Debates of 28 Jan 2022

Hon
Members, we have the Votes and
Proceedings of Thursday, 27th
January, 2022, for correction.
Page 1…7

Mr Speaker, on page 7, the item
numbered 4(3), I have been marked
absent, but I was here yesterday. So,
the records should be corrected
accordingly.

Very
well, the Clerks-at-the-Table shall
take note and effect the correction.
Page 8…11
Hon Members, subject to the
correction, the Votes and Proceedings
of Thursday, 27th January, 2022, is
hereby adopted as the true record of
proceedings.
Hon Members, we would move on
to the item numbered 5. Hon Majority
Leader, we would now take the
Business Statement of the House.

Mr Speaker, during the
Second Meeting of the First Session,
some Questions that were admitted
were published on the Order Paper
and I happened to be one of the
persons whose Questions were admitted
and published. That Question was to
do with a policy issue, as to whether
the Ministry of Education has any
policy on the posting of some
categories of professional teachers.
Mr Speaker, I realised that just
yesterday, there was a letter
circulating on social media about the
Ga Mantse's concern of teachers who trained as Ga language teachers
posted outside of the Ga-speaking
areas. This Question did not find
favour in the Second and Third
Meetings of the First Session. This
time around, it still has not found
favour. Meanwhile, teachers who
studied languages for a particular
region are being posted outside of
that region. I would want to appeal to
the Hon Majority Leader if he could
consider scheduling that Question for
the Minister for Education to answer.

He said he did
not hear; repeat it.

Mr Speaker, the
Hon Majority Leader says he did not
hear me and so I would like to repeat
the question. During the Second
Meeting of the First Session of this
Parliament, some Questions were
published in the Order Paper as
notice of admitted Questions. One of
those Question had to do with the
policy issue as far as the Ministry of
Education is concerned: posting of
professional language teachers. It
happened that this Question was not
scheduled in the Second and Third
Meetings.
Now, these language teachers are
being posted outside the regions of
the languages that they learnt. The Ga
Mantse, for example, has issued a
Statement. I would want to know
whether the Business Committee
would consider scheduling that
Question for the Minister for
Education to answer?
Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
(NDC — Juaboso): Mr Speaker, I expected to see issues of the Sputnik-
V Ad Hoc Committee feature in the
Business Statement.
Before recess, we concluded the
debate on the Committee's Report, but the Question was not put on the

Business of the House

Motion. So, if the Business Com-

mittee may consider the Ad Hoc

Committee's Report?

Deputy Minority Leader (Mr

James Klutse Avedzi): Mr Speaker,

the Hon Majority Leader said that

there is an ongoing discussion on the

Electronic Transfers Levy Bill, 2021,

and that if it is concluded, we might

take it today instead of Wednesday,

2nd February, 2022.

Mr Speaker, I was in a meeting in

the Speaker's Lobby, and the agreement was that we would not

take the Motion today -- [Interruption] That was the agree-

ment before we left the Speaker's Lobby. Has there been any other

meeting after that to decide that we

need to continue with the negation

and take it today? If that has taken

place, we would want to know.

Mr
Speaker, Hon Bawa asked about what
happened to Questions that were
listed at the previous Meeting which
have not been relisted. Usually, by
the practice of the House, Hon
Members who filed Questions that
are outstanding would have to
demonstrate interest in bringing them
back. If they are so indicated, then,
the Clerks-at-the-Table would relist
the Questions.
I would want to believe that
maybe, he did not do that which
would explain why the Clerks-at-the-
Table have not done so. If the
Questions have not been answered
and he still has an interest in asking
them, he would just have to indicate
to the Clerks-at-the-Table that they
have to resurrect them.
Mr Speaker, Hon Ablakwa asked
if I could provide an indication for the
closure of the process of consultation.
I believe that it would be within a
very short time; certainly, it would
not go beyond one hour and then we
would come to that determination.
That is what I can say; it would not
travel beyond one hour.
Mr Speaker, the indication that we
had on the Message on the State of
the Nation was that it would be
delivered on 24th February, 2022. The
reason I said we needed some
consultation was to be in tandem with
the travel arrangements of the Rt Hon

We cannot
hear you.

Business of the House

Can
you not hear me?

No.

The
date that has been agreed on is 24th February, 2022, but we need to be in consultation with the Rt Hon Speaker to know his calendar, if he would be here. If he would not be here, any of the Deputy Speakers could be in the Chair. That is the reason we were not emphatic on the date, but tentatively, it would be on 24th February, 2022.
Mr Speaker, I believe I responded
to Hon Dafeamekpor's question before he came with it. Hon Kofi Adams brought a question that does not find expression in the Business Statement. I would request that he resorts to the usual processes if he wants the Question to be answered because as I said, it has crossed over from one Session to the other.
The Hon Deputy Minority Leader
is insistent that we had closed the discussion and that we had decided that we would not take the Electronic Transfers Levy Bill today. Mr Speaker, I am really surprised because that was not the decision. We conferred and we said that if we have some indications, we would do it; if we do not, we would not do it which is what I repeated here. That is the decision we took there.

The
Business Statement for the ensuing
week is hereby adopted by the House.
Item numbered 6 — Questions.
Majority Chief Whip (Mr Frank
Annoh-Dompreh): Mr Speaker, we
received correspondence from the
scheduled Minister, and we commu-
nicated same to our Hon Colleagues
in Leadership on the Other Side. So,
we have an agreement that we would
defer the Questions to next week and
take Statements instead.

Very

Hon Members, we are trying to

sort out the Statements which the Rt

Hon Speaker admitted before we call

on Hon Members to read them.

Mr Speaker,
I recall that there was a particular
Statement sponsored by Hon Ophelia
Mensah Hayford which Rt Hon
Speaker admitted. The Hon Member
is here. There were other Statements
from the other Side, but I cannot
recollect the Hon Members who
sponsored them. Mr Speaker, I can
however recollect that of Hon
Ophelia Mensah Hayford, so could
you permit it to be read. It is a
commemorative Statement.

Business of the House

Very well, I am trying to get guidance from the Whips.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak
Muntaka: Mr Speaker, three State- ments were admitted by the Rt Hon Speaker. One was to eulogise Capt Tsikata. If you would remember, I pleaded with the Rt Hon Speaker to allow us to have two. He then said that since the understanding was that we are not doing other business, then we should take the three Statements. So there are three Statements that we are to take.

Hon
Members, the Rt Hon Speaker mentioned the Statement in honour of the memory of the late Capt Tsikata. I think we can start with that one.
May I call on the Hon Member for
North Tongu to read the Statement in respect of the late Capt Kojo Tsikata?

Hon
Member, kindly hold on.
Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?

