Debates of 8 Jun 2022

MR SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:33 a.m.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Hon
Members, shall we turn to item numbered
4 which is the Correction of Votes and
Proceedings and the Official Report.
We would begin with the Correction of
Votes and Proceedings.
Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah — rose —
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Hon
Member for Okaikwoi Central, is there
any issue?
Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah 10:33 a.m.
Mr
Speaker, I turned on the console, and I
could not get the Votes and Proceedings
so I wonder if we have gone back to using
hard paper. In this era of digitalisation, I
wondered if I could get the Votes and
Proceedings and the Order Paper on the
console, but it is unfortunate. I would
want to find out from the Hon Chief Whip
and his team [Interruption] — Mr James Klutse Avedzi, why? This beautiful
console is before us yet we cannot access
the Order Paper and the Votes and
Proceedings meanwhile he has a big
computer in front of him; what is

Deputy Minority Leader (Mr James

Klutse Avedzi): Mr Speaker, the Hon

Member, Patrick Boamah, is accusing me

as if I am the Information Technology

(IT) Director in charge of the consoles

and asking me why he cannot access the

Votes and Proceedings. I am not the one

I am the Hon Deputy Ranking Member

of the Business Committee. In fact, the

Hon Chairman and Hon Vice Chairman

of the Business Committee are all from

his Side of the House so it would be

appropriate to ask them rather than me.

Mr Speaker, I just want to put on record

that I am not the one in charge of it.

Majority Chief Whip (Mr Frank

Annoh-Dompreh): Mr Speaker, with

respect to my Hon Colleague, it is not

only that, but there are other consi-

derations that the House Committee and

Leadership are looking at. I am already

aware of a meeting that has been

scheduled to deal with all these matters in

proper context so my Hon Colleague

should hold his fire, and just give us some

few days. We would come appropriately

and respond to all these concerns.

Certainly, it has been taken into

consideration and would be dealt with.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:33 a.m.
Mr
Patrick Boamah, we would get there one
day; do not worry.
Page 1…15 —
Dr Kingsley Nyarko 10:33 a.m.
Mr Speaker,
there is a small omission in item 14(ii) on
page 15 — “Annual Report on the Management of the Energy Sector Levies
and Accounts for Year 2021”. It should
be “Annual Report on the Management of the Energy Sector Levies and Accounts
for the Year 2021”. There should be “the” between “for” and “year”, so if it could be inserted?
Thank you.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Have the
Clerks-at-the-Table taken note of the
issue he raised?
Page 16…18.
Hon Members, in the absence of any
further corrections, the Votes and
Proceedings of Tuesday, 7th June, 2022,
is adopted as the true record of the
proceedings.

Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza — rose

—
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon
Member, I did not see you.
Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza 10:43 a.m.
Mr
Speaker, I rise under Standing Order 48
and article 102 of the 1992 Republican
Constitution and with your permission, I
beg to quote:
102 “A quorum of Parliament, apart from the person presiding, shall be
one-third of all the members of
Parliament”.
Mr Speaker, I do not believe we have
the requisite number to conduct any
Business at all so I am drawing the
attention of the House to this.
First Deputy Minority Whip (Mr
Ahmed Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, as the
Hon First Deputy Minority Whip, I sense
the collective wisdom of this House.
Yesterday, a similar Motion was moved
calling for matters on quorum to be
raised.
Mr Speaker, I have been in this House
for a number of years now, and we are
even yet to start Private Business. I may,
as the Hon First Deputy Minority Whip,
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:43 a.m.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon
First Deputy Minority Whip, hold on a
bit. Please tame the fire a bit. Let me hear
from the Hon Majority Chief Whip.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I
can sense the emotions and how
passionate my Hon Colleague is.
However, my Hon Colleague must do
what he is doing properly within the
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:43 a.m.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon
First Deputy Minority Whip, you are out
of order.
Mr A. Ibrahim 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I was just
prevailing —
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Hon
Member, hold on, I would give you the
opportunity. The Hon Member for
Adaklu, Mr Agbodza just raised the issue
of quorum. The bell is being rung, and
that issue would be addressed.
Meanwhile, we have three Official
Reports, and I would entreat Hon
Members to go through them. We have
the Official Reports of 25th May, 2022,
26th May, 2022 as well as 27th May, 2022.
I do not know whether Hon Members
have their copies.
Minority Chief Whip (Alhaji
Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka): Mr
Speaker, you may have three of the
Official Reports, but Hon Members only
have two. We have that of 26th May, 2022
and 27th May, 2022; we do not have the
third one. We could, at least, do those that
you have and then those that — I do not know if it is only those of us at the front
bench, but if Hon Members could check
because we have only two.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
This
issue came up during the last Meeting,
and we were informed that the Official
Reports are put in the pigeon holes of Hon
Members so they could do well to check
from there.
Alhaji Muntaka 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, we can
now take the Official Report of 26th May,

us have those two.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
Yes,
Hon Member for Asante Akim Central?
Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi 10:43 a.m.
Mr
Speaker, I just went to my pigeon hole,
and I have three Official Reports dated
25th May, 2022, 26th May, 2022 and 27th
May, 2022, so Hon Members may do well
to check from theirs.
Mr A. Ibrahim 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I believe
that of 25th May, 2022 was corrected and
adopted by the Rt Hon Speaker — [Interruption] — we could verify with the Clerks-at-the-Table.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:43 a.m.
While
they are checking, we can start with the Official Report dated Thursday, 26th May, 2022. Is there any issue that an Hon
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:43 a.m.
Alhaji Muntaka 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I am even worried that there is a jump in the correction of Official Reports because the last time, we had up to 23rd March, 2022. I do not know if the Clerks-at-the-Table can give further explanations on why we have to jump to May when we have not completed March and April? What reason are they giving for the jump because it raises a lot of eyebrows?
Mr Annoh-Dompreh 10:43 a.m.
Mr Speaker, I
have no reason to doubt what my Hon Colleague has alleged. However, with the greatest of respect, can we defer these matters to the Clerks-at-the-Table, and not necessarily deal with it on the Floor because they cannot speak? Mr Speaker, with your leave, either they apprise you or subsequently, we in Leadership should reach out and find out what exactly the matter at hand is, and then deal with it. We cannot deal with it on the Floor.
Alhaji Muntaka 10:53 a.m.
Mr Speaker, whereas
I agree with my Hon Colleague that the Clerks-at-the-Table do not have a voice on the Floor however, they are your procedural advisors, so they are able to walk to you and whisper to you.
Mr Speaker, the danger we have is that
if we jump those periods, sometimes, they
never get corrected and that is why it is
important that it is followed — If they could show you from the records where
we have reached or if it has been done — I can tell you on authority that we have
left a chunk and jumped to May. If they
have any contrary information, kindly ask
them to tell you, other than that I advise
that we stop the correction of the Official
Report and cross check where we were,
because we need to follow up —
Mr Speaker, this is because there is a
pending incident at the Supreme Court
which was on the 29th of March, 2022,
and we have heard that some members of
the society are screaming and dancing
around. I do not want to impugn any
wrong motives but to jump this period — let us rather stop the correction of the
Official Report and confirm where we got
to in March, because we are supposed to
complete the correction of the Official
Reports for the months of March and
April, before we move on to May.
Mr Speaker, kindly stand down the
correction of the Official Report and cross
check this, because we cannot jump those
dates. The Department of Official Report
is just close by and the Deputy Clerk
could walk to them and find out why they
jumped those dates.
Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
Very
well.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:53 a.m.
  • [No correction was made to the Official Report of Wednesday, 25th May, 2022.]
  • [No correction was made to the Official Report of Thursday, 26th May, 2022.]
    • Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Member for Kwadaso?
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the last line of
    the first paragraph of the column
    numbered 23 reads “…not exceed USD$10.00 …”; I think that we should delete the symbol “$”, so that it reads, “USD10.00”, or the “USD” could be deleted and the symbol remains.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Clerks-
    at-the-Table, have you taken note of the
    issue the Hon Member has raised?
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, if we look at
    the next paragraph, “v”, the same issue has been repeated: “USD$2,850,000.00”, so that one should also be corrected.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Very
    well.
    Clerks-at-the-Table, kindly take note of
    that.
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, respectfully,
    the fifth line of column 31 reads,
    “University of Energy and Allied Sciences (UENR)”, but I think that they wanted to refer to the “University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR)”.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Hon
    Member, are you referring to column 31?
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker. The fifth
    line which reads, “University of Energy and Allied Sciences (UENR)”; I think that it should be “University of Energy and Natural Resources” that is, UENR.
    VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Very
    well.
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, please is the
    correction clear?
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Hon
    Member, is it that you think or you know
    for a fact?
    Dr Nyarko 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, we either
    have ‘University of Health and Allied Science (UEAS)' or ‘University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).'
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Very
    well.
    Clerks-at-the-Table, kindly check and
    ensure that the right thing is done.
    Mr Seidu Issifu — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Member for Nalerigu/Gambaga, are
    you up on your feet?
    Mr Issifu 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, yes.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    All right.
    Let us hear you.
    Mr Issifu 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, column 56, line
    6, there is a word there which is supposed
    to read “verification”, but it has not been appropriately spelt, so if the Table Office
    could rectify that.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Hon Member, which paragraph of column 56?
    Mr Issifu 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, paragraph one, line 6, “verification”.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Very well. Cerks-at-the-Table, kindly take note of that.
    Hon Members, in the absence of any further corrections, the Official Report of 27th May, 2022, as corrected, is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.
    Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh — rose
    —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Yes, Hon Majority Chief Whip?
    Mr Annoh-Dompreh 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would seek your kind leave for the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Consti- tutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to speak to a matter of public interest and importance; he is coming under Standing Order 72.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Yes, Hon Minority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Muntaka 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, my Hon
    Colleague knows very well that, if an Hon Member wants to come under Standing Order 72, the Hon Member should have discussed with the Speaker, and then he or she would be allowed to do that. It is
    VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:53 a.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 10:53 a.m.
    Very
    well.
    Hon Minority Chief Whip, I have been
    informed that the — Hon Member for Asante Akim Central, I am told you have
    some issues of national interest, so I
    would give you the Floor.
    Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi 11:03 a.m.
    Thank
    you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker, with your leave and the
    indulgence of the House, I would like to
    draw the attention of the House to item
    numbered 19 on the Order Paper, which
    is the “Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Bill, 2021”.

    Mr Speaker, we have gone through this

    Bill and we have a clause. Yesterday in

    the morning, I was at the — [Interruption] —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:03 a.m.
    Gavels.
    Hon Members, please, let us give the
    Hon Member attention.
    Mr Anyimadu-Antwi 11:03 a.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    yesterday in the morning, I was at the Hon
    Attorney-General's Office to discuss the conclusion of this Bill and when I came
    in, my attention was drawn to the fact that
    Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah raised an
    issue that the Bill before the Committee
    on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary
    Affairs is being delayed. Under normal
    circumstances, I would not have been
    bothered, but this is on going, on the
    airwaves.
    I heard the Hon Minority Chief Whip
    add his voice as if he was doing the Hon
    Chairman some good when he said that
    the Chairman is a fine gentleman who
    takes his work seriously, but with regard
    to the Bill that has been referred to the
    Committee, it is being delayed.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to draw the
    attention of the House that there are
    several Bills before the Committee and I
    would also want to reiterate the fact that
    since the referral was made to us after the
    First Reading, we have not come to the
    Second Reading. We would come to the
    Second Reading, discuss the principles
    after which we would have the
    opportunity at the Consideration Stage to

    debate the Bill clause by clause, before a

    Third Reading is done.

    When the referral was made to the

    Committee, in accordance with the

    practice of this House, we advertised to

    the public. We received about 187

    memoranda on this Bill, grouped them

    and held public hearings at the last

    Meeting.

    Mr Speaker, the time table of the

    Committee is that after the public

    hearing, we would have private hearing,

    that is in-camera hearing. So, the

    Committee retired and started the in-

    camera hearing. Just last week, we had

    one in-camera meeting — and at all material times — we invited the sponsors of this Bill. Hon Bedzra who raised the

    issue in the House, was in our meeting

    last week and sat through the meeting.

    So, it is surprising that the same person

    who is aware of what the Committee is

    doing would come to the floor of the

    House and say that the Committee is

    doing nothing about the Bill. I would

    want to set the records straight that the

    Committee on Constitutional, Legal and

    Parliamentary Affairs is on course, so far

    as Bills are concerned.

    Mr Speaker, most of the time, they

    would want to find out when we are going

    to complete the discussion and submit a

    Report to the House and it is something I

    cannot be specific on — I cannot tell. As

    we all know in this House, I pray that

    nobody in this House actually cedes to the

    pressure coming from outside. Indeed,

    when this Bill was laid, most members of

    the public thought that within three days,

    this Bill would be passed. Nobody knew

    the number of memoranda that had come

    to the House and the processes that we

    had gone through.

    Mr Speaker, so, I would plead that — if Hon Bedzrah had been present, I would

    have asked him to withdraw and

    apologise for what he said yesterday.

    Unfortunately, I am informed that he has

    another meeting to attend. I have already

    explained to the Rt. Hon Speaker and the

    House that I referred clause 19 — maybe you were late and I said that this is

    pending, so I needed to actually be at the

    Hon Minister for Justice and Attorney-

    General's Office to find out how we could go on with item numbered 19.

    So, the Committee on Constitutional,

    Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has

    never rested, especially when they refer

    to the Hon Chairman of the Committee as

    the one delaying the Bill. I would want

    the House to know that I am a Senior Hon

    Member of this House and I am

    competent enough. I am also a senior

    member at the Bar, having passed out in

    1995 and having practiced and gone

    through the law, this is a Bill that we

    would have to take through the processes.

    We would have to take time so that we

    would pass a law that would stand the test

    of time. We just cannot rush through this.

    Mr Speaker, during the recess, the

    Committee planned to travel and have

    some experience — what we call ‘best practice' — I only saw the memorandum when we resumed Sitting. We never got

    the opportunity to go on with the time

    table. So, I would urge the House that if a

    question is raised and one is not a member

    of the Committee, he or she may refer or

    defer to a member of the Committee to

    actually give you an explanation, so that

    we could go forward. The members of the

    public are very much interested in this

    Bill and we are leaving no stone unturned

    to make sure that we pass a law that

    would stand the test of time.

