Proceedings of Thursday, 7th December, 2023

For e e e honorable members shall we pray almighty God we humbly bese thee to look with favor upon this parliament of the Republic of Ghana grant that it may perform it high Duty as in their sight give Divine guidance to the president of the Republic endow members of parliament and

Ministers of state with discernment and vision integrity and courage that through the purpose of government this land and people may be well and truly served and that good purposes for the common human life be realized in our midst oh God grant us a vision of our country fa

As it might be a country of righteousness where None Shall wrong his neighbor a country of Plenty where evil and poverty shall be done away with a country of Brotherhood where all ass shall be founded on service and honor shall be given to the deserving a country of Peace where

Government shall rest on the will of the people and the love for the common good blessed the effort of those who struggle to make this Vision a living reality Inspire and strengthen our people that they may give time thought and sacrifice to speed the day of the coming beuty of Ghana and Africa

Amen honorable members item three item three this honorable members will you take your seats will you take your seat this house is the focus of the well today I expect to see that you recognize that item four correction of votes and proceedings and official report we start with the correction of

The votes and proceedings of Wednesday 6 December 2023 page 1 page Two page three page four page five Page Six page seven page8 yes honorable member page 8 speaker with respect on page 8 item 31 please I apply for of absence from 4th December to see December and I’ve realized that on the 4th I was might absent on the f I

Was Mark absent with permission and yesterday I was Mark absent and I suspect this this is a genuine mistake and I’ll be happy if the table office could made a need correction so on the fourth I was Mark absent on the 5ifth absent with permission and yesterday

Absent my leave of asense leave of absence span between 4 and C December that was yesterday thank you table office kindly cross check on our records and do the right thing yes honorable member speaker thank you for the opportunity speaker item number 16 on page 8

I have been marked absent uh as not not being the house yesterday Mr Speaker I was in the house I may not have spent too much time in the chamber but but I was here thank you Mr Speaker table office kindly take notes page n page 10 page 11 page 12 page 13

Yes grateful Mr Speaker on page 13 item four generally under statements I believe the statement I made yesterday ought to be indicated as a statement but it says I drew attention to the plight of the road to workers with disabilities and call on government to address their concern especially in the

Area of unay salaries Mr Speaker I made a statement page 13 sorry the speaker page 13 page 13 um four IV you are talk about page 13 item oh the item is on page 12 the item is item 9 page 12 Roman Roman 4 which is at page 13 you are

Correct sir yes most grateful so I wish the haard department would capture it appropriately what is indicated here is not correct what do you want to be added that I made a statement it should be Dr Clement abas aak made a statement passionate statement Som but passionate statement then the rest can continue

I’m grateful no Um majority Chief with speaker my friend Dr Park I I’m struggling to appreciate the point he wants to emphasize but it is actually captured under statement even if you look at page 12 I item 9 and that is supposed to be IV item understatement so I think the table office is spot on

Honorable majority Chief we look at the other statements you see it all will definitely say made a statement this is not captured in his so he wants it to read The Honorable member for B Sou Dr Clement abas apak made a statement to draw the attention of the

House that that is a proper thing and at think table office you should capture that page 14 yes please I’m going for right speaker right speaker at page 14 there are uh two names that have been captured wrongly the first one under number 11 honorable members if you are not

Interested in what is happening I am because I have to hear what they say and be able to guide the member yes honorable so Mr Speaker respectfully I was referring to item number 11 I under petition Mr Nathaniel Mena Nathaniel has been spelled wrongly and then Mr Speaker still under petition number 11

Honorable member you have been concluded it has been spelled wrongly yes what is the right spelling Nathaniel the I is is missing n a t h a n i e l uh we don’t they omitted the I for Nathaniel yes go on and then Mr Speaker the last batch of names on that

Page uh the adhoc committee that you set up the technical person VI Dr Theos aampo theophilos has been spell without an O it should be t h e o p h i l u s there is no o in the rendition here Dr toos champo the technical person

For the ad hoc committee to look into the uh payment to uh Gold Coast fund management uh subscribers yes Maha yeah dros honorable Maha you m presented the petition the names Roman 4 the spelling is what he has raise an issue about is that the case the theophilos in this case does not

Have an O Okay the theophilos is not no no we are talking about the first the Roman for Nathaniel Mena spelling yes Nathaniel Mena is n a t h a n e l natanel Mena is what what is what is written in the petition yes that is that is what is

Submitted that is what is submitted in the document that is what the petitioner submitted as his name thank you so much for the other one t you are right the is T he e o has come in table office cand take note page 15 yes please well Mr Speaker please I would

Need your guidance on the adment item number 13 here it says that the house was adjourned till Thursday next at 10:00 in the Forno uh however the real situation Mr Speaker is that we were told that we will sit at 1:00 p.m. today even though we didn’t really um

Get to get to sit at one but um I I are we sure that this is what because I was here I was here the house was just ajed no time was given I was here and so if we agreed that we will sit at 1: p.m.

Today should that not be what should be captured for our records instead of the uh the 10:00 in the Forno which I know appears to be the template but uh yesterday was a peculiar day so just your guidance we yes majority Chief speaker I appreciate how metic theable gets but on this

Occasion um it was 10:00 and the 1:00 was subsequently decided on not in the chamber but in we related to speaker and agreed on the 1:00 which was done outside the chamber so the adment was done what is captured there is right may I hear from the

Speaker who I believe was on the chair and aded the house thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker in fact the house was AED to 10:00 in the morning as is recorded in the uh vote and proceedings the change was done today to speaker at the morning service to honorable members what is

Captured in the order paper is the right thing honorable members in the absence of any further Corrections the votes and proceedings of the 25th seting dated Wednesday s December 2023 are adopted as a true record of proceedings we now move to item five urgent questions yes majority Chief speaker the

Respect I’ve related to my colleague sh we and we’ll seek your leave to VAR order of business and take item seven 7 instead and we have a statement that stands in the name of the Minister for local government speaker we are related to you dly honorable members item seven statements Minister for local

Government thank you rable speaker right honorable speaker on the 19th of December 2023 ghanians will go to the post to elect the representatives to the district assemblies and unit committees we will elect about 6,300 assembly members and about 31,000 youth committee members Mr Speaker the local government

System is a foundation for building and sustaining effective and accountable democracy local areas are places where residents interact with one another collectively identify their problems and through their leadership and organizations such as the district assemblies mobilize sources from the state and on state institution to solve their common problems and democratically

Hold those leaders accountable for the outcome of their development process Mr Speaker that is the essence of article 242 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana which enjoins all of us to ensure that people in particular local government areas are given the opportunity to participate effectively in their governance system

Also under the implementation of the directive principles of State policy and towards achieving the political objectives of the state article 35 sayd enjoins us to make democracy a reality by decentralizing the administrative and commercial machinary of government to the regions and districts and by affording all possible opportunities to

The people to participate in decision making at every level in National Life and in government Mr Speaker the conduct of is precisely to fulfill some of these important constitutional requirements of our Democrats and to ensure that people are given the opportunity to elect their representatives to the district

Assemblies which in our case are also the highest political authorities and the pillars around which local decision making and development evolve the rights of the people to participate in the decision making process at every level of their governance and development solidifies democracy and that is why participation in this level elections is

Important and key to the stability of our Democrats right honorable speaker session six of the local governance act 2016 act 9936 that elections to the district assemblies shall be held once in every four years and at least 6 months apart of the Parliamentary elections Mr Speaker records from the Electoral commission clearly demonstrate

That the voter turnouts during District level elections leave much to be desired in 1998 when Ghana started the dis L elections the voter turnout was 59. 3% which was fairly impressive since then vo participation has reduced substantially in 1994 voter turnout was 29.3% 1998 41.6% 2002 33.1% 2006 39.3% 2010 35 % 2015

35.9% and in the last Z level elections head in the voter turn out was 33.6% the aform static shows that since we started the Fourth Republic and for the contct of seven district level elections voter tenel have averaged less than 40% compared to presidential and parament elections where voter

Participation rate had a over 70% the abysmal voter turnout in local government election does not speak well of our democracy especially when Ghana has been a pay Setter in decentralization and local governance in Africa many countries have come to learn from our decentralization and local governance system whilst it is tically

