Debates of 11 Nov 2022

Hon Members, I have not
received any message from His Excellency,
the President, and I do not have a formal
communication to deliver today. I am
informed the Votes and Proceedings of
yesterday is still not ready but in a few
minutes time, the Clerk's office would distribute same for us to correct. So, we
would move straightaway to the item
numbered 5 on the Order Paper - Business of the House for the Fourth Week. As we all
know, this would be presented by the
Chairman of the Business Committee.

Mr
Speaker, with respect, the Chairman of the
Business Committee is unavoidably absent.
With your leave, I would like to do so in his
stead. I am the Vice Chairman of the
Committee.

Yes, you may do so.

Hon Members, you have
heard the Hon Vice Chairman of the
Business Committee. He has presented the
Report of the Committee for and on behalf
of the Hon Chairman. Do you have any
comment?

Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami

Dafeamekpor: Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity to comment briefly on the

Business for next week as presented by the

Hon Deputy Majority Leader.

Mr Speaker, I had filed three important

Questions, which you duly admitted, and

the evidence is that they have been remitted

to the recipient Agencies. There were some

reported issues with the Scholarship

Secretariat regarding non-payment of the

scholarship of Ghanaians in foreign

universities and so I filed an Urgent

Question directed to the Hon Minister of

State at the Office of the President for an

answer, considering the fact that the

Scholarship Secretariat is located at the

Office of the President. The Questions have

been remitted to his office for response.

Mr Speaker, again, I filed two Questions

directed at the Attorney-General and Hon

Minister for Justice regarding two issues

concerning the General Legal Council

(GLC); regarding the production of the

report of the disciplinary enquiry that the

GLC itself conducted into the unlawful

admission of some students in the Law

School and the issue concerning the 499

students. Both Questions have been

remitted to the office of the Attorney-

General. They were not taken in July so I

hoped that having returned in October, my

Questions would feature for the Answers to

be provided for, but I do not see them.

Mr Speaker, I am worried that the nature

of the matters for which I filed those

Questions are of urgent nature and so I fear

that as time passes, it may be caught by the

effluxion of time. If we have students who are

attending universities in foreign countries

whose allowances and fees ought to be paid,

the House needs to be briefed so that they

would not be in distress. Fortuitously today,

the GCL, headed by the Chief Justice, is

calling new lawyers to the Bar and so it is

opportune that I raise these matters so that

Business of the House

the Hon Attorney-General and Hon

Minister for Justice would find it expediate

enough to come and respond to the

Questions that have been directed to his

office.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the

opportunity.

Mr Speaker,
thank you. I rise to comment on the item
numbered 4(b), which has to do with post-
budget workshop. We are most grateful for
this exercise. I am sure Hon Members
gathered here would always underscore the
importance of going out on a retreat to
discuss matters affecting the Government's Budget Statement and Economic Policy
before it is even made.
Mr Speaker, I do not know if the report
has got to you, but on a couple of occasions
when we went to Ho, some of your Hon
Members of Parliament had to suffer
accommodation problems. We were put in
some hotels, such as Chances Hotel, where
they had to use buckets to fetch water for
us to bath, and so on and so forth.
Mr Speaker, the Volta Serene Hotel is a
superb first-class hotel, but it does not have
the number of rooms to accommodate all of
us. There are hotels in Ghana that we could
consider if Mr Speaker would not mind so
that Hon Members could have some kind of
comfort as far as this programme is
concerned. I am of the view that as the Rt
Hon Speaker has always looked after the
welfare of Hon Members of Parliament, he
would not want to see us go there to suffer
and come back. It is quite humiliating for
people as noble as we are to be given
accommodation which does not befit our
status.
That notwithstanding, we have staff of
Parliament who would also attend, and
there is always competition between Hon
Members and the staff because the staff
would always get Volta Serene Hotel and
we have to go to Chances Hotel and other
hotels.
Mr Speaker, if you would indulge me, I
would like us to reconsider the venue for
this programme and see if we could find a
hotel whose price ranges within the same
amount that we would spend in Ho so that
we would look after our comfort a little bit.
The reason is that it is not appropriate;
otherwise, we would suffer this time in
getting the numbers.
Mr Speaker, I rest my case.

Mr
Speaker, thank you very much. On page 6 of
the Business of the House, there is a Question
that has been admitted for Friday for the Hon
Minister for Roads and Highways. It appears
to be already repeated because it has appeared
on today's Order Paper so I think it is a repetition and an error. This is because the
Hon Minister is due to answer the Question
in today's Order Paper — Question 635, and it has appeared on next week's Business of the House as well. So, I just want to draw
your attention to it.

