that his military junta victimised my dad. Later as a young adult, my step father, who was an active activist in the NPP, suffered some excesses, and that added on to my dislike of his person.
Here again, this was a man anytime I heard him speak, I felt inspired by his charisma - the charisma in him that caught people following him and his sense of humour. Mr Speaker, this is a man who could be singing, adapting to people's lifestyles, drinking, eating and doing everything that would make people like him. That is something that inspired me about him.
Mr Speaker, I had an encounter with him where I felt the humanity in his character. When somewhere in 2018, I heard him say something negative about me, I felt that instead of instructing my lawyers to sue him, I should rather engage him because he passed to be my father.

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu)

Through the network of his own household, a meeting was conveyed and we had a positive engagement. I saw him as a man who listened, was ready to share ideas and would want to take the views of people. I enjoyed that encounter and I thought that people needed to know that aspect of the man.
Mr Speaker, as every Freemason knows, death is the ground leveller of all human greatness. It reduces us to the same state. That is how it is supposed to be. In some fraternal societies of honour, at the point of one's initiation, he is placed in a symbolic coffin to draw his attention to that moment of his exit, to that man is nothing.
We have enjoyed a quote in Macbeth from the venerable Cletus Avoka, but there is something that perhaps, I would want to add.
“If I had died but an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant, there is nothing serious in mortality.”
Perhaps, it says that if we have died before this chance, we would not have enjoyed the value of life because we would not have experienced what this man had for this country. We are
a living witness to what President Rawlings did.

Mr Speaker, the man himself did not want to be praised all the time and I do not want us to cease this moment more or less saying everything positive about him. He was a man who faced life in all forms; negative and positive. No leader can ever be all righteous in the eyes of the people. Policies may be negative, policies may not be liked, and people may do things that they may have the cause to act in a certain manner, perhaps, not acceptable. And I know if Hon Bede Ziedeng gets the opportunity to be on his feet, he would share with us, some moments of humour of some experiences that he himself felt uncomfortable at the time. This is life and we should not shy away from it.

Mr Speaker, then again, I throw that President Jerry Rawlings who was successful in establishing a political tradition in this country now known as the NDC Political Tradition, would be honoured even after his passing that all his great works would be put out there; good or bad for generations unborn to take an inspiration from.

Mr Speaker, let me say to our respected Hon Colleague Dr Zanetor

Agyeman-Rawlings, has lost a mentor, a father. Perhaps, she is in this Chamber because of his leadership. I know she is saddened by his passing, but there is also one thing that you have a great task ahead of you to ensure that you lift high the principles of that gap. I remember when we were in St Augustine's College and she was at Wesley Girls Secondary School, she was leading her cadets and we were watching her and saying this young lady is very brave. She was leading a command and all that. My Hon Colleague Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korley, we expect her to do everything within her power to ensure that the memory of her father is well celebrated by all.

Although we disagreed with him, it was not about destroying each other, in the end, as the Hon Abu Jinapor said, even the person that President Rawlings disagreed with most and used certain words to describe him, became the best friend of his. What do we learn from this? And sometimes, we see our Leaders debating and we think that they are fighting. They are not fighting; they are only exchanging ideas, disagreeing. So, for us at the back bench, we have got a lot to learn in the politics that we do not to extend our disagreement to the point of destroying the very foundation of our democracy. We

should never be misled by extremist views; extremist views would not help our country. Let us learn from President Rawlings who, at a point could be seen as an extremist and at another point, he could be seen as a moderate. He knew when to adjust and when to adapt. These are lessons for us.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the Statement, and I say may the soul of President Jerry John Rawlings rest in perfect peace.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Yes, Hon Kobena Woyome?

Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome (NDC -- South Tongu)

Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker, Ghana has come a long way. Prior to the events of May 15 and June 4, 1979, within the space of 22 years, the country changed leaders and we had about six of them. And we had Dr Kwame Nkrumah who got independence for us got overthrown in the 1966 Coup d'état led by General Ankrah. And thereafter, in 1968, he was forced to resign and the reigns of this country was taken over by LT. Gen. Afrifa who later handed over to a civilian Government led by Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia.
The Government later got truncated by General I. K. Acheampong sometime in 1972.