True that in many parts of the world voter turn out a local government elections tend to be lower than national elections the Gap in the voter turnup between our national and local government elections is a grave concern that all my honorable colleague members of parliament must help to address right honorable

Speaker integrated citizens participation as a whole in the district assem elections and the abysmal representation of women and local assemblies alongside the critical importance of the work on this assemblies are the reasons why I’m here today to Crave your local your Indulgence for local government and to

Inform the public and the late to participate in this year DC level elections to increase voter turnout and more broadly to deepen our Democrats I entreat my honorable members of parliament in this August house to rip up enthusiasm of the electorate to turn up on Tuesday 19th December 2023

And vote massively for the resentatives to their respective desct assemblies and unit committee right honorable speaker decentralization has brought government closer to the people than it had ever been in almost three decades although there’s no government policy to systematically create smaller local government jurisdictions with the creation of 261 District assemblies

From 110 in 1988 the average population per a local government dation has reduced substantially thereby enabling local government to reach a smaller population this has also reduce the proximity of local governments to locations where problems occur and where appropriate Solutions may be found it is on the basis that these

Assemblies have been assigned their resp possibilities of providing solutions to the challenges of local governance and development including provision of services such as sanitation solid weight collection basic education Health Care infrastructure social welfare and Community Development among others right speaker one other fundamental factor that will enable local residents to

Participate in the decision making about local areas is is information dissemination section 471 of the local governance act 2016 act 196 provides that every citizen resident in a district assembly shall have access to information had by the assembly or a department of the assembly subject to limitation imposed by law again section

42 B and D of act 199 say state that a district assembly shall facilitate the establishment of a structure for stakeholder participation that may include Town Hall meetings and notice balls for the dissemination of important announcement of public interest among others right honorable speaker the critical role of the media in creating

Awareness of this level lessons cannot be overemphasized accurate and time reportage by the media on key issues which will shap local governance to equip up and sustain the level of public interest in the processes leading up to the conduct of the this level elections it is therefore envisage

That the time and energy devoted for presidential and parliamentary elections by our friends in the media fraternity is replicated in the upcoming this level elections it is even my arent hope that more platforms are created by relevant bodies with deep involvement of the media to intensify the awareness and

Advocacy for higher voter turnouts but being minded by the powers conferred on theal commission and restrictions imposed by law including the dist level elections regulations 2015 C9 right honorable speaker I further wish to draw honorable members attention to section 121 of the local government’s act 2016 act 196 which says that a

Distance assembly shall a exercise political and administrative Authority in the district promote Local Economic Development and provide guidance give direction to and survice other administrative authorities in the district as may be prescribed by law right speaker I wish to state that the government is augmenting the capacity of the Institute

Of local government service with the state of the art academic and training infrastructure structured training for the professional staff and members of existent assemblies beyond the Nationwide orientation program for honorable assembly members The Institute has both the capacity of honorable priding members who double as chair persons of public relations and complain

Committee The Honorable Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief exective have also benefited from series of structured training at The Institute right honorable speaker based on the forego and couple with efforts being made to strengthen our local government system let me restate that the government remains committed to deepening decentralization

Whether or not the this level lesson should be successful with a better turnout is dependent on intensified awareness creation and the efforts of prospective aspirants for to offer themselves for the election particularly women and right honorable speaker I want to remind members honorable members that by law we are all members of the

District assemblies and we should devote time energy to whip up enthusiasm so that this year on Tuesday 19th of December 20123 we are not going to have 10 hours below 40% but we be aiming at cing up with a turn up for the presidential and parliamentary elections which is averaging

70% thank you for the opportunity and I hope that all of us will get up get involved in equipping up enthusiasm and interest in the fourth coming elections thank you for the opportunity Mr speaker thank you before I permit comments to be made on the statement that has just been

Delivered by the minister for local government it’s important I acknowledge the presence of some visitors in the public Gallery there are mostly students from a number of Institutions we have jior high school students from kabi 5 ghs they are being led by the assistant Headmaster in the person of Samuel

Oabi the school is located at the aasu Central constituency and we have as many as 81 81 of the students here present on your behalf I acknowledge them and I warmly welcome them to today’s sitting please you are welcome you may resume your seats we have tesi LMA 5 Junior High School

Students led by the Headmaster himself in the person of Mr Samuel B pom this school is located in the Leu cuku consitency and there are 55 in number you are also warmly welcome to Parliament we have students from Joy Preparatory and computer please they are led by the the facilitator Mr Richard

Jei the school is located at the Madina constituency and they are 95 in number that is the figure I’ve been given 95 in number Joy Preparatory and computer but I don’t see 95 you are warmly welcome to today’s sitting please resume your seats and finally we have students from Grace Baptist

Academy led by the Headmaster of the Academy Mr Bernard agoi they are 98 in number and the school is located in the Medina constituency Luckily we have all the members of parliament from these constituencies present so watch the conduct and behavior of your MP and advise yourselves as to whether they are worthy of representing you here in the next election honorable members you may now make comments on the statement just delivered by the minister for local

Government I would want to start with the ranking member yes honorable Edwin lante van thank you very much right honorable speaker thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the statement made by The Honorable Minister for decentralization and rural development and I want to commend the minister for his proactiveness to the

Statement in inviting us inviting us to our Civic responsibilities towards the district assembly elections Mr Speaker it is true speak into the mic it is true that citizens participation in the district level elections have been very poor going through history hovers between the 35 38% as compared to the 70 75% witness

Under presidential and parliamentary elections but this is because the state does not give that much attention to the district level elections the sort of importance we attach to the presidential parliamentary elections is Far Far Low when we consider the level elections we must consider the fact that in the Parliamentary and presidential

Elections the political parties play a key role as demanded of them by the Constitution but because this have become in individual activity it becomes difficult for institutions groups to really get up to get themselves involved however institutions that could play a very vital role in disseminating information educating and informing the

Public on the district level elections our ncce is mandated to educate inform encourage people to participate in such Civic responsibilities but we all know the situation of the NCC today the role of the information Services Department which historically has have mandate to educate and inform people andoun set situation is virtually all

We can’t even find them anymore I don’t even know whether they are still alive and so these two institutions which normally will help us boost the interest in the district level elections are not there and I said it becomes very difficult for the individuals to whep up

Enthusiasm for people and giz people to participate in the district level elections maybe the minister will want to consult with his colleague the minister for information to see what we can do within this short time to make sure that information services department and the various District information officers

Are supported so that they can activate their activities within the district to make sure that we encourage people to get involved in the district level elections Mr Speaker it’s also important at this time for us to see what will make the assemblies themselves more attractive and more alied to their responsibilities in the

Various communities and districts and their jurisdictions that to make people have interest in the work of the assembly man because it is not just even V voting for the assembly members the unit committee members after that the soft structures that will all governance interest are all suffering the assemblies themselves are

Suffering and so the assembly members are suffering so it is important that we chel a bit more energy resources provide them with the logistics they need to be able to perform their duties as expected of them and to build confidence in assembly system that will make dians

Feel happy to want to leave all other things go and qu in the Sun and vote for assembly members it is very important our democracy and our governance system is structured under the local governance system and if there’s no so much interest there what it means is that we

Will only be looking at our governance system at the central level which fundamentally is wrong based on the system of governance we’ve adopted for ourselves Mr Speaker I have a little bit problem with the date because as members of parliament The Honorable minister is urging us to

Move in and fully participate in the elections but that day is a sitting on the 19th will be here in Parliament I don’t know what Mr Speaker will do together with leadership to see how we members of of this Parliament will be able to get to our constituencies Edge people to get out

And with them vote to make the dream of uh of the minister uh come through by breaking the 40% Mark of V I will also say that the assemblies as today or from today if through uh the district assembl common fund can get the assemblies to whip up a

Little bit of enthusiasm and interest within the their jurisdiction and to get them to get even the town criers and various medium of communication within the district the almost all districts now have their own local communication Network so that they can pay a little so that people

Will run commentary and advert on the day so that we can have more people coming out to vote that day Mr Speaker with this I urge members of parliament to show interest from today as have been urged by the minister so that we try as much as possible to