Mr Speaker, I
thank you. Before I come to the substantive
issues I would raise, the point raised by — The venue for the post-budget workshop is
very appropriate, compared to what happened
last year. The kind of workshop we had after
the Budget Statement and Economic Policy
last year at Volta Serene — On assessment, everything went on very well. So, I would
plead with my Hon Brother for us to give it a
second try. They should let us know if there
are any challenges when we go there.
However, for the attendance, nobody had
anywhere to move. We were all glued to our
seats from start to end, and that is the

Business of the House

essence of it. The resource persons and

Leadership were also very perfect; your

good self — Mr Speaker, I think we must give it a second try before we think of

changing it. Let us come to the post-budget

workshop itself.

Mr Speaker, because of the times in

which we are, I would plead with the

Leadership on the Majority side; Ghana

currently needs a pre-budget workshop

before a post-budget workshop. It should

not be mechanical. The fact that there is

always a post-budget workshop does not

mean there would always be a post-budget

workshop; there must be a pre-budget

workshop or engagement. It can even be

within the Chamber. I have no problem with

the venue. This is because it is the duty of

the Leadership to help the Chair to handle

affairs in the Chamber. We saw what

happened last year. Hon Members of

Parliament (MPs) must be pre-briefed

before major policies come in, and we need

to know what major policy shifts are going

to happen so that we buy into them. We do

not sit down for the Budget Statement and

Economic Policy to be presented before we

do a nationwide consultation. We must be

consulted before the Budget Statement and

Economic Policy so that we could make

inputs if there are any. A case in point is the

E-Levy. They brought the policy here into

their budget and later went from one

regional capital to the other consulting

people. If we had pre-engagement, I do not

think that thing would have happened. This

is just a suggestion.

Mr Speaker, secondly, there was

supposed to be a joint caucus meeting last

week. That caucus did not come on, so if it

would be possible next week, we must have

that joint caucus meeting. Hon Members

have issues they would like to bring to the

attention of Leadership and Mr Speaker; it

is during joint caucus meeting that Hon

Members are given that opportunity. The

absence of a platform for the ventilation of

grievances is a recipe for confusion, and the

best way to manage the grievances of Hon

Members is to give them the platform. So, I

do not understand why holding a joint

caucus meeting is becoming a problem.

Mr Speaker, beyond joint caucus

meeting, where we are — if you listen to the policy brief that we get outside, there are

signals that there is going to be a cut of

Statutory Funds. So, there must be a

Committee of the Whole for this House to

meet with the Heads of the Statutory Funds

like the District Assemblies' Common Fund, National Health Insurance Chief

Executive, and the Ghana Education Trust

Fund (GETFund) Chief Executive.

Mr Speaker, before we went on recess,

Hon Members were moving a Motion to

make sure that GETFund was relieved from

paying Daakye Fund and all those things.

We need a brief to know where they are.

Other than that, the erroneous impression

out there is that Common Fund has been

paid up to date, but when you go to the

books, it is in arrears of GH₵3.9 billion and they given only GH₵750 million, but they tell us that they have updated them.

Mr Speaker, this House needs to hold a

Committee of the Whole so the three Fund

leaders would come here to brief Hon

Members on the current position of the Fund

managers would come here and brief Hon

Members on the current position of the various

funds. Then when the Budget Statement is

read and we are considering it, we would take

all those things into consideration. Mr

Speaker, other than that, we may not be doing

a good service to ourselves.

So, Hon Majority Leader, we can

programme the Joint Caucus meeting that

we did not have for next week and if

Business of the House

possible, we form a Committee of the

Whole so that the MPs Common Fund

Administrator, the Ghana Education Trust

Fund (GETFund) and the National Health

Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Chief Executives

would be invited into the House to update

us on the current situations of the Fund so

that we know how to handle it.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity but this is my humble plea and

I know it would be duly considered.

Yes, Hon Member? I think
that is the last person and after him, the Vice
Chairman of the Business Committee.
Hon Vice Chairman, just a few minutes;
this is the last person. After that, you can
make your own submission.

Mr Speaker, I also
want to share my opinion on the Post-
Budget workshop and the venue. We are all
saying that we are in difficult times. This
House is expecting that all branches of
government cut down on expenditure. If
that is the case, then we should have the
Post-Budget Workshop here in this
Chamber so that Parliament too would be
seen to be advancing the course of cutting
down on expenditure. Let us have the post-
Budget workshop in this House and let us
take it as if we are coming to Parliament. I
think that that would show that Parliament
is also concerned about expenditure.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, not very
long ago, my Hon Colleague on the other
Side of the aisle was the Hon Second
Deputy Majority Whip and was in charge of
sending Hon Members to the Capital View
Hotel for orientation and Post-Budget
Workshops. Was the Hon Member not

Hon Member, it is not
Questions time.

Hon Minority Leader?