Mr Speaker,
looking at the time, we could take all the two Statements so that Hon Members could contribute afterwards.

Mr Speaker,
I am in support of the suggestion from my Hon Colleague.

I have
already granted the Hon Member for Ho West permission to contribute.
Hon Member, you could conclude
your contribution.

Mr Speaker,
we could just allow one or two comments to the Statement made by the Hon Member for North Tongu, (Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa. After the Hon Member for Ho West (Mr Bedzrah) is done with his contri- bution, you could permit me to also contribute and after that we could take the other Statements. We could separate this Statement from the
others, unless they are also in relation to the tribute.

Hon
Member for Ho West, kindly continue.

Mr Speaker, the
late Captain Kojo Tsikata (Rtd), an
illustrious son of Ghana from the
Volta Region, was a man we all knew
to be humble to the core. He even
depicted humility in his dressing in
all forms and shapes. He was a good
listener. One could discuss issues
with him and all he does was to listen
to you and intelligently prepare his
answers without saying anything and
this is something that we lack in our
lives these days. We are quick to
speak and give answers instead of
listening to what our Hon Colleagues
are saying. One of the cardinal
lifestyles we can all learn from the
late Captain Kodzo Tsikata is to be a
good listener.
Mr Speaker, though he hailed
from the Volta Region, he was a
nationalist who believed in the
development of this nation as well as
putting Ghana first beyond one's regional affiliation. If all Hon Members
of Parliament could put our nation
ahead of our various regional
affiliations, I believe this nation
would move forward, in the sense

Statements

that when issues of national develop-

ment comes to us, first of all, we must

look at such issues as Ghanaians

before thinking about our political

parties and so on.

Late Captain Tsikata was not only

a nationalist but a pan-Africanist. Just as our Hon Colleague, Mr Ablakwa mentioned, he had received so many awards from all kinds of people and nations in Africa and beyond. He was a Pan-Africanist because he believed in the unity of Africa where all of us could work together instead of being fragmented states where we would not be able to move this continent forward.

Mr Speaker, I believe that with

these attributes of our late revered Captain Tsikata who has gone to be with the Lord, many of us would learn from his footsteps and be humble in our strides, being nationalists and Pan-Africanists.

With these few words, I wish to

thank you.

I
would take contributions from the Leader and then —
Mr Benjamin Komla Kpodo
(NDC — Ho Central): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the oppor- tunity to comment on the Statement made by Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa in honour of —

Hon Kpodo, I did not even recognised that you were on your feet. I gave the Floor to the Hon Member for Tamale North. [Laughter]

Mr Speaker, did you
not call me? — [Laughter] —

No, I
called the Hon Member for Tamale North.

Mr Speaker, all right.

Mr Speaker, even though I am grateful that you gave me the oppor- tunity to contribute, I thought that it would be appropriate to defer to my Senior Hon Colleague who was already on his feet.
So, on that note, I am going to
make my submission brief and hope that it would touch your heart to still give Hon Kpodo the opportunity to contribute to this very important eulogy of a great man.
Indeed, the late captain Kojo Tsikata reminds me of the great Che Guevara. As Che Guevara was to Cuba, so was Captain Kojo Tsikata to Ghana. It breaks my heart that when we look at the sacrifices he made, which were not just for the stability of this country but for the continent, we failed to celebrate him in his

Statements

lifetime at least to appreciate the contributions he made to the stability of not only Ghana but to the continent.

Mr Speaker, the Statement rightly

captures his rejection of the highest

Ghanaian national award offered by

President John Agyekum Kufuor in

recognition of his selfless service to

Ghana in the year 2008. I do not think

that it was just done out of the

goodness of his heart; but it may have

also been as a result of a deliberate

attempt by sections of the media and

the political divide to tarnish his

image, especially in relation to the

murder of the judges, which countless

Commissions of Enquiry exonerated

him from despite attempts to tarnish

his image as far as the murder of

those judges were concerned. I am

sure he went to his grave with that

heavy feeling in his heart, that the

country went to greater lengths to

tarnish his image with those murders

and that is what breaks my heart that

such a great man with such great

contributions, not only to the stability

of Ghana but to the continent could

not be celebrated unanimously by

Ghanaians, especially, given the

democracy we enjoy today and the

hard work they put in to make this

possible.

I pray that wherever he is, his soul

would rest in perfect peace. Perhaps,

his example would guide us to recognise

national heroes and celebrate them in

their lifetime and in the manner they

deserve.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity to contribute to this very

beautiful Statement in celebration of

a great statesman.

Mr Speaker,
thank you for the opportunity to
contribute to the tribute and eulogy in
honour of the soldier, politician,
nationalist, captain (Rtd) Kojo Tsikata
who died on the 20th November, 2021
and was buried privately at the
Lashibi Funeral Home.
Mr Speaker, first of all, our
profound sympathies and condo-
lences to the family. He was a
stalwart founding member of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC)
as a party having been a foundational
key ally of the Nkrumahist tradition
of the Convention People's Party
(CPP).
At his burial was former President
John Mahama, Laurent Gbagbo of
Ivory Coast and President Nana
Akufo-Addo to bid him farewell. It
was his personal wish not to be given
any state burial but a private family
burial.
Mr Speaker, within the NDC,
there are various shades of interest

Statements

and the late Captain (retd) Tsikata

paid his dues to the party. I am told

by senior members of the NDC that it

took him and more particularly, the

late Justice D. F. Annan to work with

President Rawlings to transition Ghana

from the military to democratic rule.

Today, thanks to their tenacity and

sacrifices, that we have over 25 years of

stable democracy, under the Fourth

Republic.

Going forward, one of the lessons I

learnt from the late Captain Tsikata was

to be silent, as silence was golden to

him. He spoke very less; a man of few

words but with wits and will. He

contributed immensely in building our

national security landscape which

today, has contributed in protecting our

new democratic culture given his

experiences of what happened in the

year 1966 and many other periods under

the Nkrumah regime. He therefore

played a significant role in the transition

of our country to democratic rule in the

year 1992 as I observed.

Mr Speaker, as observed by Hon

Ablakwa, he was not one of those who

was interested in national honour or

titles. For him, it was service to his

country.

May his soul rest in perfect peace. I

trust that as we are told that he was shortlisted for military training and won the best overseas cadet among his

cohorts in that particular area and his expertise and guidance were sought for in many other parts of the world.

Mr Speaker, what is also important

is that he was a true Pan-Africanist who believed in the strength of the Pan-African, particularly, the black man.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

This is a major loss to the State of Ghana and to us as a family.

Mr Speaker, I would once again

thank the Hon Member who read the Statement and our sympathies to the family.

Mr Speaker, thank you.