Rekindle the spirit of our distri level elections that we can have better people at the grounds to support us at this level with this words Mr Speaker I thank you for the opportunity to have contributed to the statement yes honorable member thank you very much right honorable speaker right honorable speaker let me

First thank the minister for this important statement Mr Speaker since the Inception of the district assembly Concept in 1988 as a nation we have done very well and we need to continue on doing what is right Mr Speaker this ization and local participation is very key to bring

Development to the local levels and that is the most important role of the district assemblies that development should be at the doorstep of the local people Mr Speaker if you look at the the duties or the role of the district assemblies uh on page six as uh stated by the minister

Um exercise political and administrative Authority in the district I’m very much interested in the B which is promote Local Economic Development Mr Speaker if assemblies are able to do this we will have less challenges in the local areas un unfortunately Mr Speaker we need resources to make this

Work and we have a big challenge as to how we resource the assemblies to deliver on this particular uh role and that is why Mr Speaker we have the district assembly common F to support the development in the district assemblies the talent has been that as a nation we have not been able

To fully increment the resource allocation that will support the assemblies to Del on the services that they are supposed to do as we speak the allocation of 5% of the national revenues to the assemblies Mr Speaker it is not enough I believe that as a nation

If you want our assemblies to work and to bring development to the people we need we need to increase their location at least to about 10% of the national Revenue uh the national total revenue which I believe that if this is done you will be able to see much development in

The assembl Mr Speaker the participation has been low all because the assemblies the interest in the work of the district assemblies are not much fed by the people that are within the local uh areas and that if we are able to Resource the assemblies then the people

Will feel the need for them to participate actively in the local decision making process so that they will get enough benefits from the local assemblies Mr Speaker I will I will touch on the work of the uh assembly members Mr Speaker the assembly the duties of the

Assembly member is not just to sit at the general assembly meetings but they have to work in the Electoral areas before they attend assembly Mees Mr Speaker some electoral areas the assembly members they need resoures to conduct the the pre meeting tours and visitations and me uh de that they have

To take the views of the uh the local people to be presented at the general assembly meetings Mr Speaker Sometimes some of the district assemblies they they are unable even to pay the TNT of the assembly members how can they have enough resources to go through the Electoral

Areas and to work so that they have interface with the people before they attend assembly meetings Mr Speaker as a nation we need to take this issue very seriously we need to Resource the assembly members if you want them to have effective work and support the

Local uh uh development of the uh area and I believe that the minister for local government is here we need to take this issue I mean uh up and work towards resourcing um assembly members in the delivery of their duties as assigned by the law Mr Speaker I we want to

Urge all members to take the assembly work very seriously let me conclude by saying that we also need to train the assembly members we need committee members in the work that they have been elected to do Mr Speaker the committee on local government and rural development undertook some um visits to

Some assemblies it’s quite unfortunate it’s very unfortunate that some assembly members some Union committee members is they need to uh we have to build their capacity to understand what they are supposed to do uh at the district assembly when they are elected it is very important and I will urge the

Minister and government and all stakeholders to take this as a as a very important um issue that uh need to be addressed Mr Speaker I’m concluding uh by saying that this government brought a proposal to Parliament for district CH Executives to be elected unfortunately unfortunately Mr Speaker The Proposal of

Government did not go through I believe that if you want to have an accountable mmgc if you want to have full participation by the local people then the leaders must be accountable and that elections is key to bring accountability if P chance this nation this country get that opportunity again to to

To to elect the the district Chief Executives which are in charge of the district assemblies we should all think through and make it work I believe that that is also one key that will help improve our decentralization and local government system I thank you so much honorable speaker for this opportunity thank

You honorable members I may need to limit the time of our contribution um I’m guided here by leadership and I’m told it should be three from each side of the house we’ve had one from each side now it’s level two so I’ll look at Agenda and allow honorable Dr zanat

Rollins to make her Comment Yes please thank you very much right honorable speaker for the opportunity to comment on the statement made by the minister and it’s simply to say that when we look in the sub region with regards to the ex you know the expansion of violent extremism one of the things that Ghana

Has that has made us not a suitable Haven for this is our decentralization and our local governance system the fact that we have eliminated the majority of um ungoverned spaces in this country is a huge Factor as to why this country is still a safe haven with regards to the

Fact that we don’t have any experience of terrorism whereas in other countries the extreme lack of um provisioned by the state of the amenities and infrastructure in various um areas that are outside of the capital created a vacuum that allowed for terrorist armed groups to now assume the role of the

State in providing quite born water and providing education and other necessary things that the state should have been providing for those communities which meant that in the end most of those communities were aligned with those groups that were perceived to be terrorists in those various countries um however Mr

Speaker I remember as a child when the district level elections first started there was a lot of information on the television on adverts in between the news in between the local news and international news and there was an active drive to inform citizens about the need to participate in the district

Level elections um however Mr Speaker as we’ve seen the reduction in interest in the local government governance and in the elections that occur in our various assemblies we’ve also seen in some cases a decrease in the caliber of persons who represent the various communities reability for the the various assemblies

To actually deliver on their mandat with regards to what the needs are in those various communities Mr Speaker if we are going to complain about the fact that not enough is being done in our communities then we need to take greater interest in what happens in our local elections

Mr Speaker the direct link between voting in one’s local elections and the resultant um outcome in the community is more easily perceived than the result of voting for a particular party which brings in various members of parliament and the president because the local governance that structure actually has

The Mandate and is supposed to have the funds and resources to actually provide developments for our various communities and so Mr Speaker even though this statement is rather late in the day it’s still an important one and hopefully as we work towards the next round of

Elections at the local level a lot more information should be disseminated there should be greater interest in town hall meetings in the various assemblies because attendance is very poor in my municipality whenever Town Hall meetings are called very few people actually attend which shows that there’s a lack

Of understanding of the value of the local governance structures to the livelihoods of people in our various communities and so Mr Speaker I’d like to use this opportunity to actually appeal to all citizens to take as much interest in our local governance elections as they do in the general

Elections that we do to elect our members of parliament and the president and with that Mr Speaker I thank you so much for the Opportunity yes The Honorable Minister for health right thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I Rise to contribute to the statement made by my colleague MP for and the minister for local government speaker I just note that I have once been an assembly man the days where assembly men were

Very much recognized and there was some enthusiasm in various communities for assemblyman’s um elections just like the minister said the voter turn out has actually dropped and dropped and dropped even below assembly men we have the unit committee concept and Mr Speaker it will be interesting for you to note that as a

Speak several electoral areas don’t have unit committees because of lack of enthusiasm for Citizens even to um put themselves up for this um unit committee level elections why has this come to this level Mr Speaker awareness Creation in the various electoral areas and communities it’s just that very very low because the assembly

Members don’t seem to be very very useful even in their communities why because resources don’t flow to their level and quite a large number of them continue even to depend on MPS to support them to do their work in the various constituencies in that respect the commity

Bypass the assembly men and St to the MP’s homes for support and what it is that we have they are supposed to call Town Hall meetings but gave Mr speak for amazing to notes I can’t remember when an assembly man called the town hall meeting that brought in more than 20 people even

During my time around the ’90s any time I call in town meeting it was only my mother and a friend of hers who will meet me at the community center clearly people were not interested and this has degenerated even in V out in various assemblies Mr Speaker there was a time

Where the local government Ministry was giving out Motes to assembly men to help them do their work but the question I asked is that who we sustain that practice the assembly men are not remunerated they give them some semblance of s graia after 4 years when

They are exiting but even that they are supposed to go and make their own resolution if money is available to take some part of their internally generated funds to do their um how do I call it sraer um um Arrangements Mr Speaker there is a need for us in Parliament and government to

Try to find a way of resourcing the assemblymen said that they can meet the aspirations of various communities s speaker they don’t have nothing the assemblies are not giving them nothing to their communities so they continue living in the communities as if um they have no Authority wherever they

Live and that Willer enthusiasm for citizens to come to the level of what assembly men are do Mr Speaker that shows that citizenship participation in decision making seems to have gone down and down and down and I believe that if you don’t find something to do now

