Debates of 29 Oct 2021

Hon Members, we
shall take the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday,
28th October, 2021.
Page 1...12 --

Yes, Hon Member
for Adaklu?

Mr Speaker, please indulge me to
take you back to page 7. Our Hon Colleague, Mr
Bedzrah was indeed in the House yesterday but has
been marked absent.

What item on page
7 are you referring to?

Mr Speaker, number 29 on page
7.

Very well. The
Table Office would take note and effect the
correction.

Page 13 - 14?
Hon Members, in the absence of any further
corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of
Thursday, 28th October, 2021 is hereby adopted as
the true record of proceedings.
We have the Official Report of Tuesday, 29th June,
2021. Any corrections?

Yes, Hon Deputy
Whip?
First Deputy Minority Whip (Mr Ahmed
Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, today is Friday, are we
moving to Business Statement or ordinary
Statements?
Mr Speaker, it is either we move to the Business
Statement or any ordinary Statement admitted --

I called the
Business Statement.

Mr Speaker, then we can
proceed.

Yes, Hon Deputy
Majority Leader, you may read the Business
Statement.

To ask the
Minister for Transport when new and reliable
ferries would be supplied to Yeji, Kete Krachi,
Dambai and Donkorkrom.
Questions
*351. Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey
(Keta): To ask the Minister for Transport the status
of work on the Keta sea port.
*393. Mr Adams Mohammed Sukparu
(Sissala West): To ask the Minister for Transport
what is the status of construction of the Air
Navigation Services Centre at the Kotoka
International Airport (K.I.A.).
*394. Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey
(Keta): To ask the Minister for Transport the status
of the Keta Landing Beach.
*395. Mr Abeiku Crentsil (Ekumfi): To
ask the Minister for Transport when the Ekumfi
Landing Beach project will commence.
*164. Mr Peter Lanchene Toobu (Wa
West): To ask the Minister for National Security
the state of the project in which CCTV cameras
were to be fixed in all Police Stations across the
country.
*230. Ms Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah
(Salaga South): To ask the Minister for Tourism,
Arts and Culture the status of the Salaga Slave
Market and whether the Ministry has any plans to
reactivate the Slave Market and related tourist sites
such as the slave wells that are associated with it.
*390. Ms Sophia Karen Edem Ackuaku
(Domeabra/Obom): To ask the Minister for
Employment and Labour Relations what plans the
Ministry has in terms of creating jobs for the youth
and women in the Domeabra Obom Constituency
to enable them support themselves and their
families.
Statements
Presentation of Papers
(a) Annual Statement by the
Audit Committee of the Office of
the President for the Years 2017 and
2018.
(b) Annual Statement by the
Audit Committee of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration for the Year 2020.
(c) Annual Statement by the
Audit Committee of the Ghana
Institute of Languages for the Year
2020.
(d) Request for waiver of
Import Duty, Import VAT, NHIL,
GETFund Levy, EXIM Levy,
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COVID-19 Recovery Levy, Special

Import Levy and Domestic VAT

amounting to the Ghana cedi

equivalent of thirty-four million,

nine hundred and seventy-five

thousand, nine hundred and thirteen

Euros (€34,975,913.00) on

materials, equipment, and

machinery required for the

Establishment of 12 State-of-the-

Art Technical and Vocational

Education Training Centres- Phase

II.

(e) Request for waiver of

Import Duty, Import VAT, NHIL,

GETFund Levy, EXIM Levy,

COVID-19 Recovery Levy, Special

Import Levy and Domestic VAT

amounting to the Ghana cedi

equivalent of seven million, six

hundred and eighty-nine thousand,

five hundred and forty-one Euros

fifty-six cents (€7,689,541.56

Hon Members, the
Business Statement has been presented. Any
comments?
Yes, Hon Member?
Deputy Minority Whip (Mr Ahmed
Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity. The Business Statement has been
presented. This is a Business Statement for the
second week, and we are to spend maybe, eight
weeks before we adjourn. I would want to enquire
from the Hon Deputy Majority Leader - There was
a Bill that was laid in the House and there is
pressure on it - But this Meeting is a Budget
meeting.
Mr Speaker, Article 106 (14) of the 1992
Constitution says, and I beg to read:
“A Bill introduced in Parliament by or on
behalf of the President shall not be delayed
for more than three months in any
committee of Parliament.”
Mr Speaker, next week will be the third month
of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights
and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. This was a Bill
which was presented through some of our Members
and they are expecting much from Parliament, but
nothing has been heard. Even though the Rt Hon
Speaker himself was emphatic that it must go
through due processes to be passed, judging from
the fact that we have only eight weeks and the
Budget would take much of our time, and for the
three months that we went on recess, I expected that
the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs will meet for me to take part,
but no meeting was called. If the three months will
be next week, then it means that we are likely to
breach Article 106 (14) of the Constitution.
Mr Speaker, would the Vice Chairman of the
Business Committee explain to this House the
status of the Bill, and why the Committee was not
able to sit within the three-month period? I would
like to know whether the Committee will be able to
present a report to comply with this constitutional
breach.
Mr Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku
Central): Mr Speaker, I thank you very much. If
you would recall, during the last Meeting, a petition
was presented to this House by two previous
owners of some banks and the Rt Hon Speaker
constituted a special committee chaired by your
good self. I was just hoping that the Business
Statement would have captured the committee
getting back to work in earnest to consider the
petition.
Mr Speaker, I would just like to draw our
attention to the work of the committee and to urge
the Business Committee to try and capture the work
of the committee and get it back on course.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy
Minority Whip wants to know about the status of
Bills in the House, particularly, the one he referred
to. If he looks at our Votes and Proceedings of
Thursday, 28th October, 2021, page 13, Committee
on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
met on Thursday, 28th October, 2021 at 12.45 p.m.
and considered a roadmap for the consideration of
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Bills pending before the Committee. The

Chairman, Hon Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi

presided. Members present were; Mr John

Ampotuah Kumah, Mr Alfred Obeng-Boateng, Mr

Francis Xavier Kojo Sosu, Mr Mahama Ayariga,

Ms Joycelyn Tetteh, Mr Joseph Kwasi Mensah and

Mr Bismark Tetteh Nyarko. I believe that they are

taking steps to address the issue. So, let us give

them the chance to do their work.

Mr Speaker, Hon Ayariga wants to know

whether the special committee can proceed and

why we have not said anything in our Business

Statement. He knows that a matter that is pending

before a committee cannot again be programmed

on the Business Statement. So, I take it that he only

wants to register his interest in the matter, having

been the courier for the petition. It is what it is and

he knows. I do not want the impression to be

created that the Business Committee failed or

neglected their responsibility to include that in the

Business Statement. It is not to be part of it and the

Hon Member knows that. I thank him for

understanding the situation. The Chairman himself

knows that we could not have added it to the

Business Statement. The Hon First Deputy Speaker

chairs the committee and it is not a new matter that

has to be programmed.

Hon Members, the
Business Statement for the ensuing weeks is hereby
adopted for implementation.
Hon Members, a few Statements have been
admitted. The first Statement is by the Hon
Member for Kwadaso.

Mr Speaker, before we
come to Statements, if you may grant me leave to
bring to the attention of this House, a very
important matter regarding the plight of law
students in this country.
Mr Speaker, not long ago, graduates of Bachelor
of Laws (LLB) had written entrance examinations
at the Ghana School of Law hoping to be admitted
to the professional law coursewhich would lead to
a call to the BAR as Barristers at Law to have
audience in our law courts. The Ghana School of
Law made it clear through its own publication that
the pass mark was 50 per cent, and indeed, the
standard at the law school is 50 per cent as the pass
mark. Students wrote the examination and they
published the names of those who had passed.
Upon further query arising out of public concern,
the Ghana School of Law came out with details of
the score of the over 2000 candidates. It came out
that over 400 people had made a mark of 58 per
cent and yet, they were not selected. The
explanation of the Ghana School of Law and for
that matter, the General Legal Council was to the
effect that the examination was in two sections and
they created a certain marking scheme where one
should have obtained 50 per cent in each section.
For instance, if a student got a higher mark in
section B and a lesser mark in section A - although
if scores in the two sections are added, the student
will get more than 50 per cent, to them, the student
did not qualify.
Mr Speaker, this, I humbly contend; it is
repugnant. It lacks certainty. We cannot create all
manner of questionable schemes around how we
mark scripts and how we determine those who have
passed and those who have not passed.

