Category: General

The Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has held its third public hearing on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.

The purpose of the public hearing was to give individuals and organizations who have submitted memoranda on the Bill the opportunity to justify their submissions and offer further explanation on their views on the matter..

Representatives from Key Watch Ghana, Assemblies of God, Interfaith Diversity Network for West Africa and Alliance for Equality and Diversity made various presentations on the Bill during the sitting.

The Acting Chairman and MP for Sunyani East Hon. Ameyaw Cheremeh and the Ranking Member, Bernard Ahiafor, who is also the MP for Akatsi South led the discussions.

They both thanked the presenters and admitted that it has been a learning process for all the Members of the Committee and indicated that views of the various groups would be considered when the Bill is been taken at the Clause by Clause stage.

The object of the Bill is to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian Family Values proscribe LGBTQ+ and related activities.

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 The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, has said that as Leader of the House, he can only be impartial but he cannot be neutral.

Speaking in reference to current issues before Parliament concerning the 2022 Budget and Financial Statement, the Speaker said “the concept of majority rule should give way to participatory inclusiveness. Given the current changes, Parliament cannot continue to apply the old rules, procedures, culture and conduct whilst going through the transitional period; else the march towards democracy will be halted”.

He was speaking to the British High Commissioner in Accra, H.E. Harriet Thompson, who paid a courtesy call on him at Parliament with a delegation to understand the times in which Parliament finds itself, the need for a bi-partisan approach, and the experiences worth sharing. She also wanted to understand Parliament’s perception of the various engagement with, and support for the institution.

The Speaker underlined the need for continuous support for Ghana’s Parliament in order to strengthen the institution in its work, and said democracy will thrive in the West African sub-region only if Ghana’s democracy succeeds. “If Ghana fails, others would fail as well”, he said.

 Rt. Hon. Bagbin called for a mutually beneficial relationship between Ghana and the United Kingdom to ensure that the two countries support one another in their national agenda.

He said Ghana’s Parliament remains committed to strengthening ties with the United Kingdom, which had existed since Independence. That commitment, he said, transcends to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), whose mandate, Rt. Hon Bagbin believes must be reviewed.

The CPA, he explained, must cease to exist as a charity organization and transition into an international diplomatic organization, facilitates economic diplomacy, strengthening of democracy and the promotion of fundamental human rights among member associations. Ultimately, he said, the CPA should create progressive links between member countries and the United Nations.

Speaking on the nature of Ghana’s hung parliament, the Minority Leader, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, saw the current composition of the House as a unique opportunity for Ghana’s legislature to become more assertive and enhance the concept of checks and balances in the governance process.

He stressed on the need for more dialogue and consensus building between the two sides of the House in democracy in Ghana is to be sustained and the interest of the citizens served. He expressed disquiet about the constant negative attacks by the majority group targeted at the person of the Speaker and said, that will not only traduce the Speaker’s character, image and reputation, but will only make consensus building difficult to attain and impact negatively on the ethos and integrity of the House.

Hon. Ablakwa, was of the view that the interest demonstrated by Ghanaians in the work of Parliament will lead to gradual shift of public perception from the believe that Ghana’s legislature is a lame duck, weak institution and a rubber stamp for Government’s policies.

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Indigenes of Pramkese Kodiabe in the Eastern Region who domicile in Europe have contributed to provide a facelift to the maternity ward of their Community Health Center which serves eleven communities in the Municipality.

Dr. Ranford Kwame Antwi, Chairman of the Europe chapter in his remarks underscored the importance of keeping the health center clean and ensuring that there is constant maintenance and not to allow the facility to collapse and then turn around to build a new facility.

He urged staff of the facility to see everything there as their own and give it the needed attention and care, promising that “we have bigger plan for this clinic”, he said.

The Chief of Pramkese Kodiabe, Barima Ofori Frimpong II cautioned those encroaching on the land reserved for expansion to desist from that.

The Municipal health director of Kwaebibirem Dr. Bernard Asare noted that it is their duty to ensure that everyone has access to quality health service and further noted that there are places they wished they could provide chips compound.

Again, he added that government is in partnership with the private sector to provide hospitals and noted on their part they would facilitate for the facility to become a polyclinic and later a hospital.

“We want you to continue helping and assisting, we are also working for clinics around the community to support this very one which can take care of simple conditions. We are developing chips compounds around; all of them would spring up to support the chips compound”.