Tomorrow it will come to the time that even our made elections that selects MPS and presidents may also begin to dip and people’s interests will have wed off and gone away so Mr Speaker I join with my colleague to encourage all of us to see how best we can double our efforts to

Fight for resources the various assemblies and the assembly are met Mr Speaker with this few words I want to end my contribution and I thank you very much for this opportunity I’m grateful thank you thank you very much right honorable speaker for the opportunity to rise to

Contribute to the statement a made by The Honorable minister of local government in respect of the district level elections sheduled for Tuesday 19th December 2023 right honorable speaker as a practitioner a former assembly member former vice president of Nala and then a former General Secretary of the National Association of local

Authorities of Ghana the drinking numbers in in the participation at the local level is a thing of great concern to me and so I believe that as a nation it is important for us to stop taking or treating the issue of local level election as if we want to take that

Every 4 years we get elections conducted as part of our mandate a constitutional mandate citizen government engagement is where most of our people at the base or the local level participate in governance and political economy says that one of the critical areas to look at is building governance capacity at

The local level and and so if we treat it as an um every 4 years yes we are mandated to get this thing done and so we are getting it done without looking at the Quality that comes with the practice I think eventually all that we have done in the area of

Decentralization will be derailed and that is not what we look at it is also very important for us Mr Speaker to look at competence and commitment when it comes to local governance the people who are contesting because we are only looking at competence and commitment when it comes to presidential and parliamentary

Elections it will interest you to know that it is at the local level that most people or most women get the opportunity to participate because it is closer to us at home and it is easier for us to jump in and attend to community work and

Then go back so if we are not able to build our capacity and interest in this level if we are not if we are not able to build our interest at the local level this is the result we will see that out of 275 members of parliament only 40 are

Women and it is very important that we start from somewhere where to start from is the local level if we are really interested in what is happening at the local level and our self deepening decentralization it is critical for us to get down to our make sure that um

Everybody gets the opportunity to participate this also means that every bottleneck to participation must be removed because participation must be treated said as a right and not as a privilege when it comes to local governance when the right holders will be able to hold Duty bearers accountable

For to the offices that we hold or we be elected to hold and then we’ll be able to live up to expectation of our people right honorable speaker this is the more reason why making the Ghana card the sole document for voting is not the right way to go and this recent um

Registration we undertook you realize that the majority of people do not have the voter ID card aside the hustle they go through in getting the voter the Ghana card you realize that most often people are in a hurry to acquire it and they have to pay where at the local

Level they don’t have the means to pay at this moment I will also want to add my voice to the many voices that we as parliamentarians come on board to encourage as many people as possible to participate at the local level elections not just that we should also make sure

That we put our money where our heart is and encourage more women to participate at this level because if you turn around and look at the numbers that have registered to contest this year you realize that the women at the local level are very low let’s put in measures

To ensure that we encourage all to come on board and support those who put themselves up both the district level and then the unit committee elections thank you very much Mr Speaker H members yes that is the last person 3 three we have to move thank you Mr Speaker um first we

Thank the local government Minister for the okay we thank the local government Minister for such a brilliant presentation of the participation in the local government election Mr Speaker um I do believe that one of the biggest challenge that we’ve come to see with our elections is that the local level has become

Nonpartisan and because it’s nonpartisan the platforms upon which assembly members are socialized or the communities are socialized around is not consistent or it’s not sustainable because after every Assembly Election when a new assembly man comes on board the platform around which is able to socialize the community changes and

Therefore building up the momentum all the the time to get so many people to come and vote during elections becomes a problem secondly we also know that because it’s also nonpartisan naturally a lot of MPS find it difficult to get involed because now that we are even being told to go and

Mobilize people to go and vote if you are not careful we might even be told that we are making a par and therefore this are some of the reasons why we are getting it difficult getting a lot of people to be voting during this ele secondly when it comes to the issue of

Financing assemblies I remember during the at 936 the suggestion came that even the financing should not end just at the Metropolitan assembly it should go all the way to the town councils and go all the way to the subm direct unforunately we could not succeed so you consistently

See that a lot of the local areas are simply not working and if you say that local government is to get governance closer to the people it is not just about going to the people and talking it’s about going there to solve their problems unfortunately a lot of our

Assemblies are find it so difficult to be able to solve the problems of the people and the more we are not able to solve the problems naturally the enthusiasm to be voting coming to Q to vote becomes a problem Mr Speaker one area you realize is that even though the

Common fund is say about % if you look at what comes to the MPS and you see how effective it is in solving Community problems of or individual problems natur when it gets to parliamentary elections people rally around the M unfortunately when it get to the level of the um

District assemblies the assembly men do not have their own common fund they just don’t have it so in situations where they can quickly respond to the needs of their people Mr Speaker it becomes a difficulty and when we are not solving problems naturally we don’t expect people to be

Enthusiastic about queing up and coming to vote for our people so I believe that we have to look relook or rethink the mechanisms of spending money at the assembly level whether we should create a new common fund for assembly members is something that we have to be looking

At and how even the assembly does their own budget in solving the community problems one after uh the other Mr Speaker Mr Speaker what we should also understand is that it’s because of the partisan nature of the election of the partisan nature of parliamentary elections that is why we

Are able to build a lot of momentum unfortunately for the assembly elections we don’t have that and I believe that we have to revisit the voting of our DCS by the general public and at the same time the voting of our assembly members on partisan basis I believe that if we able

To do that we’ll be able to use that to move people and build a momentum for the local Assembly Election because we can never put a partisan system on a nonpartisan um system I believe that if we are ready to build momentum or if you want to build momentum for these

Assembly elections then one we have to make the assembly elections H partisan and we should also make the DC election partisan so that there will be partisan on the ground and the partisan on top so that top and down everything should be partisan so that we can use that

Toe conclude in concluding Mr Speaker we are grateful for the speech and I believe that the only way to solve the nonparticipation in the local Assembly election is to make it fully fully fully partisan so that this country can go for it honorable members we go to public

Business at the commencement of public business please item 9 B item 9 B presentation and first reading of bills 9B Customs Amendment Bill 2023 Minister for finance an answer 9 B Majority Leader speaker for 9B remember that it’s late earlier now the minister is here to withdraw the first one and then

Resit this one so he will make an application to withdraw the first one that was laid and then present this new one I’ve been giving notice I’m aware of that yes we are ready for the application to be made to withdraw the one that had been laid and

Then to substitute with a new bill so please the minister for finance may do so Now Mr Speaker I seek the leave of the house to withdraw the earlier one and to lay the subsequent one honorable members this uh bill was laid and is now the property of the house for the minister to succeed to withdraw it he needs your leave your permission

To do so and so your permission is being sought by the minister for finance leadership Mr Speaker indeed the said bill was slid before as last Friday in fact the finance committee sat on it but we notice a number of errors and accordingly the minister was advised to withdraw and

Relay Mr Speaker it’s in line with what we have discussed thank you Mr Speaker yes honorable Haru speaker thank you very much m is just matter of practice and procedure I should believe that Mr Speaker we should take them one in 10 first of all we are on presentation

And first reading of bills and as you rightly guided The Honorable Minister for finance is seeking to withdraw because when the bill was first presented M speaker you rightly directed that it be referred to a committee so it becomes a matter before the committee I should think that you should Grant the

House should Grant you leave for him to withdraw before he proceeds to the second step for the first for the presentation of now custom Amendment bill so just matter of practice he should walk gingerly let him make the application Mr Speaker to you to withdraw then the house will grant you

Leave to withdraw then he can go through the second process you can’t do the same the two things at the same time that you cannot be withdrawing and presenting a paper that’s wrong thank you Mr Speaker Speaker yes majority M speaker I cannot really understand the principal a person brings a bill a paper or whatever to the house now the man or whoever is sheering the bill or motion says that I’m declining interest and then you are saying I’m going to pursue it for you is

That your understanding of the the rules of the house you are totally wrong with this understanding speaker the minister has made application he said he was going to seek the leave of the house to withdraw that’s what he Said honorable members order 78 of our standing orders it reads unless any order otherwise provides notice shall be given any motion which is proposed to make except the following the relevant one is h a motion for the withdrawal of a bill so you don’t need to give notice

