Debates of 26 Jan 2021

MR SPEAKER
PRAYERS noon
ANNOUNCEMENTS noon
Mr Speaker noon
Hon Members, we would move to item numbered 2; I have not received any formal communication from the President but I would want to take this opportunity to remind Hon Members that the medical screening is still ongoing. The COVID-19 testing is also ongoing. We arranged with the Noguchi Institute to use three days. The three days are over but I am reliably informed that some Hon Members have not yet taken the opportunity to either do the screening or even undergo the COVID-19 test.
Hon Members, I would humbly urge that we all take this opportunity seriously and go through by the end
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT noon
Mr Speaker noon
Hon Members, item numbered 3, Correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report.
The various editions of the Official Report are not yet ready, and so, we would restrict ourselves to the correction of Votes and Proceedings.
Page 1 -- 4 -- [Interruption] --
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much. I got up when you mentioned page 2. Unfortunately, I was not timeous enough but our Hon Colleague the Second Deputy Speaker is here. On page 2, he is number 53. May we know from him whether he spells his Amoako with “ku” or “ko”? I have always assumed that it is “ko”.
Mr Andrew Asiamah Amoako noon
Mr Speaker, I was going to address this particular issue. I am thankful to the Hon Majority Leader for bringing
it to the fore, so, if the Table Office could address it? [Interruption] --
It ends with “o” and not “u”.
Mr Speaker noon
Yes, Table Office, it is “Amoako” spelt with an “o” at the end.
Page 3 -- 8
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa noon
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
Mr Speaker, at page 8, item numbered 2, the Hon James Agalga was present in the Chamber last Friday. Indeed, I engaged him in discussi ons during the tribute that eulogised the former President, so, if it could be corrected. He is not here; I am sure he would have raised it. He was in the Chamber.
Mr Speaker noon
Thank you Hon Member.
Hon Members, he is talking about item numbered 4, sub-numbered 2.

Yes?