Very
well.
Hon Members, the next State-
ment stands in the name of the Hon Member for Mfantseman, Ms Ophelia Mensah Hayford.
Tribute to the Late Brigadier-
General Constance Ama Emefa Edjeani-Afenu: First Female
Brigadier-General of the
Ghana Armed Forces

Thank

Statements

you, Rt Hon Speaker, for this momentous opportunity to pay tribute to the late Brigadier-General Constance Arna Emefa Edjeani- Afenu, Ghana's first female brigadier general, who passed away on Monday, January 24, 2022.

The late Brigadier-General was born on March 5, 1960, in Vane Avatime in the Volta Region. She was raised up in Tamale and attended the Kamina Barracks Primary and Armed Forces Experimental School in Kumasi before attending Wesley Girls' Senior High School in Cape Coast to study for her O' and A-Levels. She enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces as one of two females in 1978, when she was only 18 years old. After 18 months of training at the Ghana Military Academy, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on April 25, 1980, as the only female in her batch to successfully complete her training. She was consequently awarded the Most Resilient Officer award in her graduating class. Her father, as well as two of her brothers also served in the military and this imbibed in her a strong sense of civic respon- sibility. This was demonstrated by her great career in the Ghana Armed Forces, where she progressed through the ranks to become the country's first female Brigadier- General. She became a role model for women in the Ghana Armed

Forces and the country at large.

Mr Speaker, the late Brigadier-

General later graduated from the

Ghana Institute of Management and

Public Administration with a Diploma

in Public Administration (GIMPA).

Additionally, she had her Post-

graduate Diploma in Management

Practice from Ecole Superieure de

Gestion in Paris, France. Subse-

quently, she obtained a Bachelor of

Science Degree in Accounting from

GIMPA. Brigadier General Edjeani-

Afenu also participated in various

UN peace-keeping operations. She

served as part of the United Nations

Interim Forces in Leba on (UNIFIL)

in 1994 and 1998, the UN Stabili-

zation Mission in the Democratic

Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) in

2007, and the United Nations

Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in 2009.

Mr Speaker, the late Brigadier-

General later became the first woman

to be appointed as Deputy Military

Adviser of the Permanent Mission in

the New York from 2013 to 2016.

Her appointment in 1999 as the Com-

manding Officer of the Forces Pay

Regiment made her the first female

Commanding Officer in the history

of the Ghana Armed Forces. She

made history when she pro-gressed

through the ranks to become the first

female Brigadier-General of the Ghana

Armed Forces on March 1, 2016.

Statements

Her appointment was confirmed

in March 2017 when the Chief of

Defence staff (CDS), Major-General

Obed Boamah Akwa, conferred the

rank on her. The CDS, whiles

congratulating her, labelled her

exploits as a beacon for females in the

Armed Forces.

In 2019, the UN appointed her as

the Deputy Force Commander in the

UN Mission for the Referendum in

Western Sahara (MINURSO) where

she served with distinction.

Mr Speaker, it is evident that the

nation has lost a great servant in the

late Brigadier-General. She was a

trailblazer who served her country

with distinction and left an indelible

mark which shall never be erased. I

wish to use this opportunity, as Vice

Chairperson of the Defence and

Interior Committee, to commiserate

with her family and express my

deepest condolences. May her soul

rest in perfect peace and may we

benefit from the memories of her.

Thank you Mr. Speaker for this

opportunity.

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings

(NDC — Klottey Korle): Mr Speaker,

thank you for the opportunity to

contribute to the Statement made by

the Hon Vice Chairman of the

Committee on Defence and Interior

in honour of the first female

Brigadier-General, Constance Emefa

Edjeani-Afenu, who passed on at the

37 Military Hospital three days ago.

Mr Speaker, we must have the full

details of her burial so that it is not

lost on people the fact that she

actually earned her strides. The

Brigadier-General did all the relevant

courses which empowered her to take

part in what the United Nations calls

the Gender Responsive Peacekeeping

Operations. I was actually in a course

with her on Women, Peace and

Security, and she was a woman who

was confident and calm but very

strong about her positions and

principles as well.

Mr Speaker, to add to what the

Hon Vice Chairman read is the fact

that she served as a Platoon

Commander for the 2nd Infantry

Battalion in 1980 after her training.

She was also the Adjutant to the 3rd

Border Guards Battalion from 1981

to 1982 and she subsequently was

appointed the General Staff Officer

Grade 3 (Training and Personnel

Officer) at the Border Guards Head-

quarters from 1983 to 1984, and then

as Adjutant to the Border Guards

Training School in Kpetoe in 1984.

Statements

Mr Speaker, in 1995, she was

appointed the 2nd in Command at the

Ghana Armed Forces Pay Regiment

and in 1999 as the Commanding

Officer becoming the first female

officer to occupy these positions. Mr

Speaker, she was an old girl and

certainly lived by the motto of the

Wesley Girls' High School, which is

to “Live Pure, Speak True, Right

Wrong and Follow the King”.

Mr Speaker, the Brigadier-General

is indeed a beacon of hope and a good

example, not just to the young

women within the security services,

but also to those who are living

within the civilian space and wanting

to aspire to greatness. She was truly

an example of someone who did not

just fill the quota of being a female,

but she truly earned her strides and

climbed up the ladder in the Ghana

Armed Forces.

Mr Speaker, her role as Deputy

Commander in the United Nations

Mission in the Democratic Republic

of Congo (MUNOSCO) was also a

weighty proof that Ghana was indeed

fulfilling its role of ensuring that we

played the role of a gender responsive

United Nations Peacekeeping Opera-

tion, which fed from the original UN

Security Council Resolution 132(5),

and acknowledged the dis-

proportionate impact of conflict on

women in this world.

Mr Speaker, she played her role

and she should not be seen as the only

female to have ascended to this

position. She broke the glass-ceiling

and it is time for other women to

occupy such positions so that she

would no longer be the exception but

the role.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity and may she rest in

peace.

Hon
Bartels?
Ms Sheila Bartels (NPP —
Ablekuma North): Mr Speaker,
thank you for the opportunity to
contribute to the Statement.
Today, we are speaking about a
woman who found herself in a man's
world at a time that she was one of
two women to be admitted into the
Ghana Military Academy where she
was also the only woman who
graduated in her class.

Statements

Mr Speaker, I do not know her

personally, but as I read about her, I

could only imagine the determination

with which she entered the military,

hard work and perseverance she had

to put in just to get to that position

that we are celebrating today.

Mr Speaker, this is a woman who

became the first female commander

in the Armed Forces. This is no small

feat. Today, if you see women

standing to eulogise her, I believe she

did a lot to show other girls and other

women that we can actually climb all

the way to the top and we can be the

best that we can be if only we work

hard, if only we do what we are

supposed to do, and if only we do not

let the men intimidate us.

