Debates of 27 Jan 2022

Hon Members, I
have not received any Message from
His Excellency the President for
today and I also do not have any
formal communication to the House.
So we would move on to item
numbered 4 ⸺ correction of Votes and Proceedings and the Official
Report.
Votes and Proceedings and the
Official Report

Page 1 …8 ⸺
Ms Linda Obenewaa Akweley
Ocloo: Mr Speaker, page 8, item
numbered 29, I have been captured as
absent.

Table Office, kindly take note.
Page 9 ⸺

Mr
Speaker, page 8, item numbered 36, I
was here yesterday but I have been
marked absent.

Table Office, kindly take note.
Page 9 …10 ⸺

Mr
Speaker, after Hon Woyome's wonderful Statement on the Black
Stars, a directive was issued by the
Hon First Deputy Speaker to the
Committee on Youth and Sports to
investigate the cause of the poor
performance of the Black Stars and
report to the House but with no
timelines.
I suggest we give your Committee
about two weeks to report, in view of
the fact that the Black Stars would be
preparing to meet Nigeria between
the 24th and 29th of March 2022, so
that the views of the House, through
your Committee's Report, would be communicated as directed by your
good self.

Yes, I think that it is
a very important observation by Hon
Patrick Boamah. Are the Hon
Chairman and Ranking Members of

They are not present. Is it possible

that you can present this report by the

end of February?

Hon Members, I proceed to direct

that the Committee on Youth and

Sports should present to this House, a

report on the results of their

investigation on the poor

performance of the Black Stars by the

end of February next month.

Mr Speaker, I support the views expressed by the
Hon Patrick Boamah. However, if the
Hon Member has no objection, I
propose we use the word ‘review' instead of ‘investigate', as that was what the Hon Minister himself used.
That is, ‘to review the performance of the Black Stars'. The word ‘investigate' can connote other meanings.
Mr Speaker, we would like to
review the performance of the - I know I was not the one who made the
Statement but since it is your
directive, the directive can come in
the form of ‘review' instead of ‘investigate'.

Well, the problem
we have here is that I was not present
but what is captured on the Votes and
Proceedings is to ‘investigate' which is captured on page 10. This was the
directive given by the Hon First
Deputy Speaker to investigate the
cause of the poor performance of the
Black Stars and report to the House.
So that is what I would go with and I
do not think that it should be
reviewed because I think that they
should investigate the cause.
Hon Majority Chief Whip?

Mr Speaker, I think that on this occasion, I would
want to respectfully disagree with the

Mr Speaker, he has abandoned it.

Mr Speaker, if it has been abandoned,

then the “investigate” is spot on and it is the right word to be used in this

context.

The Table Office
should kindly take note and correct
the records accordingly.
We expect that the report should
be brought to this House before the
end of February for us to deal with it
and try to right the wrongs before, if
necessary, we engage Nigeria for the
World Cup qualifier. If we deem it
not necessary, then we would say so.
Hon Minister for Employment
and Labour Relations?

Mr
Speaker, thank you.
Mr Speaker, I just want us to be
very careful in setting the timeline in
view of the fact that the Black Stars
have a major World Cup qualifier to
be played in March and they would
need all the attention to prepare for
that match. So, in setting a deadline
at the end of February, my fear is that
it may interrupt their preparations and

Hon Minister, it is
not fait accompli ⸺
Are you with me?

Mr Speaker, not
wholly though.

You did not hear
me?

I heard you, except
that I thought that we should give it a
second thought.

It is subject to the
recommendations and decisions of
this House. The final one would be
taken by His Excellency the
President, but we are entitled to make
an input into that decision. If we get
to know that at the end of the day, the
investigation would not yield any
benefits, then we would not do so.
That is why I said that it is not fait
accompli that we engage in that
match. We would have to take the
decision as a country and I think that
it is very important. Ghana cannot be
seen to be shining and all of a sudden,
we fall from grace to grass. At least,
this hurts our pride and it is important
for us to take a very serious view of
this, and that is why there has to be an
investigation. So, at the end of the
day, this House would have the
opportunity to discuss, debate and
take a decision on it.
Hon Minority Leader?

Mr
Speaker, with your indulgence, the
Hon Minister for Employment and
Labour Relations is among the very
few people who have voting rights at
the Ghana Football Association
(GFA) as the President of
Nsuatreman FC. I also have a voting
rights as the President of Steadfast
Football Club.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister is
not disagreeing with what you said.
He is just saying that we should
persuade Hon Boamah that instead of
end of February as the deadline, we
should rather make it 30th March,
2022, because we have a major match
with Nigeria on 23rd March, 2022.
Once the investigations are ongoing,

then they would be interrogating the

technical team and management team

who must also focus to make sure we

qualify for the 2022 World Cup in

Qatar.

Mr Speaker, so he is not

disagreeing with your ruling but

rather suggesting that instead of end

of February, it should be 30th March,

2022, and I am not sure that Hon

Boamah would have an objection to

this. We should investigate it, but we

should extend the period to 30th

March, 2022, by which time they

would have played this critical

qualifying match.

Mr Speaker, thank you.

I thought that I got
the sense of the House that we should
consider this matter before they
engage with Nigeria as has been
stated and that was why I gave the
end of February. If we are just doing
it for the purposes of a long term and
we do not want it to affect the already
approved and decided programme of
the Black Stars, then let us say so and
give the Committee more time.
However, I really think that we
should consider the matter before any
further engagement of the Black Stars
with any team whether for a World
Cup qualifying match, an ECOWAS
engagement or whatever ⸺
I do not engage in matters that I
know very well that I would fail.
Prevention is better than cure and so
we would leave it as it is.
Page 11⸺

Mr Speaker,
may I refer you to page 10, item
numbered 8.
Mr Speaker, before you handed
over the Chair yesterday, you
recognised the presence of Hon
Members of Parliament who are
attending the CPA Conference in
Accra. Even though the Hon First
Deputy Speaker also repeated it,
yours was not captured but rather that
of the Hon First Deputy Speaker.
I am just seeking your direction on
whether your recognition should be
captured instead of the one by the
Hon First Deputy Speaker?

Yes. Actually, I did
the recognition and not the Hon First
Deputy Speaker. The Table Office
should capture it properly because the
Hon Member is right.
Hon Ablakwa?

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
Mr Speaker ⸺

Which Hon Member is taking pictures in the Chamber? What
is that?

Who admitted you
into the Chamber?
Is he a stranger? Hon Member,
read the Standing Orders.
Yes, Hon Ablakwa?