Mr Speaker, law appears to be practised in

Accra. As a young Barrister, I found myself in

Dunkwa some 10 years back, and I realised that

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people were going to jail merely because they had

no representation. If we have increased access to

LLB studies but would want to limit access to the

professional law school, then what are we doing to

ourselves? So, I hold the view that the Ghana

School of Law must rise up in ensuring

transparency and certainty in the way they conduct

business. Students are frustrated and traumatised;

so, this is not a matter of closing in. If they say that

50 per cent is the pass mark, then so be it. Sections

A and B altogether make up the 100 per cent. So, if

a person scores say 30 per cent in section A and

makes 60 per cent in section B, together he gets 90

per cent. How then would anyone say that he got

very low marks?

Mr Speaker, if this is the way, then many of us

could not have passed our examinations. I

remember my own situation at Buckingham. In

Land Law, I did not do well in certain sections, but

I remember that when I reviewed my scripts I had

done better so I made a good mark of “21”. In the

Ghana School of Law, one dares not go and ask for

his scripts, but in other jurisdictions, students are

able to go through their scripts with their tutors. In

Buckingham, after writing the examination, the

tutor would happily take the script and tell the

candidate: “Alexander, you did not do well here,

you got 21, but you could have done better.”

Meanwhile, in the Ghana School of Law, it is a

taboo for one to ask for his script. That is not the

kind of academia that we would want to have in

Ghana. So, just as they let us know as politicians

when we get it wrong, we are also telling the Ghana

School of Law that if they continue to frustrate

students, they would make the study of law

unattractive.

I know that the post core students have started

lectures. They started last week, but for the

professional law, they are starting next week. The

Ghana School of Law and the General Legal

Council must take the views of this Parliament

seriously by quickly taking steps to remedy the

situation. This is Parliament, the voice of the

people, and as the people's representatives we are

saying that if they said the pass mark is 50 per cent,

then it is not too late to admit the 400 people

because they have passed. All those questions of

having their own scheme for sections A and B, with

respect, is untenable. I know that my Lord, the

Chief Justice is a listening Chief Justice. He is the

overall boss, so, it is my honourable contention that

he listens to us and quickly takes the right steps. We

are not saying that he should do that which is

irregular, but he knows that justice requires

certainty and fairness, and that has been the bane of

the jurisprudence of this country. So, my Lord the

Chief Justice should take overall responsibility and

review the scripts so that at the end of the day, those

400 people would get the opportunity to be

admitted.

Mr Speaker, I humbly rest my case and hope that

my Hon Colleagues would join to make a strong

statement to the General Legal Council.

Mr Speaker, I thank you so much.

Mr
Speaker, I could not have agreed more with the Hon
Deputy Majority Leader on this matter. It is a huge
public interest matter, and it is just sad that when
this House got the opportunity to do what was right
in their laws or the regulation that came, we
unfortunately chickened out and allowed what is
happening to our constituents currently to continue.
Mr Speaker, I know that there are a lot of
institutions in this country that are very
conservative. But with the kind of problems that we
have as a country, we cannot keep a conservative
position and expect to make progress. With the
greatest of respect, the former Chief Justice once
said: “We would not open up for anybody to
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become a lawyer”. Who is the “anybody”? Every

Ghanaian matters just as the sons and daughters of

those lawyers matter. It is not only the sons of

lawyers, doctors, politicians or the influential that

have the right to be able to have access to any

profession in this country. I have contended this

issue on this floor time and again. With the greatest

of respect, Mr Speaker, you are a lawyer, but in my

view, training a doctor is more critical than training

a lawyer. This is because when the person leaves

school as a doctor, he deals with knifes and lives

directly, and while a patient is on the operation

table, by just a stroke of a mistake, he could kill a

human being. Even with that, they find a way to go

around it to train more doctors annually in this

country. We currently have the University of Cape

Coast, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science

and Technology (KNUST), University of Ghana,

and the University of Development Studies (UDS)

all training medical students. We even have a

private university in Teshie that trains medical

students. The University of Health and Allied

Sciences (UHAS) also trains medical students, yet,

the Ghana School of Law keeps a very conservative

and - for the lack of a better word - I would say a

“backward” system such that people can only be

trained as lawyers at only one place.

Mr Speaker, when the Coronavirus pandemic

errupted, people became so innovative that they

began to do things on Zoom, but the Ghana School

of Law still wants to do everything in a physical

location. In many of our campuses, for instance, the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public

Administration (GIMPA), they have different types

of trainings. Some go there for training in the

morning, and others in the afternoon and evening

such that the same classroom block can be used

again and again and again. Yet the Ghana School

of Law keeps a system that is so backward that it

has disenfranchised so many people, but they are

not concerned.

I had the privilege of talking to the Chief Justice,

and he gave me an example of his own son or

daughter, who because of the way the system is,

had to go outside to Rwanda or so to attend a law

school. My Lord the Chief Justice is suffering for

the same “system”, so, why can he not take

advantage of this to change the system? This is

because saying that he also goes through that pain

does not solve the problem. The problem is the

change that we must confront head on. It is said in

Akan that if one gives a child a load telling him or

her that when he gets to the Clerk-at-the-Table's

place he would be relieved and he is not relieved

when he gets there but told to go a short distance

more, the child would become frustrated. They

have set their benchmark saying that the pass mark

should be 50 per cent. People have scored more

than 50 per cent but now the Ghana School of Law

is bringing other technicalities to justify the fact

that people cannot be admitted even though they

have gotten 58 per cent. This means that someone

could have gotten 51 per cent, but based on this

explanation, he would be admitted, while another

who got 60 per cent could still not go through based

on that explanation. This is a very unfair system,

and the least that this House could do in my view,

is to interrogate this matter. Sometimes, it is painful

that each time we get the opportunity to investigate

or probe a matter, we take entrenched partisan

position and mess it up. But this is an opportunity

for us as a House, as the representatives of the

people, to call for a probe into this, so that we

would be able to give clear instructions. This is not

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about the Judiciary but about a law school. It is not

about the Judiciary where someone would say that

it is a different arm of Government. It is about the

law school, and I believe that if we take the

Constitution

and our Standing Orders, we have every right as the

representatives of the people to be able to probe this

and give them directives because we fund it. We

should give the directive that once someone has

scored a 50 per cent plus mark, the person must be

admitted. They set that rule, so they cannot change

the goal post. They must come out with a more

innovative way of educating our lawyers.

In KNUST and many other campuses, they do

distance learning. Yet the Ghana School of Law

insist that people must physically be in the

classroom before they can do this. I know that they

call themselves “learned”, but with the greatest of

respect, I do not see anything extraordinary about

learning to become a lawyer. It is no more difficult

in becoming a lawyer than becoming an engineer,

an accountant, a pharmacist or a teacher. It is

therefore time for them to wake up to the realisation

that this challenge, if we are not careful, could

derail our democracy. This is because if we see the

number of individuals who are so frustrated that

they have resorted to the streets, I do not know what

signals that we, the National Security and all of us

are picking that these things could not derail our

democracy; it can. When we have a system where

people feel unfairly treated, it hurts. If there is a

balance and a fair ground and one is disqualified or

not taken in, he could take the consolation that he

should work harder. How can they now create a

monster or barrier to prevent legitimate Ghanaians

from accessing legal education?

Mr Speaker, I agree with the Hon Deputy

Majority Leader. We would be grateful if you give

a directive but even if we cannot set up a small

committee to do this, at least, I would be happy that

you refer this to the Committee on Constitutional,

Legal and Parliamentary Affairs or a Joint

Committee of Subsidiary Legislation and

Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to

go into this so that this House would direct the GSL

as to what to do. If they do not know what to do,

we can tell them to admit everybody who passed

before the next academic year starts.

Mr Speaker, with these comments, I hope

that, at least, for once, this House can stand together

and forget about which Side one belongs because

this is something that affects our constituents.

Regardless of your constituency, it affects all of us.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the

opportunity.