Mr Speaker, she did her best in

ensuring that she got a good

education. She did not end where she

started in the military but she added

to her knowledge and to her skill. So

as my Hon Colleague, Hon Zanetor

Agyeman-Rawlings, said, ‘she earned her strides'; it was not handed to her on a silver platter. We can see from

her background that she had to work

really hard both in educating herself

and also on the field. She was able to

achieve a lot of goals and she ended

up also working with the United

Nations.

Mr Speaker, to end my sub-

mission, I would like to say that I

hope the military is honouring her as

much as we are. We believe that any

woman who is able to achieve so

much is doing it for all women across

the world. She is not only doing it for

women in the military; she is also

doing it for women all across Ghana.

Indeed, I am speaking on behalf of all

women today just as my Hon

Colleagues have done. We are indeed

proud of the late Brigadier-General

Constance Ama Emefa Edjeani-Afenu.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashi (NDC

— Ketu South): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Yesterday, I was led by the

Chairman of the Volta Caucus and

our Hon Colleagues to commiserate

with the family and we were

preparing to do same. So, now that

my Hon Colleague has set the ball

rolling, it is my pleasure to also

contribute to this Statement that has

been made to eulogise the late

Brigadier-General Constance

Edjeani-Afenu.

Mr Speaker, the family of the

Edjeanis is similar to mine. We were

all barrack girls; born in Burma

Camp together and that family has

given us two soldiers. Unfortunately,

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both women have left us now.

Brigadier-General has a younger

sister called Peggy who was also a

military officer. She left us six years

ago, and now we are here eulogising

and celebrating the life of Sister

Constance, as we called her. She was

not just a trail blazer in the Ghana

Armed Forces but also amongst the

children of soldiers. For her to have

gone through the training when she

did and to have earned all the laurels

that we have heard of this evening, it

is worthy of emulation. Her mother is

alive and I cannot imagine what she

is going through. If it is any comfort

to any woman who is listening to us

and watching, let us know that our

children live our stories for us and

may we all be inspired to raise

positive children for our country.

Both men and women contribute to

the development of this country and

these two women have set the

example.

Mr Speaker, the youngest of that

family is Akorfa Edjeani-Asiedu, a

very popular actress in our country. I

can only imagine what she is going

through right now. For one family to

give us soldiers, performing artists,

lecturers and teachers, it is remarkable.

It is worthy to celebrate those who

deserve it so the living may learn

from it.

I want to use this opportunity to

thank the Hon Member who made

the Statement and all contributors to

the celebration of the life of Sister

Ama, who by far has been celebrated

more than any other woman in Ghana

and around the world and of course,

among the United Nations as well.

This example should inspire us all in

every field of endeavour that we have

chosen for ourselves to continue to

make the red, gold, green with the

black star shine brighter and fly

higher.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

I want to come to
Leadership. We have one more
Statement.

Mr Speaker, I
met the late Brigadier-General
Constance Ama Emefa Edjeani-
Afenu 15 years ago when I joined the
Perez Chapel International. She was
a woman who loved God first and
foremost even before loving her
nation. She was a member of the
Perez Chapel Church Board and an
elder of the church and she was a
mother to everybody in that auditorium
in Dzorwulu. Her life is testament of
the tenacity of purpose that she has as
a woman.

Statements

Mr Speaker, in 2018 when I

decided to enrol at the Kofi Annan

International Peacekeeping Training

Centre to undertake a Master's Degree programme in Conflicts,

Peace and Security, little did I know

that she was going to be there. Not

only did I meet her there, she was the

class president and I was her deputy.

Our Hon Second Deputy Speaker

was a member of that class and today,

we share fond memories of Mama

Constance as we called her in class.

Hon John Bennam was a member of

that class and Hon Gabby Osei,

former MP for Tain was also a

member of that class.

Mr Speaker, on the 15th of January

this year, a welcome party was held

to celebrate her on her return from her

mission. She was hale, hearty and

sound and had absolutely no sign that

10 days later, she would no longer be

with us. She was a healthy woman

who celebrated and danced her joy at

coming back home from serving in

the mission on the 15th of January. So

it is evident of how transient life can

be; how 10 days later, we hear that we

are celebrating her.

Mr Speaker, I want to use this

opportunity to call on the military

high command, I am aware she had

completed all the processes for

earning her second star as a major-

general and that we must reward her

and celebrate her posthumously with

the award of a major-general rank

that she had gone through all the

interviews to complete. This is a

woman who has been a trailblazer.

Former President Mahama appointed

her to the UN as our permanent

representative to the UN permanent

mission. He appointed her as

Brigadier-General because of the

tenacity of her purpose, and I hope

and pray that before she is laid to rest,

the military would posthumously

award her the rank of Major-General,

which she rightfully deserves. May

God grant her soul, the repose that

she deserves. Amen.

Mr Kofi Amankwa-Manu

(NDC -- Atwima Kwanwoma): Mr Speaker, I beg to add my voice to the

tribute and of course, a befitting one

read on behalf of the late Brigadier-

General by the Hon Member for

Mfantseman.

Mr Speaker, the late Brigadier-

General Constance Emefa Edjeani-

Afenu was, indeed, enlisted into the

Ghana Armed Forces not only to be

trained as a soldier but also to be

trained as a soldier's soldier. For a woman to have ventured into an

arena which was hitherto a known

male arena was a feather in the cap.

She rose through the ranks from a

Second Lieutenant to a Brigadier-

General.

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The late Brigadier-General was

not only a role model but she gave

hope and courage to the many young

women whose dream it has been to

join the Ghana Armed Forces. As the

first female Brigadier-General of the

Ghana Armed Forces, the late

Constance, in fact, must be celebrated.

Indeed, I can assure all and sundry

in this House that the Ghana Armed

Forces and the Ministry of Defence

will give her a befitting burial

because she deserves it. As the first

military advisor to the Permanent

Mission in the UN, in all her services

in the UN, it was obvious that her

services were not only enjoyed in

Ghana but also in the entire world.

Mr Speaker, the late Brigadier-

General also worked with the

Ministry of Defence, and she was in

fact the link between the Ministry and

the Controller and Accountant-

General's Office. She ensured that our men and women in uniform had

their salaries on time and it was a

morale booster for our men and

women in uniform. She deserves an

applause for that.

Mr Speaker, as the first female

commandeering office of the Forces

Pay Regiment, it is obvious, if one

listens to all that she did, she became

almost the first female, achieved

certain feats in almost everything she

did. I believe that she was not only a

trailblazer but rather a pacesetter. She

set the pace for other women to

emulate. She also gave a true

meaning to the saying that “What a man can do, a woman can do better.” In fact, she has done it better and she

deserves every applause and every

commendation.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I

can only commiserate with the family

and I wish that God will grant them

the strength in these trying moments.