When you want to withdraw a bill I had to refer to item 9B because that one is the new bill that is to be laid to raise the issue for the minister to make the motion to withdraw the earlier one that have been laid and referred to the

Committee then they now have the opportunity to lay the new one or present it to the house and so there was no need for that notice to be done on the order paper that is why usually we don’t put the notice there just drawing your attention to the

Procedure if we want to amend this stand order we may do so so that it now becomes an item withdrawal of motion or first reading of a bill but as of now there’s no need for the notice and so you not have an item on the order paper

Specifically on that one so I think the writing has been done we Grant leave to the minister to draw this one particularly with the information from the Min uh minority leader that the committee Drew The Minister’s attention to some challenges in the current one so leave is granted to the minister for

Finance to withdraw the earlier bill that have been presented honorable members the mode of withdrawal is not captured by outstanding orders so we the mode the mode of withdrawal yes M Mr Speaker you just read 78 and 7 to8 says that he should withdraw by motion so the word motion

Has been used and so he has to move and the matter has to be put to this house we have to vote on it that’s what emotion is all about and if we challenge the result then there should be a head count so Mr Speaker I think that the

Standing order is clear that you should come by motion and it it’s one of the Motions that are Exempted from notice being served so let him move the motion let us take a decision on the motion he w’t have a problem because this is a recommendation

Of a committee of this house so we don’t envisage that you have a problem withdrawing the bill and we don’t envisage a head Mr Speaker we don’t need to debate this matter I think that the earlier motion was for the leave the leave has been granted so Minister you have been called

Upon to move and motion for withdrawal so Minister for finance move a motion for withdrawal now move the motion for withdrawal of the bill Majority Leader speaker at your instance the minister will do that the minister will do what you are suggested that he does except to say speaker the my colleagues are

Reading not the entire complement of the of what is required under the stand order 82 provides a member who has proposed a motion May withdraw it but if the motion has been seconded he may do so only by the leave of the house presenting a paper the

House does not require a motion for it to be seconded you understand this but Mr Speaker because you don’t want to waste time and because you have directed The Min the minister will do that precisely read it read what is contained in 82 honorable majority leader h honorable Majority Leader the

Minister for finance is not a member of this [Applause] house he’s not a member of this house the Constitution the Constitution and outstanding orders Define member to mean Member of Parliament but he is allowed by the standing orders to participate in the proceedings in the proceedings of the house he’s allowed to

Participate that doesn’t make him a member of the House honorable members please there’s no need for debate here minister kindly move the motion to withdraw the Bill yeah Mr Speaker I seek um the leave of the house I seek Mr Speaker I seek the the move the leave of the house the Customs Amendment Bill 2023 I beg to move honorable members for the withdrawal of the bill has been moved by the Yeah well motion moved and seconded of

The house honorable members I put the question those in favor say I say no I repeat those in favor say I those again say no the eyes have it honorable members the motion is [Applause] accordingly the bill is accordingly withdrawn we now allow allow the minister for finance to present to the

House the new bill on the costoms amendment 2023 present the new bill to the house and act to amend the first schedule to the Customs act 2015 at 891 to add 431 tariff lines to the customs tariff and to provide a waiver for the importation of raw materials for the

Manufacturing of sanitary towels and for related matters honorable members the said bill is accordingly referred to the committee on finance for consideration and report to the house we now move to item 10 motion and what is left with that motion is head count to be taken Majority

Leader speaker there is a SE to the mind the C to the N which which must be presented the information to me was only on B nobody mentioned that c was ready to be laid I was told B was ready so if C is ready we just allow the same minister

To present the bill to the house Minister for finance item 9 C an act to amend the exemptions act 2022 act 1083 to provide the waiver of custom duty and custom in respect of the importation of fishing gear seeds and fertilizer for the planting of foods and jobs programs phase two for agricultural

Purposes and for related matters honorable members the exemptions Amendment Bill 2023 is accordingly presented to the house and referred to the committee on finance for consideration and report to the house I think we can now move to item 10 motion what is left with item 10 is to take a head

Count so head count to be taken yes honorable member for speaker Mr Speaker I hesitate to rise to ask for your guidance at this stage but I think that since we haven’t taken the vote yet I can seek your guidance Mr Speaker I’m at pain to see whether what

We are proposing to do is supported by the standing orders or by the Constitution I the T says that we are doing two things we are proving the budget statement and economic policy honorable member which is who are you referring to as you are doing sorry not

You you’re not part of it the motion is for the approval you mean the house the house yes now Mr Mr Speaker the first time that the constitution or standing ERS mentions budget is in the standing ORD Mr Speaker the standing orders tells us in standing order

141 that the statement of the estimated revenue and expenditure of the government in respect of each Financial year in these orders referred to as a budget shall be presented to the house on such a day as the business committee may direct Mr Speaker today we are not

Examining the estimates today we are not examining the estimates in fact so if the standing order tells us that we are voting on statement and economic policy we cannot be voting on the budget if we have not examined the estimates Mr Speaker when you look at the standing

Orders the procedure for budget is contained Mr Speaker my colleagues oppos should know that both me and you were uh we were quite we we were known to the court and the court you so that is the least of my worries but Mr Speaker we are speaking in the house

We are seeking of Direction Mr Speaker when you look at the standing orders it says that whenever a motion after the budget has been proposed then a motion is moved that the financial policy of government for the year ending so so and so has been moved and will Deb that a Mr

Speaker the next order that is made by good stuff is that the estimate for each of the areas shall be referred to the Committees responsible for those areas when you look at the standing orders order 146 it says that after that when we resume the debate it says that we shall consider

The report that come from every committee so the procedure is that it comes here it is referred to the various committees and the debate starts what we vote upon is two things we vote upon the reports for the various committees and we vote upon the appropriation Bill Mr Speaker this

Practice or convention on voting on the principles of the budget as it describ or on the financial policy is not supported by the standing orders or the Constitution and if we are voting on the budget statement then per the definition of budget statement in the standing orders it means we are voting

Underestimates and Mr speak at this stage we cannot be voting under estimates because they have not been considered by the various committees and the expert to be voted upon at the state that you are voting on appropriation Mr Speaker why will say that because we F the

Motion it has to be moved and seconded and voted on I had somebody opposite say it some time ago Mr Speaker let’s look at 58 order 58 deals with the statement of the state of the nation by the president even though a motion is mve we don’t vote upon it it is not

Every motion that is voted upon and at this stage the best that can be done is that we consider it as we consider procedural motions or it is a motion of a special nature and as the estimates and the reports come for then will vote on it individually and that is what we

Done if you read the standing orders and combine order 1 140 and you combine it with order 146 Mr Speaker you will come to the conclusion that after the motion has been moved and the estimates given what happens is that we vote upon it as a report start coming

Estimate upon estimate sector upon sector so Mr Speaker at this stage I don’t want to read all the standing orders and B you and the houses in your B but at this stage we cannot be voting on the budget statement because the budget is defined by the standing orders as the

Estimate as the Estimate at the estimates and expenditure of the government in respect of each Financial year and we cannot vote on it because Mr Speaker we have not even yet finish discussing the reports are not in for the Committees so at this stage it is mely a procedural

Vote all at all we vote at the end of the stage and vote also when we have the Mr Speaker I seek your guidance on this issue thank you very Much for yes honorable thank you very much uh Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I think it is important for the honorable Joe to pay attention to the nomenclature used in the Constitution and in our standard orders Article 1 79 of our constitution speaks of the president causing the estimates of the revenues and

Expenditures of government the revenues and expenditures of government to be laid revenues and expenditures then you go to the standing orders because the Constitution also says that Parliament shall by standing orders regulate how we pass the Appropriations bill then in our standing orders it is provided in standing order 143

That after he has laid the estimates of revenues and expenditures that he moves a motion our standing a motion and so the motion to be move is whenever a motion that this house approves the financial policy Financial policy is not the same as estimates of Revenue and expenditure it is it is the

Policy it is the policy that informs the estimates of the revenue and expenditure so we are to debate the policy informing the revenues and expenditure and take a decision on that before we go to the Appropriations Bill itself Mr Speaker and and and and anywhere anywhere our standing orders anywhere our standing

Orders use the word motion then it is a matter that must be voted on cuz a motion is to take a decision a motion is that we should take a decision and how do we take a decision without voting unless there’s a consensus and it’s obvious that in this matter there’s no

Consensus given that there’s no consensus Mr Speaker we will have to vote and we voted and you rul on the voting and this side challenged and called for a head count so Mr Speaker you are doing the right thing deciding that we should go ahead and carry out the head C thank you

Very much Mr Speaker honorable members I I I don’t think this is a matter properly before the house to be debated G simply sought my guidance and I’m entitled to listen to you or not to listen to you in guiding him I decided to listen to you

But this decision doesn’t open up this matter for debate I think it’s something that we will debate later on but for today the hairs will have to be counted so we are going to the head count now honorable members the clock the clock the clock at the table will call your

Name and you stand out to be recognized and then the head will be counted so at the end of the day if your head is not here it cannot be counted so clar please get the list of the members of parliament oh Majority Leader speaker your head is here it will

Be counted don’t worry speaker with the greatest respect with the greatest respect if there is a head count if there is a headcount our orders are very clear in your place and you are counted it does not involve it does not involve mentioning names one by one when done since when done this

Speaker with the greatest We Ready the house is ready the house is ready we don’t want to waste time on this let there be the head as the practice is and then we move on honorable members there’s no disagreement in this matter I have not said that

Anybody should stand at anybody’s seat I said you will stand at your seat and you’ll be counted that’s all what I said yes and so when they mention your name you stand at your seat not at anybody’s seat and you be counted you stand at your seat and be

Counted so honorable members let’s start Sam ericon please we’ve started let’s listen to each other yes clar somewh in honorable members Please get up and you stand at your seat you let us know what you are voting for yes or no honorable members please [Applause] honorable members unless honorable members unless we are saying that all those on my right are voting the block and those on my left are voting block if not if

Not I’ll not be able to tell and the table office will not be able to tell whether the person voted yes or no if we take that decision then we are well guided honorable members the shouting will not take us anywhere the yelling will not take us

Anywhere you have to keep quiet and let us count the hairs finish yes Majority Leader speaker speak there are there are there’s no doubt at all about what is contained in our orders our orders provide order 1132 a member may call for a head count

Or divis if the opinion of Mr Speaker On The Voice vote is challenged that was what was done by the deputy minority and 1134 provides in the case of head house M Mr Speaker shall take the vote of the house by calling upon members who support or oppos to his decision successfully

Successively successively to rise in their places so for those who support it who said the eyes have it so now it will be for you to ask who support the ice and then the ice will rise up to be counted that is what it is those who are

With who said no you call for those who support the not and they get up this is the conversion and practice of this house from this rication and trying to Value the others with the greatest I’m pleading with you I’m pleading with you let’s conform to what you have been

Doing always call for those who support the eyes they they will rise up it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be one side they may come from the other side as well so let’s do that and then we move on the great honorable Majority Leader the same standing order you read which is

1133 says in the case of head count Mr Speaker shall take the vote of the house by calling upon members who support or oppose his decision that is my decision successively to rise in their places yes honorable members this decision of mine was taken some days back not

Today it was taking some days back for some reason we couldn’t take the vote that day we are now doing it today and is left to be done is to count the heads that is what is there the word we are now please sucessive honorable members this cannot compel the speaker

To let them count your heads you better resume your [Applause] seats you don’t you don’t achieve anything by this even after all what I do here when you go out and misrepresent what I do here to the public and let them attack me I listen to everything it’s only I don’t react

Please the differences between what the majority leader is saying and what I’m saying is the inter ation of the word successively successively that is in the standing orders please minority leader Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I see no reason why we should litigate over this matter speaker I say this

Because you are absolutely right right honorable speaker the language in our standing order order 1133 it’s clear and the use of the where successively does not mean we should rise in groups it’s simple one after the other so Mr speak you are right and I see no reason why we should litigate

Over this matter Mr Speaker if we had started I’m sure at least we may may be halfway through it so Mr Speaker I urge you I urge you to continue the process because speaker clearly clearly order 1133 is clear on this matter and we should not deviate from that thank you Mr

Speaker yes Majority Leader Mr Speaker as I’ve said I disagree with this interpretation and I must emphasize it I strongly disagree however knowing that you want to stick to your position I’ll surrender let’s do the head whatever you want to do let’s do it we are ready let’s do

It Majority Leader don’t give the impression that this is the first time this is being done we have done this a number of times on this Ro please please please we have done this a number of times the course can bear me out the official reports are there don’t give any impression that

This is the first time is been done please again the guidance you leadership gave me is what I am following I have not departed from that guidance please CL may we start is it the case that anybody standing from my right side is For Eyes those standing from my left for

Nose in that case you don’t have to mention eyes or nose but the names will have to be mentioned please go on some Ericson abanga I’m Jacob abdah Jacob ID Al Abdul Latif done ABD Salam Adams ABA samel AB I’m here I jump on BR I jump on child on Richard ad

Aqua Alexander aqu Adam Hamza Pro Adam Muhammad Amin doctor Adam SC EDD Ted sa ad don’t FR of being doctor colleagues I don’t Isaac say Doctor Eric Doctor Doctor James [Applause] Alexander i prac i i Frei y I hear something I for Al AA alassan AB sh no Ali Mahar farolas pet

And I’m Thomas my name is not I’m CH please Andre Emmanuel any Moses I not on PR Frank [Applause] Clement Doctor [Applause] Patricia hu doctor as vent Upon Francis samel J aus mam Dominic doctor but my tree Michel Tre bab Bri B Patrick B Shea Edwardo Joseph BL and Al Patrick Doctor EV [Applause] Daniel ahamed B Joseph AMU is Sam [Applause] Sam Andre come for do Good Robert wisdom thas colle D abukari [Applause] Ambush Don Elvis Morris Don for in team Rend for in C from Joseph George some n got wisdom John Alexander John me Richard h on and not a ibraim mmed ibraim M Muhammad ibraim [Applause] Muhammed B J you is Jala Ste B Doctor John ABD ABD kiss Dix doctor Benjamin kumn

Pres we on Solomon chman Nelson chman Nelson L Oscar AG Oscar m m man Francis M Doctor Mo Thomas manby Francis men Isaac a Jose M Andre k mhamed m abdulaziz i n San nap Dominic now one Mark K [Applause] doctor Dominic Henry te team Augustin Colleu Pro yes Al is Elizabeth Williams OBU Davis andu Eric doctor say John [Applause] kened I say [Applause] okay say [Applause] [Applause] Joseph bless chran P to death on The graft ABD Rashid Hassan doctor Grand you doctor mat Doctor Henry where in [Applause] James Ramadan mamed Rick s Sabastian M Sorge [Applause] Richard

Benjamin so Francis so Adams mhamed suan Adan suan alhassan t suan your man you see suon Abdul Raz tell you guus doctor [Applause] take the joy Sylvester Joseph aqu to Do [Applause] to you see Bo Wonder Alfred V [Applause] David re BR bright Z in and more e honorable members at the end of the head count I 100 and [Applause] 38 knows 136 absent one honorable members their eyes have it honorable members this house has accordingly approved the budget

Statements and economic policy of the government for the year ending 31st December [Applause] 2024 honorable members the issue raised by honorable J G is an an issue that has come up a number of times in this house a number of members in the previous Parliament and currently at the post

Budget Workshop the majority leader raised this issue it’s an issue worthy of consideration we have gone through the provisions of the Constitution and the standing orders of the house and there’s a need for us to take a second look at the standing orders of the house definitely there are more Provisions to

Look at in the Constitution than what you have been referred to and I have taken some time to go through these Provisions particularly when this matter was rated last week by some members of this house after we could not take the vote the standing orders committee has

Taken a deep look into the matter and will be proposing for the consideration of this house during the um the consideration and the adoption of a resolution to revise these standing orders and so we’ve made some proposals therein for your consideration as to how to handle this matter we

Have either to pass an act or in some situations a resolution and some Provisions talk about approval particularly when you are dealing with the capital expenditure of the Judiciary again when you are dealing with three budgets that definitely talks about approval at what stage do you give the

Approval is the other consideration we looked at and we all know that is the appropriation Bill whether it’s supplementary or not is what we usually approve pass into the law and that is also provided for in the Constitution and so we will look at it together realign it and

Then see how best to handle such situations because I foresee in the near future I foresee in the near future this country having a minority government and if you have a minority government and the standing orders don’t provide for all this scenario the minority government will always have a problem in getting his

Budget approved particularly as members as whole partisan extremely partisan I know how brilliant members are but when it come to to debate on the floor or on radio stations they are carried away by partisan considerations not what is right or what is good and so we’ve taken

A deep look at that and we have Revis the standing orders latest by next week it will come before you because what I’ve just done is a declaration of the results but that way doesn’t find expression in our standing orders I just declared the results it’s not a decision taken by me

It’s a decision taken by you I have just declared the results and so we’ve done a lot of work on it and definitely it’s something that members should take seriously with this we move on to some ENT business and I’m sure members would have received copies of of the order paper at then Do order paper addend do honorable members this is a matter that had been considered by the house before and I think in the report of the committee there was an insertion that is incomplete conflict with the decision of the Supreme Court as to agencies set up for purposes whether there are transactions in

Connection with facilities particularly Financial facilities agreements fall under the payview of article 1815 the Supreme Court has delivered a judgment in that matter but that seem not to have been factored in in the earlier decision of the house and so the committee itself made recommendations on it and this instrument

This memorandum has been brought forward to rectify the situation and so I’ll be calling on the minister for energy to present it to us for our consideration that is what is meant to do well let them present it what is it honor Haruna speaker I have no difficulty with the

Presentation I’m familiar with the standing orders but if you read what is there it ends with the words for the attention of parliament in other paper addend every paper presented here is for the attention of parliament so you cannot present a paper ending with the words for for the attention of

Parliament I have no difficulty you can go ahead but when you put W matter here you are laying a paper lay it you cannot lay a paper and put in the words there for the atten of parliament every paper laid here is for the attention of

Parliament he can proceed to do it but expor those words in my view thank [Applause] you honorable members The Honorable is right it should end at energy so it’s memorandum on terms and conditions of refinancing of the leasco phase 6A facility persuant to the recommendation of the committee on mines and energy

Speaker yes majority the minister has hited to Ascent to some documents in his office so the deputy minister is here you can do the presentation on behalf of the minister as for what the my colleague the former minority that dat speaker I’m not too sure that is subject to

Litigation because until the paper is presented there’s nothing before us you go to argue about nothingness when there’s nothing before us well agre is attention but he said I should hear him so I’ve heard him that’s all right the deputy minister is here let him do the presentation

Yes speak we saw the minister a moment ago and um I I I thought this matter is a serious matter that the minister himself should have been here today but Mr Speaker in any case let us allow the deputy Minister today thank you speaker memorandum on terms and

Condition of refinancing of The lco Phase 6 facility P one to the recommendation of the committee on mines and energy honorable members the paper is accordingly referred to the committee on energy for consideration and report to the house e honorable members just the last issue and then we get the guidance of

Leadership you recall I mentioned earlier on that I had to pen to the minister for finance for and on your behalf on some takeaways from the debate on the 2024 and economic policy of government what we just took the head count on I think the minister has stepped out but if a knowled

Receip of the communication and I have indication that they will act on it and so I’ll be following up on your behalf on this matter because I de that is very dear to the hearts of members the takeaways are on various areas that members emphasized on the debate in the debate of the

Budget I’m sure youve forgotten and uh it’s quite a lent letter I can’t read all of it but if you want me to mention some I will do so you want reminder yes M speaker you were ke following the debate and you indicate that you have uh stranded out very important

Components of the debate and transmitted the thinking of the house or should I should I use the opinion of the house to the Minister of Finance and we believe him so I think we don’t need to go through whatever communication you go yes minority Mr Speaker was that you have you paid

Attention to the debate and you have taken note of key concerns of members and that you have put it in the form of a letter to be communicated to the minister responsible for finance speaker I think in view of that that is enough and so um there’s no need for you to go

Through it or read it to us maybe you can communicate same accordingly to the minister responsible for it we usually have problems with our system so I didn’t get the import of your submissions is it that I should go over it again or what I’ve done suffices for the house

M speaker what you have done suffices and there’s no need for you to go over it again thank you Mr speaker thank you so much yes speaker I do not know whether we have the benefit of your observations What You observe whether members of the house will have a copy of

What you are trying to communicate because we also have to own what the observations are for our own uh thinking and progress actually earlier on I gave an indication to those observations here in the house I did just because we we’ve just taken the head count I’m reminding members that

I’ve already done that and I’ve got a feedback that they are definitely looking at the submission members have made they had to do with some sector they have to do with taxes the taxes that issues were raised on some sectors that is a need to scale up the provisions for those sectors and

Then some key issues concerning education particularly our students the tablets and the rest those are the issues they are not uh contentious yes leadership speaker speaker respectfully if you could you can deal with items 39 and 40 38 39 39 39 yes on page 21 and then 40 on page 4 on page

22 honorable members item 39 at page 21 of the order paper is there question to be put that is on the Ghana industrial poty office Bill 2023 being Now read the second time those in favor say I those against say no the eyes have it carried an act to establish the Ghana

Industrial property office for the protection and use of patents trademarks industrial designs geographical indications and plant varieties and to provide for related matters honorable members the Ghana industrial property office Bill 2023 is deemed to have been read the second time yes please thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker

On item 40 it is captured wrongly in the other paper it says that debate to commence and Mr Speaker I recall that the last time the motion was moved seconded and then we did debate on that so it was also left with the question to

Be put so he in the same category of as item number 39 and that is the correction I seek to make please yes Mr Speaker it is difficult to uh I’m not doubting my colleague like if it’s captured debate to commence um we can’t we can’t we can’t just say that

It’s wrong I mean this is not the V and proceedings so Mr Speaker this is not any agent bill can we uh uh leave this tomorrow so that the table of office and we can even use the answer to confirm what was actually said that day so we

Don’t do the wrong thing so we don’t do the wrong thing by avoiding the debate on it and just putting the question Mr Speaker and tomorrow somebody will say that bill was introduced and no debate was done and then we pass it so Mr Speaker let’s tread cautiously on this

It’s not an emergeny bill so we can we can leave this till tomorrow Mr Speaker before yes honorable chairman the table office is not sure the debate was concluded so we will put it that debate to continue to continue but honorable members there are some key bills that we have to consider

Before we go on ress that we have to finish before go on recess one of them is the affirmative action gender equality Bill even though we said it was not proper for it to be brought under a certificate of agency we all know the key role that

Bill will play in the development of the country and so we just gave the committee the opportunity the advises is not right for it to be brought under a ccate of agency but we all know it’s a matter that we have to deal with expeditiously so please the committee

Should by next week finish engaging the stakeholders and present a report yesterday the Coalition on the affirmative action group met me and stressed the need for them to make inputs and also edged the house to at least complete it before going on Races we cannot afford to fail the country so next

Week whatever the situation we have to take the bill the other one as you know is a bill that has been pending for a long time yesterday I thought you are going to take that bill unfortunately I’m told that because the chairman of the committee was not available my Deputy speaker did not

Permit the bill to be taken I take that as a decision made in error because the absence of the chairman of the committee cannot prevent the house from considering the bill we have done it a number of times and so it should not be referred to in

Future as a president I think it was done in error so that bill to a bill on human rights um the bill on the proper human sexual rights and ghanian value Family Values Bill 2021 will have to be taken sorry um fairy speaker thank you Mr Speaker you

Was trying to get something to eat when I heard you talking about the bill you just mentioned so speaker from what you said it appears to me that a report has been given to you which is inaccurate and indeed the same report has been circulated on Earth by the proponents of

The pill the speaker first and foremost as at the time my attention was drawn that um of member wanted to move the the bill there were less than 50 members of us in the house we didn’t have the numbers to do business neither did we have the numbers to take a decision if

There were enough members to do business I would have permitted discussion to be done and beir questions Mr Speaker more importantly it was suggested that let the motion be moved motion for Amendment be moved by the ranking member I said that the Motions were in the name of the

Chairman but it was just to save the the house from the Bassment announcing that we didn’t have numbers to take a decision Mr Speaker the members of the Coalition immediately went press conference and started making allegations that myself and the majority in general are opposed to the bill Mr

Speaker when the second reading was done we all in the house and my colleagues will tell you my position on the bill suggested to them that even the think they proposing to take out of the bill if they bring it there I’ll reintroduce them for members to think that because

They propos it it is their property is wrong and it’s unfair once it is laid in the house it is the property of the house and it is not for them and the grand standing of some of their colleagues thinking that if they do not propose it it can be done it’s wrong

This is the business of the house and it should be regulated by the standing orders and the constitution of the house the speaker it is in appropriate for us to assume that because today it is not done today then it is an attempt to frustrate the process it is not right I

Am a member of the Catholic church just as you speaker the Catholic church has not raised an issue are we not entitled to consider those matters are there honorable uh uh Deputy leader was the one who represented the house at that meeting are we not entitled to consider those matters did

Those matters go for the committee should we as he suggested honorable s just suggested we could have finished in 1 hour please this bill should last the uh uh the rest of the uh uh it last to serve the whole country today I said it was embarrassing for me when it

Was found out that the companies act the Supreme Court struck out a Clause because in our hurry we included a clause which is so Elementary I remember that I was presiding on that day and it shouldn’t have eluded me that we we we declined permission for a member uh to be a

Director when he has not been convicted just been charged he shouldn’t have eluded me but these are some of the challenges we endure because we in a hurry to pass the bill so I think that it is most unfair to insist that because it was not taken yesterday then it means

That I am against it the side is against it and that members of the side actually took deliberately frustrating the process I think Mr Speaker this house is guarded by rules this house is guarded by our Constitution and when it comes to business of the house is weer it is to

Be shephered by the leadership it is to be separated by the leadership and the leadership did not guide me as of yesterday there was disagreement the majority Deputy majority who said you think that we have done enough for the day and the chief G said they haven’t agreed that we have

Done enough for the day but Mr Speaker look around we are less than 50 members we did not constitute uh uhum to transact business let alone to take a decision so speaker whoever reported that to you that I I did not carry out your instruction was wrong furthermore

Mr Speaker theable remember Sam George went on there to say that he heard that you instructed me asked I spoke with you here at the podium where we exchange he was not there whatever we discussed was not to his hearing how could he have said that on air that he had that he

Gave me that his instruction not be done whatever M discussed with me even if he discussed with him further it should be considered as being uh um intended for him and not for the public speaker if you don’t don’t take care we will end up in the end dividing the house and a

Mother which we have already a concurrence we are agreed I thank you Mr Speaker this is not a matter to be debated but uh because you refer to honorable Sam George I will give him the opportunity to say a word most Greatful right honorable speaker and right honorable

Speaker it is very rich and tell him that today we are being told that because we don’t constitute Corum we cannot take a private members Bill Mr Speaker we have taken bills in this house laws that have become laws with less than 10 people sitting in this chamber with the first Deputy speaker

Priding that has not detracted or taken away from the law Mr Speaker the arguments that the the Amendments on the order paper stand in the name of the chairman of the committee and so he alone must move them is practice that is alien to this house because we’ve had

Government bills that the ranking member honorable Bernard are here for or the deputy ranking suu or even a member of the committee roxen has moved for government so when we have amendments that have been agreed they are not the Chairman’s amendments they are amendments of the committee in agreement with the eight

Sponsors and the Attorney General of Ghana in the name and they stand in the name of the committee chairman if we say that without the committee Chairman’s presence we would never take any Bill Mr Speaker then let us spell it out here and now so that the next time a

Government bill comes and The Honorable Jose Wu is priding and the chairman is not around I will stand up and remind him and say that the house must end because then that will be the precedent we are setting but Mr Speaker let let us be clear let us be clear yesterday the

Leadership on the other side said that there was agreement to end business at a certain stage leadership on our side indicated that that was not the case I Rose and Drew the attention of the first Deputy speaker to the fact that the speaker has had intimated not even in

Secret and not just in the conversation when he was handing over but while sitting in the chair that we were going to take the Urgent question take the lane of papers and take the bill the consideration of the bill the hand is there the speaker said it not once but

Three times yesterday so it is not about whatever the speaker may have even said to me or just what he said to the first Deputy when he was handing over the speaker had given indication of what the business on the floor should have been and I think that we should respect the

Authority of the speaker as well because this is not the first time it is happening so I think that if we are added if we are added them on the fact that we want to take this bill the right Forum will be that the right Forum will be

That right honorable speaker the bill is taken if anybody has any inputs they make their inputs during the consideration and bring amendments we debate them and we move on with the bill but that is all we are asking for that this moves expeditiously thank you right honorable speaker

I I thought this is a simple matter once my colleague the first deuty has spoken and some judge has reacted did he mention your name no chairman you were said to be absent were you not absent thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I wasn’t absent yesterday but at the time that the bill

Was act to be prosecuted Mr Speaker at that material moment I wasn’t here to be to the best of my knowledge Mr Speaker at all times material I know that leadership would agree on the items would be taken on the floor of the house then the leadership would prompt the

Chairman that we would be doing this item which is your schedule you have to lead it Mr Speaker will recall that Mr Speaker you had prompted me as a chairman on an issue that we need to iron out a grease I have discussed it with the ranking member and I discussed

With some of the sponsors of this bill that we need one meeting to iron out this crises only for my colleagues on the other side to go out and make a a press conference and warn to the extent that they are going to descend on us at our primaries Mr Speaker this warnings

And so this morning I had to respond by saying that the moment we close this bill with political colors it will not see the day of light I had to war that way Mr Speaker I do not think that that is the way to go as police we have

Agreed I have told you that there’s something for us to iron out on my Blind Side you go and make press conference and I think that was most unfair thank you honorable members I can only say that even though democracy is in in motion and we are now emphasizing a lot

Of openness transparency accountability there are some matters that should not be communicated but there are some things that people who need to know should know not everybody the rest that you stated please don’t let us take some of these issues as presidents we know that when it comes to consideration stage of

Deals not many members are interested in consideration stage not only in Ghana all over the world that is the practice so when you talk about Co then you are introducing something that could really have a challenge in this house but it’s good that the fairy speaker has

Spoken the only thing is that please don’t take it as addition to be insistent that there must always be Corum before we go on with consideration consideration stage is an informal stage of the processes of a bill informal and so we are looking at those that are technically

Inclined to do those things and make sure that the right thing is captured in the bill so please there are many more things we have to do that is why even we are now trying to formalize the wiow win stage and so it will now be captured in

The new standing orders window wi stage of bills whatever the situation I know that nobody in this house is opposed to the bill and that this bill will see the light of day before we rise the people of Ghana are expecting us to pass the bill before we go on

Recess failure to do so we have some serious consequences on members as you want to advance in your political careers honorable member never contest a speaker on some of these matters but my ears are more than yours even though we have two each I have more ears on the ground than

You and I be in this game long before you were even born so don’t contest me on this matter please these are key bills that are think we should consider before we go on recess and the Committees are edged to always present committee members always present themselves when we get to each

Of the bills I’ve mentioned these are important bills we have to pass and we also have to resolve on standing orders before we go on recess now that the Committees are properly composed please members are encouraged to start the consideration of the estimates from the various centors and the majority leader of the

Business committee will be coming out with the the time table for presentation of your reports so next week is going to be a very busy week for us you can see the standing H the order papers is completely replete with a lot of work some of which are very key to the

Sustenance of democracy and development in the country we have to finish all before we go on recess on the 22nd 22nd with this I’ll proceed to adjin the sitting of the house majority Chief speaker if you may and uh endulge me shall we take item i h on page8

Of page eight page8 more than item 88 and speaker on page8 item 8 H report of the subsidiary legislation committee on the ntic Control Commission cultivation and management of cannabis regulations 2023 honorable members the report of the subs committee is presented accordingly and for distribution to all members of

Parliament with this honorable members the house stands agen till tomorrow at 10 in the for noon the house is Again

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