    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:03 a.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Majority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Muntaka 11:03 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, unfor-
    tunately, Hon Emmanuel Bedzrah is not
    here today. However, the concern of Hon
    Members about the unnecessary delay — [Interruption] — if Hon Anyimadu- Antwi could listen to me — the unnecessary delay obviously has to be
    blamed on the Hon Chairman and they
    were right in raising it on the Floor.
    Mr Speaker, when the Bill was referred
    to the Committee — it is unfortunate I have to divulge this private conversation
    we had — One of the largest Bills we
    have had in this House was either the
    Public Health Bill or the Companies' (Amendment) Act; they were very large
    and I told him that in managing Bills that
    are very controversial, what the Chairman
    does is to rent a big hall and call all those
    who have brought their memoranda — he was talking about 187 — if the Com- mittee had a hall that could accommodate
    300 people like the D. F. Annan Hall, the
    Committee could call each clause and all
    those who had amendments would raise
    their concerns. They would raise them
    and by the time the Committee gets to the
    last clause, all the amendments would
    have been done.
    However, the Hon Chairman of the
    Committee opted to use a vehicle that
    gave people an unfettered time;
    meanwhile, he knows of the consti-
    tutional provisions and I would refer him
    to article 106(14). Mr Speaker, with your
    permission, I beg to read:
    “A bill introduced in Parliament by or on behalf of the President shall not be
    delayed for more than three months in
    any committee of Parliament.”
    In the past, we could not introduce a Bill
    in this House until Professor Aaron Mike
    Oquaye, with his magnanimity, worked
    out to enable Hon Members introduce a
    Bill. So, in this sense, it is referring to a
    Bill and for more than three months if the
    Hon Chairman realised that there was
    going to be a delay, the only fair thing he

    could have done, as an Hon Chairman,

    was to come back to this House to tell us

    that due to some reasons, we would have

    a delay and Hon Members would then be

    able to contribute, considering the turn of

    events of the proceedings of the

    Committee.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:03 a.m.
    Hon
    Majority Chief Whip, let us get an
    intervention.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:13 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, the
    constitutional provision that my respected
    Hon Colleague quoted to fortify his
    submission was very misleading and I do
    not want the records of this House to hold
    that to be true and factual.
    The Bill in question is a Private
    Member's Bill. He is quoting a provision in the Constitution that has to do with a
    Bill introduced by the Executive and we
    cannot sit here and assume that such a
    submission is correct within the context
    of a constitutional provision. For the
    other submissions, at the appropriate
    time, since this is a House of debate, we
    would have the opportunity to express our
    views.

    For now, I would plead with my most

    respected Hon Colleague to withdraw

    that Constitutional Provision he quoted

    unless he would want to create an

    impression that he is relying on it mutatis

    mutandis, which in its case cannot even

    be so.

    Mr Speaker, I thank you.
    Alhaji Muntaka 11:13 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am
    surprised at the point of order raised by
    the Hon Deputy Majority Leader. I would
    want him to know that when we talk
    about Bill, this is the only House that one
    can introduce a Bill. If he is telling me
    that there is any provision contrary to this
    one which says that if a Bill is coming
    from an Hon Member, it suffers a
    different time period, he should point it
    out. However, so far as this Constitution
    is concerned, when a Bill is introduced to
    the House and it is referred to a
    Committee, that Committee must not
    spend more than three months without
    coming back to this House to tell us the
    reason it has to go beyond the three
    months.
    Mr Speaker, I would want to refer him
    to Standing Order 136 which is just a
    verbatim lift of the Constitution and this
    is what the side note reads, and that is
    what guides— The Hon Member is a lawyer, and he should even know better
    than I know. Mr Speaker, with your leave,
    the side note reads;
    “Time-limit for delay of Bills in Committee cf. Article 106 (14) of the
    Constitution.”
    Mr Speaker, it is about the delay in
    Committee. If the Hon Chairman has

    decided to adopt a method that gives him

    room to leave the Committee work, and

    he travels for about one or two weeks and

    then comes back to continue with the

    tortoise method of dealing with the Bill at

    Committee, well, then maybe, we would

    have to serve notice to our Hon

    Colleagues since this is the method that

    the Hon Chairman of the Committee on

    Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary

    Affairs wants to use to delay that Bill.

    That Bill was in this House before so

    many other Bills. I can assure you that we

    shall resist any other Bill that the

    Chairman introduces into the House, even

    if it is to provide water in Asawase. We

    would make sure that as long as that Bill

    stays there, no other Bill passes through

    this House. If the Hon Member tries to do

    that, we shall oppose it because we have

    seen that it is deliberate. He is

    deliberately delaying the Bill so he should

    not make any excuse. This is because if

    the Majority side wanted it to be fast-

    tracked, they would know what to do. If

    the Government wanted to get that Bill

    done, they would know what to do and

    what the Hon Member is doing at that

    Committee —

    Mr Speaker, I repeat it to the Hon

    Chairman, he is deliberately wasting time on the Bill. He does not want the Bill to come to this House. If he says what I am saying is a lie, he should work hard, and in a week, he would be able to bring the Report, but he is deliberately wasting

    time because he does not want the Bill, and that is a fact. I say so because if we look at the method he is using — this is not the first time a Bill has been referred to him in his Committee.

    We know how he works. When he

    wants to expedite things, we know how he does it. So, he is deliberately wasting time on this one. And he was told the truth yesterday, and I repeat it to him that he is deliberately wasting time on this Bill at the Committee. I can assure him and the frontbenchers that with what he has done and trying to justify it, no Bill would pass through this House without our resistance even if it is going to provide water in Asawase.

    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:13 a.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Deputy Majority Leader?
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:13 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, one
    day when I leave this House, and I meet Hon Muntaka, I am sure we would miss each other. I have been wondering why Chief Whips are referred to as FOD. I have been wondering why and I am still wondering.
    Mr Speaker, now, let us get into the
    substance. They are the “Forces of Darkness”. [Laughter]. I would not want a constitutional provision to be misquoted and relied upon to mislead the public, including this House.

    Mr Speaker, for the avoidance of doubt

    and I pray this submission in context. The

    Order 136 of the Standing Orders which

    the Hon Minority Chief Whip relied on,

    is very specific and has to do with a Bill

    introduced by the President. Let us get the

    context right. I am not saying that he does

    not have any right to ask — [Interruption] — I am not saying that he has no right to make his submission, but

    what I am saying is that he should not

    misquote the 1992 Constitution and give

    effect to it in the Standing Orders to

    mislead anybody in this House. That one

    is wrong, and the Hon Member would not

    be tolerated on that score.

    Mr Speaker, now, let us come to the

    substance of the matter. Why has the Hon

    Chairman of the Committee been singled

    out for blame? Why is it being

    personalised? We have leadership of a

    Committee. Why has Hon Muntaka kept

    quiet on the Hon Ranking Member of the

    Committee on his Side? There is a

    Ranking Member. We all know how

    Committees work. The Chairman and the

    Ranking Member of Committees must

    confer and agree. They are in this House.

    The jurisprudence of this House can

    never and has never permitted Chairmen

    to single handedly move a Committee.

    The Hon Ato Forson is a Ranking

    Member of the Finance Committee. He

    knows that the Hon Chairman, Hon

    Kwaku Kwarteng, has no such powers to

    singlehandedly take decisions; therefore,

    Mr Speaker, it is very rich to hear the Hon

    Minority Chief Whip go after a respected

    Member of the Bar, a respected Senior,

    competent Member of this House, whose

    record is not in doubt.

    Mr Speaker, if this is not an agenda with

    the main aim of setting up a grand agenda,

    then I am sure that a new drama is about

    to unfold because when the Hon Minority

    Chief Whip starts speaking this way, then

    we know that the peace of this House is

    likely to be disturbed. Mr Speaker, this is

    because he did not just make a

    submission but he also interlaced it with

    threats. Mr Speaker, when he normally

    keeps quiet, looks down and says his

    things, I know what he is about. If it is

    about the Committee not doing its work,

    and if we want the Committee to speed up

    on its work, Leadership must engage the

    Committee and know their problems.

    I repeat, if the Leadership of this House

    so desired that the Committee must move

    with the speed of light, we should engage

    the Committee; but for our Side, Majority

    of this House would never accept a

    submission by the Hon Minority Chief

    Whip to single out the Hon Chairman and

    subject him to ridicule and

    embarrassment and to get the media to

    attack him when the Hon Ranking

    Member is also part of the decisions of

    the Committee and your Hon Members

    have also been regular and part of the

    Committee.

    The National Democratic Congress

    (NDC) Members, where are they? Do

    they absent themselves from the

    Committee meetings? We would not

    allow him to single out the Hon

    Chairman, the Hon Anyimadu-Antwi,

    and get the media to go after him.

    The media should know that the agenda

    the Hon Minority Chief Whip is setting is

    full of mischief; it is partisan, political,

    and sits on stealth and it is otiose and we

    should not — [Interruption] — Yes, the argument is otiose. The argument against

    the Chairman sits on stealth, and he

    knows that.

    When I say that the argument rides on a

    seat of stealth, he knows that. Where is

    the Hon Ranking Member?

    [Interruption] Yes, I am; he is too. You

    were quiet when he was making his

    submission. Where is the Hon Ranking

    Member of your Committee? We are

    looking for —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:23 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader, it is okay —
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:23 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, they
    are not democrats; they are not tolerant —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:23 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader —
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:23 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    need to finish my submission. We
    listened to Hon Muntaka, and they must
    listen to me. This practice must end. Our
    Side listened quietly. We will not accept
    this.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:23 a.m.
    Just
    conclude for us.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:23 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am
    not yet to conclude. I am going on with
    my submission.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:23 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader, we have a lot to do today, so just
    conclude for us.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:23 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, with
    the greatest deference to you, all I want to
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:23 a.m.
    Hon
    Murtala Mohammed —
    Hon Leader, you may conclude.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:23 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, Hon
    Murtala Mohammed knows how I would
    punish him; I would not mind him now.
    He is my friend, and he knows we will
    meet at a corner bar; and I know how to
    deal with him.

    Mr Speaker, all I want to say is that the

    Leadership of this House must meet the

    entire Committee or its leadership,

    discuss all its challenges, and as Leader-

    ship, put in place measures, together with

    Mr Speaker, to enable them deliver on

    their mandate without any further delay.

    That is all I want to say on this.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Thank
    you.
    I am not going to allow anyone else to
    comment on this particular issue.
    [Interruption] Hold on. I direct that
    Leadership meets the Committee to see to
    their challenges and address them. I wish
    that it is done by the end of next week. Let
    us end it this way.
    Again, at Conclave, we got the hint that
    the Hon Deputy Minority Whip would
    also come under same Standing Order 72
    to make a Statement, so, once we have
    dealt with Hon Anyimadu-Antwi, the
    Chairman of the Committee on
    Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary
    Affairs, I would invite the Hon Deputy
    Minority Whip to also make his
    Statement.
    First Deputy Minority Whip (Mr
    Ahmed Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, as
    Leadership we would meet you later.
    However, I made an observation
    yesterday, and it has been confirmed.
    If we do not address it, Hon Members
    would keep on pushing, and that is why I
    sought your leave to raise this matter
    under Standing Order 72.
    Mr Speaker, Hon Members have
    serious concerns based on the obser-
    vations they have made. The Fourth
    Republic is the longest Republic because
    of certain constitutional structures that
    were put in place by our early Leaders.
    Mr Speaker, lately, the attitude of the
    Hon Minister for Finance in handling
    statutory funds has been a serious matter
    of grave concern to Hon Members and
    watchers of our democracy. When the
    2022 Budget was to be presented, this
    matter delayed this House in Sitting from
    10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. We were assured
    that that was going to be the end, but
    clearly, we have passed that end. We
    were promised that the Hon Minister for
    Finance was going to release money to
    the administrator of the District
    Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) to clear the outstanding payments and make
    sure that we are able to put the country
    together.
    It is not wrong for Government to have
    other flagship programmes, but if the
    original cannot be done, there should not
    be any talk of supplementary. The
    Government is unable to perform its

    original mandate, but its priority is the

    flagship programmes, and not the

    constitutional foundations based upon

    which we all thrive. The fourth quarter of

    the DACF disbursement for last year is in

    arrears; the first quarter for this year is

    also in arrears. We are in the second

    quarter, and next month we are moving to

    the third quarter of the year.

    Mr Speaker, in the 261 district assemblies,

    District Finance Officers (DFOs) are

    dodging; Coordinating Directors are

    hiding; District Chief Executives (DCEs)

    are suffocating. The 134 District Chief

    Executives who are no longer at post

    cannot even come out. Before they

    became DCEs, they had public credibility,

    but now, after leaving office, so much has

    happened, and we cannot, as duty bearers,

    sit unconcerned. I am raising this concern

    because it has happened before, and I was

    here. What we did was that we called the

    Hon Minister for Finance and gave him

    moratorium to do his original mandate

    before addressing other complementary

    ones.

    We cannot say that because he is the

    Hon Minister for Finance, what happens

    to the 261 districts is of no concern to us.

    That is why, Mr Speaker, if you watch

    carefully, yesterday, a matter of quorum

    was raised because the Hon Deputy

    Minister for Finance was coming to

    present the Fees and Charges Bill in

    addition to other financial Motions. What

    we are saying in this House is that, if this

    is how the earlier Administrations were, I

    would not have been standing here today.

    The survival of our parliamentary

    democracy depends on how we handle

    our decentralised structures. If the Hon

    Minister for Finance, who owes the

    Administrator for the DACF about GH₵2 billion and promised to release GH₵300 million, ended up releasing only GH₵100 million, this, to me, is not fine. If I am

    owed GH₵2 billion, and only GH₵100 million is released, what happens to the

    GH₵1.9 billion? If he cannot pay that one, why is he concentrating on his

    flagship programmes?

    Mr Speaker, there were 169 Hon

    Members of Parliament (MPs) on the

    Majority side. The whole of that Side was

    covered by MPs from the New Patriotic

    Party (NPP). Non-release of the DACF

    for them to perform in their Consti-

    tuencies reduced their number from 169

    to 137. We talked of attrition rate of MPs.

    As a Deputy Chief Whip — If an MP or his DCE is not given his DACF allocation

    to perform or if a school project is

    abandoned, the MP would be blamed if

    the DCE is not performing. Very soon the

    MPs will go for their primaries; not all of

    them are Hon Ministers. What are the

    non-Ministers going to do? How would

    they stand for re-election if they are not

    even able to drill a borehole after being in

    power for two years? What will be their

    messages?

    Mr Speaker, as a Deputy Whip, I must

    vow to protect the attrition rate in this

    House — [Interruption] —. We should not sit down for lecturers to come from

    the University of Ghana, Legon — I am very serious about this. There is scientific

    data about the correlation between the

    performance of district assemblies and

    the performance of Government. If a

    Government performs well at the district

    assembly level, MPs are retained. If they

    are not able to, the MPs would be blamed

    because they are the ones at the warfront;

    their faces would be shown. Meanwhile,

    we keep on talking about attrition rate of

    Hon Members.