Hon
Members, there is third Statement by
the Hon Member for Gomoa East,
Hon Desmond De-Graft Paitoo.
Tribute to the Family of
seven perished in a fire
disaster at Budumburam
Mr Desmond De-Graft Paitoo
(NDC — Gomoa East): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you for the
opportunity to make this important
Statement on the tragic fire outbreak
incident that perished a family of
seven at Budumburam in the Gomoa
East Constituency.
Mr Speaker, on Saturday, 15th
January, 2022, a tragic event befell
the good people of Budumburam. A

Statements

basic school Headmaster, Mr Robert

Assan Donkor, his wife and five

children (5) including a four-month-

old baby were burnt to death after fire

swept through their apartment in a

block of flats for teachers and doctors

constructed by the United Nations

High Commission for Refugees

(UNHCR) at Big Apple, a suburb of

Gomoa Budumburam.

Mr Speaker, the personal belongings

of the late family were not spared as

they were burnt beyond recognition.

Accounts from residents who were at

the scene indicated that the fire began

at the early hours of 5:00 a.m. after

the family had returned from an all-

night church service. Yet, people

could not determine what precisely

might have caused the fire which

burnt the family to death.

Mr Speaker, eyewitnesses have it

that the victims screamed for help

from their apartment and residents

who rushed to the scene attempted to

break into the living room to rescue

them. However, they were not

successful due to the nature of the fire

coming from the building.

Mr Speaker, the family lived on

the second floor of a two-storey

building fully protected with burglar

proof which has no emergency exist.

It added that when the fire personnel

and some residents entered the

apartment after the fire has been

controlled, the lifeless bodies of the

family were found in the bedroom

and bathroom separately. Mr Speaker,

the officer responsible for operations

at the Gomoa Budumburam Station of

the Ghana National Fire Service

(GNFS), ADO 11 Mr Patrick Bawa,

stated that initial investigations

uncovered that fire began from the

living room before spreading to the

other rooms in the apartment. He

noticed that the family had locked the

entrance to their living room at the

early hours of the tragedy which

made it difficult for good Samaritans

who rushed to the scene to save them.

He further mentioned that “the family after seeing the fire tried to come out

but the thick smoke made it difficult

for them.”

Mr Speaker, it is extremely devas-

tating to report that the lifeless bodies

of the seven deceased have since been

deposited at the Winneba Trauma and

Special Hospital Mortuary.

Mr Speaker, the past days have

been quite tough for me, the manage-

ment and staff of Budumburam D/A

Basic ‘B' School where Mr Robert Assan Donkor (late) was the head

teacher, the pupils and my

constituents. The Ghana National

Fire Service and the Ghana Police

Service have so far launched

investigations into the fire outbreak.

Statements

Whereas the Fire Service is

investigating the cause of the fire, the

Police are looking into a possible

criminal element of the incident.

Mr Speaker, it is constructive to

inform the House that I have visited

the location and offered some

assistance to the bereaved families.

This sad incident brings to the fore a

canker that must be checked

immediately. The incident was third

in a roll and I call on Government to

continuously resource the fire stations

so as to effectively fight fire outbreaks.

In addition, I would encourage

Ghanaians to install smoke alarms/

detectors in their homes so that in

circumstances such as fire outbreaks,

the alarm would raise the siren for

inhabitants to realise that there is a

fire outbreak.

Mr Speaker, at this juncture, I

would like to call on the Ghana

Education Service and the Ministry

of Education as well as well-meaning

Ghanaians to support the deceased

family as preparations are underway

towards the funeral rites.

Mr Speaker, it is important to

mention and acknowledge the kind support of Mrs Francisca De-Graft Johnson, the Gomoa East District Director of Education, who brought a team of psychologists to the Budumburam D/A Basic ‘B' school

premises to support the management and staff with counselling during this difficult time. On behalf of my constituents and the good people of the Gomoa East District, we say, ‘thank you.'

Mr Speaker, once again, I want to

use this medium to express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, management and staff of the basic school as well as the pupils as today marks the one week celebration since the souls departed. I continue to pray that the good Lord Himself will strengthen and console them as we pull together available resources to continuously provide the needed support in such a difficult time.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, let me

register my utmost gratitude and appreciation to the good people of Gomoa East Constituency who rose up in their numbers to the call when it mattered most. To the residents of Budumburam, Budumburam Fire Station, the District Police Command, management and staff of the Budumburam D/A Basic ‘B' school, we remain eternally grateful.

May God be our Strength! Thank

you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity

Mr Kwadwo N. Aboagye (NDC

— Biakoye): Mr Speaker, I thank

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you for the opportunity to contribute

to the Statement ably made by my

Hon Colleague, the Hon Desmond

Paitoo of Gomoa East, on the disaster

that befell a whole family of seven at

Bujumbura in the Central Region.

Mr Speaker, I have particularly

decided to contribute because of the

effect this has had on me for the last

three days when he narrated the

events that led to this disaster to me.

I, in particular, do not actually look at

scenes of dead bodies and such other

things. However, on this occasion, he

called me and asked whether I had

heard what had happened in his

constituency, and I said no. I asked

whether it had been reported in the

media and he said it had, but I told

him that I had not heard it. He then

told me that a whole family of seven

had perished in a fire disaster. He

asked me whether I wanted to see the

photos and I said no because I

normally do not want to see such

photos. I was a bit hesitant, but he

persisted and I agreed to have a look

at them.

Mr Speaker, he sent the photos to

me, and I can tell you that for the last

three days, it had not been easy for

me. The worst part of it is that when

I went home, I just went to my living

room and started looking at the

various exit points, wondering how I

would have escaped if such an

incident had happened to me. I

checked on two of my doors, and

went to the kitchen trying to look for

exit points. I started talking to myself.

I went upstairs to look at all my other

doors and went to the balcony. I

asked myself how I would escape in

case I am confronted with such a

situation.

In the narration of the Hon

Member, he indicated that in an

attempt to run away from the fire, the

man and one of his children got stuck

in one of the washrooms, and the

child was shouting, asking his father

whether they could not break the door

to get out, and people were outside

listening to the cries of the child. All

these things echoed in my mind. I

even went as far as to my washroom

and started looking, checking how I

would escape if this incident were to

happen to me. For the last three days,

it has not been easy at all for me.

Mr Speaker, however, what do we

see? We live in a country where after

spending so much to build a house,

one would have to look for money to

fortify oneself by building all manner

of burglar-proofs just to protect

oneself. We live in a country where

when there is an incident of fire, one

finds it difficult getting fire tenders to

attend to him or her at the right time.