Mr Speaker, permit me to quote a portion of this book that tells it all

“The tree of democracy must inevitably be watered with blood. In this case, I am prepared to be the sacrificial lamb”.
And this came from Patrice Lumumba, a Pan-Africanist, a Law Professor and anti-Corruption crusader at the time. Clearly, somebody had to take the lead to ensure that we are where we are today with the numerous contributors praising President Rawlings for really steering the affairs of this country through the 1979 Revolution; through 1981 Coup; through the PNDC and successfully transited into our democratic dispensation.

Mr Speaker, President Rawlings transcends a lot of values. Of course, per the preamble of our Constitution, “probity, accountability” -- Clearly, you would notice that we would have to live those values to ensure that we are able to leave legacies as he has done. A positive legacy is so important in building a society such as Ghana.

Today, Mr Speaker, I would like to look at the epilogue of this book which summaries exactly what took place without really recounting the details. It gives us some understanding and appreciation, so that those who read this book, particularly political actors, state actors and politicians as a whole would be well guided going forward in our activities, actions and inactions, so that we do not see a revisit of such events in our history.

May I quote from this same book:

“Africa has seen the emergence of great leaders. The dawn of the 4th June Revolution inevitably captured the real opportunity that triggered the research button of the kalabule pandemic and steadily paved the way towards a new socio-economic and constitutional paradigm by 1993. The important democratic milestone of presiding over two terms of an elected Government and handing over power peacefully thereafter still bears the test of time. Jerry John Rawlings born had actually consequently became the facilitator of Ghana's Fourth Republic and godfather of the African diaspora right to return among others while establishing

the notion as a beacon of democracy in Africa.”

Mr Speaker, it goes on to say

“By deepening his climb into a blazing fire at the Revolutionary Square, the charismatic strong man of the people lives on beyond borders”.
I beg to quote one particular statement he made at the Burma Hall. He said and I quote:
“I am not an expert in economics and I am not an expert in law, but I am an expert in working on an empty stomach, while wondering when and where the next meal would come from.”
Mr Speaker, President Rawlings was simply empathetic and reflected Ghanaians and their feelings at the time, how we were and why the need to support the process. That was how he saw the support base in the process of rebuilding Ghana and taking it where we are currently.
As has been said earlier by some speakers, many were amazed at how he metamorphosed from a military leader into a democratic leader and saw to the establishment of democratic institutions through the

coming into being of the 1992 Constitution. He ensured that it functioned properly without inference and in selecting people to work in and lead those institutions, he looked out for the best, with meritocracy as the order of the day. Irrespective of who the person was or where they were from, he or she was considered once he realised they would perform. That should be the way to go.

We also saw discipline among the security services. As he always said, “who born dog” for it to misbehave. We have to revisit some of these principles and values, so that we can have our system and fabric well littered. We do not fear. There is the need for us as we eulogise our dear father, former President Rawlings and to take these values and incorporate them into our ways of life as politicians, Government and all other state actors, so that we can live well and protect this long democracy that we are enjoying. It must come and has come to stay and that is the order and should be.

Mr Speaker, as by the leave of the House and by your pleasure, he should be known as the father of the Fourth Republic. Not only that, we should begin to think through and legislate on some of the special days such as June 4th and 31st December,

1981, and make sure that those days are celebrated across this country. We should have clubs in various schools to begin to study the values that he stood for. That would make a good way.

Accountability, responsibility, probity among others are key things that we must begin to have at the back of our minds as we serve mother Ghana. Mother Ghana is yearning seriously at this time for such values to be part of what we do and our actions and inactions must be able to reflect to all these.

Mr Speaker, he has a place in history and I also remind all that the day the 1992 Constitution was gazetted was 15th May, 1992 and that was the name of the person who superintended, saw the Assembly and brought everybody across this country irrespective of the person's background to contribute to making this what it is which has stood the test of time to today. This is the legacy of Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings who has his signature behind this book. We must safeguard and protect it, so that we can move this country forward in unity.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu)

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful for the honour done me to contribute to this very important Statement which has been very eloquently delivered by the leader of the NDC caucus in Parliament.
Mr Speaker, today, we celebrate the founder of the Fourth Republic who birthed this democratic dispensation under which we all gather here to espouse the values of multi-party democracy. We also celebrate the founder of the great National Democratic Congress (NDC),whose toil and sacrifices led to what has become a very formidable political force in our country.