Mr Speaker, I thank
you for this opportunity to add my voice to the
observation made by the able Hon Deputy Majority
Leader.
Mr Speaker, I remember when I was the head of
the National Accreditation Board (NAB) - that
was last year - the University of Ghana was
established in 1948 and obtained accreditation to
run PhD in law. On the same day, KNUST also
received accreditation to run PhD in law. It is no
wonder we do not have enough qualified lecturers
to teach law at the graduate schools in Ghana. I
believe the time has come for the General Legal
Council (GLC) to sit up, and be progressive
regarding legal education in the country.
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Mr Speaker, the GLC was established in 1958.

Let us ask ourselves how many lawyers have been

produced over the years in the country. I do not

even think the number would go beyond 10,000. It

is an indictment on the institution. Which is better;

to train more lawyers or restrict the numbers? I

believe that if we are able to train more lawyers,

then, we are thinking about a progressive and

productive society. The idea of restricting the

number of lawyers in the country is retrogressive,

and the time has come for us to let the GLC

understand that they must help us in this day and

age to ensure that we have more lawyers in

abundance. That is the way we have to go.

The same applies to the medical profession. Mr

Speaker, in my candid opinion, the mentality of the

restrictions is so bad, and it would not inure to the

benefit of this society. We must move on.

Candidates write an examination, and only 200 of

them pass. It questions the integrity and robustness

of the system. Every system must be progressive;

we need to let them know that we must progress.

Mr Speaker, when students are unable to pass, it

affects their psychological wellbeing, and they

become so incapacitated. In most cases, it is not

even their fault.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would be

happy if this House can have a mechanism of

engaging the GLC for them to come to a certain

determination in terms of promoting legal

education in this country. We need that. If every

Ghanaian has some knowledge in law, it would

help our society run well and effectively.

On that score, I thank you for the opportunity,

and I hope that from this academic year, we would

see a dramatic shift in terms of legal education,

admission and the pass rate in this country.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Mr
Speaker, I associate myself with the Statement
made by the Hon Deputy Majority Leader.
Mr Speaker, the core mandate of this House is
to make laws. How many of us in this House are
lawyers? The responsibility of the Legislature is to
make laws; that is our core mandate. We represent
the ordinary Ghanaian and so, by extension, the
laws made in this House are made by the people we
represent, most of whom are not lawyers. This
attempt to regulate the number of lawyers produced
in this country is absolutely unacceptable. Train
more lawyers, and the good ones will stand out.
There is no profession in this country that is
more important than others. Law is as important as
teaching, nursing, economics, engineering,
psychology, or philosophy. Every single profession
in this country is important. The most important
aspect of academia is sincerity, honesty and
transparency. Every student who sits for an
examination ab initio should know the requirement
for passing or the pass mark. That is the condition.
Therefore, when he gets into the examination, he
works towards achieving the pass mark.
Unfortunately, and sadly, in this case, the
students were only told half of the story. They were
told that they needed to have scored 50 per cent
plus one to pass. They were never told that they
needed to pass a particular section and another to
get that particular percentage. The information we
have got is that some scored more than 50 per cent
in one aspect, but could not get that for the other
paper and therefore, they failed. Others scored
more than 50 per cent for one and did not get more
than that for the other and they passed. It simply
does not make sense. What I see here is nothing but
massaging of an uncontrollable ego associated with
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a particular profession as though that profession

determines our basic existence as people in this

country.

Mr Speaker, we have seen many people who dread

to write the law school entrance examination not

because they do not have the capacity to pass, but

because they have seen many who went in for the

examination, and they were denied the opportunity

to be trained as lawyers because of these flimsy

excuses given by people who ought to know better.

Mr Speaker, we must demonstrate our strength

as a Legislature, and demand answers from those

who conduct this examination. Whether we like it

or not, the number of lawyers produced in this

country will increase day by day, and those days

when we had just 100 lawyers or less in this country

are long gone. Therefore, they must come to reality,

and understand that there are many people who

want to get into the profession.

How dangerous would it be if we want to go by their

estimation and analysis to produce more doctors in this

country without going through this unacceptable

procedure? Yet we cannot produce lawyers in the same

vein; how dangerous is it? So, if other professions are

producing more and more professionals then there is

nothing wrong with us producing more and more

lawyers.

Unfortunately, we have heard stories that we needed

to belong to families of lawyers to be admitted into the

Law School. And if we do not have a lawyer in our

families, we cannot be given the opportunity to be

trained as lawyers. This is nothing but academic

tyranny; this is a form of terrorising young people

whose desire is to be trained as lawyers. They have been

to school, they have been working several years to

achieve one objective, and that objective is that they

want to be associated with the profession called Law.

Why would we sit down and deny them that

opportunity? What is the guarantee that the decision to

ensure that students pass both sections constitutes the

pass mark before the examination - Are they not wrong? What is the guarantee? And is it not

unacceptable that they even refuse people to have access

to their scripts? Why? Which institution in this country

can do that? The people are even denied the opportunity

to see their scripts.

Academic freedom expects you to make available,

the scripts of any students who challenge the marks

given to them. Yet, they are denied the opportunity to

see their scripts.

Mr Speaker, I think Parliament must act; and we

must act swiftly. There are several people who are

willing to be trained as lawyers; there are some who

have done L.L.B and are not willing to be trained as

lawyers because there is one thing being trained as a

lawyer, and there is another thing being a practitioner of

law. So one can decide to do law without any intention

to practise. And there are several of such in this country,

notably Prof Kwamena Ahwoi. He is not a practising

lawyer but by far, he one of the distinguished trained

legal persons that we can think of in this country.

I am also a pocket lawyer.

Hon Adongo says that he is also a
pocket lawyer.
Mr Speaker, over 60 per cent of graduates from the
Gambia recently, are Ghanaians. So, we are denying our
State the opportunity to make money. These students
who go to the Gambia and other places to be trained as
lawyers pay hard-earned currency; they are helping to
grow the economy of the Gambia because they go there
as foreign students. These moneys could have been left
here.
Mr Speaker, we now have students who are admitted
into our universities —

Hon Member, do you
know the total number of students who have passed out
of the Gambian Law School?

Mr Speaker, my understanding is
about 60 per cent of—

It is 60 per cent of 36.

Well, if we look at the population of
the Gambia, it is understandable. So, assuming that we
have about 60 per cent of the lawyers trained in Nigeria
as Ghanaians, that would have been huge; and so we
juxtapose that with the number of students they have in
that country.
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Mr Speaker, I think with all sincerity, they must

come to the reality; they must understand that we are

now in the 21st Century; they must understand that the

population of this country increases day by day. The last

census tells us that we are over thirty million people in

this country; and that is why I agree with the Hon

Muntaka that they cannot be intransigent in that archaic

form of assessing and training professionals in this

country. I think that Parliament must demonstrate our

worth and we must demonstrate our capacity. I would

propose that they should be called to appear before this

House or a Committee of Parliament to answer

questions as to why they have unjustifiably denied

students the opportunity to be trained as lawyers.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, there have been a series

of allegations levelled against the institution; as to

whether those allegations are true or not is another

matter. I think it ought to be investigated.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the

opportunity.

Mr Speaker, I thank
you for the opportunity to add my voice to the appeal by
the Hon Deputy Minority Leader on this very important
subject matter. If we go to the five Northern regions, we
have very few lawyers, and as a result of that a lot of the
citizens in those regions do not get access to justice.
There is an inadequate number of lawyers across the
country.
Mr Speaker, at the time that we had one professional
Law Training School, I think L.L.B. students were only
trained at the University of Ghana, Legon but today as
we speak, all the public universities across offer
admissions for L.L.B courses. And almost all private
universities also offer admissions in L.L.B. So, the
number of LLB. students who are trained annually is
enormous and so there is the need for us to create the
opportunity for more L.L.B graduates to gain access to
professional law schools.
Mr Speaker, so, I add my voice in appealing to the
GLC so that if not for anything at all, the Government-
funded universities, apart from University of Ghana,
Legon, University for Development Studies, Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
(KNUST), University of Cape Coast, University of
Education, Winneba and all the Government-funded
universities that offer L.LB. can also run professional
law programmes so that they can open up the
opportunity for more students graduating with L.L.B to
gain access to professional law programme.
Mr Speaker, as I stated earlier, because of the
absence of lawyers, people who get court cases do not
have access to legal services, and because of the few
lawyers that are available, the people end up spending
so much in trying to get legal services. For instance, if
you go to my Constituency, we have a Magistrate Court,
but to get a lawyer, the person must be coming from
either Wa or Bolgatanga. And that means the lawyer's transportation cost would have to be borne by the person
who seeks the legal service, and that increases the cost
of legal services borne by the ordinary Ghanaian. So, it
is important that the GLC takes appropriate steps in
making sure that we have more professional law
institutions so that access can be increased to enable
more Ghanaians become lawyers.
Mr Speaker, also, the point that the Hon Murtala
made is important, that we have our own people seeking
admission to law schools in other countries because they
cannot get access in Ghana. And when they get those
admissions, they pay in foreign currency. If we create
more opportunities so that these moneys would be paid
to schools in Ghana, I think it would support in building
our economy. So the GLC must take a look at their
current situation and improve it so that more Ghanaians
can get access to professional law programmes.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Speaker, with your
special leave, I thank you very much for the opportunity
to comment on the Statement made by the Hon Deputy
Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, I think the issue of the problems of the
Ghana School of Law has been raised here several times
and we have debated that several times. I think that
when we have the discussions, it would be good to put
the issues in proper perspectives. There are two issues
that we have been grappling with.