I see this as a disaster that must not be

left to the family alone. I believe that

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the District Assembly, especially we

the caucus from the Central Region,

must come together to, at least, help

the family to put their beloved to rest.

Mr Speaker, I consider it a disaster

that must attract the attention of the

Government. At least, some-thing

must be done for the family. I am sure

that my Hon Colleagues from the

Central Region would do the needful

by contributing to, at least, keep the

family going. Again, let me conclude

by saying that I express my deepest

condolence to the people of

Budumbura, the bereaved family, and

the Hon Member of Parliament for

the constituency.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

Mr Speaker, I
thank you very much for the
opportunity to contribute to the
Statement ably made by my Hon
Colleague. Indeed, it is so sad to find
fellow Ghanaians dying from a
preventable incident. I think that we
have not done well as a country when
it comes to the handling of fire issues.
It is important that the Ghana
National Fire Service (GNFS) steps
up its education wing because if we
follow the media space, we do not
really see much of sensitisation on
fire issues, and I think that it is an
important thing that we would have
to tackle as a country. We have to
make sure that the attention of the
local media, especially the local radio
stations, is drawn to this issue so that
they can include more of these fire
issues in their programmes. I think
that when that is done, it can help to
reduce the situation.
Mr Speaker, the other thing I
believe we would have to look at, as
a country, is that the Ghana Standards
Authority would have to step up and
look at the nature of houses that we
have in this country. When we enter
some houses, we realise that if
something happens, the household
would be in trouble because there
would not be any exit space for them.
We need to step up the standards
check of the type of houses we build.
We also have to look at our types
of roads because day-in, day-out, we
find the Fire Service being caught in
a very serious situation where they
are not able to access where the fire
is actually taking place. This is not
too good, and I think that the Ghana
Standards Authority would have to
step up and look more into that.
Mr Speaker, again, the Hon Member who made the Statement mentioned that fire alarms would have to be installed in our houses.

Statements

However, aside the fire alarms, we would also have to look at the issue of fire extinguishers. As many that can afford, we would have to encourage houses to own fire extin- guishers. I am sure that when we are able to do that, it can help us to handle minor situations because some of these fire incidents can be managed if we have fire extinguishers.

If we compare the situation of fire

issues in our country to that of other jurisdictions, we would realise that they take fire issues more seriously. For example, as a student in the University of Reading, immediately we arrived as students, we had to take fire examination, and the first time we took it, some of us failed. They gave us deadlines and we had to read through some literatures to under- stand how to handle fire situations before we were allowed to stay as students. I think that it would not be a bad idea if we can introduce it in our tertiary institutions, so that we can let people who come into the institutions take some basic exami-nations for us to be sure that they are well-equipped in terms of the know-ledge of handling fire issues.

Mr Speaker, that can also be

linked to the issue of armed robbery

because the way people try to fortify

their houses is also influenced by the

insecurity situation that we face. I

think that we all remember how our

Hon Colleague of blessed memory

was killed.

So, people have to fortify their

houses just to stay safe, but in doing

that, one also opens oneself to other

very difficult situations.

So, I think that if we take steps to

improve the security situation that

would also make more people feel

comfortable to handle their houses in

such a way that they can easily escape

when there are crises.

Mr Speaker, with these few

words, I must be grateful to you for

the opportunity.

Minister for the Interior (Mr

Ambrose Dery) (MP): Mr Speaker,

I would like to thank the Hon

Member who made the Statement,

and I want to start by expressing our

condolences to the bereaved families

for these valuable people we have

lost in this fire incident. I have

listened to the inputs and I can assure

Hon Members that there is a lot I can

take from it to improve our fire

system.

Mr Speaker, but it is important to

note that the fire officers went to the

scene but with the fortification that

Statements

was put in the house, the Fire Service

officers spent a lot of time and had to

break in, but unfortunately, when

they got in, although they put off the

fire, regrettably, no lives could be

saved in this circumstance.

Mr Speaker, the Central Regional

Fire Service is working on it, and is

in touch with the Acting Chief Fire

Officer, and I can assure all of us here

that we would do all that we can to

make sure that this situation does not

recur. But it involves all of us when it

comes to building of houses. When

we are issuing building permits, the

role of Fire Service is not emphasised

and sometimes,

Fire Service officers would have

to go round to visit houses, to try to

make sure that they improve the

security situation as far as fire is

concerned.

Mr Speaker, that notwith-

standing, I would like to assure the

House that a lot has been done to

improve the Fire Service but we can

do a lot more. What I can assure you

is that I appreciate what the Hon

Member who made the Statement

acknowledged — the response of the Fire Service and the response of the

Police and other security agencies.

We think that we need to do more.

We have passed a Legislative Instru-

ment (L.I.) about fire extinguishers

but these are things we to engage

stakeholders about cost and what it

means.

Mr Speaker, but certainly, I would

like to say that it was a regrettable

incident and we would work, and I

would like the Hon Member of

Parliament, if he has further infor-

mation to give it to me because that

would enable me to understand better

the report that would finally come to

my desk and see how we can work on

it.

Thank you very much, Mr

Speaker.

I
promised Hon Tetteh-Agbotui --
Mrs Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui
(NDC — Awutu-Senya West): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the oppor-
tunity. My condolences to my Hon
Colleague from Gomoa East whom I
share a boundary with.
This is a very tragic situation. I
remember seeing a flyer which says,
“Celebration of Life” and I asked who says this is a celebration. It is a
tragedy when a mother and father and
their five children lose their lives in a
fire incident; it is not a celebration.
That even opens another discussion
on how we are always engaged in the

Statements

“celebration of life” even when the person died in a tragedy like this.

Mr Speaker, be that as it may, the

discussion has to move on to the

practical things and the proactive

solutions that have to be looked at for

such occurrences to minimise.

Because of the security situation in

the country, we are all living in cages.

We have barricaded ourselves; we

even have metal doors to bedrooms

now. In the earlier days, it used to be

just simple timber doors but now, we

have metal doors and we have

barricaded all the windows and there

are no escape routes, even in our

bedrooms. Our typical two-to-three

windows along opposite walls would

have burglar proofs that we cannot

even open. I would plead with people

who do construction and house

owners that even if it means that we

leave one window being able to have

a padlock or something, there should

be an escape route for anybody in a

typical room of habitation.

Mr Speaker, the Fire Service

needs to do a bit more public

education. The pictures that we saw

on social media were not pleasant at

all. If you have children, you do not

want to see what we saw, and I think

this calls for the Fire Service being

real. Whenever there is a fire and

there is an investigation but the report

finds its way onto a shelve some-

where and nobody sees the findings

in the report, the remedies, and the

conclusion — [Interruption] I think this may be the time for them to

extract these things and do more

public education not only in Gomoa

East, but also in all the constituencies

across the country.