Mr Speaker, just to
make a clarification on item
numbered 8 on page 10. Mr Speaker,
you indicated earlier on that the CPA
Conference was ongoing and at some
point you would join them for the
closing ceremony. However, when
you left and the Hon First Deputy
Speaker assumed the Chair, the
delegation came to sit at the public
gallery and the Hon First Deputy
Speaker recognised them and
actually asked them to be on their feet
and we all acknowledged their
presence and welcomed them
properly with Hear! Hear!
So, I think item numbered 8 has
captured what happened when the
Hon First Deputy Speaker
acknowledged them when they sat at
the public gallery. So, this can stay in
the Votes and Proceedings but we
can also include the earlier statements
that Mr Speaker made about the
ongoing conference and the closing
ceremony so that we can capture
comprehensively what ⸺

Hon Member, I
think that you were missing in the
House at a point in time and that is
why you do not know that I
recognised them before I handed over
the Chair. It is not the earlier mention
of it but I went through the list as
captured before I handed over to the
Hon First Deputy Speaker. If after
that he also recognised them and
asked them to be on their feet for Hon
Members to recognise their presence
and welcome them, then that could
further be captured by the Table
Office.
So, the Table Office would know
how to construct the wording to show
the importance we attach to hosting
them in our country.
Page 11 ⸺

Mr Speaker, on
page 11, item numbered 10, which is
the Motion, I seek your guidance
[Interruption]⸺ I would have thought that the Motion would have
made reference to the constitutional
provision which you relied on. So, if
it does not hurt, at the end of the first

paragraph, we can add, “pursuant to article 187(15) of the

1992Constitution, this honourable

House constitutes an Ad hoc

committee composed of the

following Hon Members to

recommend for appointment by

Parliament an Auditor to audit and

report on the accounts of the Office

of the Auditor-General”. Mr Speaker, this is because you stressed on the

constitutional provision as the basis

for the establishment of the

Committee but that is omitted in this

rendition.

Well, we are only
told by our Standing Orders that the
Votes and Proceedings should be a
summary of the salient decisions of
the House. As to how those
summaries are captured, we have not
been told and so, we just do it by
practice. But what you just added
clarified it for the ordinary person
that we are doing it on the basis of a
constitutional injunction and so
adding “pursuant to article 187(15) of the 1992 Constitution would not do
any harm to it. I think they can add it.
So, Clerks-at-the-Table, kindly
take note.
Page 12…16?
Hon Members, in the absence of
any further corrections, the Votes and
Proceedings of Wednesday, 26th
January, 2022 as corrected, is hereby
adopted as the true record of
proceedings.
Hon Majority Chief Whip, let us
take the Urgent Questions before we
move to Statements.
Majority Chief Whip (Mr
Frank Annoh-Dompreh): Yes, Mr
Speaker, we should take the Urgent
Questions.

Hon Members, item
numbered 5, Urgent Question. Item
numbered 5(a) by the Hon Member
for Kwadaso, Dr Kingsley Nyarko.
Hon Member, you may now ask your
Question.

Mr
Speaker, with your permission, I
have the authority of Dr Kingsley
Nyarko to ask this Question on his
behalf.

Hon Member, you
are completely out of Order. You
may resume your seat.

Mr Speaker, with respect, I come under Order
68(3) and seek your leave for the
Question to be asked on behalf of

Dr Kingsley Nyarko by Hon Patricia

Appiagyei.

Hon Member, you
may now proceed.

Mr
Speaker, it is common knowledge
that since the inception of the
Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ)
policy in 2017, farmers on the
flagship programme have received
consistent, affordable and adequate
supply of subsidised fertiliser until
last year, 2021, when issues of
shortages arose. Several reasons
accounted for this shortage and these
were: adverse impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic on supply chains
worldwide including fertiliser.
The resultant destruction of
economic activities caused by the
pandemic triggered sharp increases in
prices of goods and services on the
international market including
fertiliser culminating in low import
by companies participating in
Government subsidy programmes
last year; general increase in freight
charges by shipping lines due to the
slow down on economic activities in
the wake of the pandemic; delays in
the payment of supplies made by
participating fertiliser companies
during the 2020 crop season.
This affected the revolving capital
of such companies and the financial
capacity to import fertilisers for the
PFJ programme; and the inability for
companies to secure credit facilities
to finance their businesses due to the
effects of the slowdown of economic
activities on the financial sector.
Mr Speaker, notwithstanding these challenges, the Ministry worked tirelessly in collaboration with participating
companies to ensure the availability
of subsidised fertilisers to farmers
albeit not always in desired
quantities. Largely, this has ensured
that the production of food crops in
the country has been stable without
adverse impact on the nation's food security. Mr Speaker, the lessons
learnt from the effects of COVID-19
pandemic on economic activities
calls for pragmatic

and innovative solutions to sustain

the gains of the PFJ campaign. Even

before the outbreak of the COVID-19

pandemic, Government - had taken major steps to ensure local

production of fertilisers and the

encouragement of farmers to

gradually shift to organic fertilisers

which are locally available. Frantic

efforts are also being made to attract

a multi-billion dollar investment in a

fertiliser manufacturing plant which

would rely on the surplus gas

produced through offshore oil

exploration for production.

The Government is also

collaborating with OCP Group of

Companies, a Moroccan conglomerate to map soils in Ghana according to their

nutrients and chemical composition.

This would enable the use of blended

fertilisers specific to soil types to

promote efficient use of fertilisers

and increase productivity.

Mr Speaker, to eliminate any

possible abuse of subsidised fertiliser

facilities, a farmer database has been

developed with biometric informa-

tion, a feature for tracking fertiliser

bags, and a subsidy redemption

solution, with inbuilt security

features such as deduplication, token

verification and biometric authen-

tication before fertiliser subsidies are

disbursed to farmers. To date, 1.2

million farmers have been registered

in all regions within the Northern belt

of the country. A total of three

million farmers have also been

targeted for registration in the

southern region of the country as

soon as practicable.

The database will ensure proper

targeting of fertilizer and seed

subsidy beneficiaries and prevent

smuggling.

Yes, Hon Member,
any supplementary question?

Mr Speaker, I
would like to ask the Hon Minister if
the Ministry has a specific plan to
encourage the use of organic
fertilizer?

Mr Speaker, there
spike in global fertilizer prices in the
last 18 months has shown us the
urgency to ensure that we cultivate
the habit of applying organic
fertilizer on our farms. We have laid
down a programme with our
Extension Services to encourage
farmers to do so.
First of all, the advantage is that in
terms of the environment, it is a much
healthier product to use; it is cheaper
than the inorganic fertilizers that we
are used to, and lastly, it encourages

the use of by-products like poultry

droppings and other such by-products

for maximum use on our farms. So,

we have a programme of promoting

it.

Mr Speaker, as you know, farmers

are conservative in adopting to new

methods. So, we expect that in the

next two or three years, we would

have succeeded in convincing

farmers that organic fertilizer would

be a better option for them.

Hon Member, any
further supplementary question?

Mr Speaker, no; I
am fine.

Hon Members, you
are entitled to supplementary questions so ⸺[Interruption] Yes, I agree.
Yes, Hon Minority Leader?

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister in his Answer
talked about payment for fertilizer.
He knows that fertilizer suppliers
have not been paid. When will they
be paid?

Mr Speaker, I think the
Hon Minority Leader is talking
history because that issue about non-
payment of fertilizer which caused
the shortage was resolved. So, what
we have at the moment is what is in
the 2022 Budget for this coming
season. The outstanding amounts are
for 2021.
As we speak, the companies are
still submitting their invoices for us
to go to the field to verify before we
send them to the Ministry of Finance
for payment. So, that is the normal
practice, but the outstanding
payments which brought about the
shortages were paid.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu ⸺ rose ⸺

Hon Member, if not that you are the Minority Leader, you are
entitled to only one supplementary
question.
Yes, Hon Member?

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful. Is the
Hon Minister for Food and
Agriculture assuring this House that
the Answer he has given is applicable
to commercial farmers? Would
commercial farmers have access to
fertilizers they require for their
farms?