Former President Rawlings was larger than life, very charismatic, enigmatic, very forthright and said it as it is. He was not always looking for favours and plaudits, even from his own side of the political divide. He stood for justice, principles and was a man of the ordinary Ghanaian and he must be remembered for his exceptional modesty. President Rawlings will go down in the history

books as perhaps, the only African military ruler who did not promote himself when he ascended the reins of power. He will be one of the very few, if any, who did not promote himself. At the time, what really had been the practice was that a lot of them, upon seizing the reins of power, gave themselves all kinds of titles but President Rawlings did not do that.

Mr Speaker, President Rawlings remained very modest and there are about two recent examples that further illustrate that modesty. I recall that when his own Government under the era of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama wrote to him to seek his blessing and permission to name an FPSO after him because a Cabinet decision had been taken that the FPSO should be named after former democratic Presidents, the modest President Rawlings declined.

Under His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, very recently, he was written to, so that the University for Development Studies which came about through his own selfless gesture of using his Hunger Prize money of US$50,000 as seed capital. Very remarkably, President Rawlings again declined the invitation and added very profound words by saying that he will rather prefer to be remembered in the hearts of men than to be remembered by monuments.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, continue.

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful. Those profound words of President Rawlings that he prefers to be remembered in the hearts of men than by monuments will continue to be the defining legacy of His Excellency Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
Mr Speaker, in his policies as President, you could tell that this was a man of great empathy, one who dedicated his life to the wellbeing of the ordinary Ghanaian. It is under his presidency that he extended electricity to the northern part of our country; before him, it had been thought that, that was an impossibility; he made that possible.
His policies continue to reflect in the fact that under his tenure, he extended potable water in leaps and bounds in ways that had never happened in our country and so, by
the time he was handing over power in the year2000, guinea worm infestation had been virtually eradicated which was as a result of the lack of potable water that Ghanaians had been exposed to due to very terrible sanitary conditions.
Mr Speaker, it is also important to emphasise that his commitment to democracy was not in doubt and never has been in doubt. There were many people who were not too sure whether he was indeed committed to the return to multi-party democracy in the year 1992. We have seen a lot of his peers and people who came into power whose names I would not like to mention, but the recent report I was looking at, between the years of 2005 and 2020, there are not less than 15 African countries whose leaders have amended the term limit provisions in their Constitutions so that they can stay on. Considering how very popular President Rawlings was, if he had decided to amend the Constitution by removing the term limit provisions, he may have continued to win elections as we have seen in other African countries.
Despite the high approval rating and popularity he was enjoying, President Rawlings remained committed to the democratic experiment. I have here, the tribute that former President John Agyekum Kufuor wrote on the 13th November,
eulogising former President Rawlings. In the third paragraph, he writes:
“When the time came for him to step down as President on 7th January, 2001, he obliged and obviously tried to contain whatever reservations he had about me and my Government that succeeded him and his Government within the bounds of the national Constitution of 1992. In this regard, whatever thus persisted about this commitment to democratic rule became atenopic and earned him a legacy of contributing to the sustenance of democratic governance of our country till his demise”.
Mr Speaker, these are the words of the man who succeeded him; many had doubts in the year 2000 whether there will be a smooth democratic transition; whether there may not be any Shenanigans (if I have to use that word) to, as it were --

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, just a minute. I would have to apply Standing Order 40 rule (3).
Having regard to the state of Business of the House, I direct that Sittings be held outside the prescribed period.
Please, you may continue.

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
So, his commitment to the current democratic experiment is not in doubt. I must add that during his tenure, he brought a lot of international appeal to Ghana. If we look at this foreign policy, he was credited for leading efforts towards the restoration of peace, law and order in many other African countries. He was the first leader to call for action in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Togo and he committed troops [Interruption.] He continued with Ghana's illustrious peacebuilding reputation which, since the year 1960, when President Nkrumah committed our first troops to Congo on the first Peace Operation that the Ghana Armed Forces undertook.
Mr Speaker, former President Rawlings attracted a lot of international accolades; very few African Presidents are invited on state visits to the United States of America (USA), and the Queen in England as he was the toast of the international community. They saw in him, a consummate democrat, a leader who has transformed from Military rule to a democratic order and remained committed to the democratic experiment.