There are so many media platforms

now they can use — traditional and electronic media — to do that for the benefit of the populace. We can have

smoke detectors — Of course, they come at a price with batteries, and we

can also have fire extinguishers, but

ultimately, the responsibility lies

with the person who may be living in

there. Some-times too, electrical fires

are caused without anybody's fault.

Mr Speaker, interestingly, the

Committee on Subsidiary Legislation

is actually reviewing the building

regulations that were presented by the

Ministry of Works and Housing late

last year. I believe that even with this,

we have not reached the part where

we are reviewing the fire yet but I can

assure you that our eyes are even

going to be more widely opened now

with such an example that has taken

place.

Mr Speaker, I am happy that the

District Director of Education assigned

Psychologists to the school. But in

one of the videos that I saw, there was

Statements

another apartment behind the one that

was burning and the person was

virtually crying her heart out. So, the

Psychologists' intervention has to go beyond the school to the neighbour-

hood, and hopefully, even beyond

that, even the churches that they

attended and so on so that they would

have some calmness and some

closure to what happened.

Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague

referred to the Ghana Standards

Authority. We have to look at the fire

rating of materials that we use in

Ghana. In fact, to be very honest, I am

not sure that the fire rating of the

building materials that we use is

known, and I am speaking as a

professional in the industry. I know

that we have some challenges there

because anybody can go to the

market and buy anything to install. I

think that that really needs to be

looked at.

Mr Speaker, the last thing I would

like to say is that the District

Assemblies need to do their work.

Before a building is put up, a drawing

is sent to the Assemblies for a review.

There is enough experience in the

District Assemblies to know that

there must be an exit. Let me just give

an example — whenever we are watching an American movie and one

looks outside, somebody tries to enter

through the front, but somebody

escapes through the back and he or

she is running down some metal

steps. Those are all fire escapes. For

buildings that are higher than two-

storey apartments, which are very

common now, it definitely has to

have much more defined fire escapes.

Also, generally, for any kind of

building, I think that we need to look

at exit points properly so that this

kind of tragedy does not happen to

anybody. We can avoid this situation

as much as possible.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity, and once again, I extend

my sincere condolences to the people

of Gomoa East and those in the

environs of Big Apple for this

tragedy.

Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza

— rose —

Very
well. Hon Member, after the Hon
Minister spoke, I gave the Hon
Tetteh-Agbotui a chance only because I
had promised her, so I think we
should bring Statement time to a
close.

Mr Speaker, it is not a contribution.
Yesterday, when we were adjourning,
according to the Votes and
Proceedings, we were asked to report
here at 10.00 in the forenoon.

Statements

We turned up here at 10.00 in the

forenoon and then, we heard rumours

—

Hon
Member for Adaklu, you are grossly
out of order. In the middle of
Statements, you jump in with Votes
and Proceedings which concluded an
hour ago? Let us bring proceedings
on Statements to a close.
Hon Members, that brings us to
the end of Statements.
Mr Agbodza — rose —

Yes,
Hon Agbodza, what is it?

Mr Speaker, all
that I am trying to say is that we were
told to come here at 10:00 a.m. and,
indeed, we turned up here at 10 a.m.
Then, we were told that Sitting may
start at 2:00 p.m. We stayed and it
turned 2:00 p.m. We were then told
that maybe 4:00 p.m., but we did not
start at 4:00 p.m. rather at about 5:00
p.m. Those of us who came on time
have done nine hours by now. As we
stand here, when Hon Ablakwa asked
how long that consultation would
last, the Hon Majority Leader said
about one hour. Exactly what are we
doing here nine hours after we came
to work with no end to it? We have
not been given any direction as to
what Business we have to do.
Mr Speaker, because we were not
informed of extended Sitting, Parlia-
ment did not also make any provision
for an extended Sitting. Mr Speaker,
for the sake of our health and safety,
I humbly appeal to you to adjourn this
House now so that Hon Members can
— [Interruption] We are also human beings. [Hear! Hear!] There is no
reason we should be sitting here at
this time. There is absolutely no
reason. We are not adjourning sine
die today, so why are we here? I
humbly appeal to you to adjourn this
House now, so that Hon Members
can adhere to health and safety. We
are also humans.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the
opportunity.

Hon
Agbodza, I was looking through the
Standing Orders to find upon which
Order you made this application. I
had earlier ruled that you were
grossly out of order but you were still
on your feet, and so I thought that you
had something else to share. It,
however, does appear that you
wanted to persist in this order. So, I
have heard you but I will make no
ruling. Thank you.

Statements

Mr
Speaker, I appreciate the issues raised
by Hon Agbodza. We have been in
some consultations and discussions
with relevant stakeholders whose
voices matter in this matter. We just
about concluded and I thought that
we could begin in earnest the
consideration of the matter on the
Order Paper Addendum but because
of what my Hon Colleague is saying,
I do not know whether it would be
prudent, since it is 6.45 p.m. to break
for some 45 minutes in order to allow
— [Interruption.] Other than that, I believe that we can begin in earnest
the consideration on the matter on the
Order Paper Addendum.

Mr Speaker, I
have a genuine difficulty trying to
understand how we want to proceed
further on this matter. My difficulty
is premised on the fact that when we
adopted the Business Statement for
last week, we were told that the e-
Levy would be taken next week, on
1st February. We so adopted the
Report of the Business Committee
and we on this Side kept cautioning
that we do not want surprises. We
should know when we would take
this item and then we can debate it
thoroughly.
Then, subsequently, we were told
that it would be next week. There
have been some engagements between
the Hon Minister for Finance and our
core leadership. However, Mr
Speaker, you were part of the
discussions at conclave where I had
shared my views. As the Hon
Minister for Finance announced, if
we are introducing a new e-Levy Bill,
let him introduce it. That is what he
told the world himself at a major
press conference, that he is coming
with a new e-Levy. We would then
refer it to the Finance Committee, the
Committee would work, we would
encourage them to do stakeholder
consultations with the major interest
groups including banks, merchants,
telecommunication operators, mobile
phone agents, and then encourage
others to continue to hold town hall
meetings to get the buy-in of the
public. The Committee can then
bring its Report when the Rt Hon.
Speaker Bagbin gets back.
Mr Speaker, we also note that we
need to take advantage of the
presence of the Rt. Hon Speaker
Bagbin. If we are not toeing the line
of a new Bill, we would have to
subject the old Bill to a major Second
Reading on the policy principles. If
they are not introducing a new e-
Levy Bill with some of the negligible
deductions up to 1.50 per cent — If we are not on a new Bill but we are to
pass the old Bill as presented in the
Order Paper Addendum, then we
would do a full debate on the policy

Statements

principles of the Report which was so

presented. When we get to it, Mr

Speaker, we are in your bosom; you

would probably put the Question on

it and we would bring the Second

Reading to some position consistent

with our Standing Orders. Then, if we

are able to proceed, we would

proceed.