 Senior Physician Assistant Harrison Atuobi thanked the health Committee for their work and added that sometimes when the going became tough they had wanted to give up but when the challenges were put before the board of the health facility they came in to assist.

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The Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development has thrown its weight behind the Ghana Strengthening Accountability Mechanism (GSAM) project as it provides an independent, transparent and accountability on projects in the various communities.

The Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi gave the assurance of the committee’s readiness to join the advocacy for more support and the continuity of the project, when the Committee gave audience to CARE International, implementers of the Ghana Strengthening Accountability Mechanism (GSAM) project on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 in parliament.

“We are ready to work in collaboration with you to make sure that the 261 MMDAs get this training and capacity building for project implementation at the local level”, the chairman stated.

According to him, one of the major problems as a nation is issues surrounding implementation of projects at the local level, including physical infrastructure and other initiatives hence the recommendation by CARE for a policy or guidelines to be formulated by government to propel effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects at the local level is a good call. “….that every project, either coming from the central government, it is coming from the local authority or where ever, there should be a laid down procedure, some guidelines for authorities to follow. For instance, we can’t have a contractor working on a project and the community is not aware of who that contractor is; I don’t think it is right. I don’t think it is right when for instance, a district assembly which is benefitting from a project is not aware of the cost of that project. So these are critical areas when all believe we need to work together to make sure that we get something done about it”, he emphasized.

Samuel Addai Boateng, Deputy Chief of Party – GSAM (Care International) said though the programme is expected to end in September this year, having run it since 2014 in selected 100 districts across the country, there is a need to institutionalize some of the positive observations to guide project implementation going forward.

He asserts that the use of community score cards by the citizenry to engage duty bearers at the district level has been very useful in terms of capital project implantation; adding that the combination of the top-down and bottom-up accountability approach which ensures that while the audit service is doing its auditing, the citizens are also monitoring from down, provides a lot of positive impact in the project implementation in the communities.

He, however, explained that they have identified some areas that require the push of the Committee, “to push them into policies, to push them into laws and other things that are within your mandate so that at the end of the day when they are documented they are something that can be institutionalized to become binding on project formulators and implementers.

Reason for the Engagement

CARE International and its partners met the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development to brief the committee on the Ghana Strengthening Accountability Mechanism (GSAM) project which is aimed at improving social accountability and local government transparency in Ghana.

It also presented some recommendations for considerations by the committee as follows:

• Adopt the concept of Community Development Monitors alongside sub-local structures in their community engagements and project monitoring activities
• Advocate for the Ministry of Finance to collaborate with Ghana Audit Service to strengthen the capacity of District Audit Committees to enable them to undertake regular annual performance audits fir the assemblies.
• Advocate for Assemblies to use Community score-cards in community engagement on projects and service delivery engagements, especially through the Social Audit Committees in the district.

About Ghana Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms (GEAM) Activity

The GSAM Activity is an eight-year (20142022) USAID supported Activity seeking to deepen and sustain responsive and accountable governance at the local level. it focuses on the delivery of quality services with increased accountability; specifically, supporting citizens to demand responsive governance and local authorities to improve management of policy implementation for efficient service delivery.

The Activity works with citizens to boost their participation in local government processes including planning and implementation of development projects through strengthening citizens’ oversight of capital development projects. This is aimed at improving local government transparency, accountability and performance across IQO districts in Ghana.

The Activity was initially implemented by a Consortium comprising CARE International in Ghana, OXFAM in Ghana and Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), in collaboration with Ghana Audit Service and 25 other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

The Ghana Audit Service (GAS) under the Activity carried out performance audits of selected capital projects in 100 districts. The consortium translated the results of the audits into scorecards and disseminated in those districts. This provided citizens the opportunity to hold their District Assemblies accountable using the scorecards as the main accountability tool for engagements.