There were very few African leaders who could manage that change and who could stay true; who did not at some point have a change of mind. President Rawlings must be saluted for that.

President Rawlings must also be celebrated for the fight against corruption. I believe that it is now confirmed that indeed, he was a selfless leader and those who thought that he would end up like some other African military rulers with strange bank accounts, foreign accounts and so on -- [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, nothing of that sort has been confirmed or found. Indeed, he was a very selfless leader and nobody can question the love he had for the ordinary man.

Mr Speaker, he will go down as somebody who did not discriminate if there was a wrong doing in his government even by people who may be related to him. We all know his history; he would take action and it is not surprising that he earned that respect across board as a person who does not countenance and tolerate wrongdoing no matter where it was coming from.

Mr Speaker, but when I arrived, he surprisingly knew about the plight of my cousin and said that he knew of a medication. So, he made me report to the doctor in his living room. This is how kind the man was; he was very kind to a fault. He was very generous and looks out for the ordinary Ghanaian. Mr Speaker, I

know of many humanitarian efforts that he has carried out. When I served at the Ministry of Education, he catered for the school fees of many students and he was always inundated. For example, I have some friends at FOCOS Hospital and I know that he was always helping out with their annual charity. Rev Father Campbell would also talk about his charity and the support that he made. He was a humanitarian, he helped, especially with lepers and so on.

Mr Speaker, he was a very kind- hearted man and we can spend the whole day to eulogise President Rawlings. Certainly, this country is blessed to have had him; he came in at the right time and I agree with Prof Mike Oquaye when he wrote in his book that the emergence of Rawlings was timely and it was great for the democracy of our country. Mr Speaker, as a political science student, I read that book “Politics in Ghana” and I really associate with the words of Prof Mike Oquaye.

Mr Speaker, let us remember his good works and live in his legacy and know that at the end of the day, in the final analysis, politics should be about improving the conditions of our people, fighting injustice and making sure that we leave our country and constituencies better than we met it.

May his soul rest in perfect peace and my condolences to Hon Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings and the other children. My condolence also to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and to the nation and the entire continent for he was an African icon who would forever be remembered.

Mr Speaker, thank you very much.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, there is a special request that I grant five minutes to the Hon Minority Chief Whip to say a few words before the Hon Majority Leader winds up. The Hon Leaders have agreed so I will give him just five minutes.

Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NDC -- Asawase)

Mr Speaker, thank you very much. Mr Speaker, the Hon Ladies are accusing us that we have not given them the opportunity to also contribute because all the contributors have been males. Mr Speaker, even though you cannot be blamed for this because you were given a list, I was wondering if you will be magnanimous enough and allow at least one Hon Lady to say something even if it is two minutes?

Mr Speaker

I have granted you the opportunity so go ahead and make your contribution because I consulted on the other Side for Hon Dan Botwe to also contribute but he said because

Alhaji Muntaka

Mr Speaker, I associate myself to almost all the comments that have been made without trying to repeat any of them.
Mr Speaker, my contribution is in regard to his belief for inclusiveness in the governance of our country, and I want to believe that if I had missed the opportunity to say this, then my conscience and the people of the zongos in this country may not forgive me. Mr Speaker, when he became the Head of State on 31st December, 1981, one of the major things that he did for those of us in the zongos across the country was the introduction of Islamic Education Unit. This single policy intervention in about 35 years has transformed our communities so greatly that today, we can boast that we are actively participating in the development of our country.
Mr Speaker, before the introduc- tion of the Islamic Education Unit, we had a major challenge which was that, if a person was sent to a missionary school, the person would be forced to go to church. Because of this, our parents resolved not to send us to school. For example, in my family, we are 41 siblings and I am number 14,
but I was the first person to go to school. The PNDC introduced Islamic Education Unit and took education to the Makarantas so that secular education could be taught within our own environment. Even in those dilapidated structures, many young people took advantage of this and today, in our communities, there is no profession in this country that we cannot find within the zongos.

Mr Speaker, one other major intervention that President Rawlings made was to recognise that during Christmas and Easter celebrations, our brothers and sisters of the Christian faith had holidays to celebrate their faith so he extended this to the Muslim community by ensuring that we had our days of celebrating the Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul- Adha declared as public holidays so that Muslims who work could also take a rest on that to observe their religious rites.