Mr Speaker, it is very
clear. The subsidised fertilizers are
meant for small holders. The
commercial farmers are supposed to
go to the open market.

Mr Speaker, there are two markets

for fertilizer in Ghana: One is the

subsidised fertilizer market; and the

then the open market for fertilizers.

People bring in as many tonnes of

fertilizer as they wish. But we are

talking about those that the tax payer

is made to subsidise, and that is a

market for small holders; it is meant

for commercial farmers.

Yes, the last supple-
mentary question.

Mr
Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, the Minister has been
reported to have answered a Question
in this House on the 5th of August,
2021. In his response, he stated that
the Ministry of Finance had released
an amount of money representing 44
per cent of the total debt paid to
fertilizer suppliers. Can the Minister
confirm if the rest of the debt has now
been paid?

Hon Member, I
have nothing against him confirming,
but he already alluded to that.
Hon Minister, the Hon Member
wants a confirmation that you are not
talking about the 44 per cent released,
but that you have completely wiped
off the debt owed fertilizer suppliers.

Mr Speaker, this is in
respect of the outstanding debt of
2020. As I had already mentioned,
the 40 per cent was the first tranche
which was settled, and subsequently,
the rest of it was settled for 2020.
Mr Eric Opoku ⸺ rose ⸺

Hon Ranking
Member, you were caught by the bell,
but being the Ranking Member, I
would give you the last bite.

Mr Speaker, the
question which was answered by the
Hon Minister relates to availability
and affordability of fertilizer. We
know one thing that seriously affects
the availability of fertilizers to
farmers is smuggling. During the
Budget hearing, the officers in charge
of the Planting for Food and Jobs
Programme reported to the
Committee on Food, Agriculture and
Cocoa Affairs that during
monitoring, they saw donkeys carting
fertilizers with the embossment
‘Planting for Food and Jobs' to Burkina Faso.
I would want to know from the
Hon Minister, as part of the measures
to ensure the availability of fertilizers
in our country, what has been done on
the issue of donkeys being used to
smuggle fertilizers meant for
Ghanaian farmers?

Mr Speaker, I am glad
that this House is a house of records.
I would challenge the Hon Member
to produce the evidence at the
Committee stage at which said that
there was this donkey business ⸺ [Interruption] ⸺ That issue never came up at the Committee stage. So,
if the Hon Member can produce the
record in which the official is quoted
as talking about donkeys, then I
would be in the position to answer.

Hon Members,
Order 67(1), particularly, Order
67(1)(b) must be taken into
consideration when asking supple-
mentary questions.
So the issue the Hon Member has
raised is one that needs to be verified
and proven. He started by saying that
this House is a House of records, and
he is happy about that. I do not know
whether the Committee can produce
that record because the Committee is
also part of the House. Anytime you
get that record, you are at liberty to
come back to the House.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister in answering the
question asked by the Hon Akandoh
made a distinction between
commercial farming and non-
commercial farming. I would want
the Hon Minister to tell this House
what the definition and the
distinction on commercial farming
is?

Hon Minister, if
you have the answer readily
available, you may provide it. If not,
then I think it should rather be a
substantive Question, not a
supplementary question, in view of
the Question advertised on the Order
Paper where the focus is on
fertilisers.
However, now, the Hon Member
would want a distinction between
commercial farming and non-
commercial farming, which would need some definition including categories and others. However, Hon
Minister, if you have the answer
available now, you may do so; if not,
then you are at liberty to go and get a
comprehensive answer for the Hon
Member.
That would not be an Urgent
Question; for this one is an Urgent
Question and therefore, we do not
have the Answer advertised on the
Order Paper.
However, if the Hon Member asks
a substantive non-Urgent Question,
then he would have the benefit of that
comprehensive Answer, which
would be captured by our Order

Paper. Meanwhile, Hon Minister, if

you have the answer, you may

provide it.

Mr Speaker, it is a very
simple answer. By definition, a
small-holder farm is one not more
than five acres. In other words, two
hectares, and that is the basis on
which we plan the demand for
fertilizer for small holders.

We expect that
there would be a substantive
Question on this matter because the
definition of commercial farming,
small scale farming, or non-
commercial farming cannot only be
limited to the size of the farm or its
acreage.
So, let us get it done. There are
other things involved as to the value
of investments, the cropping, and the
other type of inputs into farming.
They must also be taken into
consideration when we are looking at
commercial and non-commercial
farming.
Hon Members, we have the next
Urgent Question that stands in the
name of the Member for Dormaa
East, Hon Paul Apreku Twum-
Barimah.
Hon Member, you may now ask
your Question.
Measures taken by Ministry to
prevent outbreak of Bird Flu and
assist affected Poultry Farmers
Mr Paul Apreku Twum-
Barimah (NPP -Dormaa East): Mr
Speaker, I beg to ask the Hon
Minister for Food and Agriculture
what the Ministry is doing to assist
poultry farmers who have been
severely affected by the recent
outbreak of bird flu and what
measures are being put in place to
prevent the recurrence of this
adversity.

Mr Speaker, only
yesterday, precisely Wednesday, 26th
January, 2022, I held a press
conference to provide an update on
measures being taken by this
Government to contain the spread of
the Highly Pathogenic Avian
Influenza (HPAI), otherwise known
as “bird flu”.
The question of compensation
payment to farmers severely hit by
the HPAI was addressed during an
earlier engagement with the media in
October 2021. The purpose of the
engagement was to announce the
unprecedented intervention by this
Government to contain the spread of
the HPAI, and to resource and
empower the Veterinary Services
Directorate (VSD) to discharge its
mandate effectively. Government

considered the intervention as an

imperative, given the strategic role of

the VSD in the development of the

poultry and livestock industry.

Mr Speaker, as an update, I wish

to present a report on the regional

breakdown of the spread of the

disease in the country. Information

available to me on record indicates

that a total of ten regions out of the 16

regions have so far recorded cases of

the HPAI.

In all, 703,966 bird mortalities

have been recorded in the affected

regions. Of the said number, 555,227

birds had to be destroyed as part of

containment measures by the

Ministry. The remaining 143,406

deaths were as a result of HPAI

infections. Thus far, the number of

farms affected in the country is 159.

Mr Speaker, the Ministry's Action Plan approved by Cabinet to stem the

spread of the disease and address the

institutional weaknesses of the

Veterinary Services Directorate

(VSD) includes the following

activities; the recruitment of 1,100

veterinary professionals for deploy-

ment throughout the country.

Financial clearance to that effect has

already been secured to cover the

recruitment of an initial 550 veterinary professionals. The remaining 550 would be engaged within a period of two

years to strengthen the institutional

human resource capacity of the VSD.

This was lacking well before the

Government of H. E. Nana Addo

Dankwa Akufo-Addo assumed office

in the year 2017.

The procurement of vehicles,

motorbikes, chemicals, and other

logistics has been approved by the

Government to revamp the VSD for

enhanced operations manifested by

effective surveillance, early detection

and rapid response, and control of

animal diseases. It also includes the

intensification of farm visits to

ensure bio-security, depopulation,

and disinfection to eliminate any

threats to public health.

All these activities would be

preceded by the roll out of a

comprehensive sensitisation programme nationwide by the end of the first

week of February 2022. An

Implementation Committee to coordinate the sensitisation programme and

overseeing the general containment

of the HPAI is set to be inaugurated

tomorrow, Friday, 28th January,

2022.