GSAM Achievements

GSAM has made significant progress towards improving and strengthening Ghana’s decentralization process, with an emphasis on citizen participation, civil society empowerment, management of capital project delivery and extensive awareness about good governance practices. Some highlights include:

• Deepened citizen participation: Over 200, 000 citizens in 100 districts have had the opportunity to engage with their district authorities on issues of capital project planning and implementation and to demand an improved performance from the District Assemblies.
• Improved quality of capital project delivery: Citizens and civil societies supported to monitor and evaluate the delivery of 387 capital projects in 50 districts between 2015 and 2020.
• Strengthened CSOs capacities: Through training and technical assistance, 25 local civil society groups have gained new capacities that empower them to collaborate with citizens to influence local decision-making processes and support development in local communities.
• Increased citizen awareness: Raised awareness about social accountability reaching more than 2.5 million citizens nationwide through news articles, radio and television programs, social media, websites and documentaries.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanadistricts.com

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has served notice to the House that he does not want to leave Parliament as a Speaker and be investigated by government’s agencies. As such, the Finance Ministry should assist the House with the relevant documentations for parliament to approve the financial agreements that parliament needs to approve.

According to him he has prompted the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the subject matter and under scored the need to attach documentation to international agreements. “Finance Ministry, take note you need to write officially attaching agreements you have entered into”.

The various agencies which have entered into agreements, he noted the House need to know; “after one year it has not been done; we cannot depend on documents from those agencies as authentic document to work with. This is notice to the Ministry of Finance personally.  I have called the Ministry a number of times, take these things seriously; judgment debts are becoming too many in the country”, he emphasized.

He also pointed out that he does not want to be part of this and would not work on any document that is not emanating from government sources, and he knows the legal implications and would not risk that.

In the case of government financial International agreement not coming to parliament for approval, Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Bagbin has told the House he would not be part of a situation where he would leave the House as a Speaker and later be called to any government agencies for investigation.

The Speaker made this point on the floor of the House, when Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Samuel Nartey George touched on Article 181 clause (5) of the 1992 constitution in a matter relating to the states acquisition of AirtelTigo Ghana from its partner holdings.

Article 181 (5); “This article shall, with the necessary modifications by Parliament, apply to an international business or economic transaction to which the Government is a party as it applies to a loan”.

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The President, Nana Akufo-Addo has been programmed to deliver on his constitutional mandate on the March 3, 2022 by giving the State of the Nations Address.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo said the above date has been given by Parliament but they are in touch with the presidency as they need to get it done within the constitutional frame work of time.

“We are aware the president is not within the jurisdiction, we are in a global village we need to engage and reach out,  that is the only way you can leverage and get the necessary investment into your country. I do not think any president takes pleasure in traveling out of the country”.

And added that, same with MPs any travel must be essential and what the president is engaged in is rather an essential travels. Again, he noted that as a country we must be bold and address issue of travels and aircrafts if democracy would require institutional pillars and needs resources to build a workable democracy.

He was addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps on Friday, after adjournment, and responding to comments made by the North Tongu MP criticizing the president for using private jet instead of what the state has purchased.

So again, “when you say why would MPs drive in a four wheel, its waste, use that money for something else,  it  really would not add up; same with chief directors having  official vehicles,  why would parliament be in a chamber as flamboyant and  big   why don’t we gather under a canopy and do business, that money would be a waste; we should not trivialize issues?”, he advised.

The Effutu lawmaker further noted that as a country we should agree that certain structures should be in place, “I would not question anybody asking for accountability and a certain line of travel but to create the impression as if the president traveling on an aircraft rather than that procured by the states means he is insensitive would rather beg the question”.

He disagreed with that and noted that it is over populism and would not help but rather incite   people to react in a certain way,  but if we all agree that as a nation the governance we have chosen for ourselves we require certain structures, then we should openly debate.

“What, we need to support our democracy, aircraft to facilitate government business, not the one that we cannot rely on for long distance travel” he addeds.

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The Youth Wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a group of people including kayayei and concerned students in tertiary institutions on Thursday, February 10, 2022 presented a petition on the Electronic Transaction Bill (E-Levy) to the leadership of Parliament.

Mr. George Opare Addo, who presented the petition on behalf of the Youth Wing, noted that as representatives of the People, Parliament must not hesitate to reject the E-Levy when it is re-introduced on the floor of the House.

According to him, the NDC is demonstrating in the interest of many Ghanaians who are against the introduction of the E-Levy even if it is reduced from 1.75% to 1.5%.

The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annor-Dompreh who received the petition on behalf of the Leadership of Parliament commended the demonstrators for registering their protest very peacefully without any unfortunate incident.

The National Chairman of the NDC, Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram; Mr. Sam George; Deputy General Secretary, Peter Boamah Otokunor; and National Organizer, Joshua Akamba were among the leaders who presented the petition.

The youth of the NDC who demonstrated through some principal streets of Accra before ending it in Parliament House also registered their displeasure against the government’s inability to resolve the ongoing University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) strike action that has lasted for about a month.

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Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Alan Kyerematen has stated that, over the last four years, government of Ghana through the Ministry of Trade and Industry has facilitated the setting up of 278 companies and projects across the 16 regions of Ghana.

He said, out of this number, 106 companies are currently in operation, 148 are under construction, and 24 are at the mobilization stage, and also noted that the 1D1F initiative is private sector-led but facilitated by Government.

The Role of Government

Mr. Kyerematen outlined the role of government which includes payment of interest subsidy on loans granted to IDIF companies and projects by Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) together with granting of incentives such as waiver of import duties on capital goods and raw materials, and facilitation of access to infrastructure such as electricity, water, and roads.

He further pointed out that since the start of the Programme, Government has successfully mobilized loans for IDIF companies from the Participating Financial Institutions totaling an amount of GHS2.69 billion and that, such amount has been leveraged through the disbursement of an amount of GHS260.9 million by Government as subsidy to derrick loans and support interest payment for beneficiary IDIF companies and projects.

This was when Member of Parliament for Tamale North Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini asked a question on behalf of his colleague from Tamale Central who wanted to know how many factories has been set up und the 1D1F programme and how much government has spent for their establishment.

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Parliament on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 approved two Commercial Contract Agreements for the construction of some selected roads and bridges in the country.

The two agreements include:

i) the Commercial Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (acting through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and represented by the Ghana Highway Authority) and Contracta Construction UK Limited for an amount of One Hundred and Fifty Million Euros (€150,000,000.00) for the Construction of the Bunso — Adawso Road and specified approach roads to the Adawso Bridge Project.

The 104Km road project would comprise Takorowatwen — Ekyi Amanfrom Road—     22Km; Adawso —Kwahu Tafo Road—20Km;  Kwahu Tafo – Miaso Road – 29km; Miaso – Begoro Road – 26km; and Begoro – Obuoho Road – 7km

ii) the Design-Build Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (acting through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and represented by the Ghana Highway Authority) and BNIP-JansonAdowso Consortium of Netherlands for an amount of Two Hundred Million Euros (€200,000,000.00) for the Construction of a Bridge over the Volta River at Adawso-Ekyi Amanfrom (3.0km long).

Addressing the media, Chairman of the Committee on Roads and Transport, Mr. Kennedy Nyarko Osei said these two projects are very significant and important to the Ghanaian people especially the bridge describing it as the first and longest bridge in West Africa, the first of its kind in Ghana.

 “I believe several governments have tried to assist the good people of Donkorkrom and those who live around but unfortunately, none of them have been successful. But president Akuffo Addo and his government with the determination and commitment irrespective of wherever people live has taken it on board to ensure that he would extend all infrastructure development to every corner of this country, and for him and his government to secure such a facility to construct such a bridge over the Afram river which spans about 3kilometers. I think it is something that the Ghanaian people must know about it”.

He said this would be a legacy project that he would be remembered for as being the chairman of the Committee during which period the loan was secured.

 He asserts that this is not the only project government is working on indicating that there are several mega projects that are ongoing. “This year government is going to do about seven interchanges; four of them would be in the Ashanti Region, very significant.”

Contesting the usual question people ask about what government has used the loans it has contracted for, he said most of the projects takes several months to complete, citing the bridge over the Afram River which is expected for completion in 36 months when it commences.

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The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta has clarified a comment he was purported to have made indicating that government is in preparation to turn all road tollbooths into washrooms.
He said, he was taken out of context and that was not exactly the fact of the matter. He said the media only took a small part of the whole interview he granted and plays games with it.

Mr. Amoako-Atta gave this clarifications when the member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza Governs raised the issue on the floor of Parliament, asking the minister for roads and highways, why he is going to turn tollbooths in the country into washrooms meanwhile, the minister is looking for money to reconstruct new tollbooths.

He further told the House that it is important to stop the indiscriminate ways that passengers urinate on the highway by providing appropriate washrooms along the highways and not necessary the tollbooths indicating that most of the existing tollbooths already have washrooms in them.

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