Mr Speaker, I would
endeavour to be very brief: first, to remind the
Leader of Government Business and Chairman of
the Business Committee that I indicated that I
have filed a Question through Mr Speaker to the
Minister for Finance to answer on his outstanding
statutory payments for pensions. Whoever it may
be including the Hon Majority Leader--
Mr Speaker, then the second issue is that
I requested — the other time that the Hon Majority Leader was responding to me, he
said question. It was not a question. I said
that the Hon Minister for Defence, Minister
for the Interior and the Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice must jointly come and
respond to us on the failing galamsey fight;
how much resources have been bequeathed to
them? How they have used the resources
including the human resources of the country
-- the Armed Forces and Police; whether they are using them right or wrong and to respond
to the Aisha Huang case.
Mr Speaker, somebody on Joy FM said she
petitioned your Office on matters relating to
galamsey. She says she wrote a petition to Mr
Speaker and Leadership but we are not acting
on it. She is from one of the Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) so we
would need to be proactive.
Mr Speaker, finally, on page 2,
presentation of the Budget Statement and
Government Financial Policy, 2023. When
the Hon Chairman of the Business
Committee preface it with the words

Business of the House

“barring any unforeseen development”. Mr Speaker, constitutionally, we cannot

tolerate any unforeseen development. One

can breach the Public Financial

Management Act, 2019 but one cannot

breach article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.

If on 24th of November, 2022, the Budget

Statement and Government Financial

Policy, 2023 is not presented, we would be

in breach of the constitutional requirements.

Hon Majority Leader should count his days;

we are already in breach, Mr Speaker. So,

they should not lead us into any unforeseen

circumstances.

Mr Speaker, you know because you have

been at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

with the Hon Majority Leader. Even the

IPU rules regarding Budget oversight and

scrutiny of Budget — If they bring a Budget on the 24th of November, 2022, how much

time would we have to be able to do what

we are expected to do as a House in terms

of exercising oversight?

Mr Speaker, finally, I heard my Hon

Colleague mention Volta Serene Hotel. I

have just got a text from — I enquired when my Hon Colleague was saying that they

have 282 rooms but it is for the Clerks-at-

the-Table and other Officers to look at it. I

just found out from somebody in the Hotel

to see how ready they are. But as to the

decision on where we are doing it, we could

collectively take a decision here. But they

do have enough rooms to accommodate

Hon Members should that be our decision. I

can share the text with the Hon Members

after this.

Chairman of the Business
Committee, your Vice presented the Report.
All right, would the Chairman himself
want to respond?
Chairman of the Business
Committee/Majority Leader (Mr Osei
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu): Mr Speaker, I do
not know whether there are outstanding
questions but the ones that I met, raised by
the Hon First Deputy Minority Whip,
relates to the Minister responsible for
Finance coming to engage Parliament on
the discussions with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the status of it and
where we are.
Mr Speaker, I think admittedly, if we had
time and the Hon Minister came, it would
be important for all of us. Maybe, we need
to have such frequent engagements. But let
me say that we have had these IMF
discussions over time. I must put it on
record that this is the first time, at my
instance that the Minister for Finance has
met the Leadership of Parliament, including
some Committee Chairs and Hon Ranking
Members to brief us. Mr Speaker, I am
saying that this is the first time it has
happened —

Hon Member, you were
just born a few years ago so that is why you
are saying this is the first time. Even in the
First Parliament, these discussions had
always taken place. It was only after some
time that it stopped. So, this is not the first
time.

Mr Speaker,
the First Parliament of the Fourth Republic?

Hon Member, yes. Before
you came to Parliament in 1997.

Mr Speaker, I
was not there.

Hon Member, yes, we used
to have these discussions.

Business of the House

Mr Speaker,
yes. Since 1997 that I have been here, I bear
witness to what I see and behold.

So, I am saying this is not
the first time in the Parliament of the Fourth
Republic. But since you were born, this is
the first time.

Mr Speaker, I
know you are a pre-historic figure so I
respect that and I would buy into that. - [Laughter] - But I do know that before then, there were consultations with the
general public and I witnessed one at the
Cultural Centre led by Prof Botchwey. I do
not know whether it happened in Parliament
but they were going round and I was part of
what happened in Kumasi at the Cultural
Centre, which ended in chaos with stone
throwing and so forth. I was there and
followed up to Koforidua and it also ended
up in confusion. There were stone throwing.
Mr Speaker, if it happened in Parliament,
I was not here and I would not doubt you
but I am just saying that this is the first time,
since I have been in Parliament that I have
witnessed this that it has happened. But, it
is not the first time that we have engaged the
IMF so some attempts have been made. I
recognise that we can still build on that and
improve the landscape as far as that is
concerned.
Mr Speaker, with the Joint Caucus, I
think we spoke to it last week that given the
developments in the House, we were not
able to hold it. I think we would take it on
board and arrange to have it possibly on
Wednesday.
Mr Speaker, the Hon First Deputy
Minority Whip also said that perhaps we
should have the Committee of the Whole
involving the Administrator of the MPs
Common Fund.

I guess when we have the Joint Caucus

Meeting, we could invite him to do it at the

same time, instead of having a Joint Caucus

Meeting and also a Committee of the

Whole. The difference between the Joint

Caucus Meeting and the Committee of the

Whole is that a committee's meeting is structured, and whatever is done, should be

captured in a report which should be

submitted to the House, but that is not what

we intend the Meeting to be. So, we could

take that engagement with the

Administrator of the DACF in same manner

and same day that we would have the Joint

Caucus Meeting.