The first issue has had to do with the admissions into

the Ghana School of Law and the problem historically

has been that there have been severe limitations in

people's ability to get into it.

Mr Speaker, as a result of the discussions that have

taken place in this House, there have been some

progress in that regard. This year, I am told that over

1000 students actually got into the Ghana School of

Law. They were put into three clusters or campuses in

order that they would be able to process them for the

Bar Examinations at the end of the programme.

So, there has been some progress in terms of

increasing the numbers that get into the Ghana School

of Law. A lot more remains to be done, because this

House called on the General Legal Council (GLC) to

consider liberalising the running of law schools, so that

as many faculties as possible could be certified to run

law schools in order to create more opportunities for

students who want to pursue the professional career.

Mr Speaker, even as a Committee, I recall that we

requested the General Legal Council to bring us a

proposal, so that we could at least lobby the Ghana

Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to provide additional

funding for them to increase the infrastructure of the

Ghana School of Law to enable them to admit more

students who want to pursue the professional law

course.

The second issue now is the question of being called

to the Bar and how many people should be called to the

Bar annually. Mr Speaker, if you would recall, during

your days - and many people do not know this history -

in the Republic of Ghana - every year, the number of

people who could leave the University of Ghana and go

to the Law School were only 60. That is how Mr

Speaker got into the Ghana School of Law. The whole

of Ghana, every year, only 60 students gained admission

into the Ghana School of Law. In fact, not all the 60

students were Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students but

only 40 were.

Mr Speaker, not too long ago, I was a product of that

system where in the whole of Ghana, only 100 students

were admitted into the University of Ghana Law Faculty

to study Law. Just imagine that among all the products

of all the Secondary Schools in Ghana, only 100

students were admitted into the Faculty of Law and

offered the Law programme. At the end of the first year

of university, only 40 of the 100 would be passed as

LLB students who would automatically be able to get

into the Ghana School of Law and then an additional 20

Bachelor of Arts (BA) students who could also go and

pursue the professional course. So, only 60 students - every year.

This was not too long ago when we were students.

My senior, Hon Dominic Ayine is here. I do not know

who else here was a product of that system. Today, I am

told that this year alone, 278 students were called to the

Bar, so there again, there has been some progress. I

think that the issue before us today is not necessarily

about how many people are called to the Bar. The issue

is about transparency and fairness in determining the

rules of the game.

When we were students, we were told that only 60

of us would go to the Ghana School of Law, so we

knew. So, it was not a question of whether you passed

but it was a question of whether when they finally put

the results together, you would be among the first 40.

So, they would count the first 40 and then draw a line

and the rest would leave as LLB students. One could get

70 per cent and still not make it into the category of 40

and we understood this because the rules were clear.

One could even get 80 per cent and still not make it

because the rules were clear. So, for the Ghana School

of Law to tell students that the pass mark is 50 per cent

and then students get above 50 per cent and are told that

there is a section where they must get about 25 per cent

and another 25 per cent in the other section is clumsy.

That does not speak well of an institution such as the

Ghana School of Law. So, if Members of Parliament

(MPs) are angry and are making these statements here,

it is not because we want to regulate the number of

people who get into the legal profession.

The basic principle is that the rules must be clear for

citizens, so that they know what the standard is and what

the test standard is. So, when they go into the

examination hall, they know that they are aiming to be

among the first 200. However, if they are told that the

aim is to get 50 per cent and then the person gets 58 per

cent but is told that even though he got 58 per cent, they

still do not qualify, it is most unfair. That is why I

support Hon Muntaka's call, that Mr Speaker refers this matter to an appropriate Committee, so that we look into

it.

Also, as Parliament, we need to issue directives to

the Law School because they cannot run such an unfair

system. So, Mr Speaker, I support the statement made

by my Hon Colleagues. I think that this is not a matter

that should end here. This is not what is taught in Ghana

School of Law. We do not teach that they should run an

opaque system; they should run an open and transparent

system.

If you would recall our studies on the Rule of Law,

the thing about it is predictability and openness of the

law. It must be predictable. This is not a predictable

rule; it cannot stand and we should not endorse it. The

Law School should not be allowed to get away with it

this time. I recall that when they brought their

legislation here, I defended them against all sorts of

attacks, but then, when they are wrong, I would also

point it out that they are wrong.

We must not allow their wrongdoing to stand but

reverse it. All those who passed must be given the

opportunity, so that if they want to make new rules, next

year, they should make them and let all those who are

to write the examination know about those new rules, so

that they can plan accordingly.

Hon Members, I think
that we are saying the same things, but we want a
solution. So far, I have heard that we should make an
order but I want us to ask - The real issue is that the pass mark as advertised by the Ghana School of Law before
the examination was clear - 50 per cent. In that advertisement, there was no such rule that you must get
25 per cent or more from one sectionand 25 per cent or
more from another section. So, after the examinations,
can the Ghana School of Law, introduce a variation to
the rule? That is the issue we must deal with.
Also, the Ghana School of Law is a creation of
Parliament, a legislative body, so what can Parliament
do? That is what I want us to focus on now. Very
clearly, we are not satisfied with the introduction of a
new rule after the examination. Clearly, we see this as
wrong, but what can we do? That is what I want
addressed. We set up a Committee for what? What do
we want them to do? Can we direct the Ghana School
of Law as to what to do? I want us to investigate that
because that is the solution. As for the lamentations, the
students have lamented, I am lamenting and you have
lamented but what can we do to reverse the situation,
either by law or by some other action?

Hon Dr Amoah, are you
going to suggest solutions because I do not want any

Yes, Hon First Deputy Minority Whip?

Mr Speaker, thank you. That
is why I was itching to catch your eye.
Mr Speaker, on matters like these, per the
Constitution, we are a law-making body, representing
31 million Ghanaians. We are not just representatives
but Parliament is a forum for the ventilation of
grievances. This is a matter that affects the very people
who voted for us, and as you have rightly observed, law
is to regulate the behaviour of people to prevent
dictatorship or anarchy.
Mr Speaker, a rule was set that this is the pass mark
and once you get it, you would be admitted. The people
we represent accepted this rule, went through the
process and passed. Mr Speaker, when I came here in
2009, if you would recollect, we resolved to help the
Judiciary and the Judicial Service, and the legal
profession.

Mr Speaker, it was on that note we toured most

of the court buildings in this country - we did not only lament. When we came back Parliament resolved

through the Judiciary Committee that we must

transform the court buildings in this country and we

must improve upon the budget of the Judiciary and the

Judicial Service of Ghana.

Mr Speaker, I recollect that at that time, the then

President of the country gave the Judiciary a budget of

GH₵28 million. The Judiciary Committee, led by former Hon Member for Sekondi, Mr Papa Owusu-

Ankomah, resolved that the President had no power to

cut down the budget of the Judiciary except the budget

for development. It was changed to GH₵59 million and beyond that we resolved that the President should go for

a loan because the nature of our court buildings were not

good and that we must put up an appropriate court

building for the Judiciary in this country. That gave

birth to the US$74 million loan that we took from the

Fidelity Bank to build the 34 court rooms close to the

Tema Station. Not only that, we also made it clear to the

President that we must improve upon our legal

profession. So, this House is not attacking the Judiciary

or doing anything untoward towards the legal

profession. We have been helping them and we are

ready to help them.