    We would not sit here to endorse such

    gross disrespect to the Constitution and if

    the Hon Minister for Finance does not

    release the statutory funds before he goes

    to his flagship programmes, we would not

    approve anything concerning finance for

    him. Mr Speaker, a word to the wise is

    enough. [Hear! Hear!].
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Majority Chief Whip, would you want to
    respond to it?
    Some Hon Members — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Members, I would come to you but let me
    give one each — I would give you the opportunity but I would give one to each
    Side as well. Hon Majority Chief Whip?
    Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    with all due respect, my Hon Colleague
    would confirm that we had a discussion at
    the Leadership level at the conclave and
    we would always defer to you on these
    matters. We would want to stick to the
    original discussion we had which was for
    me to be given the space to respond to my
    Hon Colleague so that we proceed to
    other Business.
    First of all, we are not in doubt and we
    would not say that there are no
    outstanding amounts because there are
    outstanding amounts. However, I would
    want to apprise the House and my Hon
    Colleagues that what the First Deputy
    Minority Leader raised is so critical.
    There are statutory payments and
    requirements as well as constitutional
    imperatives which we would all want to
    support. However, for the past week and
    also for the records, goods and services
    especially to the House — [Interruption] One of the most critical outstanding
    amounts to the House was goods and
    services and, truth be told, the Minister
    for Finance has delivered on that.
    Again, our expectation for the National
    Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was
    some GH₵50 million and the Ministry for Finance has delivered it. I am totally in
    agreement when my Hon Colleague
    speaks to the outstanding District
    Assembly Common Fund (DACF) which
    he readily pointed out the figure.

    Mr Speaker, again some release has

    been made and I checked before we

    walked into this Chamber. I have been

    reliably informed that some GH₵300 million has been released. However, it is

    still not enough so, I am speaking in

    support of my Hon Colleague.
    Mr James Klutse Avedzi 11:33 a.m.
    — rose —
    Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, we
    have already programmed the Minister
    for Finance to appear before the House on
    Tuesday, 14th June, 2022, and I had very
    good communication — [Interruption].
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Majority Chief Whip, please hold on.
    Hon Deputy Minority Leader?
    Mr James Klutse Avedzi 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    I beg to differ from what the Hon
    Majority Chief Whip said. The DACF
    being owed by the Government is over
    GH₵2 billion and so far, it was only GH₵100 million which was released last week to the DACF administrator. So, it is
    not GH₵300 million.
    The Government is owing GH₵2 billion, but they released only GH₵100 million. I would want to correct the Hon
    Majority Chief Whip that it is not
    GH₵300 million. They requested for GH₵300 million but only GH₵100 million was released. So, the Hon
    Majority Chief Whip should rather talk to
    the Minister for Finance to release more
    money to the administrator of the DACF
    and not defend the Hon Minister.
    Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    spoke to my Hon Colleagues this morning
    and I am telling the Hon Deputy Minority
    Leader and he should take it in good
    stride that GH₵300 million has been released. However, I am saying that it is
    not enough and, in the face of the
    outstanding amount, we continue to
    appeal to the Minister for Finance that the
    releases that are due, especially the quasi
    and statutory ones, are released on time.
    I can assure the honourable House, as
    always. We gave the House the assurance
    that the GH₵25 million for goods and services was going to be released and it
    was released. We also assured the House
    that the GH₵50 million for the NHIS would be released and it was released.
    I am assuring the House that on our
    Side, we would do everything to ensure
    that all the outstanding amounts,
    including the DACF, are released. Just
    hold us in confidence and be rest assured
    that we are going to deliver the
    deliverables. I am telling you that
    something is going to happen this week.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Deputy Minority Leader?
    Alhaji Muntaka 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, when
    the Hon Majority Chief Whip, who is
    supposed to be championing the welfare

    and holding the Minister for Finance to

    task to ensure compliance, turned himself

    into the chief defender, one could see the

    way he was struggling to defend the

    indefensible. I told him to give the

    Minister for Finance a permanent seat

    here, which was what I did when I was a

    Majority Chief Whip. Mr Ambrose Dery

    and other Hon Members would attest to

    the fact that the Minister for Finance had

    a permanent seat here.

    I told Mr Seth Terkper that if he did not

    come to run his business, it would suffer

    on the Floor. So, when the Hon Minister

    comes and he feels the heat, he listens

    when we talk to him. However, when

    they turn the Hon Minister into a tin god

    who can only send people to this

    honourable House to do his business, he

    would not listen when we talk to him.

    Mr Speaker, ask the Hon Majority Chief

    Whip to find out what the requirements of

    the law are. If he cares to know, when it

    comes to the Health Insurance Authority

    (NHIA), the law says that one month after

    they collect the money, it should land into

    the Fund, I am telling him on authority

    that moneys that they collected even in

    year 2021 have still not landed into the

    Fund and the Hon Majority Chief Whip is

    here trying to defend that they have

    released something. If one is entitled to a

    whole cow but they give the person the

    tail, then they say “they have given the person something” — [laughter]. Let them give, at least, half of the cow; that

    way they would know that they are

    holding a substantial part of the cow.

    My Hon Colleague and Majority Chief

    Whip should know that when he turns his

    back and is not seeing the Hon Members

    on his Side — As for the Hon Members on the Minority Side, with the greatest of

    respect, we are already lying on the floor,

    so we are not afraid of falling. The reason

    why when he turns to call the Hon

    Members on his Side they are not here is

    because of these things. They have seen

    that the Minister for Finance is struggling

    to fulfil the promises he made to God, but

    he is not willing to fulfil the promises he

    made to his fellow human beings. I would

    tell you that, in Islam, God said that if one

    does not learn to appreciate and thank

    human beings for what they have done,

    they could never thank God. So, the Hon

    Minister cannot be fulfilling God's promise while leaving the human promises.

    When it comes to the one that he claims

    to have made to God, he is in a hurry to

    release the moneys and he releases them

    wa wa wa wa, to wit: in bulk. [laughter].

    For lack of a better word, in the words of

    Former President John Agyekum Kufuor

    —

    He can quickly release GH₵142 million, GH₵25 million or GH₵32 million, but when it comes to the ones

    that the districts would use to operate, he

    promised GH₵300 million but gives GH₵100 million. If we divide the

    GH₵100 million by 261 districts, we would see that we are practically

    suffocating the District Assemblies.

    Mr Speaker, when we go to Ghana

    Education Trust Fund (GETFund) we see

    that people have toiled, taken bank loans

    to run the projects but the money is not

    being released for the GETFund

    administrator to be able to pay. People are

    virtually committing suicide, because

    they have seen that the banks are about to

    take the assets they used in guaranteeing

    the loans. This is because moneys are not

    being released to the GETFund.

    When we go to the NHIS, people are not

    able to pay for services. So, I beg the Hon

    Majority Chief Whip that he and I are to

    help Mr Speaker to get the House to run.

    He knows that the issues of quorum that

    are being raised are because of the

    behaviour of the Hon Minister for

    Finance. He is not releasing the required

    resources to help the districts to run. So,

    how does he sit here to say that we should

    be assured? He talked about the goods

    and services in Parliament, but when I

    told him that they have not released any

    amount of money, he said that they have

    released GH₵7 million.

    He should go and find out if that GH₵7 million can be used for any Committee

    work. It has been locked up in the system.

    Mr Speaker, while he is talking about

    GH₵25 million, if he cares to know, the

    Goods and Services of Parliament for the

    whole year is GH₵200 million. We are in June, which means we are half way into

    the year, and as we speak, the only

    releases that have come to this House by

    way of goods and services are GH₵7 million and GH₵17 million, making GH₵24 million, and he expects Parlia- ment to continue to run? Out of about

    GH₵100 million, only GH₵24 million has been paid and he is proud to talk about

    that. A quarter of that amount has been

    paid; meanwhile, people provide services

    to this House and they have to run on the

    corridors of Mr Speaker and the Clerk to

    get payment.

    So, Hon Majority Chief Whip, I beg of

    you to extend your whip to the Hon

    Minister for Finance and make sure that

    he does what is right. If he does what is

    right, this headache would be gone and

    we would be able to have peace to run

    Government Business. So they should not

    come and deceive us that towards the last

    day, they would come with so many

    finance Business and expect us to fast

    track them.

    Mr Speaker, I would want to urge the

    Hon Majority Chief Whip and the Hon Minister for Finance, who is probably listening, that he is struggling and happy to fulfil God's promise. Some of the promises he made to us humans through the budget, are restricted by law, such as the National Health Insurance and the

    District Assemblies' Common Fund. He is supposed to release these moneys.

    Please, out of the GH₵2.4 billion or so,

    they cannot even say GH₵300 million and be happy that they have released something. Please, by now they should have done about GH₵1 billion, then we would know that he is serious about what he claims he would do.

    So, Mr Speaker, I agree with the Hon

    Member for Banda, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, that when it comes to the business of the Committee on Finance that is directly from the Ministry of Finance, unless it is a matter of life and death, this House should be a check on the Hon Minister for Finance by simply slowing down on such Businesses so that the Hon Minister for Finance will know that as he wastes time and slows down the releases, his business in this House would equally be slowed.

    I thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Members, on this particular issue, we would restrict comments to only Leadership. So let me —
    Some Hon Members 11:33 a.m.
    Hon Ranking
    Member of the Committee —
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    think that the issues raised are welfare matters, and we must all work together to ensure that these matters are resolved. [Interruption] — The welfare of the Ghanaian people —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader, did you say it is a welfare matter?
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, you
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Members, please listen to him.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    there is a problem that I do not want to
    speak about. People have —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader, I do not understand it when you
    say “welfare matters”.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, they
    must let me finish my submission. The
    issues being raised are welfare matters
    that are embedded in the Constitution.
    Some Hon Members 11:33 a.m.
    Yes, because —
    Mr Speaker, can they listen? They
    should sit and wait.
    Mr Speaker, if at the District Assembly
    level the Constitution provides that some
    moneys must be released and those
    moneys do not go, it affects the welfare of
    the districts. It is a welfare matter.
    [Uproar] Yes, the Hon Members should
    follow the phrase in context. They should
    follow language in context.

    Mr Speaker, I am saying that if a

    constitutional provision requires moneys

    to be released to the District Assemblies

    and those moneys do not go on time, it

    affects the welfare of the districts. True or

    false? True!

    Mr Speaker, if the constitutional

    provision —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Members, that is his context of ‘welfare' so, please, allow him.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:33 a.m.
    They must follow
    context and language. If a constitutional
    provision requires that Members of
    Parliament (MPs) Common Fund must be
    released and such releases delay, these
    releases affect the welfare of the MP in
    the constituency. It is a matter of fact.
    Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Leader, hold on. Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa,
    what is it?
    Mr Samuel O. Ablakwa 11:33 a.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    I am very grateful. I rise to respectfully
    draw attention to article 252 of the 1992
    Constitution:
    (1) There shall be a fund to be known as the District Assemblies Common
    Fund.
    (2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament shall
    annually make provision for the
    allocation of not less than five per
    cent of the total revenues of Ghana
    to the District Assemblies for
    development; and the amount shall
    be paid into the District Assemblies
    Common Fund in quarterly
    instalments.
    So Mr Speaker, this is a very important
    constitutional matter we are discussing. It
    is not a welfare issue at all, the Hon
    Leader should please come back on the
    path of righteousness. He knows that
    what the Hon Minister for Finance is
    doing is not right. He finds over GH₵200 million for the National Cathedral without
    parliamentary approval yet he keeps
    encouraging the Minister for Finance. It
    is wrong.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Mr Ablakwa 11:33 a.m.
    It is wrong. [Uproar]
    They are pampering this —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:33 a.m.
    Hon
    Ablakwa, the angle you are going is
    completely out of order.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 11:52 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, let
    me register this point one more time. The
    Hon Majority Leader, Mr Kyei-Mensah-
    Bonsu, had an occasion to complain that

    when the Leadership of the Minority Side

    gets the opportunity to make a

    submission, our Side listens to them in

    silence.

    Mr Speaker, it is becoming one too

    many that when it is our time to make our

    submission, the whole posture is

    disruptive. I believe that it does not help.

    Such a practice must stop, and I am

    appealing to the Leadership of the

    Minority. Mr Ahmed Ibrahim spoke at

    length; Alhaji Muntaka also spoke at

    length, but our gentlemen and women

    were quiet. I held on till it was my time to

    make my point.

    The issues that have been raised are

    constitutional imperatives that have to do

    with the welfare of the people of Ghana,

    including us as MPs. [Interruption] The

    Constitution — Well, I have put it in a better way that they are welfare matters

    that the framers of the Constitution placed

    in there to ensure that our welfare is

    secured, that there is development.

    Therefore, I agree that these welfare

    matters at the District Assemblies must be

    addressed.

    Mr Speaker, we would all work with the

    Hon Minister for Finance and ensure that

    these welfare matters are addressed as

    provided for in the Constitution.

    However, Mr Speaker, in doing so, as a

    political class, let us also be consistent in

    the way we communicate with the public.

    When Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson — I

    am not personalising the matter — has an issue with taxes, and rises to say that

    Ghanaians are being burdened with taxes

    however it is this same taxes that we use

    in paying the welfare matters provided

    for, then we are not being consistent.

    Mr Speaker, I repeat, that if Dr Ato

    Forson says that we should not tax the

    people of Ghana, and that same person

    says that when he checks Government's finances, there are no moneys at all; and

    that Government should not borrow or

    tax, the but again, we say that releases are

    delaying.

    So, together as a House, we want this

    Constitution to be respected, so let us be

    consistent in the approach. We must find

    a common ground on the way to go

    because one cannot place something on

    nothing.

    You cannot place something on

    nothing. I have forgotten the Latin

    expression for it. But “You cannot place something on nothing”. So, — no it is non potes ponere aliquid de nihilo. — I have not forgotten.

    Mr Speaker, in addressing this issue, I

    would want us not to personalise it because it happened to Mr Seth Terkper — we were all here. Every day, “Seth Terkper”, but we knew that it was not about Mr Seth Terkper. We understand the import of the communication and it

    has been regularly understood and it shall be regularly communicated to the Hon Minister for Finance for the material happiness of us all, including the districts.

    Mr Speaker, we thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:52 a.m.
    Thank

    Yes, Hon Member?
    Mr Annoh-Dompreh 11:52 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, we
    have had some engagement with Leader- ship and instead of taking Questions, with your leave, we would want to vary the Order of Business and take Statements, a commemorative Statement by the Hon Minister for Lands and Natural Resources because of the national event coming up on Friday, 10th June.
    So, we would take a Statement from the
    Hon Minister, after which we would revert to Questions.
    Mr Speaker, with your leave.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:52 a.m.
    Hon
    Ahmed?
    Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 11:52 a.m.
    Mr Speaker, as
    was discussed at Conclave, I strongly believe that a word has been given to you by the Rt Hon Speaker that we must take this Statement, and the work that is
    scheduled to be done on Friday very seriously.
    Mr Speaker, that being the case and
    based on the agreement that we had this
    morning, it would be wrong for me to
    come to the Plenary and differ from what
    has been agreed upon. We agreed that we
    would take the Statement during the
    prime time. It is almost 12.00 noon. So, if
    the variation is coming for us to take the
    Statement, I think it is in order. So based
    on this, we agree.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 11:52 a.m.
    Very
    well. Hon Members, yesterday, the Hon
    Minister for Lands and Natural Resources
    was here and presented a wonderful
    speech. Today, he is here again to speak
    on the 2022 edition of Green Ghana.
    He is the Minister for Lands and Natural
    Resources and Member of Parliament for
    Damongo. Yesterday, he responded to a
    “rosewood” Member of Parliament. — [Laughter] — So, Hon Minister, the Floor is yours.
    STATEMENTS 11:52 a.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:13 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much, Hon Minister.
    The Hon Ranking Member of the
    Committee would like to start the
    contribution. What about the Hon
    Chairman of the Committee?
    Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo (Ranking
    Member of the Committee: Thank you
    Mr Speaker for the opportunity to
    contribute to this Statement about Green
    Ghana Day which comes off on 10th June,
    2022. I am happy that the Hon Minister
    has come to the House, as he did last year,
    to ask for the support of the Ghanaian
    public, and to give us the procedural
    approach by which the Green Ghana Day
    would be performed.
    Mr Speaker, I just hope and pray that
    the Hon Minister has enough information
    to give us regarding what happened last
    year. We would definitely invite him to
    come back to report to the House on what
    happened last year, when so much was
    invested in planting 10 million trees. This
    year, we are supposed to plant 20 million
    trees. It is a lot of investment in energy,
    time, and resources, and there is the need
    for us to do as much as we can, and to also
    report to the people of Ghana on what we
    did that day, and whether what we did
    would yield some fruits.
    Mr Speaker, let me also add that, as we
    send signals to the people of Ghana that
    we are fighting against climate change,
    Statements

    let us also send a signal to them that we

    are protecting what we have today. In

    other words, we do not want to hear a

    situation where forest reserves are given

    out without due process, and also without

    the consent of the greater majority of

    people in Ghana. It is very important that

    we do not send those signals out.

    Mr Speaker, the reserved lands in this

    country are as a result of what people who

    were in leadership did in the previous

    regimes. And so current regimes should

    protect them, and create value in the

    present situation. It is important for us,

    and it would be our effort in sustaining

    the fight against climate change, which is

    not a good thing. It is devastating the

    land, and creating a future for us which

    we cannot account for, because of the

    large impact it would create on us. It is,

    therefore, important that measures are

    taken. This is a key measure we support.

    I am telling the Hon Minister and all of us

    that as long as we do the right things, and

    our efforts are to protect the environment

    and the lands, and ensure that the right

    things are done, we definitely would go

    along with them, but as long as they go

    back on the same promises, we would

    definitely oppose them.

    Mr Speaker, there are two ways by

    which we would like to fight climate

    change in this country. One is about the

    fact that we would like to abate the

    situation.

    In other words, we would make sure

    that in trying to fight climate change, we

    do everything that we can to secure the

    lands and resource, to ensure that we

    maintain a certain level of vegetation

    cover on the land. We also have to keep a

    certain conduct in order not to destroy the

    vegetation.

    The second one is to make sure that we

    adapt to the inevitable. Climate change

    exists because we are unable to protect

    the use of certain resources which we use

    to run factories, vehicles and in all kinds

    of activities that destroy the environment.

    We therefore need to adapt to the

    inevitable as those are very necessary

    circumstances. These two factors are

    important; in the first one, we are doing

    well in that we are planting trees; in the

    second one we are yet to make sure that

    we fight against the emission of gases —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:13 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, your three minutes is up.
    Dr Pelpuo 12:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would like to
    thank the Hon Minister for the Statement.
    We assure him of our support to plant the
    trees. But we ask him to make sure that in
    doing all these, he does not send the
    wrong signal to the public that we do not
    care about the reserves.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Statements
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:13 p.m.
    Let me
    give the opportunity to the Hon Member
    for Asante Akim Central. Hon Member,
    you have three minutes please.
    Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi (NPP
    — Asante Akim Central): Mr Speaker, let me commend the Hon Minister for the
    good work that he is doing. This is a very
    good Government Policy. As the Hon
    Minister gave statistics about the Report
    he has given, I took note of something he
    said, that there is a one percentage
    decrease in temperature in Ghana, which
    is very scary. He also gave us an
    estimation of the temperature losses that
    we are likely to receive at the end of the
    century.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister
    emphasises that one of the good solutions
    that we have to put in place is the Green
    Ghana Campaign that the Government
    has introduced. He cites very important
    people and tells us where they would be
    doing their planting, save that he failed to
    tell us where, Mr Speaker, you would be
    planting your tree; I would have wanted
    to join you there. I would like to know
    where the Hon Ministers for Interior,
    Defence, as well as the Hon Minority
    Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-
    Mubarak Muntaka, among others have
    been assigned, but I would entreat them
    to actually assign themselves.
    Mr Speaker, I do not know if the 10th of
    June would be a public holiday, but we
    would have to plan something very
    concrete. I have personally collected
    8000 seedlings from the Ghana Cocoa
    Board (COCOBOD), which I myself
    would be planting this year. Apart from
    that, the COCOBOD also provides
    economic trees, and I have collected 100
    of these trees to also plant. It is surprising
    and very interesting that the youth of
    Konongo Zongo, a community in my
    area, based on what had happened last
    year, actually contacted me that they
    would want the Zongo to be green. So, I
    led them to the Forestry Commission, and
    on Friday, last week, they collected about
    500 trees; some of which are mangoes, oil
    palm, coconut, and others, to plant within
    the community. Again, through the
    intervention of this policy, the Forestry
    Commission at Juaso gave us about 7000
    cassia trees and 1500 bamboo trees to
    plant on the banks of River Owerri in my
    Constituency to protect our environment.
    Mr Speaker, I urge the House to help,
    and I commend the Hon Minister who has
    called on all the stakeholders, especially
    the former Presidents of Ghana, which
    means that this is bi-partisan and we must
    embrace it.
    Mr Speaker, for some time now, we are
    not sure of the rainfall pattern around the
    forest belt because of the decrease in
    temperature that the Hon Minister
    mentions, and these are problems that we
    are confronted with. On the 10th of June,
    2022 the trees would be available, but if
    Statements

    we plant them and we do not get any one

    to supervise and tend them, and we

    depend on nature, we may not be very

    successful. I would therefore urge the

    Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources

    to actually follow up on what they have

    proposed, to find other means of

    supporting the tree-planting exercise by

    watering and making sure that we get

    some moisture for the trees.

    Mr Speaker, to conclude, I would like to

    commend the Hon Minister and urge him

    to continue with the good work that he is

    doing.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:13 p.m.
    Let me
    give the opportunity to the Hon Member
    for South Dayi.
    Mr Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor
    (NDC — South Dayi): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to add my
    voice to the short Statement made by the
    Hon Minister for Lands and Natural
    Resources, encouraging us to join him on
    Friday to participate in the Green Ghana
    project.
    Mr Speaker, I recall that in an Answer
    to a Question sometime in March, the
    Hon Minister briefed the House on the
    status of the tree seedlings planted last
    year, and the efforts made to protect them
    to grow to produce the forest cover that
    we intended them to. However, let me say
    that given the position of the Hon
    Minister in respect of the matters relating
    to the Achimota Forest, I see a clear
    policy contradiction. How does the Hon
    Minister dismember a whole forest and
    then come to Parliament and ask us to
    help him to plant more? I hope that he
    would want to reconcile these two
    contradictory positions.
    Mr Speaker, I would like to bring
    something to the attention of the Hon
    Minister: he is aware that our coastal
    areas are being denuded for which we are
    faced with tidal waves pounding a lot of
    our communities — [Interruption] —
    An Hon Member 12:13 p.m.
    The man said he is
    sand weaning.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 12:13 p.m.
    You said “sand weaning” but it is not. [Laughter] — That process of denudation is often natural and
    so I would like to suggest that in addition
    to planting tree crops, we should also
    consider planting coconut seedlings to
    protect the shoreline. I also know that
    there are some studies — Mr Speaker, kindly protect me from the Hon Deputy

    Mr Afenyo-Markin — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:13 p.m.
    Hon
    Deputy Majority Leader, the Hon
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    was encouraging him to add that the Hon

    Minister should also take steps to

    discourage sand weaning. While we are

    planting the coconut, sand weaning must

    also stop because it exposes our people

    and make them more vulnerable. That is

    the point I wanted him to add, but since

    he did not, I have added it for him.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:23 p.m.
    It is well
    noted. I am adding one minute to your
    time.
    Mr Dafeamekpor 12:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am
    grateful. I am also aware that there are
    some environmental studies on the Volta
    Basin that suggest that there is some
    degradation ongoing by way of depletion
    of our vegetative cover and therefore
    some time may come, it may affect the
    water levels in the dam. As part of the
    Green Ghana Project, and also because I
    come from the Volta Basin, I would
    suggest that we would focus on
    encouraging or partnering with Volta
    River Authority (VRA) so that they could
    also focus on planting a lot of trees in the
    Volta Basin to protect the vegetative
    cover of the area.
    Mr Speaker, the other thing that I would
    want to touch on is that when we plant the
    trees, there must be a deliberate policy to
    protect them because until about four to
    six years, they would still be at the stage
    where even if we experience about six
    months of drought, and there is bushfire,
    they could get destroyed.
    Considering the background the Hon
    Minister gave 12:23 p.m.
    climatic changes and all
    those issues, we may experience some
    drought next year and if we do, there
    should be a way of protecting the
    seedlings that we are seeking to plant
    today so that they are not consumed by
    the wild bushfires that may come.
    Mr Speaker, with these few words, I
    would like to encourage everybody to
    make some seedlings available for South
    Dayi so that we can plant them on Friday.
    Thank you for the opportunity, Mr
    Speaker.
    Ms Patricia Appiagyei (NPP — Asokwa) 12:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am grateful for
    the opportunity to contribute to the
    Statement on the Green Ghana Project
    made by the Hon Minister for Lands and
    Natural Resources.
    I would like to commend the Hon
    Minister for being consistent in his
    promise to ensure that we improve on the
    forest cover of our nation and my
    appreciation also goes to the President of
    the Republic for ensuring that this
    programme is sustainable. It is worth
    noting that we have the Minister
    consistently allocating a number of
    seedlings for each of the regions and I
    would commend him because he has done
    what people could not imagine would
    Statements
    Statements

    happen. If we want to ensure that we have

    actually spread out this initiative over the

    country, it is one way of ensuring that.

    My biggest concern is with the kind of

    species that are being rolled out there. In

    addressing our carbon sink and climate

    change issues, it is very important

    especially, that we take note of the

    species of trees that would be planted all

    over the country. One of the plants that I

    would recommend is bamboo. The

    growth of bamboo to cover those swampy

    areas is something that can address our

    carbon sink issue. So, let us also be

    mindful of adding bamboo as part of the

    species of trees that would be planted all

    over the country.

    I am also looking at the involvement of

    the eminent personalities in the country.

    It is highly commendable. I appreciate

    that because it gives the feeling that we

    should all be concerned about our

    environment and ensure that we do not

    deplete our forest cover.

    I would also like to recommend that

    even though we are involving the eminent

    personalities, we are leaving the future

    for the children so it is very important that

    even if we cannot involve everybody, all

    school children must be encouraged to

    plant at least one tree and it would be the

    responsibility of the children to ensure

    that the trees grow to a certain stage. We

    could also encourage them by introducing

    some kind of awards for these children

    for ensuring that the trees have grown to

    a certain level.

    I heard my Hon Brother, Mr Kwame

    Anyimadu-Antwi, mentioning the fact

    that sometimes, the weather is not

    predictable and so we may lose a number

    of the plants that are planted in this period

    in case of droughts. However, if each

    school-going child is made responsible

    for a particular plant or even if school

    children in villages adopt a forest and

    begin to nurture these plants, we would

    ensure that of all the seedlings, we would

    recover about 95 per cent of the million

    trees that we are talking about. It is very

    important that it is not just a tree-planting

    day, but ensuring that we reach about 90

    to 95 per cent success through proper care

    and nurturing of these plants.

    I also want to commend this initiative

    very highly because I do not believe that

    all over the world, various governments

    have taken special initiative or concern to

    ensure that their countries would be

    green. When I look at Kumasi for

    example, sometimes when I am flying

    over in an aircraft, I get very sad because

    Kumasi used to be a city where there were

    plants and some packet of trees and all

    these trees have been depleted. All that

    we are seeing around now is just blocks

    and it is not encouraging.

    So, apart from the dwellers in forest

    areas, the city dwellers must also make an

    Statements

    effort to make sure that we grow plants

    especially in between houses so that we

    would be able to address the issue of

    carbon sink.

    With these few words, I would like to

    commend the Hon Minister highly for

    sustaining the initiative and I would like

    to assure him that Hon Members of this

    House would surely participate in this

    effort.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:23 p.m.
    Let me
    come to Leadership. Alright, I would give
    you one more opportunity. So, rosewood.
    Dr Clement Abas Apaak (NDC — Builsa) 12:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you for
    renaming me and giving me the
    opportunity to contribute to the
    Statement.
    Mr Speaker, I must also commend the
    Hon Minister for making a Statement that
    is worthy of our attention and for calling
    on all of us to do our best to ensure that
    we green Ghana. This eventful day is
    going to happen on the 10th of June,
    which coincidentally is the 30th birthday
    of the great National Democratic

    Mr Speaker, as you are aware, the

    traditional colour of the Party is green,

    which means that the NDC has always

    Mr Speaker, it is for this reason that we

    are opposed and continuously oppose the

    Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144.

    On one hand, we cannot be called upon

    to support tree planting and be called on

    the other hand to accept E.I. 144.

    Mr Speaker, having said so, I entirely

    agree with the Hon Minister that we have

    a collective responsibility to ensure that

    we replenish our forest cover. However, I

    was rather curious that when the Hon

    Minister was giving the breakdown in

    terms of the quantities of seedlings per

    region, the figures given to the parts of the

    country that I would have assumed to

    require more trees, which are the northern

    parts of the country, were lower

    compared to the southern parts of the

    country. I hope that the Hon Minister can

    clarify why that decision would be made

    because my logic would tell me that we

    should rather plant more trees in the

    northern parts of the country as compared

    to the southern parts.

    Mr Speaker, yesterday, in responding to

    a Question about rosewood, the Hon

    Minister asked that if anyone had any

    evidence to show that this criminal

    activity was still ongoing, he would be

    willing to act on such information.

    I would like to assure the Hon Minister

    that in the coming days, I would make

    Statements

    available to him information to the effect

    that these criminal pillagers and their

    collaborators, after having finished all the

    free-standing rosewood trees, what the

    Hon Minister would describe as off-

    reserve, now go into the forest reserves

    and log the rosewood trees at night. I

    would make that information available to

    him.