Hon Members, it would be difficult for me to identify you because the light is just directed at my eyes and I cannot see --
Mr Haruna Iddrisu noon
Mr Speaker, I am Haruna Iddrisu.
Mr Speaker noon
Yes?
Mr Haruna Iddrisu noon
I know the Leader of Government Business as Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. The “Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu” is hyphenated but with the official correspondence from the President's Office, his name was not hyphenated. Are we reporting what is in the official correspondence from the President's Office or we are reporting the reality? I know it is him.
Mr Speaker noon
Well, I saw it from the official correspondence from the Office of the President and since we know it was referring to the Hon Member for Suame, a long standing member of this House, I think the Clerk's Office did the right thing by properly capturing the spelling of his name. He has only two names; one is “Osei” and the other is “Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu.”
Page 10 --
Mr James K. Avedzi - rose
Mr Speaker noon
Yes, Hon James Avedzi Klutse?
Mr James K. Avedzi 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you. On the same page 9, item numbered 10, the official correspondence from the President on the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, the nominee reads “Hon Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP)” but on page 9, item numbered (x), the name reads “Hon Ursula Gifty Owusu-Ekuful”. Mr Speaker, I do not know whether we are referring to the same person and so we need that clarification to be made.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon Leader of Government Business, you may help us in this direction. Are we referring to the same person?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe we are referring to the same person. The Votes and Proceedings captures exactly the correspondence from the Presidency through you to Parliament, and that is what has been captured.
So, if there are any corrections, they would be effected subsequently. I know the full name is “Allan Kwadwo Kyerematen”, but we just have “Allan Kyerematen”; I think “Godfred Dame” is also “Godfred Yeboah Dame”. We would look at these things and effect the corrections.
Mr Speaker, we would do what is appropriate, and if there are any corrections, they would be effected accordingly.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
The Clerks-at-the- Table usually capture what is presented to us, and during the course of the correction of the Votes and Proceedings, these things could be done. The challenge we would have is that Hon Members must be vigilant because not all the nominees are Hon Members of Parliament. Even if they are, they might not be present, and so, it is important that Hon Members draw our attention so that we correct them and get the proper names of the nominees.
Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, at page 9, item numbered (xii) it is “Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh”. For the record, the Minister-designate for Energy is an Hon MP, and if you look on the list, all those who are Hon MPs have been addressed as “Hon”. So, if that correction could be made?
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Well, this correction is in respect of all Hon MPs who were nominated. I can see some where it has not been indicated that they are Hon MPs, but the President indicated in the correspondence that they were Hon MPs. We have “Hon Dominic
B. A. Nitiwul” and “Hon Ambrose Dery” for example. There are plenty of them and so Clerks-at-the-Table should kindly take note.
Page 10 … 12
Mr Iddrisu 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I tried to catch your eye when you were moving from page 10 to 11. It is a matter of law. The official correspondence from the President referenced under article 78(1) of the Constitution, but at the tail end of the list were Regional Ministers- designate.
My understanding, as I read the decentralised provisions of the Constitution, starting from Chapter 25 is that, Regional Ministers fall within the categories of Ministers anticipated under article 255 of the 1992 Constitution.
This is a matter we could raise at the Appointments Committee, but Regional Ministers are construed as part of Ministers appointed under specific provisions of the Constitution so that tomorrow, the handlers would know that there is a distinction of that category of State Ministers at the level of Cabinet and Regional Ministers as anticipated under article 255(1) of the Constitution.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader is right in his observation, but I thought that under the item numbered 5 on page 8 of the Votes and Proceedings, the distinction was made. The distinction is made between the Ministers of State nominated by the President for appointment in respect of article 78(1) and indeed, what the Hon Minority Leader quoted for us.
He quoted article 255. It is even article 256(1), and it is captured here. So I do not know what he really means by the fact that they belonged to two categories. Yes, they belonged to two categories, and I believe the communication captured same.
Mr Speaker 12:10 p.m.
I believe the explanation suffices.
Page 12 … 13.
Hon Members, the Votes and Proceedings of the sixth Sitting of the First Meeting of the First Session held on Friday, 22nd January, 2021, as corrected, is adopted as the true record of proceedings.
We now move to Statements. I have admitted two Statements from two Hon MPs. I will permit them to present their Statements, and I will do so in the order that I received them.
STATEMENTS 12:20 p.m.
Mr Vincent Ekow Assafuah (NPP -- Old Tafo) 12:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity to deliver a Statement in commemoration of the International Day of Education, a day set aside by the United Nations to celebrate the role of education for peace and development.
The day fell on Sunday, 24th January, 2021, and was celebrated around the world yesterday, 25th January, 2021.
Mr Speaker, I now believe it is an opportunity to make a Statement in honour of the day.
Mr Speaker, permit me to refer to one of the often-quoted assertions by the distinguished South African statesman and global icon, Mr Nelson Madiba Mandela on the essence of education. He says and I beg to quote:
“Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world”.
So authoritative is this statement that it has struck many chords and vibrates in halls around the world and is inscribed on the walls of some of the most eminent institutions of higher learning around the world.
For us as Africans and Ghanaians, so to speak, those hallowed words are inscribed on our hearts. I believe many of us seated here are testaments to this fact that education really changes everything. Indeed, the acquisition of knowledge uplifts the down-trodden; gives a village boy a sense of hope and makes global icons of people who grew up in tattered peril and would have otherwise, not meant much for this world.
We know the story of a little boy born in 1938 in Kumasi in the Gold Coast rising to become the seventh Secretary-General in 1997. Obviously, education gave him that opportunity.
Mr Speaker, there are many and too familiar statements around the globe, and as a son of a teacher myself and as many are aware of my last job as the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, I have seen
first-hand, this value that I speak about and its many potentials: stories of change brought about by an excellent pedagogy; a highly rewarded teacher; a resourceful library; decent classrooms; tiredly students and the favourable Government policy.
Mr Speaker, I am also reminded of the many challenges that need to be addressed to enhance the experience of education for Ghanaian children. In Africa, indeed, many Hon Members would bear me out that there are still parents who are grappling with the choice of whether their kids should work on the farms or go to school. There are still teachers whose rewards are nothing to write home about. In some parts of our rural areas especially, education is carried out under the most bizarre conditions.
Mr Speaker, it is for good reasons that the United Nations recognises education as a human right; a public good and a public responsibility. And I believe as legislators, Government officials and leaders in many spheres, this is a charge worthy of our reflection.
Mr Speaker, but the Ghanaian story is not all glowing. On the 6th of September, 2018, His Excellency, President Akufo Addo received an
award from the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to education by implementing Free Universal Education in Ghana. This has been the list of the laurels and endorsements that this President has received for his singular ambition and commitment to the implementation of the now, very popular Free SHS policy.
Free SHS in my view is single- handedly, the biggest and the most revolutionary social policy by any Government in our Fourth Republican democracy, and I am happy, based on the experience of the last elections that today, we have a better consensus on this policy as compared to previous elections.
Mr Speaker, education is about possibility and potentials; it is the potentials of re-defining basic education from kindergarten to include senior high school education; thus covering Vocational, Agricultural as well as Technical schools and the possibility of granting access to the millions of children.
It is about the commitment to revive the lots of teachers by converting teacher training colleges into degree awarding institutions and making sure that allowances due teacher trainees are paid.
Mr Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon Members, any comments to be made, taking into consideration that this Statement was admitted under Standing Order 71? It is not a Statement under Standing Order 72. --[Pause] --
Dr Kingsley Nyarko (NPP -- Kwadaso) 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the Statement read by my Hon Colleague, the Hon Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo.
It is obvious that education has made all of us sitting here what we are and without education, societies would never achieve the progress and development that they seek to achieve. Looking at our history, you would realised that all previous presidents and the current one have seen the need to ensure that education becomes a centrepiece towards our socio-economic development.
Mr Speaker, our first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, saw the need for education and made sure that education became accessible in some parts of the country, specifically,
the northern regions of this country. The essence of education has also led to so many reforms within our educational system.
In the late 1960s, Prof Kwapong of the University of Ghana, was of the view that we needed to take a critical look at the curriculum at the advanced level of education in this country. In 1972, Dzobo's Committee also recommended some reforms in our educational sector. In the year 2007, we also saw the Anamuah-Mensah Committee which also underscored the need for us to have some form of a paradigm shift in our educational system.
Mr Speaker, our current President, also seeing the relevance of education in this country, made sure that education at the pre-tertiary level, especially at the Senior High Schools was to be made accessible to all school going children within that age category. Based on that, we have seen that about 1.2 million children of school going age found themselves at school. All these are attempts to ensure that education in this country becomes strengthened.
Mr Speaker, education at the pre- tertiary level is very critical, especially at the pre-school level, where we need to prepare the minds of our pre- schoolers for them to appreciate the
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 12:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I would want to use this opportunity to thank the Hon Member who made the Statement for drawing our attention to this important day declared by the United Nations, particularly, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), for the observation of
the Education Day, under the theme as the Hon Member rightly captured, “Recover and Revitalise Education for the COVID-19 Generation”.
I would like to note that one year into COVID-19, it is reported in the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, that over 800 million students, which is more than half of the world's student population, still face significant disruptions to their education. This ranges from full school closures in 31 countries, to reduced or part-time academic schedules in another 48 countries. It is further reported, that about 258 million youths and children are not in school and about 617 million adolescents cannot read. It is further reported that about 40 per cent of young girls are not in the area of Science.
Mr Speaker, while I commend the Hon Member who made the Statement, he should also appreciate that the foundations were laid for the President's Free Senior High School Initiative. That is why those students benefitting from it in particular, are sleeping in dormitories built by previous governments. They are in classrooms previously built by them. So, its success hinges on other investments made earlier in the educational sector.
While commending the Hon Member who made the Statement, I have just one primary concern. My concern is that while we celebrate this day, what are we doing as a country to assure Ghanaian children who have just reopened school? What is Government doing to school pupils and students? Are they protected; are there sufficient measures to protect them from the dangers of COVID- 19? Are teachers sufficiently taken care of to manage themselves and pupils and students on behalf of parents during this COVID-19 period?
Mr Speaker, that is why this year, UNESCO's theme is “Recover and Revitalise Education for the COVID- 19 Generation”. We are not in normal times but extraordinary times. I shudder to add, that even in Ghana today, we are not being fair to Ghanaian children in public schools. What are we doing in order not to widen inequality and ensure equity in access to education? Our children are benefitting from Zoom because probably, they are privileged to have access to good quality private education.
So, there exists in Ghana today, a wide disparity between public school education and private school education. There is this wide disparity in respect of rural and urban education. The rural areas cannot
Minority Leader (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 12:40 p.m.
access quality education, so while today we celebrate, Government must reflect and ponder over what it needs to do to avoid the growing inequality in our country. COVID-19 may produce another set of poor people.
Mr Speaker, indeed, yesterday, it was reported that 500 million people in the world are likely to fall under the poverty line arising out of COVID- 19. I am sure that it was the UNGA's decision to have this day declared -- [Interuuption] -- Even the targets they set for us as countries on the Sustainable Development Goals have to be redefined as well as their time periods. This is because many countries would not be able to meet the targets, including the target relating to education.

