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Parliament is still silent on the actual date the President Nana Akufo Addo would present the state of the nation address to parliament as enshrined in Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.

The issue did not find space in the business statement presented to the House for the seventh week ending Friday, March 18, 2022.

Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament for Ellembele raised the issue on the floor of the House when the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business presented the Business Statement to the House.

He said they expect the president to follow the spirit of the Constitution and address the nation. “Mr. Speaker with all due respect, the president wants to do away with the constitutional requirement and change the date; he can go to the Supreme Court and change it”.

But the Majority Leader in his response said it is not true that the president is obligated to come to the House to deliver a state of the nation address, rather the president comes to the House to deliver a message on the state of the nation.

He emphasized that the constitution provides that “the president shall at the beginning of each session of parliament and before a dissolution of parliament deliver to parliament a message on the state of the nation”.

Mr Speaker, parliament at each session, and the session of parliament is the meetings that we have in a year, and ordinarily we have three meetings. The first meeting is the beginning of the session, so Mr Speaker we are still within the beginning of the session; people should avert their minds to this.

He thus said “the president will come when he will come in this session, in this meeting at the beginning of the session”.

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The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament is elated by the fact that the Supreme Court affirmed the decision he took on when he decided to avail himself to be counted to form a quorum for business on the floor of the House which resulted in some fisticuffs.

According to him there is some misrepresentation as whether he participated in the vote itself on the night of 30th. “That I must emphasis, that anybody who is in doubt can look at the clip, it was a voice vote and I did not participate in the voice vote. But I insisted that I be counted as a member of Parliament present to constitute the quorum before the decision was taken. This decision affirms that position that I took. I find that refreshing.

According to him, he was congratulated for that bold decision he took that day by a former Speaker who was of the view that that was how the frontiers of the law are expanded. “Matters that have never arisen are now in the for because of the numbers”. And notes that anytime there is disagreement, he will interpret the constitution as he understands it using the law.

“The First Deputy Speaker also urged people who disagree with him to boldly state their position and if need be refer to the appropriate body including the Supreme Court.

For him, the decision taken by the Supreme Court with the help of the constitution will help Ghana advance it’s democracy and practices in the chamber.

On Article 102 of the constitution, he said reading the constitutional provisions, he agrees with the fact that a Deputy Speaker presiding was entitled to a casting vote but since it was not stated clearly in the constitution, that was why he preferred that a different body adjudicate on the issue as executed by the Apex court of the land.

Ghanamps.com

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies in Africa calls for diversified growth and job creation with the focus on youth, women and the poor in marginalised areas. This is according to the Vice President of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA) International and Majority leader of Ghana’s Parliament.

Speaking at the 82nd Executive Committee Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) – Africa Region, in Accra on Tuesday March 8, 2022, he said stringent efforts must be made in a structured manner to increase domestic revenue mobilisation and improve the quality of public expenditures and the strengthening of debt management.

He stated that, the COVID-19 crisis has hugely eroded the significant gains that the continent has chalked in the implementation of policies towards the attainment of the United Nations’ prescribed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 and many other such international as well as national goals.

“According to an Expert Report of the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic is | expected to push an additional 30 million people into extreme poverty in the Africa region. Yet, vaccination which science has informed us could turn things around remains extremely low when compared to other continents. Less than 2°o of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated.

The crisis has exacerbated the demand for public goods and services in recent times. The demands for good roads, water, electricity, housing and employment of youth, among other demands by the citizens have been on the rise and yet delivery has been seriously undermined by the impact of the COVID-19.”

More worrying, he opined is the fact that he crisis has also shaken the foundations of the ideals of our democracy. “We all witnessed how challenging it was for our democratic institutions to find a balance between management of public health and the right to personal liberties; the right to protest; and conduct of democratic elections to elect political leaders.

At the height of the pandemic food production and food security came under intense threat. Industrial production was negatively impacted with industry performing minimally and scaling down on employment. Many were rendered jobless. Tax revenue for government slumped and the cost of import escalated. National debts ballooned and debt servicing has become burdensome for most developing economies.”

Mr. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu thus believe that the crisis present the Commonwealth Member States an opportunity to “view the crisis and the increasing demands from the people as an opportunity to map out a different developmental trajectory that is more sustainable, and more inclusive.

“Fortunately, the Commonwealth is blessed with a ready-made network spanning a diverse range of countries, making it ideally placed to help tackle these global challenges”, he stated.
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A member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Right, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah has served notice that the brouhaha over the invitation of former Members of Parliament from Guinea Conakry and Burkina Faso would be resolved today, Wednesday, March 8, 2022.