Mr Speaker, again, in the Seventh Parliament, this

House resolved that a portion of the District

Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) must be used to provide court infrastructure nationwide. So there are

courts in Bunkpurugu, Tempane, Yendi and

Bolgatanga. Which lawyers would practise in these

court buildings? We built an estate for the Court of

Appeal in Kumasi last year and a number of houses

through the DACF. If we do all these, it means we have

improved their facilities, structures and budgets for

them. Who do we do all these things for?

Hon First Deputy
Minority Whip, please, let us go to what we can do now.

Mr Speaker, on that note,
I would want this House to pass a resolution that the
General Legal Council must respect its own rule that
was set, which is the 50 per cent pass mark. More so, all
the 490 plus students who attained the 50 per cent pass
mark must be admitted into the law school to pursue
their legal education. Since they are not responding, I

would want to pass a Motion that this House should

resolve that all those who attained the pass mark of the

law examination for 2021 be admitted into the law

school.

Mr Speaker, I so move,

Let us properly
formulate the Motion.
Whereas the Ghana School of Law advertised the
rules for the entrance examination and whereas it is
wrong to change the rules after the examination, now
therefore, this House resolves that every one of the
students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark is
eligible and must be admitted to the Ghana School of
Law.

Mr Speaker, you would live
long. It is done. The resolution has been -

This is the Motion I
would want the House to debate and take a decision on
it.

Mr Speaker, I proceed with
your guidance. So, for the record:
Whereas the Ghana School of Law sets a pass mark
of 50 per cent and advertised same prior to the writing
of the 2021/2022 professional law course entrance
examination and whereas candidates relied on same for
the purpose of writing the said examination, the Ghana
School of Law and for that matter the General Legal
Council cannot vary its own previously advertised
minimum pass mark at the detriment of those who met
the minimum pass mark.
Mr Speaker, I therefore, move that this House
resolves to direct the Ghana School of Law and for that
matter the General Legal Council to offer admission
forthwith to all those who obtained the minimum pass
mark in this 2021/2022 academic year to enable them
pursue their professional law programme.
Mr Speaker, I so move.
Mr Speaker, suffice to state that lectures have not
begun for the academic year so it is not the case that it
is too late in the term. This is important and it should get
to them as soon as possible.

Mr Speaker, I support
the contributions but the issue at stake has to do with
fairness. The earlier suggestion was that we needed to
hear the General Legal Council [Interruption] - Mr Speaker, they should allow me to make my point.
Mr Speaker, my view is that the appropriate
Committee should have invited the General Legal
Council to hear the circumstances and the facts -

Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague should
resume his seat because a Motion has been moved. If he
wants to second the Motion, he should do so; otherwise,
he should resume his seat. The issue is about the General
Legal Council abiding by their own rules. We are saying
they should follow their own rules. Why should the
Committee engage them again - for what?

Mr Speaker, I second the
Motion.

Mr Speaker, the facts in this
matter are not in dispute. If the facts were in dispute then
we would want to hear from all sides, but that they set
rules and they breach their own rules and they have
admitted that they have breached their own rules - [Interruption] It is not in dispute. To set up a Committee
and to invite them to come and tell us what they have
already publicly admitted would only be a waste of
time. What I would add is that this House should
commit to additional appropriation to the Ghana School
of Law to be able to take care of the additional numbers
when they so determine the numbers.
Mr Speaker, we would commit that in the
Appropriation Bill that would be passed, we would
assist them to be able to take care of that - that would encourage them and show our commitment to the
implementation of our directive. There is no need for
the Committee to engage them. The Motion is supported
and we could put it to a vote and I am sure that this
House would resoundingly support it and the directives
communicated to the School. That is the best and
swiftest way to do justice to the matter.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
.

Question put and Motion agreed to.

Resolved:

That the General Legal Council is hereby directed to

proceed and admit all the students who passed in

accordance with the advertised rules of the

examination.

Hon Members, the
General Legal Council is a creation of statute. Under the
Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32), the Attorney-
General and Minister for Justice is the one responsible
and the law says that we may give general directions. I
hereby direct that the Hon Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice shall ensure that this Resolution is
carried through.

Yes, Hon Leader?

Mr Speaker, even though
there is a common saying that we are masters of our own
rules, you, having been groomed in this House from
acting Ranking to the Speaker, the nation has enjoyed
your experience and benefitted from same. We are
grateful and may you live long.

Mr Speaker, without being
superfluous, I can only say that posterity would
remember you. History will bless you.

I thank you, and let us
proceed.

Mr Speaker, the laws of this
country would remember you. May you live long!

Hon Leader, yes?

Mr Speaker, the Motion has
been moved, seconded and adopted. What do we do to
ensure that the General Legal Council follows and
implements the decision that we have just taken? If they
fail, what would be the sanction? We should take note
of that also.

Hon Leader, we are not
anticipating that and that is why I said the Hon
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice who is
answerable to this House should ensure that the
Resolution is implemented. We can always call the Hon
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice here to
answer. He is actually the Minister responsible under
the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) for ensuring
that the proper thing is done. We would give him that
assignment.
Is Dr Nyarko ready to read the Statement?
[Interruption] -
Yes?

Mr Speaker, this is a Statement on psychological
interventions for persons living with breast cancer to
mark the World Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This
year's theme is: “The Fight against Breast Cancer is Everyone's”. The theme underscores the need to get everybody around the table to defeat the disease.
Mr Speaker, breast cancer is the commonest
malignancy and a leading cancer mortality in women in
the world with the overall global burden of cancer rising
to 19.3 million new cases and 10 million cancer deaths
occurring in 2020 worldwide. While men account for 10
million, women account for about 9.3 million with a
mortality rate of 5.5 million and about 4.5 million
respectively.
Mr Speaker, the Global Cancer Observatory
indicates that the five-year prevalence - that is, the total number of people who are alive within five years of a
past cancer diagnosis - is estimated to be 50.6 million.
Mr Speaker, for its destructive consequences, the
world dedicates the month of October to breast cancer
awareness to draw attention to the disease and for
research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment
and cure. Today, breast cancer is the most prevalent in
women worldwide and the commonest cancer overall
with new cases of 2,261,419 (11.7 per cent) and a
mortality rate of 684,996 (6.9 per cent) behind lung
cancer with new cases of 1,796,144 (18 per cent);
colorectum, 935,173 (9.4 per cent); liver, 830,180 (8.3
per cent); and stomach cancer, 768,793 (7.7 per cent)
according to the World Health Organisation in 2020.
Mr Speaker, cancer of the breast was mainly known
to be a disease of elderly women, but has proven to
occur in younger females of less than 30 years of
African descent including Ghana (Iddrisu, Aziato &
Dedey, 2020). A collection of evidence suggests that the
awareness of breast cancer and its causes, risk factors,
and disease manifestation is generally unsatisfactorily
low in Ghana. Studies have shown significant
relationship between awareness levels and practice of
breast examination and seeking care among Ghanaian
women (Bonsu & Ncama, 2019) with less educated
women at higher risk.
Business Statements

Mr Speaker, although some recent studies in, for

example, Edzie et al, 2021, surprisingly found no

significant association between family history and

breast cancer in Ghana, others like Brinton et al, 2018

implicate skin lighteners and hair relaxers as breast

cancer risk factors in Ghana and women of African

descent, given particularly their biological potential for

their risk disposition. Despite this revelation, breast

cancer patients in Ghana do not receive satisfactory

emotional care, communication and counselling, hence

the need for adequate psychological interventions

throughout their cancer trajectory.

Mr Speaker, misconceptions, maladaptive and

fatalistic beliefs about the disease influence the choice

of therapies. For example, alternative therapies such as

spiritual and traditional medicine causing delays in

hospital entry.

Mr Speaker, again, lack of knowledge or awareness

about the disease causes women to ignore possible

symptoms resulting in delayed help-seeking process.

The situation is compounded by knowledge deficiency

among clinical and allied health professionals leading

sometimes to misdiagnosis or poor prognosis (Bonsu &

Ncama, 2019). In Ghana, breast cancer studies suggest

coping strategies and fatalism or religiosity have

significant influence on the quality of life and well-

being of women living with breast cancer, with the need

to address psychosocial issues among breast cancer

survivors relative to their socio-cultural and religious

values.