Mr Speaker, let me reiterate that

Government has approved compen-

sation payment to farmers affected by

the HPAI as a component of the total

approved budget of nearly an amount

of GH₵44 million. At this stage, let

me assure the House that the exercise

would be carried out transparently to

ensure justice for all.

Mr Speaker, finally, to forestall

the frequent recurrence of the

outbreaks of the HPAI and other

trans-border animal diseases,

Government has finalised the Animal

Health Bill for the consideration of

this Parliament. The passage of the

Bill would ensure the effective

regulation of the livestock and

poultry industry.

The Ministry, through the VSD,

would be empowered to enforce

management standards in all animal

farms in the country. The

introduction of a new legal

framework would also vest authority

in the VSD to certify all animal farms

and also apply sanctions against

recalcitrant farmers such as the

closure of farms to serve as deterrent

to others.

Mr Speaker, if successfully

implemented, these measures would

go a long way to insulate the

livestock and poultry industry from

disease outbreaks and help build a

robust and resilient animal sector.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Yes, Hon Member,
any supplementary question? The
Second Deputy Speaker will be
taking the Chair.

Mr Speaker, I think it is exciting to hear the Hon
Minister mention the good work they
are doing to tackle this issue. Mr
Speaker, however, I would like to
find out from the Hon Minister, in
2015, there was a similar outbreak
and there were some compensations
paid to some farmers. In my
Constituency where my uncle who is
a farmer at Kobedia Asifra did not get
such a compensation, could the Hon
Minister assure this House that every
farmer who is affected by the bird flu
would get part of the compensation,
especially, the good people of
Dormaa East?

Mr Speaker, the last
time there was an outbreak of bird
flu, I was an Hon Member of this
august House, and in fact, I was the
Hon Ranking Member for Committee
on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa
Affairs. I very well remember there
were some compensations paid to
some affected farmers and others
were not compensated. We received
a few petitions at the time and we had

the records at the Ministry. There was

an outstanding amount of about

GH¢2 million for those who were not

compensated and we intend to settle

that amount with the Budget that has

been approved by Cabinet for this

exercise.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon Members, the
Second Deputy Speaker to take the
Chair.
2.13 p.m. ⸺

Hon Member, let us hear you.

Mr
Speaker, I thank you. I would like to
find out from the Hon Minister for
Food and Agriculture when the
outbreak occurred last year, I had the
opportunity to listen to Dr Patrick
Abakah who is the Director for the
Veterinary Services, and he placed so
much emphasis on the cause; how
this outbreak occurs. I remember him
mention the fact that the importation
of poultry and poultry products is the
cause for this outbreak. I would like
to find out from the Hon Minister
what the Ministry is doing so that,
first, we would be able to secure the
safety from source and, two, safety
when it gets to Ghana. That is if the
ban has been removed?

Hon Member for Old Tafo, could you
repeat the question?

Mr Speaker, I
would like to find out from the Hon
Minister, when the outbreak occurred
last year, I had the opportunity to
listen to Dr Patrick Abakah who is the
Director for the Veterinary Service,
and he placed much emphasis on the
cause of the outbreak, that there is a
serious problem with respect to
poultry and poultry products that are
imported into the country. So, I ask,
what is the Ministry doing, firstly,
with respect to safety at source and,
secondly, safety when poultry and
poultry products also get into the
country.

Mr Speaker, I would
like to draw the attention of the
House to the fact that this outbreak is
not only in Ghana; it is all over West
Africa. It is in Togo, La Cote
D'Ivoire, and Nigeria.
It is not only in West Africa, but it
is also in Europe: it is in Russia,
Holland, and so on and so to pinpoint
the source it came from into Ghana is
very difficult to say. I was not at this
event that the Veterinary Officer was

speaking so it would be difficult for

me to make a comment on that,

knowing that the outbreak is regional

rather than specifically to Ghana

from one source.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon Members, the Hon Minister for
Food and Agriculture has answered
the Questions; therefore, we will
discharge him.
Hon Minister, we thank you for
attending upon the House to answer
the Questions. You are hereby
discharged.

Mr
Speaker, a Statement was admitted
by Mr Speaker and I think an Hon
Colleague on the other Side is billed
to make the Statement, so if you may
permit him to present his Statement?

Very well, let me invite the Hon
Member for New Adubiase, the Hon
Adams Abdul-Salam to make his
Statement on accommodation crises
in our public universities.
Hon Member, the Floor is yours
now.
Mr Adams Abdul-Salam (NDC
⸺ New Edubiase):

Mr. Speaker, during
the recess, a constituent whose
daughter had gained admission to
study at the University of Ghana,
requested that I help her daughter
secure accommodation after they had
been unsuccessful in their online
application. Mr. Speaker, I wondered
why it should take the intervention of
a Member of Parliament to find a
place for a prospective student.
Nonetheless, but I offered to help.
Mr. Speaker, to my surprise, and a
precursor to this statement is my
experience on the morning of January
6th, 2022. On that day, I visited the
campus of the University of Ghana,
together with the student and her
father, who had travelled from New
Edubiase to begin their search for
accommodation on campus.
Mr. Speaker, all attempts at
meeting the traditional hall
authorities to put forward our request,
were unsuccessful. Mr. Speaker, it

took us over six hours of waiting for

a manager of one of the hostel

facilities on campus to finally find a

slot for my constituent. When I was

leaving the manager's office at

around 4:40 p.m, there was still a

queue of desperate students and their

parents waiting to have an audience

with the managers of that hostel.

Mr. Speaker, as I stepped out in

the hallway, one parent who had

accompanied her child from Kumasi

in search of accommodation approached me and said,

“Gentleman, I don't know why but something just told me to speak to

you, maybe you could help me. I

have been here since 6:00 am, in

search of accommodation for my

daughter. I have waited to see the

manager, but they keep saying he

is busy. Please help me, as I don't

know what to do now," she stated

as she shed tears.

Mr. Speaker, while trying to

console the frustrated parent, another

parent came up to me and lamented:

“I gained admission here in 1998 and had challenges with finding

accommodation for myself on

campus. Twenty-four years on,

my son is still facing similar

problems. What kind of a system

are we running in this country?” she asked.

Mr. Speaker, I continued to stay in

touch with these parents and their

wards, and it took more than a week

for them to secure accommodation.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure there are

many other depressing stories of how

students struggle to find accom-

modation in our various public

universities in the country.

Mr. Speaker, the current arrangements in some of our public universities are

that, after paying tuition, students are

required to apply and secure

accommodation online.

Mr. Speaker, this arrangement

does not often work for many

students, especially those in rural

areas. Mr. Speaker, to access these

online portals, one needs fast and

reliable internet, which is a challenge

in many parts of the country. Even for

those in urban areas, the reports are

that rooms are usually unavailable by

the time students get the notification

to log on to the portals.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of accom-

modation on campus is too high for

the average parent. Currently, apart

from the traditional halls, the average

residential fee ranges between a little

below two thousand, five hundred

Ghana cedis (GH¢2,500) to twelve

thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢12,000)

for an academic year. This

development makes it difficult for

students from poor families to enroll.

Mr. Speaker, as enrolment increases in our public universities, the only

logical thing for the government to

do, is to provide adequate facilities to

accommodate the growing student

population.

Mr. Speaker, the government

must also enhance the Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) concept, as it pertains in some public universities.

This would serve as an incentive to

encourage the private sector in

helping to solve the current

accommodation crises.

Mr. Speaker, when accommodation facilities are expanded, the govern-

ment, through the university

councils, must put measures to curtail

the rise in illegal selling of bed spaces

in our various public universities.

Thank you for the opportunity,

Mr. Speaker.

Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe (NDC

⸺ Akatsi North): Mr Speaker, I want to thank the Hon Member for

Edubiase for this informative

Statement.

It is true that residential accom-

modation for students is becoming a

very critical issue in our tertiary

institutions, especially the traditional

universities. We know very well that

now we have 15 public universities

and about 10 technical universities in

the country. What is happening is that

year by year, this accommodation

crisis faces us as students get into

their first year.

We know very well that some of

the universities introduced a system

of in-out-out-in; that is, for the first

year, you would get accommodation

in the traditional halls, for the second

and third years, you are out and then

in the final year, you come back to

reside in the traditional halls. It is

however becoming very difficult for

some students, especially the first-

year students to get accommodation

in the traditional halls.

I know an Hon Member of

Parliament (MP) here who found it

very difficult to get a place for his

two wards at the University of Ghana

this year. These are first-year

students who, by the arrangements of

the university, should be given

accommodation. The challenge we

are having is that we are not being

progressive enough to make sure that

every year, at least, the public

universities expand the existing

accommodation for students. The

universities have given that role to

private individuals who put up

hostels and charge students

exorbitant fees. That is unacceptable.

Mr Speaker, what is also not

helping us in this country is the

number of abandoned residential

accommodation facilities for students

in our universities. If Government,

through the Ghana Education Trust

Fund (GETFund), should release

money regularly to the Ghana

Tertiary Education Commission

(GTEC), I am sure that these facilities

would have been completed and

made available to students, especially

the first-year students.

So, Mr Speaker, I am of the view

that we urge the Government,

through the Ministry of Education, to

make sure that funds are released to

GTEC regularly, so that they can also

support the tertiary institutions to

make sure that they complete these

projects. When we go to the public

universities now, we would see a lot

of projects such as residential

accommodation, office accom-

modation, and laboratories standing

uncompleted. Everything has come

to a standstill, so if Government does

not help in this direction, we would

still have these challenges facing us

in the tertiary institutions.

So, I agree with the Hon Member

who made the Statement that there is

the need for the Ministry of

Education to engage the management

of public universities in the country

and see how best, with the little

resources that they get, they can

within a very short time complete

these facilities, so that students,

especially those in first year do not

face these challenges. If first-year

students have to pay fees of about

GH¢2,000 or GH¢3000 for

registration and look for another

GH¢6,000 or GH¢5,000 to pay for

residential accommodation in a

private hostel, it would prevent a lot

of people from accessing tertiary

education.

Mr Speaker, I would urge that

Government takes this up as a serious

responsibility to make sure that funds

are made available to the tertiary

institutions to complete their

projects, so that our students who

cannot afford private hostels would

be able to get accommodation in the

traditional halls. This would enable

us reduce the burden that faces them

every academic year.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashie (NDC

⸺ Ketu South): Mr Speaker, thank you very much.

I rise to applaud my Hon

Colleague for this timely Statement,

especially because in the one year

that I have been blessed to be the MP

for Ketu South, I have had many new

students complained to me about

accommodation. Additionally, the

numbers from the previous year who

sought to abandon their courses

because they could not afford

accommodation are very high in my

constituency.

Mr Speaker, I recalled that

sometime in the 2000s, we had the in-

out-out-in policy. Between then and

now, it would be useful to hear what

we have done to address the deficit

that we have in the accommodation

of students. We cannot seek to

improve on education and allow

students who have sometimes very

poor grades sail through the Senior

High School, only for them to have a

difficulty of continuing their

education mainly because we have

failed them in providing

accommodation.

It is possible for us as a country to

decide that to make it possible for the

people in the rural communities who

want to break the cycle of poverty

through education to have it easy by

providing them accommodation. One

of the ways we could address this

issue is to give some incentives to the

association that builds for the so-

called middle class.

If we could assist them to build

more, we would be able to absorb

some of these students so they could,

indeed, acquire the education that

they need to break the cycle of

poverty. We must stop the lip service

and put our money where our mouths

are. We must ensure that we take the

steps that really do address the needs

of these students.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

Mr Speaker, I thank
you for the opportunity to contribute
to the Statement and I also commend
the Hon Member who made it very
highly.
Mr Speaker, the challenges that
our educational sector is facing today
can best be described as un-
precedented. As we speak about the
challenges that students who have
enrolled in the public universities are
facing with regard to inadequate and
sometimes, non-existing accom-
modation, we must put on record that

academic work has come to stand still

as a result of legitimate industrial

action being undertaken by the

University Teachers Association of

Ghana (UTAG).

Mr Speaker, not long ago, I was a

member of UTAG and given my

relationship with the academic

community, one would have thought

that I would not have faced the

challenge to get a son and a nephew

accommodation on campus. Un-

fortunately, even I, a member of the

academic community, have not been

able to get accommodation for

constituents and even family

members. This is a testimony of the

magnitude of the challenge.

Mr Speaker, as we are all aware,

there are 15 public universities and

according to documentation from the

Ghana Tertiary Education

Committee (GTEC), as at 2020 and

2021, 332,786 students enrolled in

our public universities. This is a five

per cent increase as far as the student

population is concerned.

It is interesting to note that during

the Annual Budget Estimates made

by the various sectors, GTEC

appeared before our Committee and

noted key issues that challenge

teaching and learning at the

universities. The first issue was slow

expansion of academic infras-

tructure; the second issue was the

increase in student-teacher ratio

which threatened the quality service

of education delivery, and the third

issue was the recruitment and

replacement of staff which does not

keep pace with enrolment.

Mr Speaker, last year when we

considered the Annual Estimates and

presented our reports to the House, it

was very clear that the funding for

tertiary education clearly did not

make enough provision for capital

expenditure. In the 2022 Budget

Statement, the total amount allocated

for CAPEX was GH¢866,179,923.

Clearly, the student population is

increasing. The second cohort of the

Free Senior High School programme

has now entered the universities, yet

we are not keeping pace in the

expansion of academic and

residential facilities. This is why we

are where we are and these are some

of the reasons that members of

UTAG have stated that they have to

sacrifice to deal with small lecture

halls, with increased number of

students, indeed, a very slow ICT

infrastructure, and the lack of

teaching and learning aids. This

clearly is as a result of poor planning.

I remember full well in 2018 that

the wise Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei

Tutu II admonished the Government

to start making preparations at the

tertiary level for obvious reasons.

The students that had increased in

number at the secondary level were

going to go to the tertiary level ⸺ that has not happened. So, this

conundrum, although not new, has

been exacerbated as a lot of poor

planning.

Mr Speaker, I would want to

recommend that we consider other

options ⸺ build and operate, and transfer. We could rope in the private

sector. There are various models that

we could adopt to resolve this

problem. There are many students

who have not been able to take up

their places at the universities not

because they do not have the

competence or they did not pass, but

because they have parents who

cannot pay GH¢2,000 or GH¢3,000

per semester.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for your

indulgence.

Mr Speaker, I
thank you for giving me the
opportunity to contribute to the
Statement.
Mr Speaker, the Government's policy on the Free Senior High
School programme has encouraged
more students to attend tertiary
institutions to upgrade themselves in
order to make them competent
enough to seek jobs and offer better
skills for Ghana's development. In the process, the universities are also
challenged to offer admission to
these students when they graduate
from the senior high schools to the
extent that most public universities
now engage private admissions to
improve their revenues from these
intakes. However, in these private
engagements, no provisions are made
to attract same but they also rely on
the public universities' facilities to engage these private students. This
means that, at the onset, the shortage
of facilities to engage these students
for academic work would be a serious
challenge.
Mr Speaker, based on these
limitations, it would be proper for the
public universities to adopt a proper
planning and budgeting policy
whereby the admissions intake and
available space for these admissions
should match with the facilities and
accommodation that they have. If
there are any differences or
limitations, there should be proper
planning which would ensure that
they make good use of the limited
resources to engage students to do
their academic work.
We could also suggest that the
universities, through the differences

that they get from matching their

admission vacancies to the facilities

that they have, should also engage the

private sector as was suggested by

other Hon Colleagues to ensure that

they would provide parcels of land

and go into partnership to provide

more of these facilities to help the

students gain admission at the tertiary

institutions.

Mr Speaker, secondly, it would

also be advisable for the universities

to use part of their internally

generated funds (IGF) to set aside a

good portion to help build these

facilities to accommodate these

students to pursue their academic

work.

Furthermore, it would be

necessary for the universities to

engage other stakeholders, including

the Government, to plan ahead of

time.

For example, every year, when it

is time for admission they should

know the available space that they

have in terms of facilities to match

the admission intake and at the same

time, they should have a plan ahead

of time for about four years of their

admission requirements and

availability. Then based on this,

before they admit students, they

know their strengths and limitations

in planning towards that as they

engage the private sector and the

Government. They have to make sure

that provision in their Internally

Generated Fund (IGF) is made to

help the students to be admitted in

order for them to be prepared and be

comfortable as they learn and acquire

the tertiary education they require.

Mr Speaker, I am very grateful to

you and to Hon Members who also

made contributions.

Some Hon Members ⸺ rose ⸺

Yes, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa first before I
come to the other Hon Member.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
(NDC ⸺ North Tongu): Mr Speaker, I am most grateful for the
opportunity to contribute to this very
important Statement which has been
very eloquently delivered by my Hon
Colleague.
Mr Speaker, this is a challenge
that is clearly self-inflicted. We
should have had the foresight to
prevent this from happening. As we
speak, our students have done their
part in what this nation expects of
them by studying hard, passing their

examinations and meeting the entry

requirements into these universities.

Quite clearly, the leadership and

authorities of our country are letting

them down.

It is heart wrenching as Hon

Members of Parliament receive

distress calls from our constituents

about how stranded they are having

gained admission into public

universities. Often, arriving in those

communities for the first time in their

lives ⸺ for example, somebody, having received all his or her pre-

tertiary education in the North Tongu

Constituency; from pre-basic, basic

to the senior high school, and arrives

at the Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science and Technology (KNUST)

for the first time in his or her life,

typically, a teenager or a 20 year old

and is told that he or she has been

registered for their academic entry

but for the residential, they are on

their own and so, they should fend for

themselves.

Mr Speaker, this is totally against

the spirit and letter of the 1992

Constitution. Article 25(c) of our

1992 Constitution makes tertiary

education a right, and this is not how

rights should be made available to

our students.

As we go through the history of

higher education since the first public

university was established in the year

1948, we see all the provisions that

were made where students were

sleeping one in a room; students were

fed three square meals. There were

times for dining and they learnt the

etiquette of using cutlery and so on.

Mr Speaker, these days, times for

dining are no more; no provision of

breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dining

halls have become reading rooms,

others converted to crowded

dormitories and some rented out to

churches for revival services.

Over the years, it would appear

that we have let the younger

generation down and this cannot

continue. I recalled that when we

were at the Ministry of Education,

and had meetings with the National

Council for Tertiary Education as it

was known then, we all agreed that

once first years were admitted, there

should be an IN-OUT-OUT-IN

policy and in an acute situation, it

could be an in-out-out-out. However,

as for first years, they are vulnerable

and probably arriving in the region - say someone attended school in

Accra all their lives and then they

gain admission to the University for

Development Studies (UDS) in

Tamale or in Navrongo and for the

first time ⸺

Mr Speaker, so, we said that as for

the first year, the policy should be in-

out-out-in because final year students

also need to be supported to complete

their studies adequately. However, in

worse case scenarios, we agreed that

the policy should be in-out-out-out.

How is it that now, first years who are

in such a vulnerable category are left

on their own?

I have been looking at the data of

our higher education gross enrolment

which is still described by the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as

elitist; we have not attained 30 per

cent yet. So, if we are grappling with

these seeming crises with

accommodation when we are still in

the elitist category then you can

imagine what would happen if we get

to the 30 per cent that the UNESCO

is calling on countries to work

towards so far as the higher education

gross enrolment ratio is concerned.

Mr Speaker, I have also been

looking at recent expenditure trends

in education. UNESCO has said that

to assess the seriousness of

governments, governments should

spend a minimum of 4.0 to 6.0 per

cent on education as share of Gross

Domestic Product (GDP).

The sad reality is that Ghana's GDP on education expenditure has

been on the decline. In the year 2021,

per the UNESCO data, we did 3.0 per

cent which was way below the

minimum 4.0 to 6.0 per cent. In the

year 2020, we did 3.3 per cent and in

the year 2019, 3.5 per cent. Indeed, it

is only in the year 2018 that we met

this target of 4.0 per cent and in the

year 2017, we did 3.6 per cent.

Mr Speaker, historically, Ghana

has always been within the 4.0 - 6.0 per cent. In the year 2011, we

recorded the highest performance

under the tenure of the late President,

Prof Attah-Mills which was 8.1 per

cent as our GDP share of expenditure

on education.

So, clearly, I agree with Hon (Dr)

Apaak that we are where we are

because of lack of investment in the

sector; we are not releasing resources

to the universities to run. These days,

we only pay the salaries of teaching

and non-teaching staff and then we

leave them to fend for themselves as

the Ghana Education Trust Fund

(GETFund) remains capped and

mortgaged.

Mr Speaker, I recall then that as

the president of the National Union of

Ghana Students (NUGS), we insisted

that the GETFund was just to be

supplementary and not the mainstay.

We all acknowledged that

Government did not have adequate

resources at the time and needed a

booster and that was why, per the

Akosombo Accord, we proposed the

GETFund but sadly, the hope that we

all had in the GETFund has whittled

away. It has been capped, capitulated

and mortgaged and so, we are not

investing in higher education. That is

why we are where we are.

As I conclude, I would appeal to

my respected Hon Colleague, the

Minister for Education that it is not

too late to send out the directive

which we did when we were in power

that the first years should be taken

care of. At least for now, the short

term solution should be in-out-out-

out or in-out-out-in because the “in” for the first years should be

compulsory. I think that this directive

should be sent out because we have

seen a lot of profiteering going on.

Some people in management are

taking advantage of the situation and

we cannot keep exploiting the

younger generation.

We had things better so we should

make things even better for those

who come after us. Sadly, in this

country, we inherit the good and

leave the place worse off for those

after us. No country can develop this

way and the generation that would

come after us would loath us if this

trend continues. Mr Speaker, higher

education is a right. It is still elitist

per UNESCO classification and we

should not be grappling with the

challenges that confront us.

So, a directive should be sent out

and at least is should be “in” for the first years so that they can find their

feet during the first year before they

can make some further arrangement.

While at this, we should have an

interim solution where the

Government would invest in the

sector because doing three per cent of

GDP on education cannot be

continued.

It is below the international

benchmark, international matrix and

the gold standard so we must return

to the era of serious investments in

education. Mr Speaker, because it is

the bedrock and without quality

education, access and equity, we

cannot develop as a people and we

would waste the talents that God has

blessed us with.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity and I commend the Hon

Member who made the Statement.

Hon Member for Trobu?

Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity to contribute to the

Statement.

Mr Speaker, the situation is in-

out-out-in and I have a nephew who

attends Kwame Nkrumah University

of Science and Technology

(KNUST). I have constituents who

also attend various universities that I

am supporting and when they were

all admitted, they all had

accommodation in their first years so

I say this as a fact.

Mr Speaker, the argument about

being self-inflicted and the argument

Mr Speaker, when those on the

other Side are speaking, we keep

quiet and listen to them so they

should just listen.

Hon Members, please let us listen.

Mr Speaker, the
argument of it being self-inflicted and
the argument of SHS students having
done their part - as if education being a shared responsibility has ended. It
has not. Mr Speaker, if one enters a
tertiary institution, it does not mean
that education being a shared
responsibility for stakeholders has
come to an end. Mr Speaker, 20 years
ago, the policy was to decouple
admission from accommodation and
as a result the private sector was
supposed to play a major role the best
practices elsewhere.
Yes, the growth of the numbers
indicate that going forward we
should do our best to ensure that we
solve the problem. At least let us
avoid politicising education and
making statements as if people want
to take advantage of scoring undue
points because that is not what we
should be doing in this House.
Mr Speaker, as I said, 20 years
ago, the policy was to decouple
admission from accommodation so
that accommodation would not be a
challenge or a stop on enrolment to
the increasing numbers. Article 25(2)
of the Constitution allows for private
participation in our educational
system so the private sector is also
encouraged to play a role.
Mr Speaker, in doing all these, we
should manage it such that the private
sector would play a role and students
who need support should be
supported. Mr Speaker, the in-out-
out-in is not a policy of today, but it
was to address a challenge.
Mr Speaker, the GETFund is
doing its best and because the
colleges of education were upgraded
to tertiary statuses, it became
incumbent on the Government to

increase accommodation at the

colleges of education. If we visit

them today, we would see the

construction of storey buildings at the

colleges of education to provide

accommodation.

Mr Speaker, let me say it bluntly

that successive governments have

done their best in managing the

tertiary education and also ensuring

that the numbers are captured at least,

so that we can go forward. We must

not make statements as self-inflicted

and that the Government is not doing

some things -- I have given examples as I speak --

Hon Member for Bongo?

Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I admire the passion
with which my Hon Colleague is
speaking but he has indicated that
about 20 years ago, there was a policy
to decouple accommodation from
admission. Luckily, I was the
President of the National Union of
Ghana Students (NUGS) 20 years
ago and there was no such policy;
there was no document like that for
the Hon Member to state that 20 years
ago, there was a policy like that. Mr
Speaker, I was the NUGS President
so this is not true.

Hon Member, we are not debating the
Statement. He is contributing to the
Statement made by --
Hon Member, please conclude.

Mr Speaker, in all
humility, I thought you would have
ruled the Hon Member out of order
because he is blatantly out of order.
Mr Speaker, he could have been a
NUGS President and not know of the
policy because maybe during his
time, all he was doing was
hooliganism and following students.
Maybe that was all he did as a leader
then.
Mr Speaker, this is what it was
and how we came to have these in-
out-out-in issues. Also, as a State and
Government, we have managed to
make senior high school education
free although the Constitution says
that tertiary education should also be
made free gradually. But while we
hold parents at the SHS level, we also
have to let parents understand that
once your ward is receiving free
senior high education, parents should
also try and save some moneys
towards the tertiary education of their
wards.
Mr Speaker, why have we
instituted the Students Loan Trust

and also made sure that the GNPC

would stop the sponsorship of the

Black Stars and rather provide

scholarships to science students?

These are all to make sure that the

needy gets the opportunity to attend

school. I would want to repeat that we

should stop the politicisation of

education and say it as it is. Mr

Speaker, in-out-out-in is still being

implemented and the policy to

decouple admission from

accommodation --

Yes, Hon Member, have you
concluded?

Mr Speaker, for the
sake of those who did not want me to
conclude, I would conclude.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, that
was the policy and as a result, we
should all look at the issues, work
together and ensure that tertiary
education continues to benefit our
people and as much as the numbers
increase, let us encourage the system
and ensure that accommodation
issues are looked at. But we cannot
exclude the private sector from
playing a role, and whatever has to be
done, should be done. Let us stop
politicising education for scoring
political points.
Thank you for the opportunity.

Very well. Let me come to
Leadership.
Hon Leader, you may yield to
another if you so wish.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you Hon
Leader for yielding that opportunity
to me to contribute. But before I
make any comment, it ought to be
stated and stated in unequivocal
terms that there has never been a
policy and at the time in reference,
there was no such policy and there
has never been a policy.
Mr Speaker, it is interesting to
note that on this Side, we can boast of
about five former student leaders of
this country. At that time, I was a
leader of the University Students
Association of Ghana and the
following year, I became the
Secretary-General of the All Africa
Students Union. Hon Ablakwa has
been a National Union of Ghana
Students (NUGS) President. Hon
Edward Bawa was the NUGS
President at the very time the Hon
Anim was talking about.

When we said there was no

policy, instead of humbly

withdrawing and apologising to the

people of this country -- [Interruption] More so, those

students who are affected, some of

whom are sleeping by people's homes because they do not have

accommodation, he doubled down.

This is a House of records and let it

be captured that there has never been

any policy like that and even if there

is any, I challenged my Hon Friend to

shame me with any document that is

suggesting that there was a policy

like that.

Mr Speaker, the interesting aspect

of it is that the very people who are

affected are the people who are from

poor homes and people from far

places.

Mr Speaker, when I went to the

University of Ghana in the

1999/2000 academic year, by which

time I had finished the teacher

training college -- [Interruption] -- At the time when we were student

leaders in 2000, the Hon Member

who interrupted me was in JSS 1.

When I went to the university at that

time, people had the opportunity to

choose their halls.

Today, there are halls that are full;

there are private hostels on our

campuses and every single Hon

Member of Parliament here, perhaps

except him, would not have had calls

from their constituents asking him to

pay for exorbitant fees for his

constituents to be accommodated.

I had the opportunity to have gone

to University of Ghana campus

myself to see how best I can help

people to get accommodation. It is

just unacceptable. I refer my friend to

go and read article 25 of the 1992

Constitution which was the argument

we all made as student leaders that

education should be progressively

free. It is the responsibility of every

government to ensure that we do not

make education only free at the

senior high school.