Mr Speaker, I commend the Hon Member who made the Statement. Let it wake us up to realise that we need to do something about Ghanaian children in the syto schools, that is public schools.

They do not have zooms and even televisions in their homes. I say so because if they lose their foundational years, we should forget about it

because this is the only period they can learn numeracy and literacy. If school children sit at home for eight months --

Mr Speaker, I would want to end with this real joke. In my Constituency in Tamale, between Wamale and Changli, many of the young people learnt how to shoot catapult when there was no school and in the mornings they would be in clusters learning how to chase people with catapult.

Is that the youth we are looking forward to training tomorrow because they have no access to education? Parents became teachers and they have appreciated teachers as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic because the burden of socialisation which shifted largely to teachers whiles the pupils were in school has now shifted to parents because they managed the children in the morning, afternoon and evening with difficulty.

Mr Speaker, I commend the Hon Member who made the Statement but we should know that in Ghana, we need to take urgent steps to ensure that they do not lose their foundational training years. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government must take the necessary urgent steps to provide those personal protection facilities for both teachers and pupils particularly, in public schools.

Mr Speaker, with these few comments, I thank you for the opportunity and once again, I commend the Hon Member who made the Statement.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum (NPP -- Bosomtwe) 12:40 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement and I also want to commend the Hon Member for Old Tafo, who made the Statement.
Mr Speaker, I also want to thank the Hon Minority Leader for the challenge he has thrown to all of us and I would want to assure him that as the Hon Minister for Education designate, if he helps me to become the Hon Minister, these are issues that I have been assured would be solved and with his input, we would do a better job to educate the children of Ghana in the midst of this pandemic.
The pandemic serves as a lesson to all of us. When we talk about the disparities we see in terms of education and the fact that zooms are not available in our public school settings and families whose children attend public schools, we must not lose sight of the fact that it has happened because of the digital divide that confronts us in this country. The digital divide finds expression in educational divide and for us to be
able to solve the challenges of this educational divide, we have to go to the root of the problem and solve the digital divide. The good news is that the Ministry of Communications has looked at rural connectivity and when that is solved, families who even have mobile phones would get signals and be able to help their children to do the work.
Mr Speaker, yes, there are challenges but therein lies the opportunities for all of us to be able to say that in the midst of the pandemic that decimated the educational system, that actually made the learning poverty worse -- [Interruption.] -- Learning poverty is generally defined by World Bank as a phenomenon by which children who are at the age of 10 years are not able to read or write.
In developing countries, it was about 53 per cent before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and so we could imagine that with the pandemic, it may be 70 per cent of children who are at the age of 10 years, who are not able to read for understanding.
So, we need to have all hands on deck and it should not only be the responsibility of the Ministry of Education but it should be all of us as leaders of this country who would work under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, who is
Mr Speaker 12:50 p.m.
I cannot identify any more Hon Member who wants to contribute, so I would make a short comment.
It is important for us in such situations to try and put some things in the right perspective. We all recall the great illustrious son of Ghana, who was born in Chorkor, called James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey -- one of the forbearers of education in the whole of Africa. I would quote his statement because we are often told that he said that if you educate a man, you simply educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation. What they failed to tell us is that he predicated this statement on a more profound one, which says and I quote:
“The surest way to keep people down is to educate the man and neglect the woman''.
That is a more profound statement. This was a revolutionary statement which led to co-education in the Gold
Coast and the establishment of the Achimota Secondary School. However, what is even more relevant for our purpose is what he said and I quote:
“I do not care what you know, show me what you can do''.

So, education is not just a matter of degrees -- So how do you translate that into action and into producing something good for society? That was why he said “I do not care what you know, show me what you can do”.

Hon Members, I would want to thank the Hon Member who made the Statement and Hon Members who also contributed to the Statement. I would now proceed to take the second Statement. I have just been informed that our sister country, India, is celebrating their Independence Day, so I would admit a Statement today to commemorate their independence celebration.

However, we would take the second Statement that stands in the name of Hon Yusif Sulemana, the Hon Member for Bole-Bamboi. The Statement is on the Effects of Seasonal Bushfires on Livelihoods and the Economy.

Hon Member, you may make your Statement.