Mr Speaker, one other thing that he did was that, at every single national programme, there was the pouring of libation to recognise the African Traditional Religion; a Muslim prayer and a Christian prayer. Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, today, we seemed to have zeroed down to only the Muslims and Christians and

gradually find a way of taking out the traditional believers out. In my view, as part of eulogising him, we need to draw attention and all of us need to be active and remember that we have other religions than ours.

All of us are thought; if it is Islam, by the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)that one would never be a believer until he wishes for other what he wishes for himself. It is also in the Bible that Christ taught that love thy neighbour as thyself. It is also quoted of having been said in Confucianism and Buddhism that “love …”

I am sorry I have just forgotten the quotation for Confucianism. However, Mr Speaker, the bottom line is that in almost all the religions, the masters have taught their followers not to only love themselves and those who belong to their faith but others as well. However, in practice, almost all of us seemed to narrow it to either ourselves or our likes.

Mr Speaker, Jerry Rawlings was one who stood out as one of the Heads of State that fought for almost every smaller group in the country. It is not surprising that the zongo communities continue to love, live and support the party that he founded, the

National Democratic Congress (NDC). People are always surprised.

Mr Speaker, the last but not the least, he helped the Muslim community to establish the Office of the National Chief Imam as the rallying point for all issues that affect Muslims in this country. Before him, there was no such office, even though our Christian brothers had the Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana that were used to rally their groups. He encouraged the Muslims and set up the Office of the National Chief Imam.

Mr Speaker, I believe that as people, we should not just eulogise him and say the good things he did but to act to strengthen some of the things he believes in and establish when he was the Head of State so that we continue to co-exist even with our differences so that our country would continue to be greater than it is today.

Mr Speaker, with these few comments, I would conclude by thanking you sincerely for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.

May his soul rest in perfect peace. Our condolences to our own Hon Colleague, Hon Dr Zanetor Rawlings and the family, especially our mother

Mr Speaker

Hon Majority Leader?

Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity, first to associate myself with the tribute to the memory of His Excellency, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings which was read by the Hon Minority Leader in this House and also say a few words of my own in respect of the transition of the pillar of the Fourth Republic.
Mr Speaker, His Excellency Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has taken a bow out of this world's stage. One can almost picture the man seated on a stool surrounded by those who preceded him to the greater beyond and he beginning then with tales of his illustrious life flop with chides and tribulations and also telling them jokes. Mr Speaker, the trials and tribulations from which he lurched on largely emerged triumphantly.
The rather unsullied passing on of his His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings
struck Parliament and indeed the entire nation with trepidation as this was never within our contemplation at the time. Undoubtedly, there cannot be any successful account of the political history of this country, particularly the Fourth Republic without recognising the man Jerry John Rawlings, what he stood for, his actions and inactions and all.
Mr Speaker, the varied and assorted experiences that charac- terised the very tumultuous journey toward the Fourth Republic still resonates in some minds. The sheer determination against odds within and without the Provincial National Defence Council (PNDC) at the time that was exhibited by His Excellency Flt Lt Rawlings into a future that could not be predicted remains to be properly chronicled.
Flt Lt Rawlings emerged as the President from an election in 1992 that was perceived by his political opponents to have been flawed, but he persisted in his unwavering commitments to win the confidence of the citizenry over time. In pursuit of this path, his clarion call over the period was for the empowerment of the people and the integrity of leadership.
Former President Rawlings never lost sight of the events of the past
which unfortunately tended to resurrect memories of some painful occurrences in what Justice Daniel Annan, the then de facto Vice- Chairman of the PNDC and the Speaker of the First and Second Parliaments of the Fourth Republic as the glut and thunder base of the PNDC yell.
Mr Speaker, Rawlings intended to cloth the nation with socialist gaps in 1982 in the difficult days that followed after the December 31, 1981; the bushfires, deportation of close to one million Ghanaians from Nigeria. Yet he was very pragmatic and elected to do what eventually contributed significantly to stabilise the shape of the State.
Mr Speaker, his charisma was endlessly felt by many at both national and international levels. His ability to command crowds and lead people was indeed overwhelming, and his charm won him the admiration of both the young and the old.
Mr Speaker, this eulogy to the former President Rawlings can never be complete without stating unequivocally the strong conviction which propelled him in any endeavour he choose to pursue from the period of his emergence on the national scene.