Mr Speaker, owing to the belief of the causes of

breast cancer rooted in bio-psycho-spiritual model of

illness, some empirical studies advocate for intensifying

awareness and to incorporate spiritual and traditional

healing as well as psychological modalities in the

process.

Mr Speaker, like all cancers, breast cancer patients

are confronted with a variety of psychosocial challenges

and associated effects on their social community. Thus,

cancer is referred to as a “we-diseases” as families and intimate partners or spouses share in the experience of

the psychological burdens.

Mr Speaker, in Africa, 1,109,209, which is five per

cent of the world's total new cancer cases, were identified in 2020. In particular, the Global Cancer

Observatory reports breast cancer as the most

commonly diagnosed cancer in sub-Saharan Africa with

an estimated incidence of 129,415, 16.1 per cent of

cases and 64,234 related deaths but lower than cervical

cancer deaths of 72,668 in 2020.

Mr Speaker, the overall cancer related mortality rate

in Africa has increased from 591,000 in 2012 with

breast cancer becoming the leading cause of admission

and mortality in women, a shift from the past decades

that recorded cervical cancer as the most commonly

diagnosed cancer.

In Western Africa, although precise estimates

are lacking due to the absence of a cancer registry

in most countries, the available data estimates

49,339 (33.5%) total new breast cancer cases with

25,626 (15.5%) deaths - the highest in the African

region (WHO 2020; Globacan, 2021). Meanwhile,

the mortality rate in Africa contrasts the records in

the developed world such as North America

(IARC, 2020) which boasts of integrated routine

mammography programmes, early detection and

presentation for medical attention and access to

contemporary technology in the treatment of

cancer (Reeder-Hayes & Anderson, 2017).

Mr Speaker, available health and supportive

care services for breast cancer patients in Ghana

and many African countries are not formally

documented as those in developed countries such

as United States of America (USA), the United

Kingdom (UK), Japan and Australia. Thus,

receiving the diagnosis and managing or living

with the physical consequences of this chronic

health condition and associated psychological

consequences, for example, disease-specific

distress and co-morbid clinical and sub-clinical

levels of anxiety or depression can be challenging.

From diagnosis, breast cancer patients are

confronted with existential challenges and the need

to adjust to profound changes or uncertainties that

affect almost all aspects of their lives. Like many

medical

conditions, early diagnosis and improved

treatments have significantly prolonged survival

rates in breast cancers (McCanney, et al. 2018;

Miller, et al. 2019).

Mr Speaker, in Ghana, however, the available

data indicates that people living with breast cancer

experience long appraisal intervals from initial

symptom detection, interpretation, labelling and

help-seeking initiation which leads to advanced

presentation of the disease and have poor survival

outcomes (Bonsu & Ncama, 2019; Obrist et al,

2014). Although research on survivorship shows

breast cancer patients require multidisciplinary

support (for example, controlled trials, physical

activity, fast-mimicking diets, et cetera), to

rehabilitate and return to normal life, this Statement

focuses on psychological interventions to promote

the recovery of persons living with breast cancer.

Mr Speaker, psychological interventions are

defined as evidence-based formalised strategies

that aim to alter self-reinforming processes and

improve individual competencies and functional

outcomes (Walton, 2015). In this context, such

interventions are efforts to promote adaptations of

the individual to the condition of breast cancer to

optimise their resources with autonomy, self-

knowledge, and self-help. In primary health care,

psychological interventions extend individual

competencies to the areas of health promotion and

disease prevention, long-term care, research and

training, among others (Trindade, 1999).

All over the world, cancer survivors and people

living with breast cancer face numerous challenges

such as depression, anxiety, hopelessness, social

isolation, fatigue, pain, sexual problems, cognitive

failures, fear of recurrence, somatic symptoms, and

work-related and financial difficulties (Bevans &

Sternberg, 2012; Martin et al 2020). These

burdensome dynamics often lead to high

susceptibility to psychological stress or even

mental illness (Kleine, Hallensleben, Mehnert,

Honig & Ernst, 2019). Practical psychological

interventions to improve well-being and quality of

life of breast cancer patients relate to cognitive

behavioural therapy, cognitive existential therapy,

psychotherapy, psychosocial intervention,

psychoeducation intervention, mindfulness,

counselling and those focusing on positive

experiences, strengths, and personal competencies

rather than mental health complications such as

anxiety and depression (Martin et al 2020). These

may be grouped into four main types of

interventions; cognitive behavioural training,

education, individual psychotherapy and group

interventions.

In conclusion, today, West Africa accounts for

the second highest incidence of new breast cancer

cases of 49,339 and the highest mortality of 25,626

on our continent (Globocan, 2020; WHO, 2020). In

Ghana, 24,009 new cancer cases were reported in

2020 with breast cancer not only accounting for

4,482 (31.8%) of the prevalence in women

(IARC/WHO, 2020) but ranking top for incidence,

mortality and prevalence in our country with 4,482

(18.7%) new cases reported in the past year and

2,055 (13.0%) deaths. What is frightening, though,

is that currently, over 10,000 of our women are

reported with the 5-year prevalence of breast

cancer and the number is expected to increase when

new figures are released in December.

Business Statements

Mr Speaker, you should be curious to note that

the percentage of male breast cancers in Ghana is

also rising and is higher than what is reported in

Western literature (Quayson, Wiredu, Adjei &

Anim, 2014). In fact, breast cancer poses a huge

and rising impact on the world's population and

health systems in many countries. For several

decades, behavioural/psychosocial needs have

been recognised as crucial components of all

phases of breast cancer (oncology) and survival.

However, these needs present complex and

substantial challenges in their integration with

other components of survivorship care not only in

Ghana or Africa but elsewhere in the world.

Compared to general health promotion

interventions and usual care with chemotherapy,

psychological interventions are reported to achieve

greater success albeit no conclusive evidence

favouring specific interventions (Bradford & Chan

2017) and relative to women of diverse ethnic

backgrounds, socioeconomic status, broader age

ranges (Betty et al 2018).

Mr Speaker, in Ghana, some of these

intervention programmes are available in a few

major hospitals along with extremely negligible

psychological laboratories which offer such

services. Major health and specific support

services, particularly psychological interventions,

are rarely available to patients with breast cancer,

as they often share the limited facilities/services

with other “non-cancer” patients. Thus, breast

cancer patients may rely on private or charitable

groups such as NGOs who offer awareness but

limited support services. Indeed, the overall burden

of breast cancer remains high in our country, owing

to inadequate and fragile health systems. As the

world marks breast cancer awareness month,

perhaps the number of breast cancer cases and

deaths will continue to increase hence efforts to

improve and widen the existing structures and

include other proven psychological intervention

programmes as well as to advance research,

prevention, screening and treatment cannot be over

emphasised.

Finally, given the limited quality and coverage

of cancer data worldwide at present, particularly in

low and middle income countries such as Ghana

(WHO, 2020), cancer incidence, prevalence and

mortality may be worse than projected in our

country.

Mr Speaker, I respectfully implore you to join

the call for the creation of a national cancer registry

to, among other things, provide reliable data for

decision-making, spearhead nationwide campaign

for awareness and understanding of breast cancer

distribution pattern in Ghana.

In order to achieve universal health coverage

and the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3),

we need to, as a matter of urgency, decentralise

cancer centres in the country, if possible, have one

in each regional capital.

Currently, the only cancer centres in the country

are in Accra and Kumasi. Our initiatives and

national response formulation must extend

curative/treatment services (surgery, radiotherapy,

chemotherapy) to reflect best practices including

palliative care plans with psychological

interventions playing an integral role. While we all

must be concerned about our way of life, we must,

as a matter of urgency, crucially support people

living with breast cancer, look beyond the

extension of medical services and intensify

evidence-based psychological intervention

programmes to ameliorate the plight of persons

living with breast cancer and other cancers.

Mr Speaker, let me end by paying a glowing

tribute to Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addae, founder of

Breast Care International, for her formidable fight

against breast cancer in the country over the years.

I hope the State and international community do

more to support her and others in this noble fight to

bring the number of breast cancers in the country to

negligible levels, if not completely annihilated.

Mr Speaker, on that note, thank you very much

for the audience.

Yes, Hon (Dr)
Agyeman-Rawlings?

None

Klottey Korle): Mr Speaker, thank you very much

for the opportunity to comment on the Statement

made by the Hon Member for Kwadaso.

Mr Speaker, breast cancer can affect both men

and women, therefore it is important that as we

speak to the issue of women being affected by it,

men are aware that they can be affected by it and

should also check their breasts for lumps and other

changes that may be out of the ordinary.

Indeed, breast cancer does not just affect the

physical well-being of those who suffer from it but

their mental and emotional well-being as well as

the devastating impact it has on their family.

As we talk about the issue of breast cancer, one

cannot escape some of the obvious things such as

the surgical intervention that happens with breast

cancer, for example, partial and total mastectomy.

Women find part of their identity in their breasts

and therefore, the devastation that happens in terms

of a woman's identity or self-worth as a result of

going through the surgical intervention of a

mastectomy can be so devastating and the support

services in place, pre, during and post treatment of

cancer cannot be underestimated.

Mr Speaker, how do we ensure that throughout

the process, we educate women on how to find

some self-confidence after they have gone through

such a drastic surgery? How do we also keep their

families involved? The devastating effect of breast

cancer can cause breakups in relationships and

marriages. People are suffering quietly in their

relationships without the support because of the

stigma that comes with the mastectomy that women

have to go through when they have breast cancer.

This is one of the reasons why lots of women are

even afraid to go for the screening which would, in

the event that anything is identified early, result in

better outcomes.

Mr Speaker, so we need more people who have

survived breast cancer to be the ambassadors on

how women can survive this disease, as we talk

about early intervention. For a country that has

such a high number of women suffering and dying

from late-diagnosed breast cancer, we must

consider it alongside cervical cancer in the national

screening programme, which ought to be covered

by the National Health Insurance Scheme, so that

people who hold these cards could actually avail of

these services and would not be afraid to seek help.

In order to ensure that women seek early help, it

is not just the month of October that should be

considered the breast cancer awareness month;

rather, it should be something that is ongoing. The

National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE)

should take an interest in some of these health

issues and provide ongoing awareness creation, not

just within the health sector but across the board so

that women randomly understand that they can

avail of these services and be part of the national

screening programme.

Mr Speaker, the psychological support is so key

and as we speak, today, with regard to more

entrants into the legal profession, we must look at

the importance of understanding the needs that our

country has in terms of psychological support and

medical support. As we look to admit students into

our tertiary institutions, some consideration would

be taken into how many of these people we would

need in the various centres across the country to

ensure that we are making provision to guide more

people as we provide counselling on their career

choices. We can guide them towards some of these

professions that may well lead them to save more

lives down the line.

Mr Speaker, with this, I thank you for the

opportunity.

Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, permit me to acknowledge and
applaud the Hon Member who made the Statement,
Dr Kingsley Nyarko, for this well-researched
presentation. My nephew's wife died from breast
cancer and I saw what she went through. She is
gone now but it still traumatises me when I think
about it. Mr Speaker, the picture that Dr Nyarko has
painted is very grim but in that same presentation
is hope; the hope that if we put our minds to it and
commit resources to it, we should be able to avoid
some of them.
It was revealing for the Hon Member to make
reference to the fact that people can get cancer from
wanting to look beautiful by buying creams to
bleach and also enhance their looks, but in the
process they buy death. Mr Speaker, I am sure that
you can use your high Office to charge the relevant
agencies to let there be continuous education. The
NCCE has a responsibility of making itself
available to educate the populace and those who are
involved in this.
Mr Speaker, in my work as a promoter of
education among children, I have gone to schools
and I have seen children under 20 years in senior
high schools who have bleached. The choices that
these children make are from an uninformed
position, so if the effort is made to address this, then
I am sure that we can cut down on the number of
people that we invest in who fall sick and visit our
health institutions.
I thank Dr Nyarko for this Statement, and I
would want to associate myself with his appeal to
the agencies who invest and support our cause in
this country as far as our health needs are
concerned. I join the Hon Member to appeal to
them to resource us to bring education to bear on
the populace.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.

None

Afadzato South): Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity and I thank Dr Kingsley Nyarko for

this well-researched Statement.

Mr Speaker, on page 4 of the Statement, we are

told that West Africa accounts for the second

highest incidents of new breast cancer cases of

49,309 and the highest mortality rate of over

25,000. What is worrying and disturbing some of

us is that Ghana is part of West Africa and we also

have our issues. So we have a problem of not giving

primary healthcare to women in our constituencies

and in the regions. Mr Speaker, in this country,

today, if a person is diagnosed with breast cancer,

that person can only receive treatment either in

Accra or Kumasi, and assuming the person does not

have the transportation fare from Hohoe to Accra

for this treatment, then the person will remain in the

house and apply local herbs and wait till the time

God will call him/her home.

Mr Speaker, it is worrying that it is only in Accra

or Kumasi that a person can receive treatment, so I

pray that the Hon Minister for Health would really

listen to the contributions on the Floor today and

the Chief Directors and authorities in the Ministry

of Health would consider allocating a desk in every

health centre so that people could have their breasts

screened. Another factor is that because the women

do not have knowledge about breast cancer and

they do not know whether it is painful or not, they

sit at home to suffer and die later because it is too

late to be detected.

Mr Speaker, we are told that early detection

helps in its treatment and this is key to survival. My

only appeal today is that the health authorities

should try very hard to establish a breast cancer

screening unit even at the Community-based

Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound

because they are the first port of call when people

fall sick in the communities.

Mr Speaker, our prayers are with the over

10,000 women who are living with breast cancer

and with a survival period of five years. We pray

that the good Lord will continue to heal and bless

them with a miracle to recover fully.

Mr Speaker, thank you so much for the

opportunity and I thank my Hon Sisters who have

contributed to this Statement. I also thank the Hon

Member who has remembered us and made a

Statement on breast cancer.

Hon Member for
Anyaa-Sowutuom?
Mr Dickson A. Kissi (NPP --
Anyaa/Sowutuom): Mr Speaker, thank you very
much for this opportunity. I would like to add my
voice and also commend Dr Nyarko for bringing
this matter to light again.
Mr Speaker, breast cancer is a condition that I
wish nobody, whether male or female, had it. I
would talk largely about awareness because it is
very important. This is something that is treatable
and curable but largely depends on early diagnosis.
As part of our curriculum in the junior and senior
high schools - I think that it might be one of the
mediums that we need to look at in terms of
inculcating it into the curriculum.
Mr Speaker, if we are aware in the early ages of
13 years and above, then it becomes a part of us in
terms of getting checked early. Even in some cases,
the youth have had their mothers to go and check
only to find out that their mothers actually have that
predisposition or have an evolving or developing
cancer.

So, I think in simple terms, I would only talk

about awareness today and the need for us to work

very hard in every sphere, be it social media or a

forum such as what we have here.

Mr Speaker, I am very grateful that men and

women are talking about this in our country. I thank

Hon Members who spoke for encouraging us to

consider breast cancer awareness through the entire

year and not just an October event. That is also a

laudable thing that as a country we might consider

so that breast cancer awareness goes on throughout

the year, from January to December.

Mr Speaker, in concluding, I need to add one

other word of caution to our men. Men are also

susceptible, and inasmuch as we may not know

how to examine our own breasts, I think we ought

to subject ourselves to some very good female

doctors who might be in a very good position to

help us. This is an encouragement to our able men

in the House who have not had their breasts

examined to submit themselves to the necessary

and needful thing.

In conclusion, I am excited of any illness that is

supported and helped by Government, and I would

commend Government for making some of the

cancer medications available at low cost to people

experiencing cancer. Chemotherapy is costly, and I

would also use this avenue to plead that we try and

as much as possible make more cancer therapy

drugs available to our ordinary citizens because it

could be debilitating to our pockets, and it has led

to many families being broken because of the

hardships of paying for drug treatment.

In simple terms, one of the best cures is making

sure that the men expel and there is no fluid coming

out of the breast beside milk. So I would encourage

our men to examine our women, be it sisters or

mothers.

Hon Member for
Anyaa/Sowutuom, were you suggesting that men
should examine their sisters or you meant “other
sisters”?

Mr Speaker, I said Hon Members
here should examine the women in their lives, be it
mothers, sisters and wives. It is very important to
save them from breast cancer.
Thank you.

Yes, Hon
Nawaane?