Effects of Seasonal Bushfires on Livelihoods and the Economy
Mr Yusif Sulemana (NDC -- Bole/Bamboi) 12:50 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a Statement on the important subject of bushfires which for many decades has negatively impacted rural livelihoods.
Mr Speaker, on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, the Ghana Meteorological Agency issued a press statement on the subject “Harmattan Weather Alerts”. In the statement, the Agency noted that from 20th January, 2021, harmattan would intensify as dry and dusty continental waves from Chad would be entering Ghana. The Statement cautions that the northern half of our country is expected to be drier with an increase probability of fire outbreaks. Mr Speaker, it has therefore become extremely necessary for this House to take notice of this issue and offer valuable insights to the citizenry.
Mr Speaker, lately, the damaging effects of bushfires especially in the Savannah Zone have been exacer- bated by the effects of climate change. The Savannah Zone, as we are all aware, is characterised by large expanse of dry fields. Consequently,
Mr Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon Members, this is a Statement that falls under Standing Order 72. And so comments would be guided by that Standing Order.
Yes, Hon Member?
Mr Paul Apreku Twum- Barimah (NPP -- Dormaa East) 1 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
I beg to support the Statement made by my senior colleague on bushfires, which is truly having a devastating effect on our environment.
Mr Speaker, bushfires normally recorded in this part of our world comes in during the dry season, the time of the harmattan. It is normally within November to March.
Mr Speaker, looking at the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 which also talks about life, it talks about the activities of humans in supporting the environment. One of these activities is protecting the soil and its nutrients to improve our normal lives. Bushfires as stated by the Hon Member who made the Statement, is something that causes the farmer to lose a lot on the activities in their various farm lands.
Mr Speaker, it is important to say that 100 per cent of these bushfires happen within the northern part of our country. It is important to also note that it is in line with some of our people looking for their daily bread.
Mr Speaker, charcoal is one of the main sources of fuel in our various homes. If we go to some parts of
northern Ghana, charcoal is a source of livelihood for some of our people there. In going through this process, they end up causing these bushfires.
Mr Speaker, it is also important to note that some of these bushfires are caused by nomadic farmers. It is important to also note that normal peasant farmers also contribute this increase in bushfires. However, as the Statement of the Hon Member said, it is important that we find a lasting solution to enable us have a harmonised policy that would fight these bushfires across the country.
Indeed, the Hon Member who made the Statement suggested the idea of community groups. Mr Speaker, I also suggest that we bring on board school clubs such as bushfire clubs that would help these children at their early stages to assimilate the effects of bushfires within their communities.
Mr Speaker, I also support the Hon Member who made the Statement that in trying to help solve the issue, tree planting is important. It is important that we enhance tree planting in our various constituencies. As leaders, let us take up that charge and role to support tree planting to enable us fight bushfires as stated by my senior Colleague.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu (NDC -- Tamale North) 1:10 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement that has been made by the Hon Member of Parliament for Bole/Bamboi.
Mr Speaker, indeed, bushfires continue to cause havoc in many parts of this country. A lot of data shows especially how it has affected food production over the years. It has also highlighted its effects on our environment especially the forest cover of our country.
However, Mr Speaker, an area that has not been highlighted much over the years by research as an effect of bushfire is its effect relating to electrification across the country.
In many communities in the North, you are likely to be faced with the inability of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) or the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to connect these communities to the national grid as a result of bushfires that affect the electricity poles that are usually erected.
Mr Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Hon Members, at the beginning of this Meeting, I advised that Hon Members should always mention their names and their constituencies. This is even more so as we are in a different environment. I am informed that our brothers and sisters from the media are struggling to identify the Hon Members who are making the contributions. So please, kindly always tell us your name and your constituency.
Mr Joseph K. Kumah(NDC -- Kintampo North) 1:10 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity to associate myself with the Statement made by Hon Yusif Sulemana of Bole/ Bamboi. I share a boundary with him. He is to the north and my place begins with the southern sector. Whatever he has brought up is true. Bushfire has a lot of sad effects on our people. It has effects on biodiversity and on soil fertility.
Mr Speaker, a lot has been said already by Hon Members in supporting this Statement and I add my voice to it.
Mr Speaker, to cut the long story short, would it be allowed to propose to the nation that we accept early burning because perennially and for years, bushfire has always been talked about. Yet annually, we face same challenges. Where traditional leaders
are able to even control their subjects not to burn, a common cigarette smoking driver passing by, not with the intention to burn, creates a lot of trouble. And the more the bushes dry so much, the more a little spark of fire is just what is needed.
Mr Speaker, there is a lot to talk about. I do not want to say much because a lot has been said but mine is to add my voice to that and then to ask if this honourable House could not set up a committee to check if we can advise or make laws guiding early burning so that it could be controlled and the bushes do not get so dry for the fires to become so wild.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP -- Nsawam Adoagyiri) 1:10 p.m.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the oppor- tunity.
Let me begin by thanking the maker of the Statement. Clearly, this is a well-researched statement and also to say that the effect of bushfires, apart from the destruction of flora and fauna, there is also the potential of food security which, in my view, is the thrust of the matter and that is where our focus should be as a nation.
Mr Speaker, Hon Members who have spoken earlier intimated the need for some amendments to existing legislation. I have done a cursory research and one of the things that
Mr Murtala M. Ibrahim (NDC -- Tamale Central) 1:20 p.m.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by my uncle, even though he is not living by that responsibility -- [Laughter] --
Mr Speaker, there is no denying the fact that the challenge of bush fires has been with us for decades, if not centuries. I had the opportunity to serve in the Sixth Parliament and at the time, I was representing a rural constituency and I remember that in all the four years that I served in that Parliament, not a single year passed without a Statement made on the effects of bushfires.
At that time, I took the pains to go through the archives and I realised that in every single previous Parliament, three or four Statements were made on the havoc of bushfires. I shudder to think that in the next 10 years, if some of us are alive and represented in this House, more Statements would be made on the effects of bushfires.
The reason is simple. When we formulate policies wrongly, one can easily predict the failure of those policies. At any point in time, we have these Statements being made in this august House. Laws are enacted and they are sometimes enforced. Policies are formulated and to a very large extent, they are implemented.
The question we have not asked ourselves is why is it that with all these laws enacted, for instance, this PNDC Law and that policy being implemented by every Government in this country, we still talk about the effects of bushfires, not only in this House, but I believe that in the policy direction and implementation of every Government, it comes to that same point.
Mr Speaker, permit me to quote Albert Einstein who once said 1:20 p.m.
“The significant problem that confronts us can never be solved with the thinking we had when we created them.”
The problem of bushfires to a very large extent are our creation and it boils down to the kind of policies we have. I know and my Hon Colleagues from the five regions of the northern part of the country are also aware that some of these fires in the bushes are not accidentally caused, but they are

deliberately set ablaze because it is sometimes in fulfilment of a century- long cultural practice that every year, certain bushes must be set ablaze, so that people can engage in what they call in Dagbani “peli”, to wit “local hunting”. So, the bushes are deliberately set ablaze.