History would surely recognise his monumental contribution to the development of this country in the areas of education, agriculture, including the revamping of the cocoa sector which was devastated by drought and bushfires in 1982 and 1983 and on energy, especially on the construction of thermal plants and his particular effort in rural electrification and on access roads to rural areas.

Mr Speaker, the effort towards opening up the Northern Region for development also deserves mentioning. We would recall the various State of the Nation Addresses on the floor of this House which used to be replete with a number of physical measures - Programme of Action to Mitigate the Social Cost of Adjustment (PAMSCAD), phases 1 and 2; the Economic Recovery programme, phases 1, 2 and 3, and the Structural Adjustment progamme (SAP), phases 1, 2 and 3, and the national institutional renewal programmes in phases.

Mr Speaker, all these fiscal and economic measures, some of which undoubtedly were pushed down the throat of this nation at the time by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, with good intentions though, were geared towards national reconstruction. His

resolute firmness and superintending over the implementation of these programmes, some of which were in clear conflict with the earlier stated position of the PNDC that Ghana did not have to go to the IMF or any of the Bretton Woods institutions.

Mr Speaker, indeed, the very first IMF-supported budget under President Rawlings which was shepherded by Dr Kwesi Botchwey met stiff national resistance and led to the peeling off some of the bitterest critics of the IMF/World Bank from the PNDC at the time.

Mr Speaker, the late President was resolute in his new conviction hence the development of the nation could not happen without the support of the IMF and the World Bank. When Dr Botchwey joined ranks with him and pushed that agenda, the nation bounced back. Here we are today, emerging from the association that this nation had with the Bretton Woods institutions. Mr Speaker, the wisdom in the decision of President Rawlings at the time to make that u-turn indeed salvaged the course of this country.

Mr Speaker, the late President never minced words in any situation or occurrence in the nation to governments of this country, thus

earning him the title, “Papa J” and sometimes, “Papa Boom”.

Indeed, anyone who was privileged to be around him did well to be of good behaviour as any slip could trigger a very blunt criticism in the presence of all. The highest test of his political carreer was when he had to step aside after eight years as president of the country in the year 2000 and hand over to the next President, His Excellency John A. Kufuor.

Indeed, Ghana has been very peaceful since he successfully handed over power as President as a testament to his pacesetting in the peaceful transfer of power. Considering his background, it is not surprising that we have since had peaceful transfer of power which other African countries also look up to emulate.

Mr Speaker, President Rawlings' patriotism was seen even after his presidency as he invariably participated in all state functions and the one we would miss most is his presence in the Chamber of this Parliament anytime he was invited. He never shied away from public activities even when he was not in the best of shapes. He won several awards and was actively involved in many charity works all over the country and even beyond.

Mr Speaker, there is no scintilla of doubt that former President Rawlings, out of inconspicuous and unpromising beginnings, certainly identified his mission and never betrayed it and indeed fulfilled same. Needless to say, our sense of loss at his passing is poignant. The country would have wished to have had him with us for many more years. But we are indeed very grateful to the almighty God for enabling us to share in his very impactful life.

To his widow and partner in governance, Nana Konadu Agyeman- Rawlings and his nuclear family, including our own colleague Hon Member, Dr Zanetor Agyeman- Rawlings, the extended family, the party he controlled from 1992 to 2000 and the entire nation, we express our profound condolence. May the good Lord hold us together.

Mr Speaker, Flt Lt Rawlings has played his part in national reconstruction. Without doubt, he was not a perfect person but who amongst us is perfect? My prayer is that history would be kind to Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings for the role that he played in our national development. May his soul and the souls of all faithfully departed rest in the bosom of our Lord till we meet again.

Thank you Mr Speaker for the space granted.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, let me just endorse all that have been said in trying to eulogise our departed former President, Ft Lt Jerry John Rawlings. I would begin by echoing these words:
“So praise we great and famous men; the fathers named in glory. And praise the Lord who now and then reveals in man His glory.”
President Rawlings, definitely, was a creation of the society. He lived in an embodiment of his time; [Interruption.] Unity in diversity. He definitely lived and worked towards uniting people. He worked towards stabilising the country and his focus was for nothing but the development of Ghana at the peril of his life and that of his dear wife and children. He sacrificed everything for Ghana. So I want to say that he lived, worked and died for Ghana.
Many of you are not aware that before Rawlings, constituents rather went to their Hon Members of Parliament.