Mr Speaker, with regard to the Hon

Minsters for Defence, the Interior, and

Finance coming to also brief us about the

status of the galamsey fights, I guess it is a

useful concept. We would interrogate that

and possibly invite the Ministers, except my

Hon Colleague would know that where we

are, in the lead up to the presentation of the

Budget Statement and Economic Policy of

the Government, the Hon Minister for

Finance is really caught up in melee of the

crafting of the Budget, and to step out to

engage Parliament at this time, would be a

difficult call, but we would see. I am not just

wishing that away, so we would explore the

possibility and see what could be done.

Mr Speaker, I am not aware of a Non-

Governmental Organisation (NGO)

petitioning you. That has not been brought

to the attention of Leadership and indeed, of

the Business Committee, so I am not able to

react to that.

Mr Speaker, in relation to where we are

going to have the post- budget workshop, I

gave an indication to the Clerks-at-the-

Business of the House

Table, and they proposed that we hold it at

one or two places, that is, the Volta Serene

Hotel and Rock City Hotel. We remember

that when we went to the Volta Serene

Hotel last year, they were in the process of

constructing additional facilities, and we are

told that they have improved the number of

rooms to close to 300. What it means is that

the spillover could be accommodated in the

nearby hotels if we should go there. The

Rock City Hotel is also there, but the

Clerks-at-the-Table did some comparison

of the cost and informed me that the cost

was close to 50 per cent higher than what

obtains in the Volta Serene Hotel.

Mr Speaker, so in these days that we all

recognise that our finances are not in the

best of shape, we took these things into

consideration. However, I left it in the

charge of the Clerks-at-the-Table to further

interrogate the situation, and if we would

have to go to the Volta Serene Hotel, they,

at least, have the requisite number. If

maybe, about 40 to 50 Hon Members cannot

be accommodated there, there are

neighbouring hotels that are also in good

shape like the Sky Plus Hotel which is also

quite a good hotel, so the spillover could go

there. I am told Rock City Hotel has close

to 500 rooms, so if we went there, that

would be the best, however, I am advised

that the cost is a bit high. Let us leave it to

the Clerks-at-the-Table and they would

further explore, and whatever is good for us,

we would do so.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minority Leader

concluded by issuing a warning to me that

we should not go beyond the 24th of

November in the presentation of the Budget

Statement and Economic Policy of

Government and that if we do, we shall be

in breach of the 1992 Constitution. Mr

Speaker, I believe that the Hon Minority

Leader perhaps, has not applied himself

well to the 1992 Constitution.

Article 179 which deals with this

provides, and for the elucidation of Hon

Members, Mr Speaker, I guess it should be

possible for me to quote the provision which

reads:

“The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament

at least one month before the end of

the financial year, estimates of the

revenues and expenditures of the

Government of Ghana for the

following financial year.”

What this means is that we certainly

cannot go beyond the 30th of November; not

24th of November, so I am not sure of where

the Hon Minority Leader is drawing his

inspiration from. — [Interruption] — He did not say anything. He said that if we go

beyond the 24th of November, we would be

in breach of the 1992 Constitution. I heard

him loud and clear, and that is what he said.

Mr Speaker, yes, if it is beyond the 15th

of November, our own arrangement — and Mr Speaker, it referred to you that the Inter-

Parliamentary Union (IPU) requests all

Parliaments to have ample space to deal

with the scrutiny of budgets, and the

position of the IPU is that we should

endeavor to have about eight weeks. What

this means is that we should be able to

afford space for these things to be done

from the beginning of November to

December, which is why in crafting the

Public Financial Management Act, (2016)

we then chose a middle way to say that, yes,

we should not go beyond the 15th of

November. So, that is the dictum as

expressed by the Public Financial

Management Act, (2016). However, given

the circumstances now, the Hon Minister

has informed us — in fact, he has written that he would rather prefer to come here and

work everything out in such a way that by

Business of the House

the 24th of November, he would do the

delivery in the House.

Mr Speaker, when that communication

came, Hon Members raised issues that the

24th of November is the same day that the

Black Stars of Ghana would be playing their

first match in Qatar, and the plea was that if

it is possible, we should bring it forward by

a day so that the Budget Statement and

Economic Policy of Government could be

presented on the 23rd of November. The

Hon Minister's response is that he believes that it should be possible to do the

presentation on the 23rd of November, so if

it is the wish of Parliament, he would

endeavour to bring it forward and do the

presentation on the 23rd of November,

which would be a Wednesday. Mr Speaker,

I think it is in our bosom. If we insist that

we want the presentation on the 23rd of

November, I would do the communication

and the Budget could then be presented, so

that on the 24th of November, we could have

space to rally as a nation around the Black

Stars to wish them well.

Mr Speaker, that is our position, and that

is the position of the 1992 Constitution. I

thank you very much.