On Tuesday, March 8, 2020 for more than three hours after a colorful opening of the first in-person Extraordinary Session, lawmakers were divided over the presence of their former colleagues from Guinea and Burkina Faso. A section was in favour of adoption of the work programme, while others were against its adaptation with the presence of their former colleagues.

This resulted in heated debate where emotions went high with the Fourth Deputy Speaker, Adja Satu Camara Pinto from Guinea Bissau presiding over proceedings and allowed as many as possible lawmakers to share their views.

Third Deputy Speaker from Togo,  Memounatou Ibrahima who was outside the hall in the Ministerial complex when she stepped in told lawmakers they should break for launch, by then cool heads would prevail for them to proceed with affairs of the day by adopting the working agenda.

Mr. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah in an interview noted that the whole procedure boils down to procedural issues and can be resolved as the Speaker invited his former colleagues from Guinea Conakry and Burkina Faso, and recounted earlier incident in Sierra Leone where the Malians were prevented from taking their seat.

“The coup that happened in Mali, the whole of the Malian Parliament was suspended and the Malian Government should be suspended from every ECOWAS institution. Heads of states met and decided that the two should be suspended from ECOWAS institutions and that included the ECOWAS parliament”.

And for them to come to Liberia and their colleagues were invited by the Speaker, they need to understand why he did that. The Speaker, was however, not in the hall after the opening ceremony, when they were about to adopt their work plan.

Again, from the third Deputy Speaker the understanding was that, it was normal when one ends his or her time with the parliament they were called back to say goodbye to your colleagues and “I believe that was what the Speaker did by inviting our colleagues from Burkina Faso and Guinea to bide us goodbye until they are restore back to civilian rule”.

He indicated that because their names were mentioned on Tuesday morning as part of people who were in attendance, one of his colleagues raised the issue, “that is what has created the problem. Under normal circumstances they are no longer MPs because they have been suspended from their National Assembly, an issue that should be resolved but because it was not resolved it has drag us into this”, he emphasized.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/ Liberia

Madam Dzifa Gomashie, Member of Parliament for Ketu South in the Volta Region is calling on the general public to stop the name calling and labeling of women who dare to break barriers in our society.
Speaking to journalists to commemorate International Women’s Day celebration on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, she admitted that even though the theme “Breaking the Bias is apt, it is not enough; indicting that “every year, we have a dream that is succinct.

I want to see real progress; I’m tired of the tokenism, I’m tired of the struggles women who dare go through and the name tagging, and the labeling. To her, all these are part of the socialization, stating that if you are socialized not to appreciate hard work, then you call a hard working woman names that diminish the energy and the passion of women who want to dare to break the barriers.

“Indeed, let us break the bias in real term in the way in which we groom our boys and girls, in the way in which we socialize both men and women; they all have to understand that it is important for the two creations of God, both man and woman, we bring something to the table, let us just tap into it and leave the negative cultural and traditional practices that limit the strides that women are making”

According to her women play significant roles in our day to day activities, particularly in bringing everyone to what they have become, so society must ensure that contribution by women counts, be it domestically or in the corporate world.

On the political side, Dzifa Gomashie said the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill is long overdue, adding that the usual practice of discussing the Bill and we go to sleep every year is not helping. To her, introducing the quota for women and supporting women to contest would go a long way to improve women representation in parliament and other equally important political endevours.

“It is also about economic power, I couldn’t be here if I didn’t get the support I got from male figures who were in my life; my late husband, my father and my big brother, if they were not there for me I’m not sure I could have done it alone. So there has to be, politically, a decision by all the parties to give some support, tangible support to women and stop playing the lips service”.
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Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader in parliament said the country has failed to make corruption a high risk activity and to punish persons associated with it.

According to him, the asset declaration regime is not one that helps us combat corruption because we are unable to measure income and properties being commensurate with income. “So there is a problem, when you have public officers have unexplained wealth or unexplained money in their personal account; or you have public officers acquire properties for which their income cannot justify”.
This, he stated explained the reason why he has been advocating for a reverse burden of prove as an integral part of a revised asset declaration regime for Ghana. “We should have it that if you cannot explain the source of your wealth, that wealth must go back to the state. It means that wealth was unjustifiably or illegally acquired. It is the case in Britain and many other jurisdictions.