It is he who introduced the politics of Hon Members of Parliament

Mr Speaker

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
Hon Members: Amen.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, I am sure that we all have copies of the Order Paper Addendum. We would move to the Commencement of Public Business, item numbered 6. The Order Paper Addendum replaces what is on the original Order Paper -- the Private Member's Motion. I would want to be guided by Leadership and the Hon Member who moved the Motion whether or not we could go on with it, and if so, how many people could contribute and what time limit we should give to Hon Members to do so?
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, we have had some consultations amongst us in Leadership and given the solemnity of the occasion that we just involved ourselves in, paying glowing tribute to our former President, we concluded
that it would be wise to stand the Motion down and come on Tuesday, 26th January, 2021 to deal with it first, after we commence Business. That is the indication that I have had from my Hon Colleagues on the other Side. I believe that we can abide by that.

Mr Speaker

Yes, Hon Minority Leader?

Mr Iddrisu

Mr Speaker, that is the understanding we have reached. I have consulted Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga that we consider the Motion on Tuesday as one of the first and probably, major Business.
Mr Speaker, what is refreshing is that, you would see as you have admitted that there is now some understanding on the text of the Motion. Therefore, we should be able to take it on Tuesday. On our Side, I have said that we should be bringing the debate to conclusion. Hon Member for Tamale North, Alhaji Alhassan Suhuyini Sayibu, Hon Member for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Ablakwa and myself would be the only contributors, and then we can get the same number of Hon Members from the other Side, and then you would put the Question on the matter.
Mr Speaker, I engaged the Hon Member for Bawku Cental, Mr Mahama Ayariga that as Hon Majority Leader said, we should dedicate today to the memory of former President Rawlings. Mr Speaker, I even enjoyed your concluding words. I just think as a country, we would take some other decisions to preserve, honour and dignify the Office of the former President as a people and as a country, as part of the recommen- dation you made. We would have to take a decision as part of our commitment to deepen our democracy, that Office is never ever personalised.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, we have gone far with this Motion. Consultations have been made and we have provided some useful guidance as to how we should go about it. I think we have made some great progress. So, on Tuesday, it would be the icing on the cake. We would look at the figures; we would not talk about suspending, but Government absorbing it. So, let us have the opportunity to do it well.
I agree with Leadership that we should take it on Tuesday and I would be guided by the numbers of those who are to contribute gain. There is a lot of work to be done next week, but because of COVID-19, we would take some measures and we

Mr Speaker

would need about one-third of Hon Members on the Floor. The rest would have to do virtual Parliament. They should have to be in their offices and observe proceedings. As and when necessary, you would appear to contribute. We would not allow this kind of Sitting again. We are also making preparations - if possible by next week - to make use of the new tent that has been provided.

That was where we used to swear in His Excellency the President, while we give this place for fumigation, thorough scrutiny and also the installation of other gadgets that could make the environment better for the work of Parliament. At least, it would make it more difficult for the virus to survive or be transmitted to another person. So, during the course of the weekend, there would be a lot of work, not only on the floor of the House, but also on the precincts of Parliament, including your offices. So, Hon Members should please cooperate with the Parliamentary Service to get this thing done.

I would also like to remind you of our other assignments on Tuesday; the filing pass. We are expected to be here by 8.30 a.m., so that we can move together. Our time slot is

between 9.00 a. m. and 10.00 a. m., which is one hour. Therefore, Hon Members should try to be here by 8.30 a. m, so that we can move together to go and give our late former President a befitting funeral.

Apart from that, we expect that those whose Leadership would direct to be in their offices should at least come to be recognised as having attended the Parliamentary Sitting. We would also check to see whether you are actually in your offices or you are somewhere else. You must attend Sitting, but this time, the Sitting is not only restricted to the floor of the Chamber, but also in your offices. Once again, COVID-19 is real, it is deadly and it is ravaging the whole world. So, Hon Members should take it very seriously. With this, I am tempted to adjourn the House.