I think that what is also critical is

that it should be made accessible at

the university. What benefit would it

be to this State when I have free

education at SHS, yet I cannot

proceed because I do not have money

to pay fees? I cannot proceed because

I do not have accommodation.

Imagine a student who is coming

from my village Njan and that student

knows no one in Accra, then he

comes here with no accommodation

for him. Psychologically, he or she

would not have the mental stability to

study. Such a person, no matter how

brilliant he or she is would not be able

to study very well because accom-

modation is sine qua non to the

success of every student in any

tertiary institution. I think we need to

look at it holistically.

Mr Speaker, I agree with him that

we must not politicise this but I urged

him to just take a walk -- As a matter of fact, the distance between this

place and the University of Ghana

campus, perhaps the City campus is

not far -- I challenge him to just take an hour and take a walk to the

campuses and see the harrowing

conditions under which our sisters,

brothers, nieces and nephews are on

these campuses. While lectures have

begun and others have the luxury to

pay GH₵3,000 per semester to occupy a hostel on campus, others do

not even have money to buy food.

How could they be thinking of having

money to pay for hostel

accommodation?

Mr Speaker, it is a challenge that

has confronted us for a very long time

and the earlier we stopped this

politicking with it the better. As my

friend suggested to us to do with facts

that are not available. Let us look at

this issue as an issue that confronts

us. No nation can ever be developed

without first and foremost looking at

its human resource base and the port

from which we can have this

enormous human resource base is the

tertiary institutions.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for

giving me the opportunity to

contribute to this Statement only to

point out and urge my Hon Friend to

do the most honourable thing by

writing to the Hansard that he

peddled falsehood on the floor of

Parliament which ought not be

captured because it is unacceptable.

This is a House of records.

Hon Minister for Education, you may
conclude, taking into consideration,
all you have heard.
Minister for Education (Dr Yaw
Osei Adutwum) (MP): Mr Speaker,
thank you for the opportunity. I also
want to commend my Colleague,
Hon Abdul-Salam Adams for making
this Statement.
Mr Speaker, I have heard the
issues that have been brought up in
terms of policy, practice and what
takes place in terms of student
accommodation. I am glad my Hon
Colleague was able to get
accommodation for his constituents
and I am grateful to KNUST for the
assistance that they provided to him
while he was there on the campus.
There are times when there may
be an issue of limited supply or a
management problem. As I listened

to the comments of my Hon

Colleagues, I could see that it is

something in between the two that

students are manually going around

looking for facilities the whereas if

the system was built up in such a way

that one can select online option

before getting there to make sure that

accommodation was provided, we

would eliminate some of these

problems.

So I would work with the

universities to look at the best way

forward in terms of ensuring that we

have a proper management system in

place so that students do not have to

go to campus on the first day of

school reopening to look for spaces

manually. The good news is that I

have not heard of any student who

could not attend KNUST or any other

university because there was no

accommodation but I also understand

the frustration of parents if they have

to physically be present before they

can find accommodation for their

wards.

Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague

referred to the fact that this challenge

has been there for 24 years. The

challenge that confronts us today

must end. I heard various

suggestions. There are other things

that the Ministry is doing to promote,

build, operate and transfer as was

suggested by my Hon Colleagues.

We have looked at the tertiary

education space and some funding

has been made available for colleges

of education for example, out of

which over 400 million was allocated

to them to build hostels.

Now, we are moving on to the

public universities to help complete

some buildings that have been there

for years. Some have been there for

over 20 years. We are looking at

ways where we can complement the

efforts of the private sector,

sometimes through credit enhance-

ment and through support from

GETFund so that these facilities

would be completed to remove the

challenges our parents and young

ones may go through during the first

week of reopening of schools.

Mr Speaker, I would want to take

this opportunity to congratulate and

thank universities such as the

University for Professional Studies

(UPSA) for the innovative manner

with which they have been able to

handle the accommodation

challenges by building residential

halls through their own IGF. I also

would want to commend University

of Education, Winneba (UEW) for

the work they have done there, the

various residential facilities they

have built through their IGF so that

they can accommodate our students

who attend those institutions.

I think when we bring together the

universities and the Government, and

also bring together the private sector,

we will be able to find the solution

that has eluded us for many years.

And once and for all, when students

are reporting on the first day to their

various campuses, whether there is a

policy or not; whether there is a

practice or no practice for IN-OUT-

OUT-OUT, they will get the

opportunity to select their residential

halls, go in with their luggage, and

settle down to begin their academic

work.

Mr Speaker, thank you for a

wonderful opportunity. I thank all my

Hon Colleagues for the suggestions

they proffered. I have taken notes,

and we will put them to work. I will

come back here next time with

solutions which we will all witness so

that there will be no acrimony

Hon Members, we have come to the
conclusion of Statements.
At the Commencement of Public

Hon Majority Leader, are we

moving to item numbered 7?

Mr
Speaker, yes; we will do just item
numbered 7 (a). If Hon Members
would indulge me, I would just do it
for the Minister for Transport.

Mr Speaker, there is no objection. But Majority
Leader should ensure that the
Ministers are here to lay the Papers.
So, which Minister; the Hon Minister
for Education or the Hon Majority
Leader will do it himself?
Mr Speaker, does he understand?

Hon Member, item numbered 7 (a).

Hon Majority Leader, do you know cabotage? And
you want to lay a Paper on cabotage
on behalf of the Minister for
Transport. Do you carry containers? I
know you would carry engines in
Suame, not ships.

Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr
Speaker, I believe we can take an
adjournment now. Except to remind
Hon Members that the directive by
the Rt Hon Speaker that Hon
Members submit to the COVID-19
booster is not being followed to the
letter.
My information is that, as of yet,
only 89 of us Hon Members have
submitted, and that is not
encouraging at all. The people
administering the vaccine were
supposed to leave today but we have
pleaded with them to extend their
stay by one day; up to tomorrow.
If we do not submit ourselves by
the close of day tomorrow, it would
be difficult to enforce what the Rt
Hon Speaker alluded to, that
Members may not be allowed to enter
the precinct of Parliament without
showing any indication that they
have had the two vaccines: the
AstraZeneca that we submitted
ourselves to, plus the booster. Hon
Members should resolve to protect
themselves and also protect the rest
of us.
Mr Speaker, my plea is that Hon
Members should submit themselves.
We would agree that 89 Members out
of 275 is not encouraging at all. I also
have the information that there is less
than one-half of the staff who have
submitted themselves as well.
So, let the staff also submit
themselves, plus the media personnel
who are also with us. Information
reaching me is that they have also all
not submitted. Please, they are part of
the family. So, those up there should
submit themselves, so that all of us
will be covered, come the end of
tomorrow.

Mr
Speaker, I would want to support the
Majority Leader. Hon Members
should avail themselves. Staff of the
Parliamentary Service who support
the Clerk should, as much as
possible, avail themselves. I would
want to ask that it is extended. If the
numbers are low, they should be
willing to do a day or two more. But
to say that tomorrow is the deadline,
may be problematic. We should be
encouraged to go in for the booster.
Mr Speaker, I think we should
now adjourn till tomorrow.

Mr
Speaker, I omitted the other officers
in the House, which would include
the security personnel; they are also
entitled to the administration of the
boosters. So, they should also submit
themselves.

Thank you very much.
On that note, I will move on to
adjourn the House.