Mr Speaker, I have been a victim of bushfires because my farm has ever been gutted. Just this year, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Regional Chairman in the Northern Region, had his entire farmland gutted. No year passes without some of these incidents.

Mr Speaker, so I think the way forward is that, in formulating the policies, the people for whom those policies are formulated need to play a critical role. It does not take any rocket science to tell the policy formulators that they need to sit with the people. They know where those bushes are -- bushes that are burnt in fulfilment of century-long cultural practices. We need to sit with those people and let them understand that we may respect the cultural values that they have been engaging in for centuries, but not their effect. Unfortunately, these things do not happen. We sit somewhere in air- conditioned rooms and formulate the policies. We sit in this august House

and enact and amend the laws and then we postulate that in doing these, we have found a panacea to the century-long bushfires and the consequential effect of it on us.

Mr Speaker, until such a time that the people for whom those policies were implemented are made part and parcel of the policy formulation, I am sorry that we would come back here in ten years' time to make similar statements on the effects of bushfires.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I think that we must take a position. I am happy that there are would-be Hon Ministers among us. This should not be an abated talk as we have been experiencing here. We would need to walk the talk, and we need to get the experts involved when we are formulating policies. And let them sit with the people who are involved in starting those bushfires which are occasioned as a result of fulfilment of century-long cultural practices that are put somewhere, so that in ten years from now, I may stand here and say that yes, we have done it together.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Hon Members, I believe that --
rose
Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Yes, Hon James K. Avedzi?
Mr Avedzi 1:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, just some few points I would want to raise before the Hon Member came in. So, if you would permit, I could make some few points on the Statement.
Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Please, go on.
Mr James Klutse Avedzi (NDC -- Ketu North) 1:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, my contribution to this Statement would be in the form of questions. Are bushfires a new phenomena in Ghana? Definitely, the answer is no. Have we as a country ever costed the effects of bushfires? Mr Speaker, no, to the best of my knowledge.
If we have done so, probably, we would have taken serious action on how to overcome it. Do we have laws to control bushfires in Ghana? Yes, we do. Have we been implementing those laws and how effective are those laws? Do the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have bye-laws on how to control bushfires? Yes, some do, but others do not. Are we failing in the fight against bushfires? I think the answer is, yes.
Mr Speaker, if all these things are anything to go by, is there the need for us to charge some sector ministers
to take a second look at the effects of bushfires? If we can, as a country, we can take concrete steps so that we do not come back next year to talk about bushfires again. It looks like, as said by Hon Members who spoke earlier we are not doing enough in order to fight them. Education alone could solve or go a long way to reduce the effects of bushfires or the numbers that we have as a country.
Mr Speaker, this is a very impor- tant Statement that you have admitted. We thank you for that. Could I invite you to direct that something should be done about it? Let us not leave the Statement and the contributions on this Floor, it should go beyond the House, so that we can find solution to this problem.
Mr Speaker, thank you.
Mr Speaker 1:20 p.m.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 1:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
I think we should express appre- ciation to the Hon Member who made the Statement that we have heard today. I would commend the Hon Member who made the Statement for coming out with a well-crafted and well-researched paper. I think that going forward, that really is how
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) 1:30 p.m.
Statements that are made in this House should be formulated. This House does not only deliberate on matters that come before us, but we also inform Ghanaians about what they should be taking seriously as a people.
I really recommend my Hon Colleagues in this Chamber who intend to make statements to make the nature of the Statement like that which has been made today.
Mr Speaker, I agree with the last but one contributor who said to us that Statements on bushfires have become ritualistic in this House. Every year, we have a couple of Statements made on bushfires, and bushfires have also become perennial. They happen always and we make Statements always. But as a nation, what should we be doing? I would want to believe that the next time around, this House should come leading the way as to what as a nation, we must be doing.
So, I do not expect to see or hear a Statement being read. Mr Speaker, I would want to believe that you would lead us to come with a Motion on what as a nation, we should be doing to conquer the menace of bushfires.
Mr Speaker, at the turn of the 19th Century, the country Ghana did not exist, but what eventually became known as Ghana had a forest cover of over 13 million hectares. At the turn of the 20th Century, it had reduced from 13 million hectares to 8.6 million hectares, and at the turn of the 21st Century, it had climbed further down to 1.2 million hectares.
As we speak today, the forest cover of this country is less than 700,000 hectares. That is dangerous for the survival of the citizens of this country, and it is important that something drastic is done about this. I am alluding to the effects of bushfires alone degrading our forest cover, but it is a major contributor to the devastation of the forest cover of this country.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who made the Statement has already alluded to the effect on our national economy, the devastation of the economy, modification of soil characteristics and the destruction of both flora and fauna, the loss of lives and property and the threat to food security.

Mr Speaker, all these are matters that should concern us, which is why I say to us that this time around, there

should be a formulation about how to confront this and the way forward for us as a country. Some proposals have already come by way of intensifying education at the community level by having the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) train volunteers and the local community owning the process of combating bushfires.

I believe all these are important solutions to resolving this. I agree with the Hon Member who spoke last when he said to us that we should have the local communities own the system.

Mr Speaker, I have always insisted that it is not by happenstance that when you cross the border at Paga and enter Burkina Faso, from Paga to Ouagadougou which is a much more Sahelian environment, which is supposed to be drier but it is greener than the northern portions of our country. It is because of the conscious effort of Burkina Faso to combat the menace of bushfires.

Mr Speaker, they capacitate their local Assemblies to fight bushfires; we do not. And they do the cost of the devastation or destruction of bushfires and put the burden on the Assemblies' which is why when they see someone set fire, they may even lynch the person. It is not so for us.

Mr Speaker, we are still cutting down the few trees that we have in our Sahelian environment and burning them into charcoals. Citizens of Burkina Faso cross to Ghana to buy charcoal and send to their country. They protect what they have, and we destroy what we have. There should be a conscious and multifaceted effort on the part of Government, the assemblies and the Hon Members of Parliament.

Mr Speaker, the Constitution enjoins us in article 240 to enact appropriate laws to ensure that functions, powers, responsibilities and resources are at all times transferred from the central Government to the local government. Do we do that?

Article 240(2)(b) of the 1992 Constitution states:

“Parliament shall by law provide for the taking of such measures as are necessary to enhance the capacity of local government authorities to plan, initiate, co- ordinate, manage and execute policies in respect of all matters affecting the people within their areas, with a view to ultimately achieving the localization of those activities”.

Do we do that? Parliament is obligated to establish for each local government unit a sound financial base
Mr Speaker 1:30 p.m.
Thank you so much, Hon Members.
Two Statements have been made this afternoon on very important subject matters. In order not for the House to be like John the Baptist in the wilderness, I urge both the Committee on Education and the Committee on Defence and Interior to reach out to the sector Ministries to take a critical look at the subject
matters. Please, kindly look at all issues concerning the two subject areas -- issues including financing, institutional arrangements and policy.
In this connection, I direct the Clerk to Parliament to submit to the Ministries concerned the full text of the Statements together with the contributions of Hon Members to the sector Ministers. It is my expectation that in a year's time, the Committees would be in a position to present Reports to the House with recommendations as to how Ghana could surmount the menace of bushfires and improve on the curricula of education in this country.
We seemed to have lost very basic values and principles such as discipline, patriotism, ethics and so many things in our educational sector, and no country develops without these fundamental building blocks. Let us together with the sector Ministers take a deep look into these areas. I believe this is part of the responsibilities of the Committees under article 103 of the Constitution. I so direct.
As stated earlier, I have been informed that our brotherly and sisterly country, India, is celebrating their independent day today, and so, we would want to support and
commemorate with them. I am told that two Hon Members would want to make short Statements in respect of this.
Mr Avedzi 1:30 p.m.
Mr Speaker, on the issue about your directive to the Committees, you did not mention the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development. On the issue of bushfires, I believe that the MLGRD is very important so, I just want to draw your attention to this.
Mr Speaker 1:40 a.m.
Hon Member, you are correct so, the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development is also to be part of this whole exercise.
The third Statement.
STATEMENTS 1:40 a.m.
Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah (NPP -- Okaikwei Central) 1:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to make this short Statement on the 72nd Republic Day of the good people of India.
Mr Speaker, the relationship between Ghana and India dates decades ago, and it is very important that this House acknowledges such an important day in the lives of the Indian people. In the previous Parliament, under your good leadership, the Committee on Foreign Affairs met a lot of ambassadors and high Commissioners including the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana.
Following from that, the Yendi Water Supply System came to being through the Indian Government, and through the Indian EXIM Bank which supported the Government with an amount of US$30 million to provide potable water for the good people of Yendi and its environs.
The Government of India also provided an amount of US$150 million for agriculture mechanisation under the AMSEC Programme. I am also informed that they provided an amount of US$6 million to build the Foreign Affairs Institute, which is at an advanced stage. Talk about the US$9 million support project for the fish processing factory, and also, an amount of US$11 million for waste management.
Mr Speaker, what can we learn from the Indians? They have become the giants of the world that we cannot do away with them. In the area of
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 1:40 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am most grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement which has been made by
my Hon Colleague, the Hon Patrick Boamah.
This is a Statement that comme- morates the 72nd Republic Day of the Republic of India. India has been a very good friend of Ghana. Indeed, before we attained independence in 1957, India was one of the first of the countries of the world to establish diplomatic ties with the then Gold Coast in 1953, when they established the first consulate in Accra. Since then, Ghana and India have maintained very strong bilateral relations.
Our first President, the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was a very good friend to the first Prime Minister of India, the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. And the two of them led other world leaders to establish the Non- Aligned Movement (N. A. M.) which was always a commitment that Ghana and India had in the geopolitics of the world that we would not look left or right, we believe that we should rather unite; the world should come together, and this bipolar -- East and West blocs- would only lead to more disintegration, conflict and strife and that the only way forward was for countries to come together and forge a common bond; a partnership that would move the world forward.
And many years down the lane, it is obvious that Nkrumah and Nehru had the right vision for global politics and it is that approach -- the Non- Aligned Movement -- which has now been adopted in multilateralism, and in bilateral approach towards world affairs.
Mr Speaker, we also do know that Ghana and India have had great monuments that we could celebrate. The support we receive from India in the establishment of the Seat of Government; the building of what is now called the Jubilee House, it is a testament of Ghana-India bilateral relations. And I recall that under President Mahama, they also extended further support to renovate the Seat of Government and also, to expand other infrastructure -- the Foreign Affairs Institute which my Hon Colleague spoke of.
Ghana and India have a lot in common; these two countries were under the British colonial rule; the approach that was adopted by Mahatma Ghandi is similar to what Dr Kwame Nkrumah and our forebears adopted. The non-violent approach using more of persuasion; using the intellectual ability and ensuring that we strive for our common goals and
objectives without bloodshed, without cutting heads and without destroying property. So, that peaceful approach which Mahatma Ghandi pursued in India is what we also adopted.
Mr Speaker, I would argue that we were even more successful because at independence, we were able to bring all the territories of the Gold Coast together under one unit. Unfortunately for our good friends in India, because of the Hindu-Islamic factors, they could not form one bloc and so Pakistan was created separately as an Islamic State and then, India became the Hindu Republic, so to speak. So, we have a lot to learn from each other; the way we have progressed cohesively as a country -- Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists existing without any tensions. We believe that should continue so that other countries would learn from us.
Mr Speaker, there is a point that my Hon Colleague made about COVID-19 and how we could collaborate, and I would want to emphasise that point. As we speak, India which is the world's largest democracy, has under their Prime Minister Navendra Modi, also launched the world's biggest vaccination programme. And as we know, India is the home of the pharmaceutical industry. Most of the world's global pharmaceutical giants
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (NDC -- North Tongu) 1:50 p.m.
are based in India. And India has just announced the biggest vaccination programme, targeting 300 million Indians. We are still in talks with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and with other bilateral partners. We should use this day to rekindle that friendship that exists between the two countries, and let us see our Governments enter into a bilateral agreement with India so that what India has rolled out -- [Interruption.] -- They have successfully, secured a vaccine; they have manufactured it and they are inoculating 300 million of their nationals.
The only way to fight this pandemic is a global approach. If individualism sets in, and countries are only focused on their countries, the pandemic would not be successfully fought. It is a global crisis and requires a global solution. So, on this day as we celebrate the Republic Day of India, let us rise up to the most urgent need and the most urgent crisis that confronts the world which is COVID- 19, and how we could, through bilateral diplomatic relations, forge a response that could immediately address these issues.
I know that Prime Minister Modi certainly has an obligation towards his people but primarily, this is a global threat. The Commonwealth could
come together and we could have a broad-based approach which is not inward-looking but which is more of a global partnership that would allow for all countries to receive the kind of support and urgent response that is needed to address this pandemic and defeat it because we cannot continue this way.

I must also extend commiserations to our good friends in India. They are one of the countries that has been very devastated. They have recorded over 10 million cases and more than 154,000 deaths as we speak. So, yes, there are degrees of devastation.

We officially have less than 400 deaths, but they have over 150,000 deaths. So, we must extend our condolences to them and our commiserations are with them. We are in solidarity with them and other allies of the world in these difficult times. The solution is to form partnerships, come together and not be inward looking but reach out to help one another, especially in the less endowed and so called second and third world counties.

In the spirit of the Non-Aligned Movement that the two Presidents started in forging global partnership, let us see that spirit rekindled, so that

we can all rise to the current challenges of these pandemics of climate change, the migration crisis, global unemployment and the many other cascading effects that COVID- 19 has brought on us.

COVID-19 started as a health crisis but it is no longer just a health crisis. It has affected businesses, the aviation sector, the economy, education and all other sectors. So, it is a very timely Statement and may the good people of India be remembered in these times. May Ghana-India relations live long and may we continue to have a strong bond of friendship between the two countries.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Thank you, Hon Member. Sometimes I find it difficult to resist such opportunities of sharing some global wisdom with Hon Members, since we are national leaders and need to lead by example. It is true that India has been and is still an inspiration to Ghana. We are learning from them, but I do not think that we are taking the most important lessons from India.
I want to recall and draw your attention to some of the wise counsel of the former Indian Prime Minister,
Mahatma Ghandi, particularly so as we are political leaders. I would mention just four of them which he referred to as blunders. These blunders lead to the annihilation of societies and countries to fall and become failed states. One of those blunders he said, was politics without principles. The second one was wealth without work, the third is knowledge without character and the fourth is pleasure without conscience. This rings a bell and is food for thought for all of us.
We have come to the end of Statements and we would move to the Order Paper and look at the business as itemised. At the commencement of Public Business, we would take the item numbered 5, Presentation of Papers, by the Leadership of the House. Item numbered 5 (i), Report of Leadership on the constitution of the membership of the Pan-African Parliament. Leadership, are those Papers ready?
Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:50 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Report is not ready.
Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
In fact, the Clerks- at-the-Table just informed me that the Report and the items numbered 5 (ii), 6, 7, 8 and 9 are not ready. Sorry, what we have to do is to take items numbered 5 (a) and (b) and the item numbered 6.
Mr Speaker 1:50 p.m.
Items numbered 5 (a) and (b)?

Hon Members, we would postpone the consideration of items numbered 5 (a) and (b) and I propose that we take the item numbered 6. This is an urgent Motion, and we have adjourned a number of times on the Motion. I think that we are building consensus on it and I do not think that it will take quite a long time to resolve on this matter. Let me hear from the Hon Member who proposed the Motion, Hon Mahama Ayariga, the MP for Bawku Central?

PRIVATE MEMBER'S
MOTION 1:50 p.m.
Mr Mahama Ayariga 1:50 p.m.
Mr Speaker, if it is your pleasure, I stand ready to move the Motion. This Motion has been withheld for a couple of Sittings and you asked that I engage my Hon Colleagues on the other Side who had issues with the rendition of the Motion.
We discussed and several amendments were made to the Motion and I presume the current
rendition reflects both my own commitment and the views expressed by Hon Colleagues on the other Side of the aisle. So, I stand ready to move the Motion but I have just got a signal from leadership that in view of the funeral and other considerations, they want to propose that we take the Motion on Thursday.
However, it would be recalled that this is an urgent Motion and the students are struggling across the country to pay their school fees. If we wait until Thursday, many more students would be adversely affected, so I would want to urge that we proceed to consider it and take a decision. We would either vote for it or vote against, so that the students would know their fate.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Speaker 2 p.m.
You would recall that some objections were raised to the substance and form of the Motion and I overruled those objections but I also promised to come back with the reasons. However, because we have not gone back to continue with the deliberations on it, I have withheld my ruling. I really got the sense from the leadership that because of the
solemn nature of today, we should not debate it but I may crave the indulgence of the House to read my ruling, so that you can take it along.
Tomorrow is the funeral of the late President J. J. Rawlings and we would be caught up at the Independence Square but this is also a very urgent matter and our students who are also our guardians would not be happy with us for continuously adjourning the Motion and the situation too is such that we cannot continue with it. So I want to plead with them to bear with us because a lot of work has been done on it. However, I want to read my ruling so that on Thursday when we come back, we would just go straight debate to and move the consequential resolution on the matter.
So, this is my ruling in respect of the preliminary objections raised to the Private Member's Motion and moved by the Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, on the 20th January, 2021.
Hon Members may recall that on Wednesday, the 20th of January 2021, I gave my ruling on objections raised to a Motion moved by the Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr
Mahama Ayariga and seconded by the Hon Member for Akatsi North, Mr Peter Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe but reserved reasons for a later date.
The Hon Member for Bakwku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga's Motion was captured in the Order Paper of 20th January, 2021 and it states as follows:
“That this House resolves to request the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary educational institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national COVID-19 relief programmes being implemented by Government''.
Hon Members would also recall that I informed the House on Tuesday, 19th January, 2021 of the Motion that I had admitted and indicated that it should be moved on Wednesday, 20th January, 2021. On the said Tuesday, 19 th January, 2021, I indeed, proceeded to read out the text of the Motion to the plenary of the House and directed the Table Office to place it on the Order Paper, for Wednesday, 20th January, 2021.
My ruling in respect of the objections that were raised was that the Motion was competent and
Mr Speaker 2:10 p.m.
relevant in the light of current happenings in the country. I also ruled that the Motion was duly admitted based on the procedures prescribed by our Standing Orders. I would now proceed to set forth the reasons for my rulings on the matter.
The preliminary objections were primary to both the form and substance of the Motion. The issues for the nation can be summarised as follows:
1. Whether or not the Motion as admitted by Mr Speaker moved and seconded is incompetent and ought to be dismissed.
2. Whether or not the amend- ment to the Motion as moved by the Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, was procedurally defective and in breach of the Standing Orders.
Hon Members, I shall proceed to deal with each of the issues of law and of procedure in accordance with the Standing Orders and the Constitution of Ghana.
The first issue is:
1. Whether or not the Motion as admitted by Mr Speaker, moved and seconded is incompetent and same ought to be dismissed.
A Motion as defined in Order 7, of the Standing Orders of this House, says and I quote:
“motion'' means a proposal made by a Member of Parliament or a Committee thereof to do something, order something to be done, or express an opinion concerning some matter;''.
Order 50 provides the scope and framework for Motions on specific matters of urgent public importance. A Motion of urgent public importance may be admitted by the Rt Hon Speaker to be moved if before the commencement of the Sitting the Hon Member submits to Mr Speaker a written notification and statement of the matter to be raised.
Order 50 (3), vests discretional power in the Rt Hon Speaker, to determine whether or not a matter should have urgent consideration. In the exercise of this power, the Speaker shall have regard:
“to the extent which it could concern the administrative responsibilities of the Govern-
ment or could come within the scope of ministerial action''.
And
“the probability of the matter being brought before the House within a reasonable time by other means''.
The right to move such a Motion is subject to a list of conditions including but not limited to whether the matter proposed for discussion relates to a genuine emergency and calls for immediate and urgent actions. When the Rt Hon Speaker satisfies himself after having regard to all the prerequisites and determines that such Motions be admitted, the Hon Member who submitted the Motion shall be allowed to move it accordingly.
This particular Motion relates to a genuine emergency requiring urgent consideration. The fact that tertiary institutions have been directed by the Government to reopen testifies to the urgency of the matter raised by this Motion.
Hon Members, to render such a Motion as incompetent, it must be proven that the Motion, having regard to its wording does not have the
capacity to do the thing for which it has been tabled before the House.
Hon Members, the objection raised to this Motion is that its wording lacks clarity and does not reflect to the true state of affairs as public tertiary institutions, it is claimed, do not pay admission fees.

Several Hon Members from the Majority also argued that such a Motion does not impose any cause of action on the President based on the wording.

Admission fees as used in the context of the Motion before this House is a fee charged on admission to a public tertiary institution. It is a well-known fact that these institutions in handling out letters of admissions, requests the admittee to pay an admission fee before he or she would be enrolled in and permitted full access to the school as a student.

The wording on its face cannot therefore be the basis for rendering it as incompetent. Other terms were used such as user-fees and others, but as I drew earlier on, the phrase was not just “admission fee” but “admission fees”, which is a general term covering other fees that are charged on students.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 2:20 p.m.
Mr Speaker, you have provided some guidance to the House as to how to proceed on the Motion that has been moved by the Hon Member for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga. The House definitely would do what is required to be done on Thursday as you have proposed. We have agreed to observe the solemnity of the occasion provided today by what we have done with the commencement of the funeral of our former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings.
Mr Speaker, so we would act accordingly on Thursday, and I believe that when we come to the debate, the
guidance that you have offered to guide us may perhaps also have to come under some scrutiny. We would certainly scrutinise the guidance. We would be informed by the guidance, but if need be, we shall scrutinise the guidance.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker 2:20 p.m.
Hon Member for Suame -- [Laughed] -- what I did was not a guidance; I have ruled. The Standing Orders are clear that my rulings could be contested by Hon Members on the floor of the House. However, the same Standing Orders provide how that contest could be launched. And so please do the proper thing, not to take the debate of the Motion and try not to go through the backdoor but the window to rather contest my ruling. [Laughter.]

Hon Members, I have just been reminded that we should gather here by 8.00 a.m. to move together to the Independence Square where the funeral would take place. Kindly inform your colleagues who would be willing to be part of the funeral celebration.

The House stands adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT 2:20 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 2.26 p.m. till Thursday 28 th January, 2021 at 2.00 p.m.