Hon Members, the House is accordingly adjourned till Tuesday, 26th January, 2021 at 8.30 a.m. in the morning, so that we could move together to perform the other responsibilities. The House is adjourned.

Debates of 22 Jan 2021

PRAYERS 10:59 a.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 10:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Mr Dafeamekpor 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Mr Dafeamekpor 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 11:19 a.m.

Majority Leader/Chairman of the Committee (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 11:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 11:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows 11:19 a.m.

Mr Richard Acheampong 11:19 a.m.

Mr Richard Acheampong 11:19 a.m.

Mr Alhassan S. Sayibu 11:29 a.m.

Mr Emmanuel Bedzrah 11:29 a.m.

Mr Yusif Sulemana 11:29 a.m.

Dr Sebastian Ngmenenso Sandaare 11:29 a.m.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu 11:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:29 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:29 a.m.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11 a.m.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 11 a.m.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 11:49 a.m.

Mr Sayibu 11:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.

Mrs Ursula Gifty Owusu- Ekuful (NPP -- Ablekuma West) 11:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:49 a.m.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:59 a.m.

Mrs Angela Oforiwa Alorwu- Tay (NDC -- Afadzato South) 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:59 a.m.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri) 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:59 a.m.

Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:59 a.m.

Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 12:09 p.m.

Mr Sayibu 12:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:09 p.m.

Mr Annoh-Dompreh 12:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:09 p.m.

Mr Ablakwa 12:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:19 p.m.

STATEMENTS 12:19 p.m.

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 12:19 p.m.

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 12:29 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:29 p.m.

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan) 12:39 p.m.

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan) 12:39 p.m.

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan) 12:49 p.m.

Mr Speaker 12:59 p.m.

Mr Speaker, let us look at decentralisation 12:59 p.m.

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote 1:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 1:09 p.m.

Mr Samuel Abudlai Jinapor (NPP -- Damongo) 1:09 p.m.

Mr Speaker 1:09 p.m.

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem) 1:09 p.m.

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem) 1:19 p.m.

Mr Speaker 1:19 p.m.

Mr Adams 1:20 p.m.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:20 p.m.

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu) 1:20 p.m.

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu) 1:29 p.m.

Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:29 p.m.

Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome (NDC -- South Tongu) 1:29 p.m.

Mr Speaker, permit me to quote a portion of this book that tells it all 1:39 a.m.

Mr Speaker, it goes on to say 1:39 a.m.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 1:49 p.m.

Mr Speaker 1:49 p.m.

Mr Ablakwa 1:49 p.m.

Mr Speaker 1:49 p.m.

Mr Ablakwa 1:59 p.m.

PRAYERS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT

Mr Speaker

Mr Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker

Mr Dafeamekpor

Mr Speaker

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Majority Leader/Chairman of the Committee (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu)

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows

Mr Speaker, the Committee accordingly submits its report as follows

Mr Richard Acheampong

Mr Richard Acheampong

Mr Alhassan S. Sayibu

Mr Emmanuel Bedzrah

Mr Yusif Sulemana

Dr Sebastian Ngmenenso Sandaare

Mr Haruna Iddrisu

Mr Speaker

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Sayibu

Mr Speaker

Mrs Ursula Gifty Owusu- Ekuful (NPP -- Ablekuma West)

Mr Speaker

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful

Mr Speaker

Mrs Angela Oforiwa Alorwu- Tay (NDC -- Afadzato South)

Mr Speaker

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam-Adoagyiri)

Mr Speaker

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Sayibu

Mr Speaker

Mr Annoh-Dompreh

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

STATEMENTS

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu)

Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu)

Mr Speaker

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP -- Esikadu-Ketan)

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker, let us look at decentralisation

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote

Mr Speaker

Mr Samuel Abudlai Jinapor (NPP -- Damongo)

Mr Speaker

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem)

Mr Kofi Adams (NDC -- Buem)

Mr Speaker

Mr Adams

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu)

Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (NPP -- Effutu)

Mr Second Deputy Speaker

Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome (NDC -- South Tongu)

Mr Speaker, permit me to quote a portion of this book that tells it all

Mr Speaker, it goes on to say

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu)

Mr Speaker

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker