Debates of 27 Oct 2022

Hon Members, there is no
message from His Excellency, the President,
neither do I have any communication for today.
The Hon Majority Leader and the Leader of the
House has intimated to me that he is urgently
needed for some important meeting, so he pleaded
for us to vary the order of Business, and give him
the opportunity to lay some Papers before departing.
I know the Frontbench of the Minority will not have
any objection, so I will grant him that permission.
We will have to move to Commencement of Public
Business, before we come back to the item numbered
4 which is the correction of Votes and Proceedings.
At the Commencement of Public Business, item 6
— Presentation of Papers.
Item numbered 6 (a).

Mr Speaker, I
thank you very much for granting me leave to alter the
order of Business for the day, and to present these
Papers on behalf of the Hon Ministers stated therein.
They are all at Cabinet meeting, and I would also have
to leave to Cabinet.

I encourage the Leadership of the
Committees on Finance and Public Accounts to
assist the Subsidiary Legislation Committee.
Item numbered 6 (b).

Mr Speaker, as the Hon
Minority Leader intimated, the Public Procurement
Regulations should go the Subsidiary Legislation
Committee, and if there is any Committee to assist
them, it is rather the Leadership of the Finance
Committee.

That was exactly what I said. That
was the direction I gave.

All right. I heard you
say Public Accounts Committee.

I said Public Accounts Committee
and the Finance Committee, which I mentioned first. I
also said that I encourage the Leadership of the Public
Accounts Committee to assist the Subsidiary
Legislation Committee.

Very well. I thank you
very much.
By the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) (on behalf of the Minister
for Tourism, Arts and Culture) —
Charter for African Cultural Renaissance.
Referred to the Committee on Trade, Industry and
Tourism.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim —rose—

Hon First Deputy Minority Whip?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I
thought you were going to make the item numbered 6
(b) a joint referral by including the Leadership of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs in its consideration.

That is the reason I insist that I should
have some knowledge of the subject matters that are to
be presented to the House. I have not seen that Charter,
and I have not been briefed, so I do not know what
the content is. Thus, I am guided by your
intervention.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu —rose—

Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Speaker, I
thought we were going to the item numbered 6 (c),
but I was explaining to my Hon Colleague that this
is to the Committee on Trade, Industry and
Tourism. However, because it straddles Ghana, the

Leadership of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

should be invited to assist them.

That was exactly what the Hon
First Deputy Minority Whip requested, so that is
what I was going to say, that the Leadership of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs should assist the
Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism in the
consideration of the Charter for African Cultural
Renaissance. Kindly report to the House as soon as
possible.
Item numbered 6 (c).
By the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) (on behalf of the Minister for
Employment and Labour Relations) -
Annual Report of the National Pensions
Regulatory Authority for the Year 2021.
Referred to the Committee on Employment and
Social Welfare and State Enterprises.

Now, we will get back to the item
numbered 4 — Votes and Proceedings and the Official Report.
Votes and Proceedings and the Official
Report

We will start with the Correction
of Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 26th
October, 2022.
Page 1…7

Page 1… 8 -

Yes, Hon Member?

Mr Speaker,
I rise to draw your attention to the item numbered
45 on page 8 of the Votes and Proceedings. I recall
that my Hon Colleague, Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse
Dafeamekpor, raised this matter of whether the
Hon Member for Assin North, Mr Quayson James
Gyakye, should be continuously marked absent and
the implications.
Mr Speaker, you indicated that you would
discuss with Leadership and offer some guidance
on what should be done moving forward but since
then, we have not heard from you. So, I would want
to find out if that discussion has taken place and if
it is the agreement that he should continuously be
marked absent without permission knowing the
implications of this.
Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity.

Hon Member, we have a
challenge here because you know this is a House of
records and I —

Yes, Hon Member for South
Tongu, Mr Woyome?

Mr Speaker, I
have been marked absent but I was in the House
yesterday. I even attended a Committee Meeting —

Let me finish with the matter that
has been raised before I come to your issue.
Hon Members, I have no basis for taking a
decision in this matter because I have no records
before me. I only hear and read in the daily
newspapers and I cannot take that as evidence and
so I thought that my intervention on that day would
have drawn the attention of the authorities to do
what we generally refer to as “the needful”. But as at now, I still do not have any evidence of that
matter. So, we should let sleeping dogs lie until the
proper thing is done.
The issue that was raised by the Hon Member
for North Tongu, Mr Ablakwa, is on page 8. Under
the item numbered 3, we have the name of the Hon
Member at number 45 which has to do with the Hon
Member for Assin North. His matter has been
pending at the court and I do not have any evidence
on it. I have been reading it in the daily newspapers
and I also hear it from people but we do not have
any communication from our colleagues, the arm
of government in charge of the Judiciary on the
matter. So, I cannot think that what I read in the
daily newspapers and the rest is sufficient evidence
for me to act on. I have raised this issue before
expecting that there will be a communication to the
House on that issue but nothing has come so far.
That is the difficulty I have.
Recently, I read in the daily newspapers again
about a case that was presided over by the Supreme
Court and a judgement was given. The case is
Ezuame Mannan vs the Attorney-General and

Speaker of Parliament. The Rt Hon Speaker of

Parliament had no knowledge of that case and yet

judgement was delivered by the Supreme Court in

which a section of a law we passed was struck out

as unconstitutional.

If the Rt Hon Speaker is a party to a suit, at least

he should be served, but there was no service on

him. Maybe the Hon Attorney-General and

Minister for Justice assumed that responsibility

without even consulting us and the Supreme Court

proceeded to give some judgement striking out a

section of a law we passed, that is, Section 43 of

the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act

1019) without hearing from us. I think something

is amiss and we have to rectify it. It must be known

to all that it is not in all cases that the Attorney-

General and Minister for Justice is sufficiently

empowered to represent Parliament. So, the

Parliamentary Service Board took notice of that

and I proceeded to engage some two law firms to

assist Parliament in this matter.

I do not know whether there is a representative

of the Hon Attorney-General and Minister for

Justice in the House. In the absence of that I will

direct the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs,

who is the Hon Majority Leader and Leader of the

House, to inform his Hon Colleague, the Hon

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice about

this matter. If there is any need for further

discussion, we are available to do so. However, we

must do something to close this communication

gap and get inputs from Parliament when there are

matters before the court which have some impact

or effect on what we do. We should be heard on

such matters. I hope this is clear.

Yes, Hon Member for South Tongu, Mr

Woyome?

Mr Speaker, I notice, on page 8,
the item numbered 49, under the list of Hon
Members that were absent that I have been marked
absent. I was in the House and I even attended a
Committee sitting. So, I do not know why —

Clerks-at-the-Table, take notice
of that. I can testify that I saw him in the House
myself too.
Page 9

Yes, Hon Minority Leader?
Haruna Iddrisu: Mr Speaker, the Latin word in
the last sentence in the second paragraph of page 9,
should be “In limine” instead of “in limine”.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Table Office, your attention is
being drawn to the letter “i” in the word “in”, so take note, crosscheck, and do the proper rendition.
Page 10 —
Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku — rose —

Yes, Hon Member? Are taking us
back to page 8?

Mr Speaker, on page 8,
the item numbered 35, Dr Festus Awuah Kwofie
sought permission to be absent, but he has been
marked as “absent” instead of “absent with permission”.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Did he seek permission from you?

Mr Speaker, he sought permission
from our Hon Leader.

Hon Member, kindly go and read
your Standing Orders. There is nothing like seeking
permission from your Hon Leader to be absent.
Permission can only be granted by the Rt Hon
Speaker, not by your Hon Leader.
Page 10 —

Mr Speaker, just
for your guidance, I do not know whether at item
numbered 8, when one compares the portfolio that
was given to Mr Frank Annoh Dompreh, who is the
Majority Chief Whip, with that of the Minority
Chief Whip, the word “Chief” is missing. I do not know if it is alright for the word “Chief” to be

There is nothing like “First Deputy Chief Minority Whip”. The rendition is correct: it is First Deputy Minority Whip.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for your
guidance.

There is only one “Chief,” and that is the Hon Chief Whip.
Mr Habib Iddrisu — rose —

Yes, I can see the Hon Majority
Deputy Whip.

Mr Speaker, I am not
wading into that debate, except to bring you back
to page 8, the item numbered 44. Mr Henry Quartey
sought permission. In fact, I signed his leave of
absence form and directed it to you. So, I just
wanted to draw the attention of the Table Office to
it.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon Member, we will crosscheck
from the list to make sure the right thing is done.
Table Office, kindly do so. I do not recollect
actually granting that permission since the numbers
are voluminous — that is why sometimes, I use the Table Office to go through and advise me as to
those whom we have granted permission to be
absent. However, as Hon Chief Whips and Whips,
it is your duty because this is to let you control the
issue of attendance to respond to the quorum. That
is why they are routed through you for you to look
at the numbers and see whether you have sufficient
numbers to form a quorum for the Business of the
House. So, we will crosscheck on that.
Page 11.
Hon Members, in the absence of any further
corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of
Wednesday, 26th October, 2022, are hereby
adopted as the true record of proceedings.
We have a number of Statements that have been
admitted by me, and we may have space for three
of them for today. So, we will move to the item
numbered 5: Statements.
Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin — rose —

Yes, Hon Deputy Majority
Leader?

Mr Speaker, with respect,
if you may grant me this space for us to look at page
5 of the Order Paper: the notice of Motion.
Mr Speaker, we are guided by your higher
wisdom in matters of procedure in this House. I
have gone through the 1992 Constitution and the
Rules of this House. The provisions are very
specific on Motions. What I have seen as advertised
is not only a Motion, but also grounds the
applicants are relying on for their said argument.
Mr Speaker, I beg to submit that legal grounds
or grounds for submission are not embedded in a
Motion. The Motion paper —

Hon Member, you are completely
out of order. We are on the item numbered 5 - Statements. When we get to where you are, you can
raise this issue. What you are talking about is
Public Business. We went to Public Business based
on the request of the Hon Majority Leader and
granted him permission to lay some Papers, which
he did. We are back to the order in which the
agenda has been presented; we are now at
Statements. When we get back to Public Business
and you want to raise the issue on the item
numbered 8, definitely, I will listen to you.

Mr Speaker, with respect,
I would never challenge your ruling. When you say
I am out of order, it is within your rights to say so.
However, that is why I premised my argument on,
“With your leave.” So, I was not going as of right. I asked for your leave. If you grant me, I would
proceed, but if not, I would retire. I am mindful of
where we are, so I would not take your powers
away from you.
Mr Speaker, therefore, I take guidance, safe to
say that I am not out of order because I sought your
leave. I am not out of order, and I would like the
records to reflect that. If you would be minded —

My very good Hon Son, you are
again out of order. The proper thing to do, which
you did, was to seek my leave. You were supposed
to wait for me to grant you leave. However, you did
not wait but rather, you went ahead to start —

Mr Speaker, I must give
you grounds — [Interruption] — No, wait. Mr Speaker, the Hon Members have to learn; this is an
exercise they must pay attention to — [ An Hon Member: We know! We know!!] — They do not know. This engagement is important for them; they
should learn. [Interruption] Learn from them?
Mr Speaker, leave is a dispensation which is not
granted lightly, so in praying for leave, I must lay
the ground for the application. That
notwithstanding, you would always be right, except
that on this occasion, I would wish the record
would reflect that I was not out of order.

Hon Member, the leave you were
seeking was for us to move to Public Business
because I had mentioned the item numbered 5,
which is Statements. Hence, you were seeking
leave for us to leave the item numbered 5 and move
to Public Business. Then, I can grant you that leave
because we are varying the order of Business. After
I have granted you that, you would then mention to
me that you would like us to look at the item
numbered 8, which is on Public Business. So, you

Secondly, you were again out of order in

Even though you stated that you were not

challenging my order, you stated clearly that you

disagree with me and that in your understanding

which, unfortunately, is erroneous. Therefore, you

are out of order and also out of order. Double

Mr Speaker, as it pleases
you, I am most obliged.

Hon Members, these are technical
procedures and it is important that we go by them
because they are what guide the House for us to be
able to maintain law and order, decorum, and
decency. The Hon Member has conceded so let us
move on.
The Hon Deputy Majority Leader wants us to
move to Public Business and with your kind
permission, I would grant him the leave and then
he could raise the issue for us to consider, because
that Motion is a very important one.
Hon Member, you may go on.

Mr Speaker, may you live
long. I thank you for the opportunity.

Hon Member, only 100 years, not
more, not less.

Mr Speaker, very well.
May your wish be granted.

Mr Speaker, Amen. [Laughter]

Mr Speaker, with respect,
I beg to submit that the item as advertised as
Motion on page 5 of the Order Paper of today is
defective and does not reflect a more clear position
as intended by the 1992 Constitution and the Rules
of this House.
Mr Speaker, the said item is headed, “Notice of Motion on a Vote of Censure”. My humble view is that it is only the Motion that is supposed to be
advertised. The facts upon which the applicants
rely cannot, as it is advertised, be embedded in the
Motion on the Order Paper.
In this House, if we go through our Order Paper,
clearly, the Committees bring Reports and we
submit applications and Motions are advertised on
their own: “A Motion to take a vote of censure on the Hon Minister...” That is the Motion. If we look at the various items numbered 1 to 7 — we should not forget that we are in a political space — particularly if we look at how the item numbered 1
has been couched, the Hon Minister has been
condemned long before he is heard. The respondent
in this application has already been condemned
with allegations and not facts.
Mr Speaker, we must all know that if it involves
someone today, it could be another tomorrow, and

Mr Speaker, I have heard
the Hon Deputy Majority Leader. I was expecting
him to say that he wants the number of applicants
to be expanded from 128 to include the additional
numbers from his Side. Probably, 86 MPs to add to
the 128 MPs who would support this Motion.
However, I would want to assure you that you have
done what is constitutionally apt and consistent
with the Constitution and the rules. We intend
invoking article 82 of the 1992 Constitution to
move a Motion of Censure on the Hon Minister for
Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy Majority Leader
should read article 82 of the 1992 Constitution well
because that is probably why he must even
graciously thank you for admitting the Motion with
haste in the public national interest.
Mr Speaker, at the Business Committee today,
our attention was drawn to your approval of the
Motion, and I am sure that it would be captured
tomorrow. I even intend to lead the moving of the
Motion supported by the Hon Minority Chief Whip

Mr Speaker, with your
leave, I would have thought that my respected Hon
Colleague, upon rising on his feet, for and on behalf
of his Hon Colleagues, would have rebutted my
argument. However, he has rather decided to
proceed to the gallery of politics and partisanship.
Mr Speaker, if it is his contention that he is
coming squarely within the scope of articles 176
and 82 of the Constitution, then I dare invite him to
the rule that all men shall be given fair hearing and
that he cannot hide his cards in a situation like this.
The Hon Minority Leader is raising a serious
constitutional matter; therefore, he must put all his
cards on the table. If he says that the Hon Members
of the Minority are merely now advertising
allegations and that the facts would come later, then
they are not being fair to the respondent when the
Constitution says that upon hearing the argument
of the applicant, the respondent must also be heard.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleagues should not
forget that the Constitution says that when the
application of an Hon Member is being held, the
respondent would be given the opportunity to also
respond. Therefore, they should not only advertise
allegations and say that they would spring a
surprise on that day. They should bring all their
facts if they said that the Hon Minister has breached
article 176 of the Constitution.
Mr Speaker, in this notice of Motion, if indeed
the Hon Members of the Minority want to be fair,
they would not hide their cards and spring a
surprise on that day. They have to bring their legal
arguments and make them available to the Hon
Minister so that he could be sufficiently prepared
to respond. That is the intendment of the notice.
Other than that, there would be no need for this
notice; it would become otiose.

Hon Members, may I be permitted
to use five minutes after which I would give other
Hon Members the opportunity to express their
views on this matter before I give my ruling. So,
the House would be suspended for five minutes.
11.57 a.m. — Sitting suspended
12.17 p.m. — Sitting resumed

Hon Members, I thank you so
much for your indulgence. Before I sought your
permission to take five minutes off, I sighted the
Minority Chief Whip on his feet. I think it is now
time for him to make his submission.

Mr
Speaker, I am worried about what the Hon Deputy
Majority Leader was trying to do.
First, when he started and was talking about how
allegations have been added to the Motions, I saw
that he was challenging the authority of the Rt Hon
Speaker to admit Motions. I want to remind him
that Rt Hon Speaker works with procedural
advisors, and to be specific — the Clerk, and they work with our Standing Orders and the 1992
Constitution.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like
to take time to educate my Hon Colleague on what
a Motion should be. It is explicitly stated or defined
in Standing Order 7.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I read it to
his hearing.
“motion” means a proposal made by a Member that Parliament or a
Committee thereof do something,
order something to be done, or
express an opinion concerning
some matter;”

Hon Minority Chief Whip, point
of order.

Mr Speaker, few
gentlemen know about Cubavera; it is a
gentleman's shirt. It is rich to hear howbeit lightly for an Hon Minority Chief Whip to describe a
beautiful blue Cubavera as a pyjamas — [Interruption]—.
Mr Speaker, ‘out of the abundance of ignorance the mouth speaketh'. He has spoken out of ignorance. He does not know about Cubavera. For
Cubavera, one neither tacks in, nor wears a tie with
it. It is a formal gentleman's shirt — [Hear! Hear!] — and I have them in different colors. Hon Colleagues who believe in Cubavera know that, I
supply them and I would not mention names.
So, if he has nothing to say to rebut the legal
submissions that I have made, he should rest his
case and allow Mr Speaker to make a
determination. I have not questioned the authority
of Mr Speaker. I have not said that Mr Speaker was
wrong in admitting the Motion. I am talking about
what he has added to the Motion, and I am saying
that because the 1992 Constitution allows the
respondent to be heard, in this particular instance,
everything that you are relying on, should be made
available to him. This is my argument. Else,
whatever you have there becomes otiose. You
should not misconstrue the submissions I have

Hon Member, let us finish with
this issue.

Well, Mr Speaker, if you
say so. He should withdraw and conclude. He
should withdraw completely. [Interruption].

I have heard you.
Hon Minority Chief Whip, even though you said
that on a lighter note, I think what came after that
went beyond what is parliamentary. This is because
you know what is parliamentary. If the Hon Deputy
Majority Leader had sinned against the dress code
that again should have been brought to the attention
of the Speaker or to anybody before even, he was
given permission to make the submissions. I do not
think that the Hon Deputy Majority Leader has
sinned against the dress code and that is why he was
accepted. So, you should not have referred to that
and described what he was wearing as a pyjamas
—[Laughter].
So, I want you to humbly withdraw that aspect
of, ‘on a light note' and move on to serious business.

Mr Speaker, with the greatest
respect to my Hon Colleague, I withdraw. You
know I am a Zongo boy and we do not get the
opportunity to wear pyjamas; we only see them. So,
when I saw what he was wearing — I do not even know the brand he is talking about, and I have
never worn one. So, he should kindly forgive me
—[Laughter]. It is not intentional. I thought what I saw was a pyjamas, but since he has taken serious
offense, I withdraw and I sincerely apologise to my
Hon Colleague. I would never again refer to what
he is wearing as pyjamas; it only looks like pyjamas
—[Laughter].
Mr Speaker, on a more serious note, we had
another vote of censure on the Hon Minister for
Health. It was advertised, all the details were there
but I never heard my Hon Colleague raise an
objection. We had another vote on censure on the
Hon Minister for Justice and Attorney General, we
stated the grounds for the censure but I never heard
him say anything.
Mr Speaker, if my Hon Colleague cares to
know, article 82(4) of the 1992 Constitution, and
with your permission, Mr Speaker, I read:
“A Minister of State in respect of whom a vote of censure is debated under clause
(3) of this article is entitled, during the
debate, to be heard in his defence.”
So, Mr Speaker, it clearly shows that when we
get to the matter where the Motion is going to be
moved, the Hon Minister for Finance would be
invited to hear all the arguments so that he would
be able to make his defence.
Mr Speaker, there is nothing wrong with what
we have and my Hon Colleague, the Deputy
Majority Leader, was just doing his own thing — much ado about nothing — and taking all the time that we would have done Government Business and
other business.

Mr Speaker, I would urge you to rule that he was

completely out of order and probably, if you would

not mind, get a training programme for him to go

and be taught how to - [Inaudible] -

Mr Speaker, with this, I invite you to rule him

out completely.

Mr Speaker, you have
taught us to be decorous. I would not accept such
language from him - to teach me or take me through training.
Mr Speaker, Hon Muntaka should know that if
he has nothing important to say on the matter, he
should not try to divert to matters that are not
acceptable. He is one person who is very sensitive.
I have observed a banter between him and the Hon
Majority Leader on numerous occasions; he is very
sensitive to words used. I am not sensitive, but I am
drawing the Hon Member's attention to that which he would not want to be said about him. He should
not use certain words because he is a Leader of this
House. I have brought up an argument as to my

Well, Hon Member, your Hon
Colleague has taken a very strong objection to that
aspect of him being taken somewhere to be
educated. I am tempted to agree with him, and I
think that aspect should be withdrawn.

Mr Speaker, I would
withdraw that and replace it with “He must take his time and learn how a motion is couched in this
House”. The Hon Member, by saying that how this Motion has been couched is wrong, clearly points
to the fact that he does not even know how a motion
is couched and Mr Speaker, I mean it. If the Hon
Member knew how a motion is couched, there is no
way he would get up to oppose how this Motion has
been couched because there are so many examples
in the Standing Orders and the Business we do in
this House that he would not be taking so much of
our time talking about how a motion has been
couched and wanting it to be restricted to only the
heading.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member needs to
definitely take a look at the Standing Orders, and
learn to know how a motion is couched because
with the way he is arguing clearly points to the fact
that he does not know how a motion should be

Mr Speaker, I have
practised well enough in the courts of this country.
I have lived in this House, and I have been part of
the practice of this House well enough to know how
a motion is couched, but if the Hon Member fails
to follow the argument of his respected Hon
Colleague, he is led into this darkness of
misconstruing and thinking otherwise when that is
not exactly the point he is making. It is clear that
the Hon Member did not pay attention to my
submissions. I am saying that the Motion cannot be
accompanied with allegations; this is my argument.
And that if the Hon Member so wants to rely on
those allegations, there must be factual basis for so.
Considering the provision under which the Hon
Member came, all cards must be put on the table
because unlike other motions under Standing
Orders 70, 78, 79, and 80 as the Hon Member
referred to, in this case, the requirement is that the
respondent - bear in mind that this is a Motion that has a respondent. The Constitution says that the
respondent must be given the opportunity to be
heard. I will not just get up and raise trivialities on
the Floor; I respect the rules, and that is why when
I see a lacuna, I will bring it to the attention of the
Rt Hon Speaker, and when he rules, I will accept it.
I never even questioned the authority of the Rt Hon
Speaker in admitting the Motion; that was not my
argument, yet the Hon Minority Chief Whip
smuggled that one in too —
Mr Speaker, I am not re-arguing, but he has not
been fair and I expect your protection.

Hon Deputy Majority Leader,
may you resume your seat.

Mr Speaker, I will.

Hon Members, both of you are in
Leadership. Hon Deputy Majority Leader and Hon
Minority Chief Whip, you may see me in my
Chambers immediately after the adjournment of
Sitting. We would leave this matter and move on to
the substantive issue that has been raised.

Yes, Hon Agalga?

Mr Speaker, the import of
the Hon Deputy Majority Leader's submissions are in two folds. One, he seeks to draw an analogy
between our Standing Orders, specifically,
Standing Order 79, with the practice and procedure
in our courts. By so doing, he argues that because
the Motion is one of censure, there is a respondent
as provided for under the Constitution, and for
which reason, one cannot couch the Motion in such
a way that one is left with only allegations. Thus,
the Hon Deputy Majority Leader is arguing the
points that there ought to be some factual basis for
the Motion, but Mr Speaker, I would like to draw

Hon Members, the exchanges so
far underscore the urgent need for Parliament to put
in place a programme for further education of Hon
Members on the practice and procedures of the
House. [Hear! Hear!]. We need to sit together,
dialogue and exchange views on the Constitution
and the Standing Orders. Beyond the Standing
Orders, we also have the rulings of Rt Hon
Speakers, and we have literature on the law and
custom of Parliament. That is what is usually said
is unknown to the courts. The fact is that the
concept of democracy has remained the same
concept; only practices have been different from
time to time and from place to place, but in it is
imbedded the duality of separation of powers and
checks and balances. For us to play our role
properly, we need to have continuous education on
these matters. What he raised is a very serious
matter to guide the House as to how to couch
Motions.
Actually, when I received the Motion as drafted
and submitted to me, I took the pains to go through,
not only the Constitution, but the detailed
provisions of our Standing Orders, and I had to
deeply consider some of these issues that you have
raised, and came to the conclusion that the Motion
was properly drafted [Hear! Hear!].
I also took the next step to sit with the Hon
Leaders, both the Hon Majority Leader and the Hon
Minority Leader, on this matter. We discussed it
before I even admitted it, and submitted it to the
Office of the Clerk to Parliament. The Clerk to
Parliament, who is the head of the Table and the

Hon Deputy Majority Leader?

Mr Speaker, as always,
once you have made the determination, I must have
few words. I thank you for your determination on
this matter and the records will always be the
reference point.
Mr Speaker, having thanked you, I would want
to tease the minds of the House to another
important thing, which you introduced in your
ruling that when notice on our Order Paper is
served, it is a notice to the whole world. My view
is that considering the fact that the Hon Minister is
not a Member of Parliament, and the fact that even
when Questions are advertised, there is this
transmission of communication to the Hon
Minister concerned, would it not be tidier that since
this type of Motion has its own unique
characteristics, we formally serve the Hon Minister
this notice?
Mr Speaker, this is my view, if it is the case that
once it is advertised, it is a notice to the world and
that puts the Hon Minister on notice, so be it. Our
democracy is not ending today; issues that I am
raising that my Hon Colleagues from the other Side
are disagreeing with, tomorrow, it would come
back and they would say that they need it —

Hon Member, I would just pray
that you would be given that opportunity to serve
as a Minister of State, then you would get to
understand the procedure better. When a Question
is filed and admitted by the Speaker, the Clerks-at-
the-Table transmit it straight to the Hon Minister
concerned before it is published in the Order Paper.
That is different from this one. Please, get the two.
At that time, it is not yet notice to the world because
it has not been published. It is therefore submitted
and then by the Standing Orders, the Hon Minister
is to submit a Written Answer within two weeks.
However, because of the weakness of our public
sector, we know how difficult it is to get
information from the smallest unit at the district
level and to transmit same through the Region to
the national, to the Ministry, before the Hon
Minister. This takes time, so we relax those rules
and, sometimes, it takes a month or more for the
House to get the Written Answers. Notice would
have been given by that time and by the time the
House publishes the Question on the Order Paper,
the Hon Minister is aware. Now, it is up to the
Leadership of the House, not under any rule, to try
to draw the attention after the Business Committee
has scheduled the Meetings, which is the order of
Business that the Hon Minister is to appear before
the House to answer Questions on a set day. That is
the business of Hon Members in Leadership, it is
just like how you build relationships with your Hon
Colleagues in the Executive, but it is not in the
Standing Orders of the House. That is very
different but this one strikes straight away from the
Constitution to our Standing Orders. Once it is
received by the Speaker, I am to admit it if it
conforms to the provisions of the Constitution and
the Standing Orders, then the count starts.
So, the only way to make sure that the Hon
Minister concerned gets notice of it is to publish it
in the Order Paper and that is public records and
public records are records to the world. That is why
even in asking Questions, admissibility, we are
guided as to whether it is a public record that should
be known and therefore there is no need for you to
ask a question on it because you should have
known it yourself. That is why the Speakers of the
House are guided by those rules. So, there is a
marked difference between the two and I do not see
why you are comparing the two.
In any case, Hon Members, let us go back to our
Order Paper and go according to the agenda for
today but I see the Hon Second Deputy Majority
Whip.
Yes?

Mr Speaker, just for your
guidance, article 82—

Hon Member, again?

For your guidance—

Hon Member, for my guidance?

Mr Speaker, I am seeking
your guidance with regard to article 82 (4) and with
your permission I quote:
“A Minister of State in respect of whom a vote of censure is debated
under clause (3) of this article is
entitled, during the debate, to be
heard in his defence”.
Mr Speaker, in this regard, just as the Hon
Deputy Majority Leader was saying, if the Hon
Minister is not properly communicated to in the
case that he is not a Member of Parliament, how
does he appear before the House to give his
defence?
Mr Speaker, thank you.

Hon Member, what do you mean
by properly communicated to? What does that
mean?

Mr Speaker, if I may
assist my Hon Colleague, we are simply saying
that when a Question is filed, as you rightly
said, there is a transmission of the Question to
the Minister once it is admitted, and that
communication goes to the Minister before the
advertisement, which appears in our Order
Paper.
Mr Speaker, the contention from the
Majority Bench is that we are not in any way
against the Motion, save our concern that,
because the Hon Minister for Finance is not a
Member of Parliament, he is not part of our
procedures. Once you have admitted the
Motion, would it not be tidier because in this
particular Motion, specific reference is made to
the Minister for Finance to be heard when the
Motion is moved. There is a specific provision
that the Minister must be heard. All we are
asking is, would it not be proper to get a
communication to the Minister for Finance,
once you admit the Motion, that a Motion has
been admitted; that it is a Censure Motion, and
this is the text of the Motion?
Mr Speaker, however, if the view of the
Chair, which is well placed in the East of this
Chamber, is to the effect that there are no such
requirements to serve the Minister for Finance
or put him on notice, and that the notice in our
Order Paper is sufficient, then we go by it; we
cannot challenge it.

Hon Deputy Majority Leader,
you know that you cannot put something on
nothing; it will fall. If you could just draw my
attention to any legal basis for what you are
referring to as proper notice and which means
this notice to the world is improper, then I can
put “something” on “something”, so that it can stand. Just draw my attention to the law that
you are referring to.

Mr Speaker, a person
against whom allegations are made must be
heard, and properly heard. It is not for nothing
that in our criminal jurisprudence, procedural
errors are frowned upon. Mr Speaker, if we
want to go on the path of substance over form,
I have no problem. I shall rely on the precedent
and our rule on “Admissibility of Questions” and “Transmission of Questions” after you have admitted them, and on that authority,
navigate mutatis mutandis for same to be
applied here.
Mr Speaker, why do I say so? You have
admitted a Motion, which is a serious
constitutional matter. My contention is that
once you have admitted it, it would have to be
advertised, which as an imperative of the
Constitution, there must be seven days' notice and 14 days within which after you have
received — and you took pains to take us through. All I am saying is that it would be
tidier and would have met squarely the rules of
natural justice, which requires a person to be

Hon Deputy Majority Leader,
I gave you the latitude to say all that you have
said because of education, not only of Members
of Parliament, but of the general public. As I sit
here, I sit here as Speaker in my role as a
Presiding Officer. In some places, they use the
word “Chair”. The matter you just spoke about is administrative, and I perform that role as the
Chair of the Parliamentary Service Board.
Those submissions could be made at the
administrative level to try to draw our attention
to some weaknesses in that system; these are
not plenary matters that are raised on the Floor
to be debated. If you look at the issue of
Questions, there is, good reason why there is
ample guidance in the Standing Orders of
Parliament on Admissibility of Questions. It is
not the same when you are dealing with issues
of Motions, Petitions, and Papers; it is not. You
are using a general principle of law: mutatis
mutandis, but please, you know, again, that if
the drafters of the law intended for that to be
done, they would have expressly stated it in the
law. The admissibility of Questions and of
Motions are not governed by the same
provisions in the Constitution; so, their
practices and procedures are different. The
Speaker is given a latitude in dealing with
Motions to take a lot of things into
consideration, not just what is used to guide the
issues of Questions.
There are a lot of political questions when
you are dealing with Motions, and that is why I
told you that even before we got to this stage, I
had to have discussions with your Leaders; you
were not present.

As we sit here, we just do not work for

Members of Parliament; we work for the

nation, and you measure every action that you

take here, its impact and effect on the state of

the nation, particularly the economy. So please,

I do not take these decisions lightly. It is just

not a matter of putting it on record. Somebody

could differ from my position in future

depending on the context and circumstances of

the day. Seasons do change; but in the present

circumstances, I think this is the best thing to

do for the nation, and my admission is

definitely unassailable.

Thank you
very much. Let me first invite the Hon Member
for Korle Klottey.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity to contribute to the Statement
made by Hon Annoh-Dompreh on issues
relating to the climate.
Mr Speaker, indeed, Africa is responsible
for only 2 per cent of the emissions and yet
disproportionately affected by the effects of
climate change. Based on this alone, it is quite
clear that whatever support the EU and other
more industrialised nations are going to give
Statements

towards the countries in Africa, it is more than

just an idea or profit for them. It is a moral

responsibility for those who are contributing

more towards the pollution of our planet to

have a greater responsibility to ensure that they

are supporting lesser industrialised nations to

actually have access to affordable and simple

technology that is in the interest of preserving

our climate.

Mr Speaker, indeed, the drive towards the

renewable energy and technology must not be

one that is so expensive that it becomes an

abstract concept for the average person in our

various countries, and if we are really to have

greater access given to our various constituents,

the current model that exists of government to

government cooperation on climate-related

matters which over-emphasise the role of the

Executive at the expense of Members of

Parliament needs to be looked at again. This is

because every Hon Member of Parliament here

is a representative of a part of this country and

of their constituents, and we have direct contact

with our constituents. We have vested interest

in ensuring that technology and the necessary

resources towards mitigating the effects of

climate change are made accessible to our

constituents.

Mr Speaker, to add to what my Hon

Colleague mentioned, the Climate Act in

Uganda, interestingly enough, is such that no

budget of any Ministry, Department or Agency

can have parliamentary approval without

having gone through the specifics of its impacts

on climate change and how it is contributing to

mitigate this effect. Interestingly enough, the

same applies to gender mainstream where

budgets that are coming before Parliament in

Uganda cannot be given approval unless they

satisfy the criteria for gender mainstreaming as

well.

Mr Speaker, as we look towards COP 27

which is a round the corner, it is my prayer that

we fight for this continent to ensure that we do

not become the bottom of the food chain yet

again as we have been in the whole drive in

fossil fuel energy.

Mr Speaker, the equity that we seek in terms

of renewable energy must be one that makes it

fair and just for all people across the continent

of Africa.

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the

I will now
come to the Western Regional Minister.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
(NPP — Takoradi): Mr Speaker, thank you very much. First and foremost, I would like to
thank the Hon Member who made the
Statement for this positive note on climate
change.
Mr Speaker, if we look at the text in the
contribution, we would come to realise that
Africa causes only 2, 3 and sometimes in
literature 4 per cent of the problems with
climate change. Clearly, what it means is that if
Africa has to borrow for adaptation in the
climate agenda, then, that money, I believe,
should not come from Africa. In fact, it should
be coming from those who are causing the
problems.
Mr Speaker, if we take coastal Ghana,
virtually all the coastal protection works that
we are doing are being funded from our own oil
revenues in this country, meanwhile the rising
sea level caused by the high temperatures are
not caused by us in Africa. So, why should we
use our hard-earned oil money to be financing
these coastal protection programmes when, in
fact, the rise in sea levels, the amount of carbon
in the atmosphere are caused by those outside
or in the industrialised nations? I believe that it
is time for a climate change reparation from
those who have been causing it. This is because
if we are causative of only 2 to 4 per cent, then
why should we spend our money doing all
these things? So, I believe that we need to make
Statements

a huge demand on the industrialised nations for

causing this mess that is causing this global

crisis for all of us.

Mr Speaker, I also believe that one of the

things that we need to be looking at —today we talked about energy transitions and all the

African countries that have oil, gas and other

resources are told to turn to other energy

sources.

It is good, but we need to do it such that we

can benefit from these resources and at the

same time not being made as users of other

people's technologies and systems but, rather, we should also create our own technologies and

systems in our country so that we can get the

value of these inventions instead of always

using other people's resources.

For instance, how come we are always

importing solar streetlights from other

countries? We should be developing our own

solar streetlights. How come if we want to even

use wind turbines, we have to be importing

them from other places?

Our universities should be given the

mandate to start looking at these technologies,

so that they can develop it for us to keep the

value in our countries as Africans and

Ghanaians. We cannot continue to wait on

other people's technology and always use our hard-earned United States dollars to import

from other people when we also have the same

engineers that can create these for us.

I, believe that one of the biggest

opportunities we have in this whole energy

transition is the sun. In fact, we have it virtually

18 hours a day. Unfortunately, we are not

putting that to use. When we talk about glass or

panels, we can easily develop these things in

our universities and our industries in this

country.

I therefore, want to use this opportunity to

call on the Association of Ghana Industries, the

Chamber of Commerce, and the universities to

come together to deliver these technologies that

we can seriously use in this country to make

sure that we are able to do so.

In a nutshell, Mr Speaker, we should not use

our own hard-earned money to do this because

90 per cent of those causing these problems

come from industrial nations, and they have to

pay for it. Secondly, I do believe that we need

to start developing our own technologies so that

we do not become a contributor of more than 4

per cent, going forward. We need to create our

technology so that our people can use it.

In addition, like the Hon Member said, 90

per cent of the problems with climate change

are human-centred, and that is where I believe

that the Government policy of making sure that

people do not mine in forest areas as a red zone

should be taken seriously. I also do believe that

for places that have been mined already, those

responsible, especially the small-scale mining

industry, should be encouraged to go back,

reclaim those lands and re-plant them so that

they become carbon sinks to capture the carbon

dioxide that are put out there to create increased

temperatures in the world.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the

opportunity to add my voice.

Some Hon Members — rose —

Yes, Hon
Member for Bia East?

Mr Speaker, I think you mean Bia
West. Hopefully, one day you would get it
right.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is interesting to
hear the Hon Member who made the Statement
and his personal participation in the processes
that he is alluding to, with regard to the bigger
Statements

picture of climate change and its effects on our

societies.

As we prepare for the 27th Conference of the

Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), the world is

going to come together and statements are

going to be made. For us at the very bottom, the

grassroot level of society, this is extremely

important because the challenges we have

continue to divest us of the interest we have and

increasingly, make life more difficult.

For farmers in Bia West, Bia East, Juaboso,

Bodi and Akotombra districts — these were bread baskets of Ghana, characterised by food

production, abundance and, especially our

main cash crop, cocoa. Interestingly, these

crops are dying and the land is no longer fertile.

All the scientists are telling us; it is because of

climate change.

Indeed, it is extremely important for us to get

solutions that are sustainable because what is

happening is that these changes are affecting

the normal patterns of rain and sunshine that

are needed by different crops to thrive. As a

result of that, it is increasingly difficult for

these farmers to succeed, and when they do not

succeed at that end, it affects the rest of our

agricultural life in our country.

Therefore, when we are looking at rain-fed

grain, rain-fed cocoyam, yams and all the other

crops that we depend on - now the rain pattern cannot be predicted whether we have a rainy or

dry season because it rains every time, and it is

affecting us adversely. Much more, as that

occurs, the implications are abundant even for

town and urban planning. We have so many

places that are flooding unpredictably and we

did not know any of these things would happen.

The calendar that we have for farmers to

plant at a certain time and for harvest to occur

at certain times, suggesting that maize could be

raised two or three times in a year, are all

unpredictable. For us that are not involved very

much in irrigation to produce food, if we cannot

predict when we would plant, and therefore

have abundant rain for the crops to grow, if we

have too much rain, that destroys our farms.

Then, we are not going anywhere.

It means that a farmer in the village at

Adieso is going to still depend on imports from

China and food from Vietnam in order to

survive. The current market situation does not

augur well for us, so with our growth in

population and the needs, with our challenges

in the consumption levels, all of those things go

back to the pattern of the climate. Therefore,

the changes for the better would ensure that we

have a better society where resources critical

for our survival are available.

Mr Speaker, when we talk about that, then

we need to focus on educating our citizenry so

that we appreciate the impact. Of course, we

have alluded to the fact that it is only 2 per cent

of emissions that are produced in Africa.

However, when we take a green map of Africa

in 1970 compared to 2020, a 50-year

difference, we would find that it was green

almost all the way to Egypt.

Today, all the Sahara areas are brown

because everything is dying out. The heat level

is high. We are forced to use air conditioners in

situations where we did not have to. Implicitly,

we need a lot of education for this to happen so

that we can survive in our country and be able

to thrive.

Mr Speaker, the concern raised by the Hon

Member who made the Statement is critical,

and as we prepare for COP 27, we pray the

House and the community at large that whether

through legislation or enactment of different

policies, that must all come together for us to

respond responsibly so that the society we have

would be one that we would be happy to live

in.

Hon Member
for Madina?
Statements

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Let me also add my voice to congratulate the
Hon Member who made this Statement.
Indeed, it is a very timely and important
Statement because matters of climate change
are becoming matters of national security and
must be taken very seriously.
Mr Speaker, the National Security Strategic
Report that was published by the Ministry of
National Security had this to say about climate
change and with your permission, I beg to quot:
“The consequences of climate change tend to amplify the
impact of existing national
security risks that endanger the
security of humans, ecosystems,
the economy, infrastructure and
societies as a whole as it worsens
the risk of food insecurity and
malnutrition and increases the
frequency and intensity of
disasters such a drought, floods,
storms, which in turn have
adverse effect on livelihoods.”

Mr Speaker, the issues of climate change

are, today, very serious issues of national

security, and that is why I back the course to

enact a Climate Change Act that would

assemble all the effort of the State in one piece

of legislation as a response to matters of

climate change.

Mr Speaker, anytime one talks of climate

change, it is so easy for them to look at climate

change as a foreign concept, but what we are

experiencing today, as a people, are all issues

or effects of climate change. Like my Hon

Colleague contributed earlier, today, we do not

know the rain patterns that we have as a people;

we used to have clear rainy seasons and dry

seasons. As we speak today, we cannot say for

a fact when we are experiencing dry season or

when we are experiencing rainy season. Now,

even when the rains come, they are more

intense and when the sun comes, it is more

intense. Clearly, the effect of climate change is

already here with us and that is why it is

important that we take this very seriously.

When one looks at the obligation imposed

on every citizen in the 1992 Constitution, it is

an obligation that extends to the protection of

our environment which extends to the need for

proactive action towards climate change.

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to

quote article 41 of the 1992 Constitution. It

says:

“The exercise and enjoyment of rights and freedoms is

inseparable from the

performance of duties and

obligations, and accordingly, it

shall be the duty of every citizen

I would like
to give the very last slot to the Hon Member for
Trobu.

Mr Speaker, for now, the iceberg portion in the
ocean has no use, but the challenge is that, it is
because of the climate change that it is melting.
When it gets melted and we are now seeing the
real marine space, countries would begin to
fight for that space. For now, it seems not to
have any use because it is an iceberg and,
therefore, the marine space is not there.
However, the moment it gets completely
melted and creates the marine space, countries
would now begin to fight for that space and the
high tides come and our landing beaches are
being lost.
The issue is about what we are doing to
ensure that in our jurisdiction as a country, we
can do our best to minimise or mitigate the risk
of climate change. I hope that by now, we have
really identified the risk areas. If we did, then
there should be a cogent plan to mitigate the
risk areas.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Member who made the
Statement mentioned mangroves. Mostly,
mangroves are found in lagoons and estuaries
and we all know the purpose of mangroves, but
what is the status of our lagoons and estuaries
right now? It is for this reason that in trying to
revise the 2008 fisheries and aquaculture
policy, we made lagoon a standalone focal area
to ensure that we bring lagoons back to life, the
mangroves would come back and it becomes a
hiding space for fish to spawn.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
14, life under the sea, is hugely challenged
because of the climate change and I believe that
where we are now, we should begin to look at
species that can be resistant to the new climatic
changes that we are facing. As a result, there
are resources available for each country to
utilise. For now, we also have the God-given
resources in the hydrocarbons, and if one looks
at the decision being taken for electric cars, at
each stage of the industrial revolution or
whatever revolution that is coming in terms of
economics and development, Africa is at the
losing end.
Mr Speaker, I think that we must have our own
strategic plan and stand by it. When one comes
to the vegetable area, already we have lost the
smooth cayenne because we did not have a firm
position, we allowed ourselves to be led into
accepting the MD2 which now, technologically,
we cannot culture and grow it and we have
thrown away the smooth cayenne, the best
species and best that can be used to blend and
develop pineapple juice out of it.
I foresee the same thing going to happen; that
if we are not careful and derive the risk areas and
have a mitigation plan that we can stand by as a
country, we would be found wanting.
Our own actions and activities have broken
the ecosystem. The ecosystem is an
interdependent system and if one takes even an
iota out of that cycle, it becomes a challenge to
repair. It is a good Statement made and I think
that we must all pay attention to our environment
and also make sure that we mitigate the
consequence of the climate change.
I thank you for the opportunity.

I would like to
take the second Statement from the Hon Member
for South Tongu, Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome,
to eulogise the late Ex Corporal Prince Amartey.
Eulogy to the Late Ex Corporal Prince
Amartey

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the
opportunity to eulogise the fallen hero who
contributed his quota to boxing in Ghana. The
late Prince Amartey was born on 25th June,
Statements
Statements

1944 in Ho in the Volta Region to Mr Quarshie

Amartey, a native of ‘big' Ada and Madam Janet Agripa of Aduvivi Clan from Ho Hliha,

both deceased.

Mr Speaker, the late Prince Amartey had his

basic and secondary education in Ho and

enrolled in the Ghana Armed Forces in the

early 1960s. He served to the rank of a corporal

till his premature retirement in the mid-1970s.

As a young, bubbling energetic man, Prince

had passion for sports and honed his skills in

the pugilist game. His passion, commitment

and excellent display endeared him to the

handlers of the national team, the Black

Bombers. He was invited to join greats like

Clement Ike Quartey Snr., Eddie Blay Snr., Joe

Darkey, Dodoo Wellington, Jojo Myles,

Thomas Arimi, Alhassan Braimah, Cassie

Aryee, Sammy Abbey, Ekow Krane, Amos

Ajao, Sulley Shitttu, Aaron Papoola, among

others to form a formidable team to represent

Ghana at major international competitions

(Africa, Commonwealth, and Olympic

Games): an era Ghana was adjudged best

boxing nation in the Commonwealth with

regard to laurels and medals won.

Mr Speaker, Prince Amartey started his

boxing career at the light middleweight

division, where he participated in the maiden

All-African Games, now known as the African

Games, in 1965 in Congo-Brazzaville, and won

a gold medal, and also won bronze at the 1968

games in Dakar, Senegal. He was part of

Ghana's team to the 1966 and 1970 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica

and Edinburg in Scotland respectively, but he

did not win a medal. He lost his opening bout

to Patrick Doherty of Northern Ireland at the

1970 games.

Prince Amartey also participated in the

World Armed Forces Games in 1971 in

Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he moved up as

a middleweight. Former Minister for Youth and

Sports, Hon Major Amarkai Amartefio (retd)

and late former President Flt Lt Jerry John

Rawlings served as the managers of the Armed

Forces boxing team then.

Mr Speaker, Ex Cpl. Prince Amartey won a

bronze medal for Ghana in the 1972 Olympic

Games in Munich, Germany, which

represented the country's third medal at the global sports meet. His record stood for 20

years before the Olympic football team, the

Black Meteors, replicated it with another

bronze in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, and

featherweight Samuel Takyi winning bronze at

the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in

individual sports for the nation.

Mr Speaker, despite the significant

achievement of Ex Cpl. Prince Amartey

towards boxing in Ghana, he lived a miserable

life, and took up menial jobs just to survive

after he left the Ghana Army in 1974 due to

health challenges. This is a sad situation

indeed. Although there were some

interventions by the Ghana Armed Forces and

Ho-based social Club 50 that helped his

situation, these were still not enough for a

person who fought to raise the flag of Ghana

high.

Mr Speaker, as a country, we must begin to

name and reward our heroes when they are

alive, and ensure they have a peaceful and

joyful end. For amateurs, it is a known fact that

they do not earn much to live on after

retirement from the game. It is in this regard

that the State, through the Ministry of Youth

and Sports, must put together a package to cater

for their needs. The trend of neglecting all who

have fought for this country at a point in time,

particularly, amateur boxers, must surely end.

Mr Speaker, Ex Cpl. Prince Amartey died

on 23rd September, 2022, at age 78, and will be

laid to rest this weekend, 28th of October, 2022,

at the new Military Cemetery, Burma Camp. I,

therefore, place a humble call on the

Statements

Government to give the family the needed

support for a befitting burial for our fallen hero.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.

Very well. I
would invite two contributors.

Mr Speaker, I would like to commend the Hon
Member who made this Statement which is a
tribute to the late Ex Cpl. Prince Amartey. Mr
Speaker, if you go into the records, he won a
bronze medal in 1972 in Munich, West
Germany. It took Ghana another 50 years for
boxing to re-establish its name in the annals of
the Olympic Games by winning another bronze
medal in the Japan Olympics in 2021.
Mr Speaker, the reason for the decline in
sports is that we do not honour our heroes and
heroines. The late Ex Cpl. Prince Amartey
virtually died as a pauper. But for the fact that
the Ghana Armed Forces, through its battalion
in Ho, rehabilitated him with a shopping centre,
Ex Corporal Prince Amartey was virtually
living on the streets.
Mr Speaker, until 50 years, half a century,
for us to get an Olympic medal in boxing is
quite a disgraceful trend. Ghana was once
adjudged the best boxing nation in the
Commonwealth, but we could not sustain this
accolade because of our poor administration in
the management of sports men and women to
become role models for the future of the youth
in sports.
Mr Speaker, it is a fact that others who have
not even reached that status of bringing
honours to this country are even treated better
than our sports men and women. It is also a fact
that an attempt was made in the past to establish
an endowment fund for sports men and women,
but that has not gone beyond the date that it was
announced, and it died prematurely. It is now
time we looked at our heroes in sports and
honour them by establishing an endowment
fund which would be funded by the
Government and corporate bodies such as the
National Lotteries Authority and the Ghana
National Petroleum Corporation. Other bodies
can also support through annual fundraising
activities.

Mr Speaker, as we mourn the late Ex Cpl.

Prince Amartey, this endowment fund could be

named after him, which would then become the

avenue through which sports awards and the

payment of pensions could be made to our

sportsmen and women. The Ministry of Youth

and Sports has a big task to play in this regard,

and I urge the Hon Minister to set up a

committee to look at rewarding our sportsmen

and women anytime they bring honours to this

country. Otherwise, all our efforts and

investment in sports would be like pouring

water in a basket which would go down the

drain.

It took 50 years, half a century, for boxing

to produce a medal at the Olympic Games. This

is a big disgrace to our nation which was once

touted as the best sporting country in the

Commonwealth.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I thank

you for giving me the opportunity to contribute

to the Statement, in honour of the late Ex Cpl.

Prince Amartey, presented by my Hon

Colleague who is the Ranking Member for the

Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture.

Mr Speaker, thank you very much.

Thank you
very much. On that note, we bring the
Statements time to a close. I would like to thank
the Hon Members who made the Statements as
well as those who contributed to them.
Where is Leadership? Available Leader, any
indication?

Mr Speaker, I think
once we are done with Statements, it behoves
us to move to Motions.
Statements

Yes,
available Minority Leader?

Mr
Speaker, I think the substantive Hon Leaders
are not around. We are only holding the fort,
and we cannot move any Motion if they are not
here so, I would expect —

Hon available
Leader, do not vacate the seat. Please, come
back.

Mr Speaker, if it is in
your bosom, we could continue with Business.

I think the
Leadership of both Sides agreed that we take
the items numbered 7 and 8 so, I would invite
Hon Members to page 2.
At the commencement of Public Business,
we shall take the item numbered 7 on page 2. I
would invite the Chairman of the Committee to
move the Motion.

Thank you
very much. Let me invite the Hon Member for
Manso-Nkwanta.
George Kwabena Takyi Obeng (NPP — Manso-Nkwanta): Mr Speaker, thank you for
giving me the opportunity to contribute to this
Report on COCOBOD.
Mr Speaker, looking at the financial
statement of COCOBOD, it demonstrates that
COCOBOD is becoming one of the shining
stars of the country. However, it is now
becoming one of the syndromes where public
institutions are always making losses.
Mr Speaker, even though the revenue of
COCOBOD from the sales of cocoa beans was
going up year by year from 2018 to 2021, when
we look at their expenditure, that is, the
operational cost, it was increasing at an
alarming rate that no serious profits were made
by them. On that note, you would realise that
COCOBOD is not adding any serious value to
the Ghanaian economy, nor contributing
towards the elimination of financial problems
and challenges from this country.
Mr Speaker, the administrative cost of
COCOBOD clearly shows that its
administrative expenditure is not being well
managed. When the Hon Ranking Member
made reference to the payment of bonuses in
the midst of losses, the liquidity position of the
company shows that the company is seriously
doing over trading whereby it has more current
liabilities than the current assets that will help
them to do well.
Mr Speaker, in the area of solvency, it seems
COCOBOD is financed more from debt capital
than internal revenue reserves, retained profits
and then their main capital. Even though they
talked about the company making good use of
their staff by meeting their standards, standards
just ensure control of cost but it does not ensure
effectiveness. It is time that COCOBOD and
other public entities looked into strategic cost
reduction issues to help them reduce their cost
of operation to be effective and efficient in
controlling and conducting their affairs to
contribute enough towards their workers, the
stakeholders, the Government and the good
people of Ghana.

Mr Speaker, on this note, I would like to

reiterate that the House takes steps in line with

other terms of public enterprises to institute

strategies on cost reduction. Not necessarily

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

meeting their standard but actually making sure

that they beat the competition.

Very soon all of us will compete with other

countries in terms of making safe cocoa. With

China trying to come into the industry, then it

means that we have to be serious. Let us put

together strategies to reduce our cost of

operations and put COCOBOD on sound

footing to beat the competition.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor

NDC - South Dayi): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the Motion

to adopt the Report by the Committee on

Employment, Social Welfare and State

Enterprises.

Mr Speaker, in doing so, let me draw your

attention to some aspects of the Report. It is

rather sad that per this Report, as a country, our

sale in terms of processed cocoa beans is

dwindling. It has dwindled from 98.6 per cent

in the year 2018 to 98.4 per cent in the year

2019 and 99.3 per cent - What it means is that we are processing less than one per cent of all

the beans that we produce and sell in this

country. What has been the impact of One

District, One Factory (1D1F) in this matter?

Mr Speaker, per this Report, on page 4, it is

stated that in 2018, the value of processed

cocoa products was GH₵127 million which, given the exchange rate at the time, roughly

translates to about US$40 million.

Mr Speaker, now, in the year 2019, the value

of our processed cocoa products was GH₵151 million. Again, given the exchange rate at the

time, translates to about US$40 million.

Mr Speaker, in the year 2020, this dwindled

to GH₵74 million and, again, given the exchange rate of GH₵6.8 to a dollar at the time, this was less than US$30 million. So even

though it appears that the value of the cedi in

terms of the processed cocoa products that we

export, process and sell, appreciated in the year

2019, in real terms, we lost in terms of the

dollar revenue and the situation became worst

in the year 2020. These are the true indicators

of the state of the economy. If we are unable to

spend and create factories that can process the

products and also create employment, the

multiplying effect of expending public money

in doing this, is nearly zero. So, I am anxious

to see whether there was an appreciation or a

further deterioration in the 2021 Report.

Mr Speaker, as a House, we should be so

much concerned that when we give

COCOBOD the authority to syndicate loans

and purchase cocoa beans, efforts must be

made to process at least half of the cocoa beans

in this country.

Mr Speaker, Government, by a deliberate

policy, is giving school children one hot

chocolate per day and yet, we do not process

the cocoa beans. So, where do we get the

chocolate to give to our children?

It means that we buy the hot chocolate that

we give to our children in school from abroad.

That can only be the reasonable implication

because the impact of the deliberate policy to

feed our children with one hot chocolate a day,

is for us to spend money and process the beans

so that there would not be capital flight.

Mr Speaker, one other thing that I would

want to draw the House's attention to, is that this Report indicates that upon all the excessive

amount of money that this House approves for

the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to

improve the cocoa farms by spraying, pruning

and also irrigating the farms so that yields

could be multiplied, we do not see the impact

of these deliberate policies.

Mr Speaker, every year, when budgetary

allocations are approved and amounts are

allocated, this is how we gauge the outcome of

those policies that we implement. As a House,

we need to be concerned because, again,

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

Government, by deliberate policy; is

revamping cocoa farms even in the Volta

Region, and South Dayi which is my district, is

part of that programme. However, if the end

result is that we buy the beans and just ship the

beans abroad, then those who are supposed to

be in the chain would not benefit.

Mr Speaker, let me conclude by saying that

one other thing the Report pointed to, was that

the Board again noted that staff bonuses were

paid for indications clearly showing that the

company was not making profit. It is shocking

that a company that is not making profit will be

paying staff bonus. There is no wonder the

recommendation is that, going forward, the

company must pay bonuses only when they

make profit.

Mr Speaker, with these words, I urge the

House to adopt the Report as was laid recently.

Thank you
very much. Yes, let me give the opportunity to
the Hon Member for Asante Akim North, but
before that I would like to indulge Hon
Members that the time is past 2:00 p.m. and I
would therefore extend Sitting beyond the
normal hours.
All right, Hon Member, let us hear you.

Mr Speaker, thank you
very much for the warning. I will be very brief.
Thank you also for the opportunity to
contribute to this discussion.
Mr Speaker, from what my Hon Colleagues
have indicated in this House, there is the need
to beef up our value addition internship.
Unfortunately, everybody seems to appreciate
the fact that we need to increase the proportion
that goes into value addition, save that the
focus for which we are seeking intervention is
probably wrong. I have been part of an export
processing programme in Ghana and the
indications that I picked from there in the past
is that everybody expects Government to enter
into agro-processing or value addition
programmes but it is an opportunity for the
nation, and for that matter, the citizens of
Ghana to put resources together to go into
processing of safe commodities.
Indeed, if you look you look at the record of
companies processing cocoa in Ghana, most of
these companies are very old. The only one that
is probably too old was put up by Ghana Cocoa
Marketing Board.

The purpose of establishing the Cocoa

Marketing Board is not to go into cocoa

processing but to offer stable prices for farm

gates and for that matter, the Cocoa Marketing

Board's position within the value chain is to ensure that farmers get good rewards for their

produce and also ensure that they have a market

in Ghana and outside Ghana for the produce

that comes from the farm gates.

Mr Speaker, in Ghana now, from 2000 up to

2009, when I was part of the Export Processing

Zone, companies that located in Ghana into

cocoa processing were all foreign, and indeed,

that increased the threshold of the value

addition in cocoa processing very much by

maybe 15 per cent. Beyond 2010 and 2011, we

have not seen any new cocoa processing

companies emerging on the horizon. The last

one that I can remember is the one at Kaase, for

which I was even part of the commissioning.

There is one in Takoradi which was also

commissioned in 2009, and continues to

produce from Western Region. The one that we

came to inherit in 2000, that is, the West

African Mills Company Limited (WAMCO), is

also not even operating properly.

Mr Speaker, therefore, the solution is not to

find processing companies promoted by

Government. The solution is to generate

interest in Ghanaian investors to put

investments together to go into cocoa

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

processing. In fact, the revenue stream shows

that the profit margin is in processing, not in

the farming and harvesting of cocoa or its

export, rather, it is in the value addition.

Therefore, I think all of us must be very

aggressive in promoting the Ghanaian content

in the value addition. That is where the problem

is. Unfortunately, by our culture, we do not

believe in working together; we believe in

owning enterprises by ourselves, and that — again, the investment requirement is heavy, so

it is difficult for one person to — however, let us see if we here would lead the charge and

encourage people to come into the processing

of cocoa. If all of us put our heads together and

do it, it would be an ingenious approach if some

of us here would come together as partners to

go into cocoa processing. Probably, our

capacities and backgrounds would be insurance

to be able to secure investable capital.

Mr Speaker, the problem is with Ghanaians.

We must take the opportunity as presented;

otherwise, the foreigners who come here to

take the opportunity would profit from the

cocoa industry.

Mr Speaker, with these words, I thank you

very much for the opportunity to contribute.

Very well.
Mr Eric Opoku — rose —

Mr Eric
Opoku, because you heard about cocoa, you
rushed in. [Laughter] I saw you coming,
running, because you heard about cocoa. Let us
hear you.

Mr Speaker, first and foremost, I
would like to thank the Hon Chairman of the
Committee and, indeed, the entire Committee
for the fair and objective assessment of the
performance of COCOBOD in recent times.
Specifically, this Report covers the period
between 2019 and 2020. These are issues that
have been raised on the floor of this House on
countless occasions.
Mr Speaker, the Report indicates that
currently, the liabilities of COCOBOD exceed
current assets. That is a dangerous position. It
is an indication that they have liquidity
challenges, and therefore, they are unable to
pay those who supply them goods that must be
paid within 12 months. That explains why in
this House, we approved a syndicated facility
of US$1.3 billion for them to purchase cocoa
from our cocoa farmers, but they ended up
crediting the cocoa from the licensed buying
companies without paying them because their
liabilities exceed their assets. That is the true
position of COCOBOD now, and that is
dangerous.
Mr Speaker, the Report indicates that
consistently for five years, they have been
incurring losses. Why would they manage a
business like that? For five solid years, they
have never made GH₵1.00 as profit. They are running at a loss, and the company is now
overburdened with debts to the extent that the
Committee is recommending immediate
Government intervention, otherwise
COCOBOD would have challenges meeting
their obligations this year. This is a situation
that warrants immediate attention.
Mr Speaker, Hon Andy Appiah-Kubi spoke
about cocoa processing. That is very important,
but we can only process the cocoa when we
have produced it. We are told that in 2021, the
total cocoa output was 683,000 metric tons, and
Ghana collateralised 640,000 metric tons,
leaving us just 43,000 metric tons. Out of the
43,000 tons, 30,000 metric tons must be used
to service the Chinese facility we took for the
Bui Dam. So, Ghana is left with 13,000 metric
tons. We have a cocoa processing capacity of
286,000 tons of cocoa; yet, we are able to have
only 13,000 metric tons available. How then
are the companies going to function? They are
now importing cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire to
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

process in Ghana, and that adds to the pressure

on the exchange rate that we are experiencing.

If COCOBOD is not managed effectively, it

affects the exchange rate and the entire

economy of our nation, and that is what we are

witnessing now.

Mr Speaker, is it not surprising to you that

the law that established COCOBOD, under

Section 27 (3), provides that at the end of every

year, the Board of Directors should determine

an amount to be paid to cocoa producers as

bonus, and for the past five years, no cocoa

farmer in this country has been paid a bonus?

We are told that the company is running at a

loss, so where would they get the bonus from?

If the producers of the cocoa, for the sake of

whom we have recruited people to manage an

office cannot be paid bonus, what about the

staff? Why do they pay themselves bonuses?

They are pushing the resources to the office

meanwhile the cocoa is not grown in the office.

The farmers have been deprived of all the

resources that they are entitled to, and the

people at the company pay themselves bonuses

for running at a loss.

Mr Speaker, this is a serious matter, and

Parliament, representing the people of this

country and pursuing the interests of this

nation, must take the necessary actions to

remedy the situation because it is bad. It has

never happened anywhere that one would run a

company, incur losses every year for five years,

and decide that for two years, 2019-2020, they

would pay their staff bonuses for working for

them to incur losses. Something must be done

to these people. The level of mismanagement is

unknown to cocoa history in this country, and

if we allow this to continue, COCOBOD will

collapse. If Government of Ghana does not

intervene, how are they going to buy cocoa this

year? We have approved a facility for them,

US$1.3 billion again for them to go and buy

cocoa in the 2022/2023 cocoa season. The

money has been given to them, but they have

liabilities. The debtors are on them; they have

to pay them. So, instead of using the monies to

pay the farmers, they are compelled to use these

monies to pay their debtors. We see the cocoa

farmers crying every day that, yes, they have

produced the cocoa, but they are not being paid.

We are the representatives of the people and

we have to defend the people at all times.

Mr Speaker, I read the Report of the

Auditor-General for the year 2021, and the

Auditor-General reported that four-

activity funds have been depleted in

COCOBOD. One, is the welfare fund.

Under the COCOBOD law, we are to

establish the welfare fund and to deposit

some amount from the profit that we make

from cocoa to take care of farmers' interests. When the National Democratic

Congress (NDC) was exiting office, we

had more than GH₵60 million according to the Report of the Auditor-General in the

four-activity funds. However, because we

have been incurring losses for five years,

the funds have been depleted and

according to the Auditor-General, the

accounts cannot even be traced.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh — rose —

Hon Eric
Opoku, hold on. Let me listen to the Hon
Majority Chief Whip.

Mr Speaker, I
heard my Hon Good Friend, Mr Eric
Opoku talk about the Report of the
Auditor-General when NDC was leaving
power. Could he be specific? I would like
to reference and check. Could he reference
the specific Report of the Auditor-General
Report he is speaking to?

Very well.
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

Hon Member, I hope you got the question.

Mr Speaker, I believe I
mentioned the year 2021. The Hon Majority
Chief Whip could take note and refer to it. The
Auditor-General said that for all the four
activity funds, when they audited the accounts,
the funds had depleted, and they cannot even
trace the accounts now. Do we have the reason
for this? The law says that when we make
profits, 10 per cent of the profits should be
shared into the four accounts. For the five years
that we are incurring losses, we have not
deposited a pesewa into those funds, and that is
why the funds have collapsed and they have
depleted what they inherited.
Mr Speaker, I stated on the Floor that under
Cocoa Roads, COCOBOD has awarded
contracts amounting to GH₵13.6 billion as of December 2021 and when we read the Budget,
they committed GH₵480 million in 2020, and GH₵400 million in 2021. can you imagine? They awarded a contract of GH₵13.6 billion and for two years, we have allocated GH₵880 million to pay a GH₵13.6 billion debt. Strangely, some of the cocoa contracts that
COCOBOD awarded here in Ghana was
awarded in dollars. Why should this happen?
Something is wrong everywhere in this country
and it must be corrected by this House.
Therefore, as the exchange rate increases, the
value of the contracts go up. Now the
contractors have abandoned sites because they
are not getting payments, and looking at the
current situation of COCOBOD, they cannot
pay. Even the bailout the Committee is
recommending, I believe that they should look
for a bigger bailout because in the year 2018,
they had similar challenges. In the year 2018,
the Ministry of Finance released GH₵176 million to bail them out, yet they compounded
the challenge. Something is wrong and this
House must be up and doing.
Mr Speaker, I have seen the Hon Majority
Chief Whip signalling you to ask me to wind-
up, but it is important for all of us to understand
that the collapse of COCOBOD will affect the
Ghanaian economy seriously. It is a subsector
that employs over two million Ghanaians and
look at the quantum of money that COCOBOD
brings into this economy on annual basis.
Therefore, if we mismanage this company this
way and flitter away resources which should
have gone to the benefit of the cocoa farmers,
obviously, we are destroying the nation.
Mr Speaker, I would urge you with all the
powers at your disposal to take a decision that
will compel COCOBOD to do the right thing,
so that at the end of the day, Ghanaians would
benefit from their activities and not continue to
lose resources as it is happening.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity.

Yes, Hon
Chairman of the Committee on Food,
Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs?
Chairman of the Committee (Mr John
Frimpong Osei): Mr Speaker, I must
commend my Hon Colleague, Hon Eric Opoku,
who is the Ranking Member of the Committee,
for coming up with a lot of information this
afternoon.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague would bear
with me that at the recent meeting during the
approval of the syndication and all that, some
of these issues were tabled before COCOBOD,
and the Committee requested COCOBOD to
submit information to this effect. As we speak,
because Parliament was on recess, the Report
has not been submitted to us. So I would
implore the House to tell my Hon Colleague,
Mr Eric Opoku, to wait till the Report is laid
before he comes up with some of this
information. As the Hon Majority Chief Whip
said — he requested for some sources.
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

They have a lot of information to deliver to

the Committee and I am the Chairman of the

Committee -- [Interruption] I am not speaking to the Report, on point of order — [Interruption] — The Hon Ranking Member was saying things out of the Report. It was

referred to the Committee from this same

House that we should look into those things and

report, so he is speaking outside this Report and

that is what I am saying. The Hon Ranking

Member must come back to the Committee for

us to digest and finish with the Report before

he comes to talk about this Report.

Very well.
On that note, I would put the question.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh — rose —

Hon Majority
Chief Whip, would you like to contribute?

Mr Speaker, I had
earlier signalled that I wanted to contribute but
I have changed my mind and I am yielding to
the Hon Minister for the Western Region.

Very well —
Mr Alex Adomako-Mensah, Hon Member,
please be brief.

Mr Speaker, I believe
a lot has been said about the high indirect cost
raining by the gross margin of 18 per cent to six
per cent. When we look at page 34, we observe
that the Government of Ghana was owing
COCOBOD to the tune of GH₵2.1 billion as of the end of 2020 financial year. Therefore, if this
amount is cleared, I believe COCOBOD could
be a little bit sound.
Mr Speaker, we also observed that as Mr
Eric Opoku said, they rely so much on
syndicated loans. I believe that it would be
better if there was a certificate of urgency to
establish a policy to set up a sinking fund
to get money to purchase our own cocoa
than looking for a syndicated loan every
year.
Mr Speaker, we discussed bonuses.
We pay bonuses against the profit and
performance but it looks like it is a
company policy that they have to pay the
workers because it is part of their
conditions of service. This one has to be
looked at to see how far we can establish
it, so that we go more commercially than
looking at the collective agreement.
Once we find out that the short -term
liability exceeds the short -term asserts,
it means that COCOBOD is effectively
providing a short-term financing to
debtors, so why does the company
continue to pay interest on a short -term
borrowing? Therefore, the Government
has to intervene to settle COCOBOD.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I
support the Motion.

Very
well.
Let me finally come to the Western
Regional Minister, whose Region cocoa
is produced most.

Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah

(NPP — Takoradi): Mr Speaker, you know that I am a son of a cocoa farmer,

and I am happy this issue has come up.

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

Mr Speaker, if we look at the processed

beans of just about two percent, I believe that

is one area COCOBOD would have to look at

critically to do it. Their partnership with Waste

Management Corporation Limited (WAMCO)

is yielding very good results. In fact, they have

been making profits in the last four years.

Mr Speaker, furthermore, page 8 of the

Report talks about the inability of COCOBOD

to manage the own receivables, which has

jumped from GH₵4 billion to GH₵6 billion. Clearly, this is one area I believe that

COCOBOD would have to do a lot of work on.

If they are able to do a lot of work there, I

believe that they would be able to take care of

their problems. In fact, I believe that it is time

the Ministry of Finance does whatever it takes

to take care of the government part of these

receivables that have been accruing at

COCOBOD over the period.

Mr Speaker, I believe that since cocoa is a

regenerating plant, it can continue to support

this country in going forward. However, I also

believe that we have to start looking at the

modules that La Côte d'Ivoire is using, whether

that private arrangement in cocoa production is

also doable in this country. This is because if

we look at the going concern issue that was

raised, whether COCOBOD was very viable,

the statement there is that using the ultima

multivariate discriminant analysis, the going

concern prospect of COCOBOD is low.

Therefore, I do believe that we need to start

looking at other modules and see how we could

use that to improve the operations of

COCOBOD.

Mr Speaker, however, in fact, if we look at

the amount of moneys in their receivables, I

believe that COCOBOD is viable and has been

managed well over the period. Inconsistency of

COVID-19 has also created a problem for

COCOBOD in the last two years and I believe

that if we give them more chance, they would

be able to do better than they are doing.

Mr Speaker, on this note, I would like to

thank you for the opportunity.

Very well.
Hon Members, I believe that Ghana is cocoa
and cocoa is Ghana. So, I think that we have to
take a critical look at the industry. I know some
of the industries that are looking for cocoa
beans to process and it is becoming difficult for
them to get cocoa beans. So, I think that
COCOBOD should take a critical look at some
of the discussions and the issues that have been
raised in the House critically.
Question put and Motion agreed to.

Hon
Members, can we now take the item numbered
8?

Mr Speaker, we are
ready for the item numbered 8.

May I invite
you to the item numbered 8, on page 3 of the
Order Paper.
Audited Financial Statement of GridCo for
2019 and 2020 Financial Years
Chairman of the Committee (Mr Philip
Basoah): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that this
honourable House adopts the Report of the
Committee on Employment, Social Welfare
and State Enterprises on the audited financial
statement of Ghana Grid Company (GridCo)
for the 2019 and 2020 financial years.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I present your
Committee's Report.
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of Ghana Cocoa Board for 2019 and 2020

Report of the Committee on Employment,

Social Welfare and State Enterprises on the

Audited Financial Statement of the Ghana

Grid Company (GRIDCo) for the Years

Introduction

1. The Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises having been

authorised pursuant to Orders 184 and

192(2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament

to ‘review and study on a continuing basis the operation of State Enterprises with a

view to determining their economy and

efficiency', considered the performance of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) for the

2019 and 2020 financial years and presents

its report as follows:

2. The Committee met on 10th May 2022 and considered the reports of GRIDCo. The

Management of GRIDCo was present at the

meeting.

3. The Committee is grateful to the Hon. Minister for Public Enterprises, Mr Joseph Cudjoe, the

Director-General of the State Interest and

Governance Authority (SIGA), officials from

SIGA, and officials from GRIDCo for their

attendance and for assisting the Committee in

its deliberations.

Reference

4. The Committee referred to the following documents during its deliberations:

i. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana

ii.The Public Financial Management

Act, 2016 (Act 921)

iii.The Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act

584)

iv.The Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003

(Act 658)

v.The Standing Orders of the Parliament

of Ghana

vi.The 2020 State Ownership Report

Audited Financial Statement of

GRIDCo for the year 31st December

2019

vii.Audited Financial Statement of

GRIDCo for the year 31st December

2020.

Methodology

5. The Report presents a financial appraisal of GRIDCo using the financial performance

data presented in the Company's Audited Financial Statements. The objectives of the

financial performance of GRIDCo are in

accordance with Article 103 (3) of the

Constitution and Order 184 of the Standing

Orders, which requires the Committee to

examine the reports and accounts of public

enterprises and in the context of their

autonomy and efficiency whether their

operations are being managed in

accordance with sound business principles

and prudent commercial practices.

6. In exercising this oversight function, the Committee looked at the financial health,

solvency, the risks attached to the financial

structure, and the returns generated for the

Ghanaian State as a shareholder.

Background

7. The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) was incorporated in 2006 to provide high-

capacity power transmission services. The

Company is a private limited liability

Company wholly owned by the

Government of Ghana.

8. The main functions of GRIDCO are to:

i. Undertake economic dispatch and transmission of electricity from

wholesale suppliers to bulk customers,

which include Electricity Company of

Ghana (ECG), Northern Electricity

Distribution Company (NEDCo), Volta

Aluminium Company Limited

(VALCO), Enclave Power and the

mines.

ii. Provide fair and non-discriminatory transmission services to power market

participants.

iii. Acquire and manage assets, facilities and systems required to transmit high

voltage electrical energy, and

iv. Provide metering and billing services to bulk customers.

Financial Performance

Revenue and Cost Analysis

9. GRIDCo generate revenue primarily from the transmission of electricity to its bulk

customers and utility companies within the

country, representing an average of 98 per

cent of total revenue. The Company also

earns revenue from leasing its excess dark

and light fibre capabilities, representing

some 2 per cent of total revenue over the

period.

10. During the period under review, gross revenue grew by 137.1 per cent, from

GH₵495.7 million in 2018 to GH₵1175.5 million in 2020. Revenue growth was

driven by a bulk transmission which

increased from 15960GWH in 2018 to

18670GWH in 2020, an increase of 17 per

cent. The revenue increase was partly

attributed to possible adjustment in

Transmission Service Charge (TSC) during

the period.

11. Related parties contributed an average of 77 per cent of total revenue during the period,

while local sales revenue was 87 per cent of

total revenue. Export revenue averaged 13

per cent of total revenue during the period.

12. Direct costs were 75 per cent of gross sales in 2018, but declined significantly to 27per

cent in 2020 as a result of higher revenue

growth. The contribution of transmission

losses to direct costs declined from 14 per

cent in 2018 to 8 per cent in 2020. Staff

costs increased from 27.1 per cent of total

direct costs in 2018 to 41.3 per cent in

2020.

13. Administrative expenses were high, increasing from 15.2 per cent of total

revenue in 2018 to 35 per cent of total

revenue in 2020, accounting for an average

of 35 per cent of gross sales. As a result of

high borrowings, finance costs constituted

35 per cent , 34 per cent and 10 per cent of

total revenue in 2018, 2019 and 2020,

respectively, of which exchange loss on

borrowings accounted for over 50 per cent

of total financing costs.

Profitability

14. GRIDCo's gross earnings grew by over 400 per cent over the period from GH₵122.5 million in 2018 to GH₵855.9 million in 2020 due to higher revenue growth and

declining direct costs. Gross profit margins

averaged 49.5 per cent during the 2018-

2022 period, performing well above the

industry of 23.10 per cent.

15. As a result of high administrative expenses, the recorded losses in all the years under

consideration. Net losses were (GH₵104 million), (GH₵44.9 million), and (GH₵182.2 million) in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years. Company, 2019/2020

16. The Company's average net loss after tax of (3.8 per cent) was slightly higher than the

industry average of negative (2.8 per cent )

over the period.

17. Return on equity and capital employed however improved significantly from

negative (6 per cent ) and (4.5) in 2018 to

positive 7.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent in 2020

respectively.

Liquidity and Efficiency

18. GRIDCo's liquidity position was challenged by high short-term borrowing and

accumulation of trade payables, which led to

high short-term obligations compared with

short-term assets. Over time, the Company's capacity to meet its short-term obligations to

creditors was diminished. Current liabilities

exceeded current assets by an average of 120

per cent , improving slightly by the year

2020. For example, trade and other payables

constituted about 70 per cent of total

liabilities between 2018 and 2019 and the

quality of trade receivables which constituted

about 80 per cent of the Company's current assets, was challenged by impairment

provisions of almost 40 per cent .

19. GRIDCo's receivables collection days of an average of 445 days was higher than the

industry average of 321 days. It took

GRIDCo over two years on average to

honour its short-term obligations against the

industry average of 1 year.

Solvency Assessment

20. The performance data indicates that GRIDCo is a highly leveraged company with a debt-to-

equity ratio of over 50 per cent and a capital

gearing ratio of an average of 37 per cent. As

a result, the Company incurred a significant

amount of finance costs during the period,

increasing from GH₵175 million in 2018 to GH₵250.8 million in 2019, declining to GH₵127.8 million in 2020. The Company's debt to equity ratio of 50 per cent is higher than the industry average of

40 per cent .

Going Concern Assessment

21. The going concern assessment of GRIDCo does not paint a good picture due to the

Company's string of losses over the years and the rapid accumulation of both short-

and long-term debt.

22. The amount of debt in the capital structure increased from 17 per cent in 2010 to 51

per cent in 2020. Using the Altman

Corporate failure Prediction Model,

GRIDCo's going concern prospects look bleak without Government intervention.

Observations

The Impact of the Agence Française de

Dévelopement (AFD) Loans on GRIDCo

Operations.

23. The Committee wanted to know the impact of the Agence Française de Development

(AFD) Loans on GRIDCo's operations and whether the loan was being serviced. It

emerged that the facility was being serviced

with difficulty leading to the Government,

as the Company's sole shareholder, stepping in at a point to ensure full

servicing.

24. The Government has instituted an escrow account arrangement to ensure monthly

payments into the Debt Service Account.

The Committee was informed that the

current arrangement has made it possible

for the debt service obligation to be met as and

when due.

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

25. The Committee is also concerned about the repayment and treatment of the AFD loan on

the Company's financial health. The Committee is of the view that the Ministry of

Finance should offset the calculated Energy

Sector Levy Act (ESLA) payment due to the

GRIDCo against the balance of the loan to

free the books of the Company with the

agreed amount. In addition, the Ministry of

Finance should robustly implement the Inter-

Agency Clearing House arrangement to clear

up debts that can be taken off the balance

sheet of energy sector agencies.

ESLA Payments

26. It was noted that ECG and NEDCo owe GRIDCo, although they are supposed to be a

beneficiary of the ESLA. As to how much

ESLA payments the Company had received,

the Company stated that an amount of US$13

million has been paid so far. According to

them, the amount had been used to settle

some outstanding obligations. The

Committee was informed GRIDCo is

expecting an additional amount of US$32

million as payment from ESLA.

Cash Waterfall Receipts

27. The Committee was informed that notwithstanding the improvement in receipts

from revenue bills from the Cash Waterfall

Mechanism now in place, the Company is

only receiving Fifty-Four per cent (54 per

cent) of payments chargeable to ECG under

the arrangement.

Allowable Transmission Loss

28. On the issue of allowable transmission losses, although the current acceptable transmission

loss under the Public Utility Regulatory

Commission (PURC) pricing formula for the

Company is 4.1 per cent. Currently, the

Company is doing 4.5 per cent, with 0.4 per

cent above what is allowed as a direct cost to

the Company. Asked how management plans

to reduce it downwards, the Committee was

informed that the PURC had asked them to

provide a detailed report, and they will provide

the Committee with the strategy when

completed.

Losses and impairment

29. It was observed that the Company had an impairment provision of GH₵75 million in 2019 and GH₵ 320 million in 2020. As to what had accounted for these huge

impairment provisions, the Committee was

informed that the impairment arose from the

non-payment of bills payable by its State-

owned Customers.

30. For FY 2019 and FY 2020, the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) had

come into force, the treatment and calculation

of impairment had changed, and GRIDCo had

become compliant regarding expected credit

loss on the receivables. Furthermore, the

calculation takes into consideration the

revenues, which also increased. A higher

revenue of GH₵1.2 billion ramped up the impairment provision.

Increase Financial Cost

31. The Committee observed that financial cost and exchange losses on borrowings increased

from GH₵209,921.00 in 2019 to GH₵92,222,000.00 in 2020. The Company explained that the cost had risen because of the

Ghana cedi's depreciation since the Company's loans are all in foreign currencies. According to them, any time the cedi loses

value, it has an implication on the financial

cost. Note 14 of FY 2020 indicates otherwise.

The total finance cost for 2020 was GH₵127.8 million against GH₵250.8 million in 2019.

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

32. As to what financial tool management intends to adopt to minimise the exchange losses in the

Ghanaian economy, the Company stated that

going forward, they will ensure that

borrowings are done as much as possible in

cedis to minimise the risk and exposures.

Regarding loans already denominated in

dollars, the Company had decided to use the

proceeds from its export revenue which is in

dollars, to offset its dollar-denominated loans.

Corporate tax liability

33. The Committee was informed that GRIDCo has an accumulated corporate tax liability of

over GH₵200 million which arose out of profits declared in the past. The tax liability is

based on revenues that have never been

received, particularly from ECG, NEDCo and

VALCO. The Ministry of Finance, through

the Inter-company Debt Clearing House

arrangement, is helping to resolve the

situation. The Committee sees the current

arrangement as a one-off and urges the Board

and Management and the Ghana Revenue

Authority to find a lasting solution to the

problem.

Creditors

34. The Committee observed that GRIDCo owes VRA GH₵455,672,000.00 and PURC GH₵552,228,000.00 by the end of the 2020 Financial Year. Regarding when GRIDCo

will settle its indebtedness, the Company

stated that it is part of the items being

discussed at the Ministry of Finance forum

since ECG also owed GRIDCo the amount of

GH₵1,367,161,000.00 as of the end of the same financial year with NEDCo owing

GH₵305,086,000.00 and VALCO GH₵280,516,000.00 among others.

Export of Power

35. On the issue of the impact of international export on anticipated growth in business,

the Committee was informed that currently,

an export component of the business is

about 9-10 per cent of the Company's total revenues. GRIDCo estimates that a 10 per

cent organic growth will be achieved year

on year. With respect to the export of

power, the Committee was informed that

the World Bank is facilitating a framework

and that there is a huge opportunity to make

profit for the Company. GRIDCo is

currently working on La Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea's (CLSG) power interconnection, which

requires GRIDCo to supply power to these

countries. Already, there is an agreement

with La Cote d'Ivoire to supply 100 megawatts. The World Bank is also

facilitating an interconnecting agreement

with Mali.

36. The Committee observed, however, that although there exists an excellent

opportunity to supply additional power to

neighbouring countries, the Company is

constrained in its ability to respond due to

under-investment in transmission

infrastructure. The current demand for

power to Burkina Faso is in excess of

250MW, but because of a challenge of

faulty transformers, GRIDCo is only able to

wheel a maximum of 170 MW.

37. Asked how Ghanaians would be insulated from the negative effect of the

interconnectivity arrangement with the

increasing export market, the Committee

was informed that several strategies to

mitigate the effect of interconnectivity are

being considered. GRIDCo is replacing

pure autotransformers with phase shifting

ones that limit the grid's direction of the fault. The Company is further putting in

Static Var Compensators (SVC) at the

nodal points to improve the dynamic

performance of the grid; that is the time it

will take to respond to fault if it happens.

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Further, the system will be fitted with a

maximum decoupling relay with time

stamps, isolating the internal grid from

challenges from interconnected partner

systems.

Late Preparation of Accounts

38. The Committee observed that GRIDCo was in breach of the Companies Act, the Public

Finance Management Act and international

best practices in signing its annual account.

The 2020 account was signed off on 6th April

2022. The timely presentation of accounts is

sine qua non to good corporate governance.

Cash Flow Challenges

39. The Committee observed that cash flow was a major challenge for the Company. While

the Committee appreciates the Company's return to profit, the liquidity position is still

nothing to write about. This is reflected in the

Company carrying a total of GH₵1.55 billion current assets against a total of GH₵1.959

billion in current liabilities at the end of

FY2020. The causal reason here is the poor

collection rate of receivables. The Grid

Company is currently collecting only 55 per

cent of its receivables, even with the Cash

Waterfall Mechanism regulating ECG

payments.

40. The fundamental challenge is ECG's inability to collect enough to meet its

obligations. The cascading effect of this

underpayment puts the whole power sector in

distress. The high level of non-payment,

about 45 per cent of all receivables, has had

and will continue to have a huge impact on

the Company's profitability, especially with the adoption of the IFRS. The jump in

impairment provision from GH₵75 million in 2019 to GH₵320 million in 2020 crystalises this ailment.

The Committee recommends to the House for the

approval of this Report.

Respecfully submitted.

1.0 Annexure

Table 1: Summary Financial Statements

Financial Performance

Income Statement for the period to 31st December: 2018 2019 2020 Ghc'000 Ghc'001 Ghc'002

Revenue 495,709 733,960 1,175,521

Cost of Revenue 373,151 337,339 319,584

Gross Profit/(Loss) 122,558 396,621 855,937

Operating Profit/(Loss) 9,545 192,467 396,249

Profit/(Loss) Before Tax (164,401) (53,964) 27,704

Profit/(Loss) After Tax (104,571) (44,851) 182,279

Financial Position as at 31st December. 2018 2019 2020

Total Assets 5,444,228 6,145,998 6,659,541

Total Liabilities 3,698,350 3,870,571 4,079,001

Net Assets 1,745,878 2,275,427 2,580,540

Equity 1,745,878 2,275,427 2,580,540

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Cashflow Statement as at 31 Dec. 2018 2019 2020

Operating Activities 589,333 353,754 160,613

Investing Activities(used)/generated

(602,029) (153,951)

(78,962)

Financing Activities(used)/generated 31,247 (25,323) 68,823

Total Cash & Cash Equivalents at end of Year 187,395 118,246 256,443

Table 2: Basic Performance Ratios

Basic Performance Ratios:

Profitability Analysis 2018 2019 2020

Gross Profit/ (loss) Margin (%) 25 54 73

Operating Profit/ (Loss) Margin (%) 1.9 26.2 33.7

Net Profit/ (Loss) Margin (%) (0.2) (0.1) 0.2

Return on Equity (%) (6.0) (2.0) 7.1

Return on Capital Employed (%) (4.5) (1.4) 0.6

Liquidity Analysis 2018 2019 2020

Current Ratio(Times) 0.49 0.51 0.80

Quick Ratio(Times) 0.48 0.50 0.79

Cost of Sales Ratio (%) 75.3 46.0 27.2

Operational Efficiency Analysis 2018 2019 2020

Inventory Turnover(Times) 19.2 19.2 20.4

Fixed Asset Turnover 0.14 0.19 0.25

Accounts Receivables Recovery Days 470 467 400

Accounts Payable Days 1,231 1,621 1,592

Solvency Analysis 2018 2019 2020

Capital Gearing Ratio (%) 37 31 35

Debt-to-Equity Ratio (%) 67 54 63

Interest Cover(Times) (0.60) (0.18) 1.43

Going Concern Analysis Multiple Discriminant Analysis(MDA) 2018 2019 2020

X1=Working Capital/Total Assets (0.20) (0.21) (0.07)

X2=Retained Earnings/Total Assets 0.08 0.08 0.12

X3=EBIT/Total Assets (0.10) (0.03) 0.01

X4=Market Value of Equity/Total

Liabilities 0.32 0.35 0.38

X5=Sales/Total Assets 0.09 0.12 0.18

TOTAL SCORE 0.20 0.31 0.62

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Table 3: Profitability Indicators

VRA GRIDCo ECG

Profitability Indicator

Gross

Profit

Margin

(%)

Net

Profit

Margin

(%)

Gross

Profit

Margin

(%)

Net

Profit

Margin

(%)

Gross

Profit

Margin(%)

Net Profit

Margin(%)

2010 17.57 10.33 46.35 22.33 16.2 -3.30

2011 27.38 15.33 51.36 34.52 12.2 1.00

2012 5.33 -0.42 37.84 23.74 10.3 -4.20

2013 19.59 14.07 38.82 3.94 10.5 -6.70

2014 26.61 27.57 39.21 -5.90 13.0 -1.30

2015 6.56 -57.74 44.89 -2.33 7.6 -0.90

2016 -5.08 -51.5 49.14 -2.72 19.3 -5.60

2017 5.76 -16.35 50.57 -11.82 3.40 -4.80

Average 103.72 -58.71 358.18 61.76 92.5 -25.80

12.97 -7.34 44.77 7.72 11.56 -3.23

Industry Average(GPM) 23.10%

Industry Average(NPM) -2.84%

VRA GRIDCo ECG

Liquidity Indicators

Current

ratio

Quick

ratio

Current

ratio

Quick

ratio

Current

ratio

Quick

ratio

2010 2.32 1.91 2.54 2.44 1.5 0.35

2011 2.48 1.93 2.61 2.49 0.92 0.03

2012 1.91 1.75 3.69 3.56 0.79 0.03

2013 1.62 1.45 2.7 2.63 0.65 0.02

2014 1.35 1.14 1.89 1.84 0.71 0.02

2015 1.38 1.31 1.3 1.26 0.59 0.01

2016 1.99 1.9 1 0.98 0.74 0.01

2017 2.3 2.2 0.97 0.96 0.76 0.01

Average 1.92 1.7 2.09 2.02 0.83 0.06

Industry

Average(Current Ratio) 1.61

Industry Average(Quick

Ratio) 1.26

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Efficiency

VRA GRIDCo ECG

Average

Collection

Period

Average

Payment

Period

Average

Collection

Period

Average

Payment

Period

Average

Collection

Period

Average

Payment

Period

2010 201 188 176 317 213 217

2011 218 451 220 550 154 206

2012 252 210 204 111 149 219

2013 319 380 289 324 199 351

2014 441 528 340 637 233 377

2015 603 214 361 728 278 501

2017 732 111 510 833 315 436

Average 424 272 311 606 228 338

Industry Average

Collections period 321

Industry Average

Payment period 405.46

Hon Ranking
Member, Dr Kwabena Donkor, you may kindly
speak.
Ranking Member (Dr Kwabena Donkor): Mr
Speaker, I beg to second the Motion on the Floor.
However, in doing so, I would like to raise very
fundamental issues about corporate governance in
this country.
Mr Speaker, the audited reports which were
presented to the Committee were presented either
directly by the Auditor-General or under the
instructions of the Auditor-General. That raises a
fundamental issue of legality and illegality of the
audit. We are talking about GRIDCo, a limited
liability company.
Mr Speaker, if we look at article 187(2) of the
1992 Constitution that empowers the Auditor-
General to carry out audit, that power does not
include the power to audit companies. With your
kind permission, I would like to read article 187 (2)
for emphasis:
“The public accounts of Ghana and of all public offices, including the
courts, the central and local
government administrations, of the
Universities and public institutions
of like nature, of any public
corporation or other body or
organisation established by an Act
of Parliament shall be audited and
reported on by the Auditor-
General.”
Mr Speaker, this article, again, finds expression
in the Audit Service Act (Act 584), Section 11. It
does not clothe the Auditor-General with the power
to audit, companies. The Ghanaian state has been
derelict, and that includes this very House.
Mr Speaker, at the time the Constitution was
promulgated, a number of these companies were
corporations. We passed an act in this House,
turning them into companies, but we failed to
amend the Auditor-General's Act to give the Auditor-General power to audit state-owned
companies. Therefore, the Auditor-General is just
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

exercising powers that he does not have; he is not

clothed with that power.

Mr Speaker, this is so fundamental that I would

want it raised on the Floor, and indeed, I have filed

an Urgent Question to the Attorney-General and

Minister for Justice as to why he has not brought an

amendment to amend the Audit Service Act to give

the Auditor-General the power to audit state-owned

companies.

Mr Speaker, this is fundamental, and this is

the prelude to my comments on the Grid

Company of Ghana.

Mr Speaker, it is so serious that I plead with

the Speakership and the Leadership of this

House to take note of that and correct it. We

believe that corporate governance in this

country must be by law. The power of the

Auditor-General to audit state-owned

companies must be based on the framework of

law; the Auditor General has no such powers as

of today. I am happy the Hon Deputy Majority

Leader of the House is in the Chamber, and he

is a senior member of the Ghana Bar

Association, not the chop bar but the proper

Bar, by profession. I would want Leadership to

take note of this so that going forward, as we

improve on corporate governance, we would

stay within the limits of the law.

Mr Speaker, having said that, I also want to

look at the Report before us. For the years

2018, 2019, and 2020, the Grid Company of

Ghana incurred net losses. This is symptomatic

of a broader trend, in that we are 54 per cent,

and indeed, some estimates say that 56 per cent

of the assets of the Ghanaian state are in the

hands of state-owned enterprises, and 90 per

cent or more of these enterprises are

continuously making losses. Therefore, it is not

surprising that the micro economy of the

Ghanaian state finds itself where it is. These

entities are not contributing to the consolidated

fund. Indeed, the capital of the state invested in

them is being withered away by the continuous

losses they make.

Mr Speaker, we also have a situation, and

this is captured vividly in paragraph 18 of our

Report, where GRIDCo's capacity to meet its short term obligations is undermined by its

losses. GRIDCo is also unable to meet its short-

term obligations from its short-term assets.

There is a mismatch, and this is exacerbated by

the cash flow challenges of GRIDCo.

Mr Speaker, the cash-water-fall mechanism

was introduced to improve the distribution of

revenue arising out of the sale of electricity.

When an entity is receiving only 55 per cent of

what it is owed, it would be challenged when it

comes to cash flow. Due to this, GRIDCo is

symptomatic of the challenge that the energy

sector, particularly the power sector, is going

through — serious liquidity problems.

Mr Speaker, these issues should be taken

very seriously by this House. Therefore, it is

also not surprising that Grid Company is

undercapitalised. GRIDCo in paragraph 27 is

receiving only 55 per cent of what it is owed by

the Electricity Company of Ghana. The least

said about NEDCo the better.

Mr Speaker, there are opportunities for

GRIDCo. It is increasingly increasing its

revenue, and that is in the export of power. This

is one bright spot that this House should

encourage the Management of GRIDCo and

indeed, the power sector as a whole. There is a

big market for power export in the sub-region,

and this is captured in paragraph 35 of the

Report. There is a good export market out

there; we are unable to meet the demands for

the export of power in Burkina Faso. There are

indications that Mali would also want to import

power from Ghana. So, there are business

opportunities there, but the opportunities would

have to be taken up by GRIDCo and other

players in the power sector.

Mr Speaker, I also want to draw the attention

of this House to the late preparation of

accounts. GRIDCo is registered as a limited

liability company — going by the company's code, going by the Public Financial

Management Act, 2016 (PFMA) Act 921, and

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

going by good corporate governance, entities

are expected to have their audited account

within a maximum of six months.

Mr Speaker, about 80 per cent, if not 90 per

cent, of all the companies your Committee has

dealt with are unable to present audited

accounts within the stipulated period — this is a serious indictment on corporate governance.

Mr Speaker, for lack of time, I would like to

bring my submission to an end and support the

Motion on the Floor.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Very well.
I would call the Hon Member from Manso-
Nkwanta.
Mr George Kwabena Obeng Takyi (NPP
—Manso Nkwanta): Mr Speaker, I thank you. I want to make my contribution to the Motion
by referring to the main function of GRIDCo
—

Hon
Member, why would you not contribute from
your seat so that you would be recorded as
such?

I am in the small corner
over there —

If you are not
careful, your contribution would not be
recorded in the Hansard as coming from the
Hon Member for Manso Nkwanta, but rather, it
would be recorded in the name of the one from
whose chair you are speaking. I want your
name to appear.
Yes, let us hear you. Even though the —

I wanted to be closer to
my Committee Chairman.
Mr Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I want to
make reference to the main function of
GRIDCo. Paragraph 8 of the Report says that
GRIDCO is to:
“8(i) Undertake economic dispatch and transmission of
electricity from wholesale
suppliers to bulk customers,
which include the Electricity
Company of Ghana, Northern
Electricity Distribution
Company, VALCO, Enclave
Power, and the mines.
ii. Provide fair and non-
discriminatory transmission
services to power market
participants.”
Mr Speaker, GRIDCo is doing well. When
you look at the financial report that they
submitted to the Committee, GRIDCo in
paragraph 10 was making 137 per cent in their
operations. That tells us that the company grew
from GH₵495.7million in 2018 to GH₵1,175.5billion in 2020. The revenue growth was driven by a bulk transmission,
which increased from 15,160 watts in 2018 to
18,670 watts. It tells us that GRIDCo has the
capacity to improve and grow. At the same
time, GRIDCo has the capacity to increase its
revenue by over 400 per cent over the period
from GH₵122.5million in 2018 to GH₵855million in 2020 due to higher growth and dealing with direct cost that was also
worked on.
That also shows that GRIDCo has the
opportunity and advantage to grow despite the
fact that GRIDCo has some challenges in terms
of its administrative cost and financial charges.
GRIDCo also had an opportunity to export
more to the West African Zone.

On that basis, we may want to state that

despite the fact of challenges of the financial

cost and administrative expenses, GRIDCo is

encouraged to adopt cost reduction strategies

and make sure that they are exporting to the

West African Zone. And effective cost

Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

management then GRIDCo has the opportunity

in the future to generate more revenue to help

the country's economy. On that note, I would want us to look at the positive eye of GRIDCo

that it has the capacity, chance, and a way to

lead this country into the export business,

where power would be another source of

generating more revenue for the country, rather

than writing off GRIDCo for the challenges

they are facing now.

Mr Speaker, I would want to state that

GRIDCo has the capacity and opportunity, but

we have to inject more funds into it so that it

can take advantage of the export business that

it yearns for. At the same time, the Government

should encourage GRIDCo and those

customers who buy from it to pay competitive

price to sustain the company, to enable it lead

the export drive to improve the country's revenue capacity.

Mr Speaker, on this note, I support the

acceptance of this Report.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity to contribute to this Motion on the
financial statement of GRIDCo for the 2019
and 2020 financial years. Indeed, we could say
that GRIDCO has performed well if we look at
the gross operations. However, as we would see
under paragraph 10 of the Report, and with
your permission, I would want to make that
reference:
“The revenue increase was partly attributed to possible adjustment in
Transmission Service Charge (TSC)
during the period.”
Indeed, the Hon Member who spoke earlier
said,
“… gross revenue grew by 137.1% from GH₵495.7 million in 2018 to GH₵1,175.5 million in 2020.”
If our gross performance is not measured by
our indicators of both direct and administrative
costs, the gains we make in tariff adjustments
and TSC will all go down the drain, and that is
why in spite of growth in gross revenue, we see
losses for the reporting years.
Mr Speaker, it is important to note, as
recorded in paragraph 13, and I wish your
permission would want to read:
“Administrative expenses were high, increasing from 15.2 per cent of total
revenue in 2018 to 35 per cent of total
revenue in 2020, accounting for an
average of 35 per cent of gross sales.
As a result of high borrowings,
finance costs constituted 35 per cent,
34 per cent, and 10 per cent of total
revenue in 2018, 2019, and 2020,
respectively, of which exchange
losses on borrowing accounted for
over 50 per cent of total financing
cost.”
This is where financial engineering,
performance management, and good
governance will help our state institutions to
move from the continuous loss-making state to
better performance, so that we can begin to
show profit in the management of our state
enterprises. This situation is important to me
because it looks like the increasing
administrative cost of our state enterprises is
partially due to high employment numbers.
Whereas we all agree that the agency
responsible for employment is the Youth
Employment Agency (YEA), unfortunately,
we see most of our state enterprises increasing
their staff numbers beyond what would inure to
their better performance. If we have
organisations that are just creating debts and
increasing the numbers — yes, we need employment, but any time we go way above the
numbers required for the operations that we
engage in, administrative, staff and other costs
that are linked to mismanagement will certainly
go up, and that is the situation we see in this
Report.
Mr Speaker, again, I would want to draw the
attention of this House to another worrying
situation in our state enterprises, which has to
do with the late preparation of accounts. That is
worrying to me because we expect the finance
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

and Accounting departments to be responsible

for the reporting of state enterprises. Mr

Speaker, I would want to put on record that

most state enterprises are not preparing their

financial statements as enshrined in the laws - both their parent Acts and the Public Financial

Management Act of this country. I think that

our state enterprises must do well to adhere to

this requirement. I would like to read paragraph

38, which states that:

“The Committee observed that GRIDCo was in breach of the

Companies Act, the Public Financial

Management Act, and international

best practices in signing its annual

account.”

I daresay that this is not a situation that

affects only GRIDCo; many state enterprises

fail to adhere to reporting standards so I think

that going forward, this House, through the

Committee on Employment, Social Welfare

and State Enterprises, must ensure that these

Acts are not violated.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would

want to second the Motion on the floor.

Very well. I
would like to invite the Leadership to briefly
conclude.

Mr Speaker, the Hon
Member who just had a bite said he was
seconding the Motion, but because it has been
seconded already, I just want to draw his
attention so he does the needful.

Mr Speaker, I intended to
support the Motion on the floor. I thank my
Hon senior Colleague.

Hon Deputy
Majority Leader, thank you.

I would like
to conclude. Hon Deputy Majority Leader, are
you yielding yours to the Hon Member? Hon
Member, you have the floor, but please make it
brief.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity to contribute to the Report of the
Committee on Employment, Social Welfare
and State Enterprises with respect to GRIDCo.
Mr Speaker, looking at page 2 of the Report
as presented, the functions of GRIDCo include
transmission of high-capacity power services.
In a way, it has, for the period under discussion,
ensured that our power generation and
transmission has been very good, and it is
highly commendable. However, looking at
page 6 of the Report, in terms of the
impairment, it is my considered view that all
efforts should be made to ensure that the
company collects its due debts timeously so
that it can also meet the expectation of the
people.
The light has been on all this while because
GRIDCo, as a good partner in the power industry, has contributed its best, and we highly recommend
them. However, we would also say that it should
expand their responsibilities towards the
communities that make use of its services. The
issue of metering has been a little challenge to some
communities, especially newly expanded areas.
The company should ensure that it makes metres
available as soon as possible.
With these few words, I pray that this Report of
the Committee would be accepted. Mr Speaker, I
thank you.

Finally, Hon
First Deputy Minority Whip, let us hear you, but I
would also implore you to be brief.

Mr Speaker, I would be very brief.
I have combed through the Report, and I must
commend the leadership of the Committee on
Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises
for doing a good job. This is a reflection that
leadership is cause and everything. There is a total
transformation of the Committee, and I have no
doubt that what Parliament has done — [Interruption]-- I know the leaders: Mr Philip Basoah and Dr Kwabena Donkor.
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Mr Basoah who was the acting Chairman of the

Special Budget Committee was very diligent.

Similarly, in terms of policy, Dr Kwabena Donkor

is an expert, and that combination has given a

facelift to the Committee on Employment, Social

Welfare and State Enterprises, and I believe that

accounts for the reason that Committee is always

on the move now. State Enterprises and Chief

Executive Officers are now looking very sharp,

simply because they are always called to account. I

believe that other Committees must learn from the

good job that the Committee on Employment,

Social Welfare and State Enterprises is doing.

Mr Speaker, I say this because if we look

through the Report, and because time would not

permit me to quote verbatim — If we look at the profitability rate of GRIDCo, it is over 400 per

cent. However, in the second paragraph, they said

that even though the company made a profit of over

400 per cent, the high administrative cost has led to

increasing losses.

Mr Speaker, which company would make such

a profit? If it were a private company, I do not think

even with a 100 per cent increment profit, that that

company would make losses. However, the

administrative burden that we put on state

enterprises must be looked at. Other than that, very

soon, we would be heading towards what used to

be called privatisation because no company on this

earth would make such a high profit and still make

losses. It tells us that GRIDCo is not a bad

company; it only has administrative challenges

because it has a high gross profit of over 400 per

cent and a high level of administrative expenses,

and because of that it is running into losses. Mr

Speaker, if this were to be a private company, I do

not think any Chief Executive Officer would accept

this.

Mr Speaker, the second thing is the going

concern aspect of GRIDCo. They say that the

picture looks very bad. With GRIDCo being a very

strategic asset of this country, I think we should not

just end with this Report; a cursory look must be

taken into the management of GRIDCo because if

it fails, most policies of Government, such as the

One District One Factory, and the strategic

industries would fail. Mr Speaker, I think after this,

the company must ask for detailed expenditures of

those administrative costs so that we may be able

to input into it and advise Government accordingly.

Growing up, we used to see in the village what

used to be called Onward Service Authority (OSA),

but it collapsed at a point. We had the State

Transport Company (STC), which also collapsed at

a point. However, with good management, the late

Mr Samuel Nuamah Donkor was able to revive the

STC, and as I speak, under Mr Asamoah Boateng,

STC is creating employment and solving our

transportation problems as well.

Mr Speaker, clearly — [Interruption] — Mr Speaker, it has been written and given to me, but

because you are putting pressure on me, I wanted

to run away. Mr Speaker, I meant Nana Akomea;

he is a former Hon Member of this House, and I

know how diligent he was; so, he is the perfect man

in that institution. Choosing leadership for state

institutions is very critical. However, if that is not

done, then it would be as if people are put in certain

positions because of the support they gave. I do not

think that strategic assets of the country can be

meant for such high administrative cost.

In choosing leadership for state institutions,

Government must take into consideration who can

do what. As I speak, Ghana can boast of any human

resource in any other institution. In fact, if we do

not let the Public Services Commission do a perfect

assessment to give us our best to man our

institution, this is where we would always end up.

Mr Speaker, GRDICo has corporate governance

challenges. The company failed its insolvency,

profitability and wind concern assessments. If we

do not do clear assessment to make a U-turn, very

soon, GRIDCo would soon be a company of the

past.

Mr Speaker, with this, I would like to end by

saying that state institutions that owe GRIDCo

must pay their liabilities which would help save the

company. Thank you for the opportunity, and I

would like to end by commending Dr Kwabena

Donkor and Mr Philip Basoah for charting a good

path. Other Chairmen and Ranking Members

would learn from them -- not forgetting the Hon Minister for Public Enterprises and the Hon

Member of Parliament for Effia; he is also doing a

good job, and he should keep it up.

Question put and Motion agreed to.

Resolved accordingly.

Leadership, any
indication?
Report on the Audited Financial Statement of GRIDCo for 2019 and 2020 Financial Years.

Mr Speaker, we are
entirely in your hands as there is nothing readily
available for consideration by the Plenary.

Mr Speaker, I am with
my Hon Colleague.

Hon Members,
we would bring proceedings to a close.