Mr Speaker, on the post-
budget hearing, it was stated that as usual,
we would be inviting experts to come and
basically share some views on the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy of
Government. Mr Speaker, this is my
humble suggestion. I have participated in a
lot of these post-Budget hearing, so I would
suggest that while a lot of these experts are
very good, some of them have been coming
consistently over the years, but some
freshness and some changes with some new
ideas would be very helpful. So, my
suggestion is that we look at some rotational
approach so that there is some freshness. I
was comparing some notes and I realised
that it was like some recycling of those on
an annual basis, but I think some freshness
would help.
Mr Speaker, the second comment I have
is that, the Business of the House stated that
the Minister for Finance would be here on
23rd November, 2022 to read the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy of the
Government. I wanted to be sure that we are
talking about the same Minister for Finance,
who has just been referred to the
Committee, and who is under scrutiny. I
also want to know whether or not as has
variously been expressed even by the
Majority Side, that somebody else would be
here to basically read the Budget Statement
and Economic Policy of Government on
behalf of the President. That is very
important in the face of all the discussions
we are having on the Hon Minister's status.

Mr Speaker, last week, the
Hon Minister for Youth and Sports was here
to deliver a Statement and at the end, there
was an assurance that it was going to be
opened for some debate. I would want to
find out when that will take place because
there is no consideration in the Business
Statement.

Mr Speaker,
the Hon Member for Ellembele, Mr
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has
requested us to have some fresh people to
deal with the scrutiny of the Budget
Statement; I think it will be taken on board.
Many of them are recycled, but they are
experts in their own fields, and we all
appreciate the analyses that they offer us;
very informed critique of the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy. I think
thus far, they have been serving us
extremely well, but if it is that we must
change some faces, we would look at that.

Business of the House

We should be changing to improve, not to

down scale the performance of those who

appear before us.

Mr Speaker, the same Hon Member

asked who would be presenting the Budget

Statement and Economic Policy. The

answer lies in article 179(1) of the 1992

constitution and I just quoted it here. It says:

“The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament,

at least one month before the end of

the financial year, estimates of the

revenues and expenditure of the

Government of Ghana for the

following financial year”

The Budget Statement and Economic

Policy is the President's own work programme for the country into the ensuing

financial year and presidents, usually, ferry

this to this House, courtesy of any Hon

Minister of State. Any Minister of State is

capable of being nominated by the President

to do that. At the time, that Minister could

be described as the temporary Minister for

Finance; it does not mean that it should be

done willy-nilly by a Minister for Finance.

Mr Speaker, it explains why the other day

when the Hon Minister was indisposed, I

was asked to stand in for him. I would

suggest to the Hon Member that we could

even have the Minister for Communications

and Digitalisation or the Minister for Roads

and Highways to be here. We could also

have the Minister for Finance who will be

here to do that. The answer, as I told the

Hon Member, lies in article 179 of the 1992

constitution and the language is clear so,

that is it.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Member for South

Tongu, Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome, drew

our attention to an outstanding matter. I

think it was a bit late to the House on

Tuesday, 8th November, 2022, so I thought

we had already satisfied that concern— that pledge was made. If that has not been done,

perhaps into next week, maybe Tuesday,

15th November, 2022, so that it does not

continue unaddressed. Perhaps on Tuesday,

15th November, 2022, we would have to

create space to allow contributors to the

Statement. The Hon Member for Zebilla,

Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, for instance,

expressed the desire to contribute to that

Statement. Maybe, we could afford about

four more people, two from either Side, to

contribute to the Statement that was made

by the Hon Minister on the floor of the

House.

Mr
Speaker, my intervention has to do with the
answer given by the Hon Majority Leader in
response to question asked by the Hon
Member for Ellembele, Mr Buah, on the
issue of who will be presenting the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy. We
understand what the constitutional
provision says. At least, it is appropriate the
presentation is done by the Minister for
Finance. That question is so important
because we have heard some of our Hon
Colleagues from the Majority Side who
have publicly threatened that they would
boycott Parliament if the Minister for
Finance appears to present the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy.
Mr Speaker, as the Hon Leader of the
House and Minister for Parliamentary
Affairs, it is imperative the Hon Majority
Leader tells us if the embroiled Minister for
Finance would appear to present the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy or at least,
his good self would do it. I realised when he
presented it the other time, he enjoyed it,
and we all loved it that we had one of our
Hon Colleagues in this House presenting
the Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
He should tell us, more so, when we are

Business of the House

taking the Business for next week, so that

we will be rest assured that, at least, some

of our Hon Colleagues would not be

boycotting because we would have known

he will be doing the presentation or a

different person would. I think it is

important he furnishes us — [Interruption]— did he not enjoy the one he presented? He also pre-informed us he will

be presenting the Budget Statement and

Economic Policy. We all wore white that

day and if it is him, perhaps, some of our

Hon Colleagues will be in white again.

Mr Speaker, there is this
issue that is tickling my mind: the date on
which the Budget Statement and Economic
Policy is expected to be read is the very first
day Ghana would play our first match at the
World Cup. I did not hear anything about it
—

Hon Member, he explained
that one. It has been handled already by the
Hon Chairman.
Yes, Hon Chairman, do you have any
reaction to what the Hon Member for
Tamale Central just raised?

Mr Speaker, I
have told the Hon Member that the answer
to that question lies in article 179 —

Hon Chairman, why are
you always relying on article 179? He wants
you to move beyond the article.

Mr Speaker,
unfortunately, I am not ‘Octopus Paul', so with respect, I cannot pretend to know who
the President would nominate to do the
presentation of the Budget Statement and
Economic Policy.

It will not be pretence
because you have already told us that you
contacted the Hon Minister, and he said if
the House is interested in the Budget
Statement and Economic Policy being
presented on 23rd November, 2022 instead
of 24th November, 2022, which Mr
Woyome drew your attention to, which is
the day for the first match that the nation
would be playing at the World Cup— so, you have something beyond constitutional
provisions. You have personal contact with
Hon Ministers, and the Hon Member wants
to know whether you have done that in
connection with this issue and who would
be presenting the Budget Statement,
whether your good self or any other Hon
Minister.

Mr Speaker,
the Hon Colleague wants to fast-track our
steps to the bridge. We would move in the
normal pace; when we get to the bridge, we
shall cross it.

In the Ghanaian common
parlance, they would say that the Hon
Majority Leader's pulled foot.
Hon Members, the Business Statement,
as presented and further expatiated by the
Hon Chairman of the Business Committee,
is accordingly adopted.
Hon Members, we have to go back to the
item numbered 4, Correction of Votes and
Proceedings and the Official Report, but we
have a very urgent Business to transact, and
I expect Hon Members to be very sharp with
this issue so that we can conclude, suspend
Sitting and then go and do that business or
as your pleasure —
Well, my attention has been drawn to the
fact that the Hon Chairman of the Business
Committee, the Majority Leader and Leader
of the House, has to leave us to transact
some business so, he is requesting that we

Business of the House

handle the item numbered 8 — Presentation of Papers.

Hon Members, the item numbered 8 on

page 4 of the Order Paper — at the Commencement of Public Business,

Presentation of Papers. The following

Papers, item numbered 8(a), to be presented

by the Attorney-General and Minister for

Justice.

Mr Speaker,
respectfully, if I may seek your indulgence
to allow me to present these Papers on
behalf of the Attorney-General, and also to
run us through the other responsibilities for
the other Ministers. If it meets your
indulgence, to further request that in the
presentation, if we can mush them together,
and then we could move on from one
Minister to the other to hasten the pace of
the presentation.

Mr Speaker, we
have five Ministers: Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice; Minister for Education;
Minister for Information; Minister for
Finance; Minister for Local Government,
Decentralisation and Rural Development
and Minister for Trade and Industry. If the
Ministers were here, I would have had no
problem with the application made by the
Hon Majority Leader and Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs.
Mr Speaker, last week, before the
adoption of the Business Statement, we
sounded that caution that Ministers should
do this House and Ghanaians a favour by
attending to the House to do Businesses that
were slated for them. It cannot happen that
the Hon Minister for Parliamentary Affairs
is always given that burden. He has too
much on his hands already to be done. It is
not a good practice if this House is treated
towards a direction where a Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of
Government tends to lay the Papers for all
the Ministers.
Yesterday, if you saw what happened,
there was a case in point where the Minister
for Finance had not been written to. As for
these Ministers, they are aware that these
Businesses are supposed to be done in this
House today, and they must be present. The
Hon Deputy Minister for Finance is here, so
if the Hon Majority Leader can make
application for her to lay that of the Minister
for Finance, I have no problem.
Hon Majority Leader, today, we would
accommodate you. This is the Business
Statement for next week. Tell the Ministers
that when they come here, Hon Members
take advantage in engaging them, but if they
do not come, they always overburden the
Hon Majority Leader. I do not want to say
the Hon Majority Leader takes delight in
doing that, but he is not jack of all trade. Let
them be coming.
Mr Speaker, today, we have no objection.
We would accommodate the Hon Majority
Leader to do it on behalf of the Ministers,
but next week, they must be present in the
Chamber.

Mr Speaker, I
take the observation of the Hon Deputy
Minority Whip seriously, but I would want
to inform that as I speak now, I am
requested to be at a Cabinet committee
meeting involving these Ministers in the

lead up to the presentation of the Budget

Statement. I am here because I have to do

the Business of the House so, it is not a

frivolous request that I am putting across.

Mr Speaker, if Hon Members are

satisfied, the Hon Deputy Minister for

Finance is here.

I will do this if the Hon Deputy Minister

for Finance re-enters the House, I would

apply for her to do that.

Hon Members, item
numbered 8 (a) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv).

Hon Members, I said the
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) because of
the nature of the Reports, but because of the
legal flavour, the leadership of the Committee
on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs should support the PAC to delve into
them and report to the House.

Mr Speaker, a number
of those documents have come to this House,
but, this topic has always been raised where we
are of the view that the Papers should be laid to
the Sector Committees, and the parent
Committee for these particular Papers is the
Committee on Constitutional, Legal and
Parliamentary. Mr Speaker, the PAC has been
overburdened, and have a lot of backlogs of
cases. Legally, I cannot challenge your
directive; I am just drawing your attention that
we have been debating this matter in this House,
and a number of the Papers were referred to the
sector Committees.
Mr Speaker, the Papers related to local
government for instance were referred to the
Committee on Local Government and Rural
Development, and we had fruitful engagement
with the Internal Audit Department of the Local
Government Service. They were of the view
that this was the first time that such a thing was
happening and I said yes, the House has not
determined on which specific Ministry or
Committee those documents should be
referred to.

Papers

If you would, the leadership of the

Committee on Constitutional, Legal and

Parliamentary Affairs alone might not to be

enough. It is either you refer the Papers to a

joint Committee or the leadership of PAC

should assist the Committee on

Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary

Affairs to expedite action on this. Other

than that, there would be too many referrals

to them, and there may be no report.

Anyway, it is my humble suggestion.

Mr Speaker, I
think I share the idea expressed by my Hon
Colleague, the Hon Deputy Minority Whip.
In truth, these Papers or statements which
should emanate from the Ministers— after perusing the performance of the various
Ministries, Departments and Agencies, they
submit them to the sector Committees. It
should be part of the oversight
responsibility of that sector Committee to
peruse those documents, to see the
performance or the conduct of activities of
the particular sector, Department or
Agency, and that then would be reported on
to this House by the sector Committee. The
overall audited account of the sector,
Department or Agency would then go the
PAC. I think that is how it should be.
If indeed, it should be that the leadership
of the Public Accounts Committee should
join those sector Committees, it would be in
order, but even then, the Public Accounts
Committee has become overly saddled with
responsibilities and referrals. Already, what
they have in their kitchen is enormous and
it has become difficult for them. I, for
instance, keep urging that they should have
committees within their own fold in making
referrals to them so that they can be on time
in the scrutiny of these Reports that come
from the Auditor-General.
Mr Speaker, I would urge that the
converse rather should hold, that the referral
should go to the sector committee, in this
case, the Committee on Constitutional,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and if they
require any assistance perhaps, the
leadership of the Public Accounts
Committee could provide assistance to
them.

Mr Speaker, these annual
Reports are the reports from the audit
committees established under section 86 of
the Public Financial Management Act, 2016
(Act 921). The committee's role is to ensure that the covered entities implement the
recommendation of the Auditor-General
and Parliament and report back to
Parliament.
Mr Speaker, let me draw your attention to
article 187 (6) of the 1992 Constitution, and
with your permission, I beg to quote:
“Parliament shall debate the report of the Auditor-General
and appoint where necessary,
in the public interest, a
committee to deal with any
matters arising from it.”
If we have that committee, this report
coming from the audit committees should
then be referred to that committee to do a
follow-up because the Reports coming from
the audit committee are those covering the
implementation of the recommendations of
Parliament and the Auditor-General. So, if
we have that committee under article 187
(6), that should be the appropriate
committee to consider these reports.
However, in the absence of that I would
agree with the Hon Majority Leader and the
Hon First Deputy Minority Whip that we
should refer it to the sector Committees
until we have that committee that should
handle this particular issue because as said
by the Hon Majority Leader, the Public
Accounts Committee has a number of

Papers

Reports that we are working on. So, in order

to expedite action, let us refer it to the

various sector Committees to handle them

until we have that committee or the Public

Accounts Committee has the time to look at

them.

Hon Members, the revised
Standing Orders will make provision for all
the issues you have raised. It is true that the
Public Accounts Committee is
overburdened because we have legislated
and created more work for that Committee.
So, in the meantime, if it is the pleasure of
the House for the sector Committees to be
handling these matters, I have no objection
to that. So, I accordingly refer the four
Annual Statements to the Committee on
Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs. If the need be, the Leadership of the
Committee on Public Accounts could assist
them with the professional and expertise
that they have. It is not usually only Hon
Members; we also have some technical
support from the Audit Service supporting
the Public Accounts Committee. So, these
are accordingly referred to the sector
Committee, Committee on Constitutional,
Legal and Parliamentary affairs for
consideration and report to the House.
Hon Members, the item numbered 8 (b)
to be laid by the Hon Minister for
Education.
By the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs
(Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) on behalf of
the Minister for Education —
Annual Statement by the Audit Committee
of the Wesley College of Education,
Kumasi for the year 2021.
Referred to the Committee on Education.
By the Minister for Parliamentary
Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) on
behalf of the Minister for Information —
Annual Statement by the Audit
Committee of the Ministry of Information
for the Year 2021.
Referred to the Committee on
Communications.

Items numbered 8 (d)(i),
(ii) and (ii) by the Hon Minister for Finance.

Mr Speaker,
the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance has re-
entered the House, so she would do that in
place of the Hon Minister for Finance.

Leave granted.
By the Deputy Minister for Finance (Mrs
Abena Osei-Asare) on behalf of the Minister
for Finance —
(i) Financing Agreement between the Government
of the Republic of Ghana
(represented by the
Ministry of Finance) and
the International
Development Association
(IDA) of the World Bank
Group for an amount of
one hundred and fifty
million United States
dollars(US$150,000,000.0
0) to finance the Public
Financial Management for
Service Delivery
Programme.
(ii) Financing Agreement between the Government
of the Republic of Ghana
(represented by the
Ministry of Finance) and
the International
Development Association
(IDA) of the World Bank

Papers

Group for an amount of

two hundred million

United States dollars

(US$200,000,000.00) to

finance the Ghana Digital

Acceleration Project.

(iii) Financing Agreement between the Government of

the Republic of Ghana

(represented by the Ministry

of Finance) and the

International Development

Association (IDA) of the

World Bank Group for an

amount of one hundred and

fifty million United States

Dollars

(US$150,000,000.00) to

finance the Primary

Healthcare Investment

Project.

Referred to the Finance Committee.

The item numbered 8 (e),
by the Hon Minister for Local Government,
Decentralisation and Rural Development.
By the Minister for Parliamentary
Affairs (Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) (on
behalf of the Minister for Local
Government, Decentralisation and Rural
Development) —
(i) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the
Asene/Manso/Akroso
District Assembly for
the Year 2021.
(ii) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the Nanumba South
District Assembly for
the year 2021.
(iii) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the Okere District
Assembly for the Year
2021.
(iv) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the Upper West Akim
District Assembly for
the year 2021.
(v) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the Ejisu Municipal
Assembly for the Year
2021.
(vi) Annual Statement by the Audit Committee of
the Berekum East
Municipal Assembly for
the Year 2021.
Referred to the Committee on Local
Government and Rural Development.

The item numbered 8 (f),
by the Hon Minister for Trade and Industry.
By the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs
(Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) on behalf of
the Minister for Trade and Industry.
Export and Import (Restrictions on
Exportation of Grains) Regulations, 2022.

Referred to the Committee on Subsidiary

Legislation.

We have finished with the
item numbered 8. We would now move
back to item numbered 4, Correction of
Votes and Proceedings and the Official
Report.
Votes and Proceedings and the
Official Report

Hon Members, we would
start with the correction of Votes and
Proceedings of Thursday, 10th November,
2022.
Page 1...9 —

Mr
Speaker, I endorsed the Leave of Absence
for my Boss, Mr Annoh-Dompreh. His
name is still recorded as absent. I also
endorsed that of Hon —

Hon Member, you are
completely out of Order.
Page 9...27?
Hon Members, in the absence of any
further corrections, the Votes and
Proceedings of the 11th Sitting held on
Thursday, 10th November, 2022, is adopted
as the true record of proceedings.
Hon Members, in view of other Business
of the House, I propose to suspend Sitting
for two hours. I am to chair an event which
would take about two hours. My two
Deputy Speakers are both on official
assignments. Unless we decide that you
would elect one of you to chair — I would not be available until after two hours.
Well, yes, Hon Majority Leader, what is
the pleasure of the House?

Mr Speaker,
as you said, the two Deputy Speakers are
unavailable, even though the Hon Minister
for Roads and Highways is ready to respond
to the Questions asked of him. I also do
know that there is a very important
assignment, the Book Launch, to which you
have been invited.
I, also, need to be there and at the same
time at the Accra International Conference
Centre to join ranks with a niece of mine
who is involved in the Call to the Bar today.
Mr Speaker, so, in the circumstances, I
believe if we suspend Sitting and come
back, it would be too late for us, today being
Friday. I would want to plead with my Hon
Colleagues to let us have an adjournment to
come back on next week Tuesday, at 10.00
o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr Speaker, if that is the pleasure of the
House, I would then move that this House
takes adjournment until Tuesday, next
week, at 10.00 o'clock in the forenoon.
I so move.

Mr Speaker, I beg to second
the Motion moved by the Hon Majority
Leader that we adjourn the House to next
week Tuesday, at 10.00 o'clock in the forenoon.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon Members, before I put
the Question, it is important I plead with the
Hon Minister for Roads and Highways who
is always here with us, and was scheduled
to answer a number of critical Questions.
He has been here since morning.
Unfortunately, we are caught up with

another business for which reason he would

have to come back.

So, I direct the Business Committee to

reschedule his Questions as well as those for

the Hon Minister for Fisheries and

Aquaculture Development. I have seen her

in the House but she is not always here with

us — But today, I have seen her glued to her seat since morning. Reschedule both

Questions for the two Hon Ministers and

inform the House accordingly.

The Motion for adjournment has been

moved and seconded.

Question put and Motion agreed to.