    On this note, I ask for consistency — I know that we would all support the effort,

    but then again, we should make sure that

    we are consistent. We cannot be planting

    trees and yet balkanising forests and

    willing them away forever.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
    I will
    now come to Leadership.
    Hon Second Deputy Minority Whip?
    Second Deputy Minority Whip (Ms
    Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe): Thank you,
    Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to
    contribute to the Statements. I would like
    to thank the Hon Minister for this
    initiative. Last year, we all got ourselves
    involved in this tree-planting initiative.
    Mr Speaker, we have already destroyed
    the future for our great-great-
    grandchildren by destroying our forests,
    and now, we have decided to plant trees
    for the next generation. What type of trees
    are we going to plant? I ask this because,
    last year, I had some trees in my
    constituency whose names I do not even
    know. Those trees are now big trees, and
    one can see that they are just trees that
    would give shade. There are trees that
    could help us economically; we expect
    trees like Mahogany, Wawa, Kyenkyen,
    Odum, Esa, coconut trees, and palm trees.
    These are trees that would help us
    economically when we decide to plant.
    What have we destroyed in the forests?
    Are we going there to replace them or we
    are just going to plant trees? Is it that
    because we are in Accra, we would just
    plant any small tree in our homes and
    conclude that we have planted trees? The
    destruction is what we should focus on.
    Let us move to the forests. Let us make
    sure we replace what we have destroyed
    by galamsey, the small-scale mining.
    Mr Speaker, we have a lot to do as
    Ghanaians to help our country regain her
    green forests. We may plant all right, but
    if we do not target it, and if we do not do
    it well, the work done would be zero. If
    2.5 million trees are planted in Accra,
    what do I expect in Ada? In Ada, at the
    coastal line, I expect coconut trees. In
    parts of the forest, I expect palm trees,
    and then in the city itself, Mahogany,
    Kyenkyen, Wawa, and all those other
    trees. These are the trees that would help
    me in Ada. However, regarding what we
    planted last year, the work done is zero
    because it would not help us
    economically, and, moreover, even if
    Statements

    they fell and people wanted to use them,

    they would just use them for firewood.

    So, I beg the Hon Minister to ensure that

    the trees that we are expecting are trees

    that would help us economically.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:33 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much, Ms Comfort Doyoe
    Cudjoe.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Leader?
    Deputy Majority Leader (Mr
    Alexander Afenyo-Markin): Mr Speaker,
    first of all, I thank you for this treasured
    space to add my own voice by way of
    comments to the Statement made by our
    respected Hon Colleague.
    Mr Speaker, before I zoom into the
    substance of the matter, let me take the
    opportunity to commend the Hon
    Minister. If, as a House, we do not
    compliment the industry of those who are
    put in charge, very soon, people would
    feel demotivated. Again, when they are
    young and they take responsibility and do
    well, we need to acknowledge it. This is
    one Hon Minister who has brought the
    Ministry to visibility. This Ministry has
    existed since 1992 — and I am not, by saying so, trying to undermine the
    previous occupants of the seat — but I am saying that this Hon Minister is doing
    exceptionally well, and he is providing
    some inspiration to the youth. Having
    said this, I would encourage him to still
    do more. He always shares his policies
    with us and brings to the floor of the
    House what his Ministry is doing, and
    what we have observed is the teamwork
    and spirit with which he approaches his
    work. So, he must continue the teamwork
    with his Hon Deputy Ministers, the civil
    servants, and the technical men who
    assist him at the Ministry.
    Now, Mr Speaker, I would come to the
    substance of the matter — tree planting. My Hon Colleague on the other Side, Ms
    Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe, made specific
    points, and I agree with her. However, I
    think that if she had paid due attention
    particularly to page 5 of 8 of the Hon
    Minister's Statement, she would have had no cause to worry because the Hon
    Minister says that they are making
    specific allocations, and that they are also
    zooming into specific areas and the needs
    of such areas. However, we should also
    not forget that we have already enacted a
    law on cash crops, and there is an
    Authority established for that purpose
    where we are considering mangoes,
    coconuts, and other trees. So, the effort by
    the Hon Minister is complementary to
    that which already exists by law.
    Therefore, I am urging all of us to be a
    part of this. It is not just a one-day thing.
    It is not just the symbolic planting of
    trees, but we are saving our environment.
    Mr Speaker, my respected Hon
    Colleague, Mr Dafeamekpor, spoke about
    Statements

    the threat at our coastal belt, but we must

    be bold in letting those involved in certain

    activities know that they are making the

    situation worse. In this case, I refer to

    sand winning. When people win sand at

    our coasts, they make the inhabitants

    vulnerable and when tidal waves arrive,

    the devastative effects become worse. So,

    while we are encouraging tree planting,

    especially coconuts at our beaches, we

    should encourage the district assemblies

    to enforce the laws that prohibit sand

    winning because it is affecting the

    environment.

    Having said these, Mr Speaker,

    galamsey has not gone away. If the

    political class of this country would

    continue to be partisan in response to

    galamsey, then I daresay that there is no

    future for this country. I was privileged to

    have served as the Chair of Ghana Water

    Company Limited (GWCL) and on that

    seat, I saw how much it cost the nation to

    treat water.

    H. E. the President started the anti- galamsey policy, and suddenly, our cost went down. As the then Chairman of GWCL, I visited some areas and some of our plant managers were telling us that because the galamsey activities had gone down, the cost of treatment had all reduced. Then, what did we see again? Suddenly, because of partisanship and as a political class we could not collectively

    say no to galamsey, Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) again started incurring high costs in water treatment, and even so, I do not want to scare anybody because I am not a scientist, but we cannot be too sure. The Hon Member for Okaikwei Central, Mr Patrick Boamah, has taken over from me, and I am sure if he tells us what he sees now, we would not be happy.

    Mr Speaker, therefore, this initiative by our respected Hon Colleague must be supported by all of us. We must plant the trees. The environment that galamseyers have destroyed.

    Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashie — rose —
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, a backbencher wants to rise on a point of order with a Standing Order against me. The Hon Member for Ketu South, Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashie should not do this; it may land her into trouble, so she should kindly sit down. [Laughter.] She is getting into waters that would be difficult for her to get out from. An Hon Member cannot do that against an Hon Leader. She should sit down. She is a first-timer; a first-timer holds the Standing Orders —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Hon Deputy Majority Leader, she would not sit down, so I would allow her to speak.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, does
    she want to rise on a point of order or she
    Statements

    wants to use the Standing Orders to

    debate the Deputy Majority Leader?

    Mr Speaker, all right, as it pleases you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, you can kindly speak.
    Ms Gomashie 12:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you
    for coming to my aid and protecting me
    from the intimidating stance of the Hon
    Deputy Majority Leader.
    Mr Speaker, I rise on Standing Order
    92(b), just so that this issue of sand
    winning does not become the reason we
    have the tidal waves in my constituency
    and the three other areas along the
    southern part of the Volta Region,
    namely: Keta, Ketu, and Anlo. If the Hon
    Deputy Majority Leader has evidence to
    show that this is the reason we have the
    tidal waves, I would urge him to assist us
    to address that issue.
    Mr Speaker, while I am on my feet, I
    would want to quickly find out from the
    Hon Minster for Lands and Natural
    Resources whether he could give my
    constituency 5,000 coconut and palm
    trees. It would help a lot to deal with the
    situation we face in the constituency.
    However, the Hon Deputy Majority
    Leader should learn to accommodate the
    backbenchers and not intimidate us for
    being first-timers. He should be guided.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, I believe that the Hon Deputy
    Majority Leader has rather enjoyed your
    intervention, so do not worry.
    Hon Deputy Majority Leader, you can
    kindly speak now.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    according to her, she rose on Standing
    Order 92(b).
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Hon
    Deputy Majority Leader, please let us
    move on.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, she
    has been forgiven; she should sin no
    more. I also take the substance of her
    submission in good faith.
    Mr Speaker, suffice to say, we are not
    making this issue of sand winning an
    imaginary matter. The Keta District
    Assembly itself issued a press statement
    where they set up an ad-hoc committee
    which had the responsibility to enforce
    laws against sand winning. The point I
    want to make is that we should
    discourage people from winning sand
    along the coast.
    Mr Speaker, based on the submission
    by the Hon Member for South Dayi, Mr
    Dafeamakpor, that there are research
    findings that are threatening and if we do
    not stop them — even in the Prampram areas, people are doing such things and it
    Statements

    is making our people more vulnerable. I

    am not saying that sand winning causes

    tidal waves; I am saying that when the

    tidal waves come, because we have

    already exposed ourselves, the effects on

    us become more devastating. That is the

    point I want to make on record.

    Mr Speaker, having said that, I would

    add that this galamsey business, once

    again as a political class, no more partisan

    approach — Mr Speaker, Sɛ ani nya yareɛ a, ɛhwene nso berɛ. [Interruption] — the Hon Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji

    Muntaka, speaks Twi. I have lost my

    grammar, so he should please assist me.

    What I said means “the nose and the eye are hooked to the same neck, so if the

    nose is suffering, the eye would also

    definitely suffer”. So, if we encourage partisanship as a tool to fight a policy that

    would help the country, and that

    partisanship would bring us to this House,

    very soon, there would be nothing to

    sustain the democracy we so cherish.

    Mr Speaker, therefore, we do not want

    to hear from GWCL that there is no

    supply of water. Today, I would want to

    remind my Hon Colleagues that as far

    back as 2014, there was a research paper

    by Dr Opuni that was presented to the

    Finance Committee at one of the

    syndication hearings that in about five to

    10 years, if the galamsey operations are

    not stopped, cocoa production would be

    affected. That was as far back as 2014.

    Indeed, is not that what we see now?

    Mr Speaker, the reality is there but the

    political class is failing the nation, I

    daresay, by not being consistent and

    supporting the policy that would tell the

    ordinary Ghanaian who would want to

    destroy the environment to stop because

    that would destroy the nation.

    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister should

    not be a victim of any partisan attacks or

    propaganda. We should support him and

    the Government in every effort being

    made in getting Ghana green again. By

    being green, we would be putting money

    in our pockets and the necessary tools

    needed for the development of this

    country would be available and even in

    excess.

    Mr Speaker, having said these, I shall

    resume my seat without more. [Hear!
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:43 p.m.
    Hon
    Minister, do you want to say something
    again?
    Mr S. A. Jinapor 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would
    just want to thank the House for the very
    insightful and spirited contribution to the
    Statement I have made and to point out
    that my able Hon Deputy Minister, ‘five- term' Hon Member of Parliament and Chairman of the planning committee is
    very much available to assist each and
    Statements

    every Hon Member of this House to

    access as much seedlings as any Hon

    Member may require for their

    constituencies.

    To my Senior Hon Colleague who

    requested for 5,000 coconut seedlings,

    those seedlings would be made available

    to her. We have seedlings of all kinds:

    mahogany, rosewood, and coconut. We

    have all of the species - fruit trees, ornamental trees et cetera. Hon Benito

    Owusu-Bio is on standby for Members' requests, and he would honour them.

    Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I

    am very grateful.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    In view
    of the Green Ghana Day, which is slated
    for Friday, 10th June, 2022, we will not Sit
    on that day. Hon Members are advised
    and encouraged to lead their constituents
    in this all-important national assignment.
    As the Minister has said, we would be
    informed as to where and how Hon
    Members would get seedlings for the
    exercise. The Hon Deputy Minister is in
    charge, and so, we would inform you as
    and when any information comes to us.
    On that note, we would bring
    Statements to an end, and thank all of you
    for your contribution. We would now
    move to Questions, and begin with the
    Urgent Questions.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker,
    because the Hon Chairman of the Public
    Accounts Committee is a Leader and a
    Senior Member of the House, we have
    agreed that he lays a Paper and soon
    thereafter, the Minister for Defence
    would be available to answer Questions.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    Item
    number?
    Mr James Klutse Avedzi 12:53 p.m.
    Mr
    Speaker, items numbered 8(d) (i) and (ii).
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, let us turn to page 5, and take
    the item numbered 8 — Presentation of Papers. We would move to item 8(d) — by the Chairman of the Committee?
    PAPERS 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, item numbered 5 — Urgent Questions. We would start with the Hon
    Member of Parliament for Wa Central,
    Hon Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo. Hon
    Members, let us take note that if an Hon
    Member is not here, his Question would
    not be asked.
    Some Hon Members — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, please listen to me. That is
    what we did yesterday. If the Hon
    Member is not here, we would assume the
    Question has been asked, and ask the
    Clerks-at-the-Table to publish the
    Answer. We would assume that the
    Question has been asked and answered.
    Mr Avedzi 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we have a
    number of Urgent Questions. The first
    one is for Hon Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo. We
    know he was in the Chamber; he
    contributed to the Statement of the Hon
    Minister. We can go to the second one
    while we call him to come.
    Alhaji Muntaka 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    perfectly agree with you because when
    Hon Members ask Questions, they should
    be available to get answers to them. I
    would just plead with you to vary it a little
    bit, such that if the Hon Member has
    asked another person to ask the Question
    on his or her behalf, that person should
    only be allowed to ask the Question
    without a supplementary question.
    At least, it would be deemed to have
    been answered, instead of not asking at
    all. That is, if the Hon Member has asked
    another to do on his behalf.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    On that
    note, we could ask another Hon
    Colleague to ask the Question on behalf
    of Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, but we
    would not entertain any supplementary
    questions.
    Hon Member for Buem, you may ask
    the Question on behalf of Dr Pelpuo.
    URGENT QUESTIONS 12:53 p.m.
    MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 12:53 p.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 12:53 p.m.
    Well, I
    can ask supplementary questions. When
    would the military personnel be restored
    after consultations have been done?
    Mr Nitiwul 12:53 p.m.
    This is the first time I have
    been asked a supplementary or sub-
    stantive question by the Speaker, but I
    would still answer.
    I am not able to give Hon Members a
    time frame for when the military
    personnel would be brought back because
    I do not want the Committee on
    Government Assurance to take it up with
    me. However, all the processes are being
    followed through, and as and when they
    are ready, the Communication would be
    sent to the Office of the Speaker. Like I
    said before, the Office of the Rt Hon
    Speaker has not, by convention or
    protocol, been given military personnel as
    part of its security detail. I think that the
    country should keep it as such.
  • [Dr Abdul-Rashid H. Pelpuo enters the Chamber]
    • Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    Dr
    Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, you are here. Your
    Question has been asked and answered by
    the Hon Minister. The Answer has been
    published and that should be fine. If you
    want to ask a supplementary question, I
    would give you one chance because you
    are the owner of the Question.
    Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    was just eager to ask this Question
    because of all that has been talked about.
    I would like to know from the Hon
    Minister whether he took due diligence in
    withdrawing the military personnel who
    caused a lot of anxiety. It might not be the
    case that the security personnel were
    withdrawn as was said in public, but what
    due diligence did the Hon Minister do to
    the point that he thought that it was
    necessary to have done what he did?
    Mr Nitiwul 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, operational
    matters are at the preserve of the IGP and
    the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The
    policies are taken by us, but the
    operational matters are left to their
    purview. In their view, the time the
    decision was taken to withdraw the
    personnel and ask for authorisation was
    right. I support what they did. It was duly
    communicated to the Office of the
    Speaker and as I said, once his security is
    assessed and there is the need for us to
    make sure that that is done, I would do it.
    However, like I said, in principle, I
    think the Office of the Speaker should not
    be assigned military personnel because of
    the institution that Parliament represents;
    it is the embodiment of democracy and so
    due diligence was done. Like I said to
    you, all communication has been done to
    the Office of the Speaker. I just hope that
    the leakage which led to the public
    discourse would never happen again.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    Hon
    Minister, thank you very much. On that
    note, and on behalf of the House, I would
    like to thank you and wish you well. You
    are hereby discharged.
    Let us move to item numbered 5(b). The
    Hon Minister has taken his seat. We
    would therefore invite the Hon Member
    for Mpohor. Is the Hon Member here?
    [Pause] On that note, we could allow
    another Hon Member to ask the main
    Question on his behalf.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the
    Hon Member for Mpohor, Mr John
    Kobina Abbam Aboah Sanie, had some
    other engagements so he engaged me to
    ask the Question on his behalf.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    He
    engaged you?
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:03 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    You
    have not relayed the engagement —
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I
    would need to seek your leave at the
    appropriate time.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    But the
    Hon Member for Mpohor is upstanding.
    Mr Afenyo-Markin 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the
    Hon Member just entered. We commu-
    nicated, but he was not sure of the time.
    That is why I said he engaged me that
    should there be anything, I should seek
    your leave and ask his Question on his
    behalf. Now that he is in, he may proceed
    to do the needful which is his own bona
    fide.
    Second Deputy Speaker: Mr John
    Abbam Aboah Sanie, you may ask your
    Question now. The Hon Minister is
    waiting for your Question.
    Urgent Questions
    MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, any supplementary question?
    Mr Sanie 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I do not have
    any supplementary question. Thank you
    very much.
    Urgent Questions
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:03 p.m.
    Let us
    move to item numbered 5(c) which stands
    in the name of the Hon Member for
    Builsa North, Mr James Agalga. Hon
    Member, you may ask your Question
    now.
    Circumstances Surrounding the Death
    of Two Police Officers in Connection
    with the Bullion Van Robberies
    Mr James Agalga (NDC — Builsa North) 1:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the
    Minister for the Interior the circum-
    stances surrounding the death of No.
    58284 Constable Reindolph Gyimah
    Ansah and No.53549 Lance Corporal
    Stephen Kwaku Nyame who had earlier
    been arrested in connection with the
    bullion van robberies.
    Mr Dery 1:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, No. 58284,
    Constable Reindolph Gyimah Ansah, and

    Kwaku Nyame admitted to committing

    the said offence and were assisting the

    police in their investigations. As part of

    the investigations, the accused, during the

    escort of the police to the location of their

    partners in crime, whom they had

    declared, got to a location where the road

    had come to an end and the two suspects

    came out to lead their accompanying

    police officers in the direction of where

    they were going.

    Before they could say jack, there was

    gunfire from that direction and the police

    returned fire. All the police investigators

    were in bulletproof vests but the suspects

    were not in bulletproof vests and ballistic

    helmets and were caught in the crossfire.

    Suspects Constable Reindolph Gyimah

    Ansah alias Pablo and Lance Corporal

    Stephen Kwaku Nyame sustained

    gunshot wounds and were rushed to the

    Police Hospital for treatment but they

    were unfortunately pronounced dead

    shortly after arrival.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much. Yes, Hon Member for
    Builsa North, Mr James Agalga, any
    supplementary question?
    Mr Agalga 1:13 p.m.
    Hon Minister, you stated
    in your response to the Question that the
    two police suspects led their colleagues to
    the location where their partners in crime
    were supposed to be hiding, but in terms
    of the use of protective gear, the two
    police suspects were not in bulletproof
    vests. However, the police officers were
    in police bulletproof vests.
    Would the Hon Minister concede
    before this House that it was negligent on
    the part of the police to have taken
    suspects to the hide-out of criminal gangs
    Urgent Questions
    Urgent Questions

    armed to the teeth without ensuring that

    they were properly attired in order to

    ensure that their lives would be protected

    just as the police officers themselves were

    protected? [Interruption] —

    Hon Minister, the Inspector-General of

    Police (IGP) has no locus before this

    House.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Minister?
    Mr Dery 1:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you. The
    suspects did not tell the police that where
    they were sending them, those suspects
    were armed and were likely to come
    under fire. Indeed, it is not the case that
    when suspects are leading the police
    during investigations, the suspects are
    given bulletproof jackets, no, it is not.
    These were people who were sending
    the police to their accomplices to lead them to go and take — they were civilians because they were not security people. Therefore, the manner in which the investigation was conducted was reasonable. The first surprise was that they got to a cul-de-sac and told them that they should alight and they said well, where are the people? They said we would lead you there and they were ahead so they were surprised by gunfire because they were going to show their civilian accomplices and therefore, the police had done all that was necessary in the anticipated circumstances.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
    Yes, Mr Agalga?
    Mr Agalga 1:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, thank you. Is
    it not the case that the police knew fully well that the two police suspects were involved in a deadly armed robbery operation which resulted in the death of a police officer and so their accomplices necessarily would also be armed? This is an assumption that ought to have been made, given the calibre of persons the two police suspects were.
    Mr Speaker, so in embarking upon an
    operation to arrest accomplices of that kind, would the Hon Minister concede that the two suspects could have been treated in a manner that would have ensured that they lived to tell their story in assisting us to apprehend existing gangs? Now, that evidence is buried forever following their deaths.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
    So what
    is the question for the Hon Minister to concede?
    Mr Agalga 1:13 p.m.
    That they were negligent,
    Mr Speaker —
    Mr Dery 1:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the police were
    not negligent in the circumstances. I need
    to go into a bit of detail.
    One: There were a series of bullion van
    robberies. First, 27th February, 2021, and
    the next was 1st March, 2021. The third
    was 14th June, 2021 and the last was 22nd
    February, 2022.
    Urgent Questions

    The analyses of those robberies

    indicated that the manner in which they

    were done, the accuracy in the shooting,

    narrowed down the scope of the suspects

    to trained professionals. So the police

    decided to start from their own system

    and thanks to intelligence and interaction,

    they arrested the policemen who were

    involved. They were six, two

    unfortunately have died, four are alive

    and the story is not dead. But the same

    thing could not be said that those they

    were going to take were trained

    professionals, they were not. Therefore,

    the information that the police had

    showed that they were civilians, they

    were neither trained security people —

    In any case, they admitted to the offence

    so there is no way that the Hon Member

    who is a lawyer —

    It was not a case in which there was a

    question of denial and therefore, the

    police would anticipate any resistance.

    They had confessed and Pablo had agreed

    that he was the leader and therefore, the

    expectation of the police was that they

    were going to invite their people in who

    were coming to assist in the investigation,

    not to determine whether they were guilty

    or not because they had admitted.

    Mr Speaker, the Ghana Police Service

    in this matter acted very professionally.

    Mr Agalga — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:13 p.m.
    You
    have exhausted —
    Okay, let me give you the last —
    Mr Agalga 1:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me again
    ask the Hon Minister and truth be told, he
    should not be the one to be answering this
    Question. Maybe, the police leadership
    should be the one, those who took part in
    — so at the appropriate time, we would take steps.
    Mr Speaker, if I may ask the Hon
    Minister a further question. Is it the case
    that the arresting police officers, not the
    suspects, did not sustain any gunshots at
    all and that it was only the two police
    suspects, Lance Corporal Reindolph
    Gyimah Ansah and Lance Corporal
    Stephen Kwaku Nyame who sustained
    gunshots, got wounded and died in the
    process?
    Mr Dery 1:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, fortunately, the
    Hon Member of Parliament who served in
    that Ministry as the Deputy Minister
    before I went there knows.
    Gunshots were directed at the Police
    and they returned fire. They were
    protected by the protective clothing, that
    is what we expected to give to — but Mr Speaker, I do not know if the Hon
    Member of Parliament knows that these
    protective clothing are not meant to be
    Urgent Questions

    used the way they are. They were hit and

    because they were protected, they

    survived, and we are happy that they did.

    Mr Speaker, I would want to

    acknowledge the support of Parliament

    and inform the Hon Member of

    Parliament who is the Deputy Ranking

    Member in that business that we have

    decided to protect the Police to prevent

    them from being killed. This is because

    we were all here when the Police were

    killed in the Constituency of Hon Hawa

    Koomson like fowls and we would not

    allow that when dealing with this security

    situation.

    Mr Speaker, the Hon Member of Parlia-

    ment knows that for technical questions

    like these, though he rightly talked about

    them, I am sufficiently briefed. I would

    want to make this clear, that this House,

    during my vetting and beyond, has rightly

    lamented the rise of violent crime in this

    country and has challenged the police to

    be up to the task, so they are getting up to

    the task.

    Mr Speaker, I could have said, and I am

    sure that my Hon Colleague would have

    agreed, that while this matter is still

    before the court, we could have granted

    the Police the space to finish the

    prosecution, but I have come to give a

    report on it because I respect this august

    House. The Hon Member could have

    invited us to the Committee on Defence

    and Interior where the technical issues

    could have been discussed, but he chose

    to raise it here and I respect that.

    Let me emphasise that the Ghana Police

    Service needs to be praised in these

    matters, so when we have this forum

    which speaks to the whole world, and all

    we could do is to try to run down the

    police who averagely have 15 personnel

    dying every year, that is wrong. The

    Ghana Police Service did a professional

    job.

    Some Hon Members — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, no. Please —
    Mr Agalga 1:23 p.m.
    Nobody is here to run
    down the police, these are matters of
    public importance, so when we ask these
    questions, we are simply subjecting our
    Police Service —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Hon
    Member for Builsa North, I have not
    given you the Floor.
    Mr Agalga 1:23 p.m.
    The police are accountable
    to us —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Hon
    Member for Builsa North, I have not
    asked you — Hon Members, I am not giving the opportunity to any Hon
    Urgent Questions

    Member to ask any supplementary

    questions, except for the Leadership.

    I would want to draw Hon Members' attention to our Standing Order 60(2)

    which stipulates that the Question Time

    should not go beyond one hour, and

    looking at the rate at which we are going,

    we may spend more than two hours on

    Question Time. [Interruption] No. So,

    Hon Minister, I would, respectfully, ask

    you to be straightforward with your

    Answers.

    Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka

    — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Minority Chief Whip?
    Alhaji Muntaka 1:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, it is
    unfortunate that the Questions are many, so I see that you are struggling to cope with the time, but this is a very important Question that needs to be dealt with properly. This is because if we listen to the Hon Minister for the Interior force- fully trying to indicate that the police were professionals, he would recollect that in the case of Asawase, the same narration was given with regard to Awudu Osman, and with respect to these gentlemen also, the same narration is being given which is that they took the suspects from the cells with the excuse that they were going to the site, then there was an exchange of fire and the guys got killed. In the most recent one in Nkoranza, the same explanation is being given.
    Is the Hon Minister for the Interior not worried that the police is using the same explanation to justify killings of persons in their custody? At least, the first and second have happened and one would have thought that when they were taking such suspects to the crime scene, having learnt from the other experiences, they would have at least, given them enough protective clothing to wear just as themselves, since they wanted to ensure that they brought them back alive. Does the Hon Minister not see this explanation repeatedly used by the police in different incidents where suspects in their custody get killed, not worrying as a country, and therefore, the need to work on them?
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Yes, Hon Minister?
    Mr Dery 1:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, with your
    permission, I would want to distinguish
    this matter from some of the matters that
    the Hon Member has raised. I am
    committed to ensuring that the Police are
    accountable for their actions. Yes, in the
    Asawase case, a committee was set up
    and the actions were condemned. In that
    same case, we came out with a conclusion
    that the people killed were not culpable,
    but it is different in this matter because
    they confessed.
    Mr Speaker, I am committed to
    accountability of the police and that is
    Urgent Questions

    why I have come here. With your support,

    we are talking of body counts, and we

    have established a branch to deal with the

    cold cases, so we are not joking with

    them, so please do not get me wrong. The

    Police must be accountable and we are

    working with Hon Members to ensure

    that they are accountable.

    I am referring to this limited situation

    which was between the police and police,

    and not between the police and civilians.

    So let us distinguish them because the

    suspects are police officers who were

    dealing with other police officers. Let me

    put this on record and let the Hon

    Member for Builsa North know that I do

    not underestimate his commitment to

    either the work of this House or his

    commitment to the peace and security of

    this country, no. However, as he knows, I

    answered the Questions according to the

    facts.

    Hon Minority Chief Whip, let me

    emphasise that yes, I am with you, that

    the Police cannot kill suspects wantonly

    and get away with it, no. However, in this

    limited case between the police and other

    police officers, it is a different matter, and

    in this case, they confessed and it is only

    in this limited circumstances that I say

    that the police acted professionally, and

    not in all other cases. This is because we

    are always out to ensure that when they

    I must emphasise the policy of the

    Government that the human rights of all

    suspects must be respected, and until they

    are convicted, nobody could be executed

    because that would be an offense, so I

    need to emphasise that. Having said that

    my comments should be limited to this

    particular case and no other case. I share

    in the sentiments and commitments of the

    Hon Leader. I would be appearing before

    the House tomorrow to ensure that we get

    integrated details.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    Very
    well.
    Mr Francis Xavier Sosu — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:23 p.m.
    We
    would now move on to Question — No, Hon Member for Madina, we cannot take
    any more supplementary questions.
    So, we would move on to the Question
    numbered (d), which stands in the name
    of the Hon Member for Amenfi West, Mr
    Eric Afful.
    Status of Investigation by the Ghana
    Police Service on the Attack of
    Residents of Asankrangwa
    Mr Eric Afful (NDC — Amenfi West) 1:23 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the Hon
    Minister for the Interior, the status of the
    investigation by the Ghana Police Service
    on the attack of the residents of
    Asankrangwa in the Amenfi West
    Urgent Questions

    Constituency by a Special Weapons and

    Tactics (SWAT) team on the 7th of May,

    2021 as residents feel insecure and

    threatened.
    Mr Dery 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I must start by
    appreciating the importance of this
    Question, and also to say that it was a
    misunderstanding of what happened on
    that day. According to the records that we
    have with the Police, there was no attack
    on the residents of Asankrangwa in the
    Amenfi West Constituency by the Police
    at all; rather, six Chinese were arrested on
    the said date by four senior Officers from
    the National Security Secretariat for
    illegal mining and trading of gold without
    licence. The case is being pursued now by
    the Office of the Attorney-General and
    Ministry of Justice of the Republic of
    Ghana and the court date has been
    scheduled for 22nd June, 2022.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much.
    Hon Afful, is there any supplementary
    question?
    Mr Eric Afful 1:33 p.m.
    Let me thank the Hon
    Minister for the quick Answer.
    I believe that there was a commu-
    nication gap between the authorities and
    constituents. I would like to know from
    the Hon Minister why the constituents
    were not communicated to, as they feel
    threatened. For God's sake, it took the Ministry so long a time to respond. The
    incident happened on the 7th of May,
    2021, and I personally communicated to
    the Ministry and to the Hon Minister
    specifically on the 9th of May, 2021, and
    the Hon Minister responded positively.
    Mr Speaker, if you could allow me to
    read the communication that the Hon
    Minister sent to me 1:33 p.m.
    “Re: Attack On Residents Of Asankrangwa In The Amenfi West
    Constituency By The SWAT Team
    Led By DSP Samuel Azugu.
    I wish to acknowledge receipt of your
    letter dated 9th May, 2021, on the above
    subject matter.
    The Ministry has taken note of the
    issues raised in your Petition and has
    referred the matter to the Ghana Police
    Service for necessary action”.
    This is over one year now. Why has it
    taken so long a time to investigate this
    matter, and to give the report to me or the
    constituents?
    Thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Minister?
    Urgent Questions
    Mr Dery 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I appreciate the
    passion with which my Hon Colleague is
    pursuing the matter, but it still remains a
    fact that it was not a police operation and
    that is what I have basically stated. I am
    quite happy that the Hon Member wrote
    to me and we responded and said we were
    referring the mother. What did not
    happen was that the Hon Member did not
    follow up to me and the Hon Member
    knows that every day, I have other things
    to do. I am sorry about that.
    If the Hon Member had followed up, he
    would have been told that it was the
    operation of the National Security, but
    having said that, yes, we still owe the
    people of Ghana that information and I
    would want to apologise if the delay has
    caused any discomfort; we hope we can
    still count on your cooperation to keep
    our people safe.
    Thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Member, your last slot.
    Mr Eric Afful 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, in my
    petition, I notified the Hon Minister and
    the Ministry of the Interior that during the
    operations, the team took away some
    quantities of gold and three million
    Ghana cedis (GH₵3,000,000) from the people. Did the Hon Minister come
    across this issue during the investigation?
    If his answer is positive, where is the
    money and the gold?
    Thank you.
    Mr Dery 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me reiterate
    that it was not a police operation, but if
    the Hon Member has a complaint, he
    should report it now as a complainant to
    the police on the issue of lost money and
    gold and that would be dealt with.
    Otherwise, I believe my Hon Colleague
    would know I am not responsible for the
    team that went there, but I am
    responsible, generally, for the peace and
    security. Thus, anybody who has lost
    those items should formally report to the
    Police now as a complainant that they
    took certain valuables. We would make
    sure that it is investigated.
    Mr Eric Afful 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon
    Minister is saying that the operation was
    not an attack — that is how the Hon Minister understood the operation, but I
    would like to ask if he is aware that a
    journalist was seriously assaulted during
    the operations?
    Mr Dery 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, with the greatest
    of respect, the Hon Member's Question
    was in relation to the status of the investi-
    gation of the Ghana Police Service on an
    attack attributed to the Ghana Police
    Service. There was no attack by the
    Ghana Police Service. I have told the Hon
    Member that there was an operation by
    Officers from the National Security and
    not the Ghana Police Service. So, please,
    Urgent Questions

    I actually do not owe the Hon Member

    any further explanation if I would want to

    be technical, but yes, I am explaining to

    the Hon Member that the police did not

    attack anyone.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, we would now turn to Oral
    Answers to Questions and we would
    begin with the Hon Member for Binduri,
    Mr Abdulai Abanga who would take
    Question numbered 807.
    Yes, Hon Member, you have the Floor.
    ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 1:33 p.m.
    MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Abdulai Abanga (NPP — Binduri) 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to ask theHon Minister
    for the Interior when the Binduri District
    Police Station, which was constructed
    and commissioned by the Binduri District
    Assembly, will be operationalised.
    Mr Dery 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, Binduri is a
    political District within the Bawku
    Division of the Ghana Police Service,
    which has three (3) Police Districts,
    namely Bawku, Zebilla and Garu.
    Binduri, as a political District, has a
    police station under the Command of the
    Bawku District which was constructed by
    the Binduri District Assembly and
    handed over to the Upper East Regional
    Police Command on 4th May, 2020. The
    police station has since 26th July, 2021
    been opened and is currently fully
    operational.
    Mr Speaker, the station has a strength of
    four police officers with two jungle
    motorbikes. The Police Administration
    intends to improve the manpower
    constraint in the Upper East Region to
    enhance operational activities, and it is
    obvious that this will affect the Police
    Stations in the Bawku District: Bawku
    Police Station, Pusiga Police Station,
    Widana Police Station and the Binduri
    Police Station.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:33 p.m.
    Hon
    Member for Binduri, are you satisfied
    with the Answer?
    Mr Abanga 1:33 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I have a
    supplementary question.
    I would want to thank the Hon Minister
    for the response and to find out whether
    the Hon Minister would recommend to
    the Ghana Police Service to increase the
    strength of police personnel in the
    district, and also if the Hon Minister
    would recommend an allocation of
    vehicle to the Police. Binduri is a vast
    area with a population of about 80,000;
    Urgent Questions

    four police men and two jungle

    motorbikes are definitely not adequate to

    provide enough policing in the

    constituency.

    Also, this is an area that is experiencing

    conflict, so we need to beef up the

    logistics and the police personnel in the

    district.

    Would the Hon Minister recommend to

    the Ghana Police Service to beef up the

    resources in the district police station?
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Minister?
    Mr Dery 1:43 p.m.
    Yes, the Police Admini-
    stration intends to improve on the
    manpower constraint as I have already
    stated, and, indeed over other parts of the
    country as well. However, I would want
    to assure the Hon Member that because of
    the Bawku crisis, we have to increase the
    numbers of both the police and the
    military in the area, and he should not fear
    that there would be any overflow that
    would affect his people; but, yes, we are
    looking forward to increasing numbers in
    Binduri and in many other police stations
    all over the country.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    Very
    well. We would turn to Question
    numbered *808, and it stands in the name
    of the Hon Member for Asikuma/
    Odoben/Brakwa, Mr Alhassan Kobina
    Ghansah. Hon Member, you have the
    Floor.
    Plans to Give a Facelift to the
    Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Police Station
    Mr Alhassan Kobina Ghansah (NDC
    — Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa): Mr
    Speaker, I beg to ask the Minister for the
    Interior what plans the Ministry has to
    give a facelift to the Asikuma, Odoben
    and Brakwa Police Stations in the
    Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa Constituency.
    Mr Dery 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, per the Central
    Regional Police administration design,
    Breman Asikuma, Odoben, Brakwa and
    Breman Amanfopong have police
    stations that fall under the Mankessim
    Division with Breman Asikuma being the
    District Police Headquarters which is
    housed in a rented facility. The District
    Police Command has five office
    accommodation with toilet facilities, one
    vehicle and a computer with accessories.
    The facility also accommodates some of
    the personnel and their families.
    Mr Speaker, the Police Administration
    has brought to my attention that the
    District Police Headquarters and the four
    police stations under its supervision;
    Asikuma Police Station, Odoben Police
    Station, Brakwa Police Station and
    Breman Amanfopong Police Station need
    Oral Answers to Questions

    permanent structures and upliftment

    befitting a standard District Police

    Station. However, despite the challenges,

    there was a proposal to elevate the

    Brakwa Police Station to a District level

    in December, 2020, as a step to increase

    police presence in the constituency. This

    has however, not materialised due to the

    unavailability of infrastructure to support

    the elevation of the station.

    Mr Speaker, the Police Administration

    would continue to pursue the upliftment

    of its facilities in the country despite the

    challenges, and this would cover consti-

    tuencies such as Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa.

    Mr Speaker, I thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    Yes,
    Hon Ghansah?
    When you finish asking your question,
    please put off your microphone.
    Mr Ghansah 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would like
    to thank the Hon Minister for responding
    appropriately to my Question. Knowing
    that the police need permanent structures,
    what timelines is he giving the people of
    Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa to see to the
    new permanent structures in the
    constituency?
    Mr Dery 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I am encouraged
    by the question of the Hon Member as he
    would like to know what design that we
    should be guided by. I believe that we
    could get that from the Police
    Administration. I could get the Inspector-
    General of Police (IGP) to provide that. I
    would also like to appeal to the people in
    your constituency to assist the police to
    establish these structures. We are getting
    so many demands across the country, and
    we are doing our best. Parliament is
    helping, but we also have to acknowledge
    the intervention of certain Hon Members
    of Parliament, including the Hon First
    Deputy Speaker, and even philan-
    thropists. I would like to invite all others
    to see how they could help us establish
    the structures in your constituency and
    other constituencies. However, yes, we
    can provide you with new permanent
    structures.
    Thank you for your interest.
    Mr Ghansah 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I would like
    to ask the Hon Minister for the Interior
    when he would ensure that logistics like
    vehicles are adequately provided for
    these police stations since he knows we
    have about four police stations over the
    entire constituency?
    Mr Dery 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I cannot prevent
    myself from repeating ad nauseam the
    support of Parliament that we have had
    anytime we come with the budget.
    Parliament has been supportive, beyond
    that, Leadership has actually gone with us
    and met on these matters. It has to do with
    Oral Answers to Questions

    money and we continue to work towards

    achieving that. I have always said that I

    pray that the considerable consensus in

    this House, when it comes to security

    matters, is extended to other aspects of

    our practice including the financial ones

    so that we get more money to deal with

    them. However, in the meantime, we

    have to continue to do our best to manage

    with what we have.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    We
    would now turn to Question numbered
    *838 —
    Mr Ghansah 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, my last
    question.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    Let us
    hear you, Hon Ghansah.
    Mr Ghansah 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, from the
    Hon Minister's Answers, it came out that there was an attempt to elevate Brakwa
    Police Station to a District Command.
    What timelines can the Hon Minister
    assure the people of Asikuma/Odoben/
    Brakwa to elevate such a police station to
    the district and also move Asikuma
    District Command to a division?
    Mr Dery 1:43 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, as soon as the
    infrastructure is put in place.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:43 p.m.
    Very well. We would now move to Question numbered *838 which stands in the name
    of Hon Member for Prestea-Huni-Valley, Mr Robert Wisdom Cudjoe.
    Today, you are here but yesterday you
    were not here. You may ask your Question.
    Replacement of Twelve-Year-Old Fire
    Tender at Prestea Fire Station
    Mr Robert Wisdom Cudjoe
    (Prestea/Huni-Valley): To ask the Minister for the Interior the steps taken by the Ministry to replace the twelve-year- old fire tender at Prestea Fire Station which has not been functioning for some time now.
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Prestea Fire
    Station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) which is responsible for PresteaHuni-Valley Municipality has a functional Fire Tender with registration No. FS 535.

    The Fire Tender is a Volvo multi-

    purpose fire appliance that can be employed for various incidents. It should be noted that the Volvo fire tenders are one of the best and robust that the Ghana National Fire Service has in the country at the moment.

    The Volvo Appliances being used by the Ghana National Fire Service are

    Oral Answers to Questions

    twelve (12) years old and therefore can be said to be aging but still very efficient.

    In August 2021, the Fire Tender for the

    Prestea Fire Station broke down when the

    ECM (Controller) got burnt and efforts to

    get a replacement was delayed since the

    spare part was not readily available. As a

    result of the unavailability of the spare

    part, the fire appliance was out of

    commission for approximately three (3)

    months, 26th July - 20th October, 2021. With the help of the Prestea/Huni-Valley

    Municipal Assembly, the problem on the

    Fire Tender has since been resolved and

    the Fire Appliance has been commis-

    sioned since 21st October, 2021.

    The Ministry of the Interior would want

    to assure the Hon Member that Govern-

    ment has earmarked the Ghana National

    Fire Service as one of the state insti-

    tutions to be re-tooled. As a result, efforts

    are underway to replace all the old fire

    tenders with state-of-the-art multi-purpose

    fire tenders suitable for all kinds of

    emergencies in the country, and this is

    enjoying the support of Parliament and

    the relevant parliamentary sub-com-

    mittees. Thank you.
    Mr Cudjoe 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I thank the
    Hon Minister for the Answer, but this
    Question was filed about 10 months ago
    so I would plead that this problem is
    resolved once and for all. When we
    present a Question on a particular
    problem, the Answer should be given
    before the problem is resolved. The
    problem should not be solved before the
    Question is answered.
    Mr Speaker, also, let me make this
    correction in paragraph 4 of the Answer:
    “In August 2021, the fire tender for…”. With the help of the Municipal Assembly,
    the Municipal Assembly came in after I
    had purchased two sets of batteries to
    make the tender move and that it has been
    resolved, the problem has not been
    resolved completely. The problem is
    partially solved because we still have
    leakages on the tender.
    Mr Speaker, my question is simple. The
    Hon Minister says in his Answer that
    efforts are being put in place “to replace all old fire tenders with state-of-the-art
    multi-purpose fire tenders”; I want to know the distance between the efforts and
    when the action and implementation
    would take place.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Minister, did you get the question?
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Yes.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Very
    well.
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, as I said, we
    have made the proposal and Parliament is
    supporting it. We had two special
    meetings on that and we intend to get fire
    Oral Answers to Questions

    tenders for the National Fire Service. As

    soon as we get them, you can be sure that

    you will be considered.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Very
    well. We move to —
    Mr Cudjoe 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I still have a
    problem. The Hon Minister should put a
    plan in place to tell us what he has done
    so far and what the expected progression
    for the next two to six months are. The
    current state of the fire tenders causes a
    lot of problems in the constituency. I do
    not want to cite examples but there was
    an instance where there was a fire
    outbreak —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, what is your question?
    Mr Cudjoe 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I want to
    know how soon his ‘soon' is. I want a timeline.
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we came to this
    House to ask for the right to collect one
    tax, and it took a long time. As soon as
    the money accrues, we will do it.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Hon
    Members, let us turn to the Question
    numbered *839 which stands in the name
    of the Hon Member for Pru East, Dr
    Kwabena Donkor. Is he here?
    Posting of District Police
    Commander to Prang District
    Alhaji Alhassan Bashir Fuseini (on
    behalf of Dr Kwabena Donkor) (NDC
    — Pru East): Mr Speaker, the Hon Member is on official duty, and he asked
    me to stand in for him, so if I am
    permitted, I would like to do that.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    All right.
    Let us hear you. However, you would not
    have any supplementary questions.
    Alhaji Fuseini 1:53 p.m.
    Thank you for the
    opportunity. Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the
    Hon Minister for the Interior when a
    District Police Commander would be
    posted to Prang District to lighten the
    burden on the Yeji District Police.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Very
    well.
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Indeed, the Hon Member has been
    pursuing this matter. Mr Speaker, the
    police station in Prang in the Bono East
    Region was elevated to district status on
    1st January, 2020, but has not been
    operationalised as a District Command
    due to lack of both office and residential
    accommodation for the personnel, so it
    has resulted in a commander taking care
    of the two. As soon as these challenges
    are resolved, a District Commander will
    be posted to the district.
    Oral Answers to Questions
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    We
    move to the Question numbered 974
    which stands in the name of Hon John
    Jabaah Bennam, the Hon Member for
    Zabzugu.
    Mr Habib Iddrisu — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Are you
    the Hon Member for Zabzugu?
    Mr Habib Iddrisu 1:53 p.m.
    No, Mr Speaker,
    but the Hon Member has given
    permission to the Hon Member for Salaga
    North to ask the Question on his behalf.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    All right.
    Hon Member for Salaga North, let us hear
    you; you will not have supplementary
    questions.
    Provision of Vehicle to Police in
    Zabzugu
    Mr Alhassan Abdallah Iddi (on behalf
    of Mr Jabaah John Bennam) (NPP — Zabzugu): Mr Speaker, as indicated
    earlier, I am standing in for the Hon
    Member for Zabzugu. I beg to ask the
    Hon Minister for the Interior when the
    Zabzugu police will be given a vehicle to
    combat crime on the Yendi-Zabzugu-
    Tatale road and within the environs of
    Zabzugu-Tatale-Sanguli district where
    armed robbery is now a major source of
    worry for people living and travelling
    around those areas.
    Mr Dery 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Zabzugu
    District Police is one of the nine (9) police
    districts under the Yendi Police Division
    that lack the required resources such as
    vehicles to combat crime such as armed
    robbery on its own. To enable the police
    conduct anti-armed robbery operations on
    the Yendi-Zabzugu-Tatale Road, the
    Northern Regional Police Command has
    tasked the Divisional Command to assist
    the districts in the day and night patrols of
    the area. The districts would be
    considered anytime vehicles are available
    for distribution to the police stations.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 1:53 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much. We move to the Question
    numbered 1081 which stands in the name
    of the Hon Member for Anyaa
    Sowutuom, Dr Kissi Dickson Adomako.
    Is he here? He is not here, and has he not
    asked anyone to ask the Question on his
    behalf?
    Mr Habib Iddrisu 1:53 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, like
    you directed earlier, the Hon Minister
    could just read the Answer since the Hon
    Member is not available.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
    Yes. It
    will be assumed that the Question has
    been answered; it will be printed out — Is he here? Meanwhile, Hon Members,
    please indulge me to extend Sitting
    beyond the normal hours. It is now 2
    o'clock. — Yes, you can read the Answer.
    Oral Answers to Questions

    Alternatively, the Hon Member for

    Mpohor could read the Question for the

    Hon Minister to Answer.

    Measures to Enable Police Obtain and

    Utilise information from the Public to

    Fight Crime

    Mr John K. A. A Sanie (on behalf of
    Dr Dickson Adomako Kissi) (NPP— Anyaa/Sowutuom) 2:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I beg to
    ask the Hon Minister for the Interior what
    measures are in place to enable local
    police obtain and utilise information from
    the public in the fight against crime and
    terrorist attack.
    Mr Dery 2:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the Ghana
    Police Service, in its quest to build the
    confidence in the Service in the eyes of
    general public has adopted the following
    measures among others:
    i. adopted and implemented the Community Policing Sensitisation
    concept;
    ii. the cultivation of informants and adoption of cash reward systems to
    informants on sensitive occurrences;
    iii. building public confidence to enable the general public to
    volunteer information and effective
    intelligence gathering system
    which enables the Police to pick up
    some information about commis-
    sion of crime before those crimes
    are actually committed;
    iv. with the proliferation of media landscape, the Police Admini-
    stration has set up the Media
    Monitoring Units at the National
    Police Headquarters including
    some selected specialised units.
    The Monitoring Unit monitors all
    print and electronic media platforms
    including the social media where
    intelligence information relating to
    security are collected, analysed and
    acted upon swiftly to avert the
    commission of crimes; and
    v. the Police Administration has Intelligence Directorates in all the
    regions with Focal Officers
    attached to each Police District to
    render support services to the local
    people and to gather important
    security intelligence and infor-
    mation from them. This intelligence
    helps the administration to deploy
    available resources effectively and
    judiciously.
    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much. We turn to the Question
    numbered 1122 which stands in the name
    of the Hon Member for Old Tafo, Mr
    Vincent Ekow Assafuah. The Hon
    Oral Answers to Questions

    Member is not here? Hon Member for

    Beposo, have you been —

    Measures to Stop the Influx of

    Persons from Countries Affected

    by Coups into Ghana

    Mrs Adelaide Ntim (on behalf of Mr

    Vincent Ekow Assafuah) (NPP-Old

    Tafo):Mr Speaker, I beg to ask the

    Minister for the Interior on the measures

    to filter the influx of persons from

    countries affected by coup d'états within the West African sub-region into Ghana

    and what steps are being taken to

    safeguard the peaceful and democratic

    atmosphere within our territory as a

    country.
    Mr Dery 2:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, the persisting
    threat of terrorism and coup that have
    bedevilled countries in the West African
    sub-region such as Mali, Guinea and our
    next-door neighbour, Burkina Faso,
    continues to challenge Ghana's security, especially at our national borders.
    As a result of this, the Government
    initiated an interagency operation in 2019
    code-named “Operation Conquered Fist”, involving the Ghana Immigration Service
    to shore up security along the country's northern borders. The operation is being
    done with a focus on terrorism, armed
    banditry, and violent extremism.
    The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS)
    has also stepped up its intelligence
    gathering activities within the border
    communities. Community members have
    Provided and continue to provide
    intelligence to the GIS which has resulted
    in a number of interceptions.
    The Ghana Immigration Service as the
    Government's lead agency mandated to
    manage and patrol the country's borders
    is continuously enhancing its patrol and
    profiling techniques in order to stop
    illegal border crossings and detect
    criminal elements who may attempt to
    infiltrate the country. In this regard,
    additional personnel have been deployed
    to the GIS border commands to beef up
    border patrol efforts.
    Mr Speaker, as a second-layered border
    mechanism, inland checkpoints have
    been created at strategic locations around
    the border communities to ensure that all
    persons who manage to slip through
    unapproved border crossing points are
    intercepted.
    In a drive to leverage on technology to
    strengthen its data collection, and
    analysis capabilities, the GIS is currently
    collaborating with the International
    Organisation for Migration (IOM) to
    digitise its passenger processing procedures
    at all approved points of entry with the
    aim of ensuring that all persons that enter
    and exit the country at any point are
    Oral Answers to Questions

    identified in real time. As such, the

    Migration Information and Data Analysis

    System (MIDAS) has been installed at the

    Hamile and Kulungugu Border Posts with

    an additional three border posts

    earmarked for installation by close of the

    year 2022, namely: Namoo, Pulimakom

    and Mognori in the Upper East Region.

    The GIS is actively engaging and

    sensitising border communities of the

    potential threats of terrorism and their

    role in contributing to the country. The

    GIS in partnership with sister security

    agencies and civil society organisations

    has embarked on these programmes in

    Communities Engagement Programme

    based.

    Additionally, the GIS has also

    intensified enforcement activities at

    hotels, and dwelling places. It has, as

    well, mounted checkpoints at strategic

    locations around border communities to

    detect and apprehend illegal migrants.

    Furthermore, the Government is also

    pursuing an Integrated Border Manage-

    ment approach for agencies with border

    security mandates to ensure effective

    collaboration and the sharing of infor-

    mation and intelligence. The Government

    would not relent on its efforts to train,

    equip and improve the capabilities of the

    security agencies to safeguard the

    country's peace and security.

    Mr Speaker, thank you.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:03 p.m.
    Now, we
    take our final Question from the Hon
    Member for Builsa North, Mr James
    Agalga.
    Government's Plan to Establish an Independent Police Complaints
    Commission
    Mr James Agalga (NDC — Builsa North) 2:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, once again, I beg to
    ask the Hon Minister for the Interior
    whether Government has plans to
    establish an Independent Police
    Complaints Commis-sion to receive and
    investigate all com-plaints against police
    actions which result in serious injury or
    death of a person.
    Mr Dery 2:03 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, I must applaud
    the interest of the Hon Member and his
    work to ensure that Ghana is more secure.
    Government is currently putting in place
    measures to ensure transparency and
    accountability in the Ghana Police
    Service. This is to ensure maintenance of
    law and order amid protection of lives
    and property.
    The Police Council has no objection, in
    principle, to the establishment of an
    Independent Police Complaints Com-
    mission, and has stated that accordingly.
    Thank you.
    Oral Answers to Questions
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Yes, Mr
    Agalga?
    Mr Agalga 2:13 p.m.
    I thank you, Mr Speaker.
    Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister stated in
    his Answer that Government is currently
    putting in place measures to ensure police
    transparency and accountability. Would
    that include the establishment of an
    Independent Police Complaints Commis-
    sion to make it unnecessary to set up
    committees of enquiry whenever there
    are perceived infractions on the part of
    the police?
    Mr Dery 2:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, we are
    considering it as part of a package. The
    immediate one we have agreed on and
    this House is in support of, is actually the
    body cameras (bodycams). It is what we
    are implementing immediately. The
    bodycams give us real-time information
    on the activity of each policeman. We
    would realise that most of the cases that
    we have had in the past had to do with
    when we have a police officer and a
    victim and the question is what happened
    at the time. So we are dealing with that.
    In the case of the independent
    commission, as I said, it has been
    discussed at the Police Council because
    there was a Non-Governmental Organi-
    sation (NGO) intervention that came to
    discuss with us. But there are many policy
    considerations that we are looking at:
    should it be a public or private body? It is
    one aspect that we are exploring, as to
    whether we could not expand the mandate
    of the Commission on Human Rights and
    Administrative Justice to play that role.
    But while we are doing that, we have also
    upped the Police Intelligence and
    Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS)
    activities and a number of police officers
    are being sanctioned in the private sector
    as far as this is concerned. That is what
    we need to find out. This is because I
    think the Hon Member would agree with
    me that we cannot give our security as a
    country to a private sector institution
    without ensuring their commitment to
    this. So we are more comfortable
    considering dealing with a credible public
    institution and as I said, we have
    identified one.
    We would welcome contributions in
    working to achieve that but the Hon
    Member would agree with me, and I am
    sure that in his time, he considered it. But
    these are things that take time to flesh out.
    Now we have agreed that in principle, we
    are not against it. What we are now
    working on is which body we it should
    be.
    Mr Speaker, as I said, we are more
    inclined towards a public institution, and
    we are working on that. Let me indicate
    Oral Answers to Questions

    that there is no timetable yet before the

    Hon Member asks me the next time how

    soon we would come up with that. This is

    because the important thing we want to

    deal with is the bodycams, and when we

    deal with it, I can assure him that most of

    the problems would be dealt with.

    Mr Speaker, thank you.

    Mr Agalga — rose —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Mr
    Agalga, he has already answered your
    question.
    Mr Agalga 2:13 p.m.
    Has he?
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Yes.
    Obviously, you would have asked that
    question. All right. Just ask.
    Mr Agalga 2:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, this is a
    suggestion — whether or not the Hon Minister would consider drawing inspi-
    ration since there is a debate on whether
    to establish a Complaints Commission as
    a private or public body. He should
    consider drawing inspiration from the
    United Kingdom, which has a full-
    fledged Independent Police Complaints
    Commission, which is a public body. The
    Republic of Zambia has learnt a lot from
    us. It recently enacted legislation which
    has brought about an Independent Police
    Complaints Commission.
    Mr Speaker, I am prepared to
    collaborate with the Hon Minister on
    these matters so that we have that body in
    place to foster and engender public
    confidence in our police so that the PIPS,
    for instance, which is an internal
    arrangement — and I know because I have defended police officers before and
    some have lost their jobs and so forth. I
    am not saying that PIPS is not doing its
    part —
    An Hon Member 2:13 p.m.
    Ask your question.
    Mr Agalga 2:13 p.m.
    No, it is a proposal. There
    is a question that is why I started by
    asking whether or not —
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Hon
    Member, your proposal is well noted.
    Mr Agalga 2:13 p.m.
    Very well.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Hon
    Minister, is the Hon Member calling on
    you to answer a question? He has not put
    a question.
    Mr Dery 2:13 p.m.
    Mr Speaker, let me assure the
    Hon Member that we are prepared to
    work with anybody, and we would
    consider especially him and his Com-
    mittee. But I can assure you, Mr Speaker,
    that when we rate Ghana's police internationally, even those countries that
    have been mentioned mark us very high.
    Oral Answers to Questions

    However, we would work with Mr

    Agalga and others to see how we can

    come out with the final product. He is

    welcome to contribute. We would

    collaborate.

    Thank you very much.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Thank
    you very much, Hon Minister for the
    Interior. You have been here to answer 11
    separate Questions. So on behalf of the
    House, I would like to thank you and wish
    you well.
    You are hereby discharged.
    Leadership, is there any indication?
    Deputy Majority Whip (Ms Lydia
    Seyram Alhassan): Mr Speaker, it is
    2.15 p.m. and I recommend that we bring
    proceedings to a close. I, therefore, move
    that today's proceedings be brought to an end.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Very
    well. It is after 2 o'clock so there is no need for a Motion.
    Hon Minority Leadership?
    Mrs Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe 2:13 p.m.
    Mr
    Speaker, we have done a lot for the day
    so we are in your hands.
    Mr Second Deputy Speaker 2:13 p.m.
    Very well.
    On that note, I would like to repeat the
    announcement I made early on that we would come tomorrow as usual, but on Friday, the House would not sit because it is Green Ghana Day, which Hon Members would participate in. Hon Members are supposed to lead their constituents to undertake this all- important national assignment.
    We would look at it, but the information
    is that Hon Members are supposed to lead the tree-planting exercise in the various constituencies. The rest of the information would be delivered to us by the Hon Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
    I was informed that today is the birthday
    of Mr John Jinapor but he is not here. So, those who would see him should send our best wishes to him.
    On that note, we would go ahead and
    adjourn the House till tomorrow 10 o'clock in the forenoon. Hon Members are aware that we start on time now so let us all come on time so that nobody would raise the issue of quorum.
    ADJOURNMENT 2:13 p.m.