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity, and I
thank the Hon Member who made the Statement.

Mr Speaker, I have just got up to stress the fact

that currently, individuals and Non-Government

Organisations (NGOs) are those who are trying to

manage breast cancer in a massive way. But it is

one of the cancers on which we need a state policy

to manage in a massive way, where practically at a

particular time, we can ask all the women in a

particular area to come for mass screening. This is

the way other countries have done it, and they have

made a lot of progress. Let me take this opportunity

to say that breast cancer, if detected early, could be

fully treated.

However, the problem we have is that most times,

we have late presentation. About three days ago, I

had a female patient in front of me who had been

admitted and was given blood transfusion. When I

went and looked at the nodes, I realised that it was

breast cancer. That was the complication that she

was being managed for. So with late presentation,

anything at all could happen because it is a cancer.

But if we are able to get to know early,

sometimes, through surgery and chemotherapy, we

are able to have our way through. So let us all

remember that with breast cancer, there is self-

examination. With breast examination, what you

do is that you just lift one of your hands and you

can use your other hand to just see whether you can

feel something. You can also put it under your

breast and try whether you can feel something and

go under your armpit to check whether you have a

lump there. Sometimes, you might not have a lump

because the lump would appear usually after one

year or more. But some people would just see a

deformed breast. Sometimes, it is the discharge of

small blood from the breast. You may not have seen

or felt anything but if you press the breast and there

is little blood being discharged, it is a sign that if

you miss it, the next time you probably know you

have breast cancer, it would be in the advanced

stage. So let us take this opportunity.

Also, when we go to the hospital, we can have

what is called a qualified examination by a

physician of one's choice. They can examine and

diagnose you early. Remember the outcome

depends on early detection.

The last but not least is when we are screening

those below the age of 35. We can bring ultrasound

scan that we use every day to screen for breast

cancer. With that, you can even detect it before the

nooe comes out. But after the age of 35, we use the

mammogram. One can have a mammography, and

it would also be detected.

And so we have a lot of ways to manage it. Let

us tell our pastors that the best way they can help

us is that if they think they are not sure of what they

are doing, they should refer the patients to the

hospital. Sometimes, the delays come from our

pastors. The person is losing weight; has something

on her breast; you are not looking at it and you are

always asking that individual to always come for

prayers without helping that person to go to the

hospital. Let us tell our Mallams and herbalists that

this particular sickness can be treated at the

hospitals if reported early. Of course, they would

tell you that they have examples of people who

went to the hospitals and died, which is normal for

all sicknesses. If one comes very late, one would

die; it is just like any other sickness. Let us not rely

on knowledge of “people had breast cancer, went

to the hospitals and died” as an excuse to hold on

to the patient.

Our women should not also be afraid of the

treatment. Some of them have got stories to tell that

when they went to the hospital for treatment, they

lost all hair and so they are not going anymore. I

had one patient like that. I asked the patient about

her strength, but she said she was growing stronger.

But because of the loss of the hair, she was not

willing to go back for the treatment, which is also

not good.

One can lose all her hair, but actually, if you get

cured, your hair would start coming back. For

others, of course, the hair comes back but not in the

normal way.

But I believe that life is worth more than just the

hair. So I would advise the women that please, if

they start the treatment and their hair is going off,

it is what we call the side effect. They should not

let that scare them. They should continue to go to

the hospital for the treatment.

Mr Speaker, in a nutshell, it is time that the

Government of Ghana stepped in with a state policy

to ensure that all our mothers, sisters and probably

- not the men now. We can start with the women

because they are the majority. We should have a

policy where when they go to the hospital, they are

screened at the cost of Government.

Then comes the issue of the cost of medication.

Of course, the cost is very high and we have to find

a way of setting up a Cancer Fund to ensure that

costs for patients who are undergoing the treatment

are subsidised by that Fund. Even if they cannot

pay for everything, it should be subsidised. I do not

know whether the National Health Insurance

Authority is healthy enough, today, to take up that

bill but we need a fund to assist us manage breast

cancer.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the

opportunity.

Mr
Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a
few comments about this very important Statement.
Mr Speaker, I would just advise my Hon
Colleagues that anybody who intends to help by
examining breasts still needs permission. They
cannot just go examining every breast they see.
[Laughter.] I would advise him; if his sister does
not have anybody to examine, he should probably
exchange with the Deputy Majority Leader. It
would not be a good idea to be examining his own
sister's breast. Somebody may not understand why

Mr Speaker, breast cancer is a terrible disease.

On the 25th of last month, I was on a way to burry

a friend of mine whose wife died earlier; we buried

her and he died. On my way, my sister called me

and said that I lost another sister through breast

cancer. It was a very terrible five-year journey for

our family.

Mr Speaker, I hear people say that it would take

five years for one to die. In my experience, it would

take five years simply because one is spending so

much. Majority of people would probably die

earlier than five years simply because of the cost.

Mr Speaker, at a point in time, it was costing us

more than GH₵1,000.00 a week for the scans, the

blood transfusions and the medications. I asked my

sister and myself how many people can afford to

spend GH₵1,000.00 a week, though we know that

eventually one may not necessarily fall within that

five (5) per cent lucky people who may survive. So

it is a very terrible thing.

Mr Speaker, that is why I recommend what Hon

Colleagues have said about the awareness. Indeed,

there are many women who are even afraid to be

checked. When they are checked and they test

positive, there are women who think that if it would

take the removal of breast to survive - how would

they look like, if they do not have breast.

Mr Speaker, I am sure my sister would have

loved to be alive today without breast with her three

children. Unfortunately, she has not got that

opportunity and I know that once it has happened

to her, there may be other women who would be

thinking that they would lose their hair and breast.

I am sure it is all right to lose the hair and breast

and still be alive and be with their families. So let

that awareness be done.

Mr Speaker, with the diagnosis, I am not sure

many communities, including mine, have the

ability to detect this early enough. That is why I

agree with my Hon Colleague, who is a medical

doctor that we need to intensify investment so that

we can detect this and either treat or manage it. This

is because sometimes it is not treatable. It can only

be managed up to a point to prolong life.

Mr Speaker, I also noticed that by the time

people die of some of these diseases, the families

are so devastated and have become very poor. They

sell everything they have to the extent that when

they die, especially, those who have children, the

children are left almost without anything. They

cannot even go to school. That is why I agree with

him that, perhaps, there should be a policy that

when people go through this journey and they die,

the State should be able to intervene in a way so

that the people they leave behind do not become the

next victims in terms of poverty. So I think this is a

very important issue.

Mr Speaker, the numbers are huge - we talking

about 10,000. Anything that would affect 10,000

Ghanaians must be something that we call

pandemic. We should be careful how we treat this.

I also agree that there should be a possibility of

setting up a fund.

Mr Speaker, in the United Kingdom, we have

the McMillan Fund where even people who may be

wealthy but sadly die can leave a portion of their

wealth for further research into cancers and

treatment of others. In this country, we do not have

anything like that. I do not think it is appropriate to

leave this to Government. So I think it is something

that we should all look at.

Mr Speaker, just to conclude by saying that

breast cancer is just one of the cancers that kills and

if one ever experiences a journey of somebody who

is diagnosed with cancer and how devastating and

painful the journey is -- how one sees his own

relative deteriorate to the end, I think we would all

wake up to see what we can do to help in the

awareness, diagnosis, treatment and management

of cancers in this country and if possible, see what

we can do to support those who die of breast cancer

and leave children behind.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank you

for the opportunity.

Very well. That
brings us to the end of Statements for today.
At the Commencement of Public Business,
Hon Deputy Leader?

Mr Speaker, we go to the
Presentation of Papers on the Order Paper
Addendum.

Very well.
Presentation of Papers by the Leader of the
Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.

Hon Leader, what
next?

Mr Speaker, I do not know
if you have any more Statements but if there is none
- Mr Speaker, my understanding is that there was
a Statement and I do not know whether it has been
admitted. It is on the unprecedented achievement of
cocoa production in Ghana.

At the pre-Sitting
meeting, it was not brought to my attention and
unfortunately, it is not on the programme to be read
today. It can be taken next week.

Mr Speaker, in that case,
there is nothing left, so I move that the House

adjourns until Tuesday, 2nd November, 2021, at 10

a.m.

Mr Speaker, I second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.