Now, when the Hon Majority

Leader says that we should suspend

Sitting, for what purpose? I note that

we are in critical times and we should

take these critical decisions, but they

need to marshal what is appropriate.

We would register that our 137 stands

strongly opposed to it and would vote

against it, and probably, if they have

to carry the day, they would carry it

with their number whatever is

available. Mr Speaker, we are ready

to facilitate but we should understand

what we want to do after a

suspension. We discussed this.

Mr Speaker,
thank you very much.
Let me just say that it is actions
such as these that aggravate the
situation that we have in this House.
Mr Speaker, we were with you and
Rt. Hon Speaker in the lobby and
there were a number of decisions that
were taken. I believe that we do not
need to put the lobby discussions on
the Floor. It is based on those things
that Rt. Hon Speaker said that if that
is the case, then let us take three
Statements from Hon Members and
then adjourn. The Hon Majority
Leader was there.
However, during the Business
Statement when the Hon Deputy
Minority Leader tried to draw his
attention, he said that a decision had
not been taken. I want to beg the Hon
Majority Leader; he knows very well
that yesterday when we were
adjourning, we said we were meeting
at 10 o'clock this morning.

We came this morning and

wanted to engage, but because of

that, he pushed Sitting to 2.00 p.m.

Hon Members have been in this

House since morning; some were in

the House as early as 8.00 a.m., but it

is almost 7.00 p.m. and today is

Friday. When we do this and

unnecessarily irritate one another,

that is what leads to, sometimes,

certain unfortunate things because

everybody gets angry even before the

House is adjourned.

Mr Speaker, I would want to plead

with the Hon Majority Leader. There

were a number of things — and I do not want to put out the discussion we

had in the Speaker's Lobby. However, I

Statements

just want to remind him of what he

said, that “if we start and cannot finish, why should we start”? [Interruption] He said that and now

he wants the House to be suspended

for 45 minutes. Why should the

House be suspended for 45 minutes?

We have been talking since morning

and we all agreed that with where we

are, we cannot break through where

we have got to and therefore, we

agreed that if we have to do it, we

should call for a vote and then get

over it, but he said no, we should not

do it that way because of some

reasons. If we cannot start and finish

with it, then we should not even start.

So what has called for this 45

minutes' suspension when we were to start Sitting after 2.00 p.m. yet Hon

Members have sat for all this long?

Mr Speaker, I would want to plead

that we should end proceedings for

today. That is not the end of the day.

We could continue with the discus-

sions but suspending the House for

45 minutes would not yield anything

new, especially in this state where

almost everybody is exhausted. I

would want to beg the Hon Majority

Leader that he should not allow us to

overstretch one another beyond this

point.

Mr
Speaker, with the greatest respect, let
nobody misrepresent what happened
at the Speaker's Lobby. First of all, the Hon Minority Chief Whip said I
was privy to some incident when a
decision was made that we should
adjourn. If they took a decision, I was
not there. The Hon Deputy Minority
Leader is saying that at that time, I
had stepped out, so he should not bear
false witness.
Mr Speaker, secondly, he would
remember that you even indicated to
us that we should start because you
were prepared to sit in until 12
midnight — [Interruption] Yes, I am reporting what exactly transpired.
That is why I said that let nobody
bear any false witness.
Mr Speaker, when I said that if
they cannot decide on the processes
and the procedures, a suggestion came
that we could start the debate and not
take the decision, leave it hanging,
and I said that no, if we are going to
start, then we have to finish with it,
but if we know that we cannot finish
it, then we should not start it. He
should not misquote me — [Inter- ruption] That was not what he said.
That is not the impression that he gave.
Mr Speaker, fourthly, when I
entered the Chamber, I listened to the
Hon Member for Adaklu, Mr Agbodza,
as he said that Hon Members were
tired and that the 45 minutes was not

Statements

part of the discourse. I just reacted to

what he said, that, perhaps, we should

start the Order Paper Addendum.

However, in response to what he said

and in recognition that people might

be genuinely exhausted and hungry, I

said we could suspend Sitting for 45

minutes and come back, but if we

cannot and the decision is that we

should begin, let us do so. That was

the prayer that I submitted, and what

is wrong with that?

I am
still waiting for your guidance.

Mr Speaker,
we could commence the debate on
the Second Reading of the e-Levy.
We are ready. I would submit seven
names which would include me to
make contributions to the Motion if
we are able to take a decision. We are
ready, so we could proceed. Probably,
you would want to reach out to the Rt.
Hon Speaker but if you want to take
charge, we are ready. Seven people
could contribute to the Motion from
each Side of the House.

That
is exactly what I wanted to suggest,
that if we have to start, we could take
the Motion and debate on it and wait
for the Rt. Hon Speaker to take the
decision. If that is acceptable, I would
start.

Very
well.
Hon Members, we would take the
Order Paper Addendum.
Mr Ablakwa — rose —

Yes,
Hon Member for North Tongu?

Mr Speaker, I have
looked for the Order Paper Addendum
all evening as the Hon Majority
Leader said, but I do not have it. It
appears our Side of the House has not
been given copies, so could we have
our copies to know exactly what is
contained in it?

I see
that they are being distributed.

Mr
Speaker, let me give one condition
that when we commence the debate
on the Second Reading of the
Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, 2021,
and we end it with the Hon Majority
and Minority Leaders' closing remarks and the remarks by the Hon
Minister for Finance, it ultimately

Statements

should lead us in pursuit of our

Standing Orders; for you to put the

Question for a vote on the Motion.

Mr
Speaker, listening to Hon Members,
where we are —

Hon
Members, order! Order!
Please, there are too many of you
on your feet. Kindly resume your
seats.
Hon Majority Leader, may I listen
to you again?

Mr
Speaker, I have listened to the
sentiments of Hon Colleagues in the
House and I do not want to take any
blame for extending the Sitting of this
House. So, if the sentiment is that we
should take an adjournment, I would
apply to you that we adjourn until
Tuesday, next week at 10.00 a.m.

Hon
Minority Leader, there is a Motion
for adjournment, and so I want to
hear you.

Mr Speaker,
I do not need to second the Motion
because we are in your hands, so you
may put the Question for adjournment
till Tuesday.

In
that case, I do not need to put a
Question.
Hon Members, the House is
accordingly adjourned to tomorrow
— [Uproar] Sorry, to Tuesday, 1st
February, 2022.