The current president Nana Akufo Addo, he noted is unable to pu no his his own for corruption, stating that he was surprised that the Minister of Health is still at post, adding that in every civilised democracy “where you are trialing others for procurement breaches, and you have one in your face, direct who accepts that l breach the procurement processes, I’m only asking for a refund, and he is walking free while others are in court, is begging the rule of law and the principle of equality of the law.

Mr. Haruna who speaking at the side of the 82nd Executive Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA), Africa Region in Accra currently ongoing also hinted that they are advocating strongly for the reforms of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) which in its 82nd Executive Meeting, is still in the books of the United Kingdom as a charity organization.

“I believe that post Brexit offers the United Kingdom a unique opportunity to regroup and relate better to commonwealth nations in order to facilitate trade and investment, and to build our democracies based on their time tested best practices. It will require amending the law, positioning the CPA not just as a nongovernmental organization, it certainly cannot. There can be no modern justification of the current status of the CPA.

Ghanamps.com

Mr. Amoako-Attah, the Minister for Roads and Highways has let the cat out of the bad indicating that the E-Levy would help government to securitize the fund to borrow the needed money to carry out the needed projects in the country.

Speaking on the floor of the House on Friday, March 4, 2022, the minister in responding to a question filed by Kwame Governs Agbodza, Member of Parliament for Adaklu who sought to find out how much revenue was lost following the cessation of the collection of road toll as contained in the Ministry’s press release dated 17th November, 2022 said “there has been no loss of revenue to the Ministry of Roads and Highways since the cessation of the collection of road tolls”.

He said the cessation of road tolls was occasioned by the refusal of road users to pay the tolls since the finance minister presented the budget to the house; a situation that generated some confusion between the road users and the collectors. It was therefore, to safeguard lives and properties at the toll both that the directive was given for the suspension of the collection of the tolls.

Again, with the approval of the 2022 budget, road tolls have been zero rated and there would be no revenue loss in 2022 from road tolls. Mr Agbodza, would however, not accept the minister’s answer and insisted that the period between the day the budget was presented to the day it was approved left between 25-30 days hence monies have been lost.

Mr. Amoako-Attah further assured that government is committed to using all forms of revenue into the road fund to build road infrastructure in the country including tolls. He said with the four sources of funds into the road fund, fuel-levy contributed the highest. “Mr Speaker, the almost 2billion Ghana cedis expected into the fund, fuel-levy alone contribute not less than 94 per cent. The other 3 sources from the tollbooth, DVLA sources and vehicles that transcends on the corridors of our country contribute merely 6 per cent.

“He noted that the government in its wisdom has proposed the passage of the E-levy to bring in more revenue to build the road infrastructure of our country for all of us. “So government is looking forward to the passage of the E-levy that would bring in greater revenue that would be securitized and then used to raise bond if possible, to build the road sector infrastructure.

And assured that, it is government’s direction and policy to bring in a better form of collection because the toll revenue is built-in with the proposed E-Levy.
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Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, Member of Parliament for Adaklu has accused government of being insincere with the people of Ghana with the controversial E-Levy.  According to Mr Agbodza at a press briefing with the media in parliament, the real intention of government is to securitize the levy to allow the government to borrow more. This, however, is contrary to what government has told the Ghanaian public that the E-Levy is important to ensure the government pulls a break on borrowing, and over reliance on the Bretton Woods Institutions.

Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, sought to find out from the Minister for Roads and Highways the estimated loss of revenue till date due to the cessation of collection of road tolls as contained in the Ministry’s press release dated 17th November, 2021.

But the Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah in his response said no amount was lost because in the approved budget, road tolls have been zero rated. Mr. Agbodza, however, contends that that assertion by the Minister cannot be correct; indicating that the minister announced the cessation of the collection of tolls from the date the budget was read. “The budget was not approved on the same date, so surely there was about 25-30 days gap between the day that the announcement was made and the day the budget was actually approved.”

Significantly, he said “the NPP government pretended that the E-Levy was all about helping Ghana to stop borrowing that we should be on our own; we should generate our own revenue and use it to do the things that we needed to do. Shockingly, in the minister’s answer today, he led the cat out of the bag by saying that when we pay E-Levy, the government was going to securitize it to take bigger loans with the E-Levy”.

The effect, therefore, is that “the E-Levy would give government the opportunity to do bigger borrowing than they are doing now. E-Levy would not stop us from borrowing because when you borrow you must pay back”.

He said the minister’s attempt to attribute the cessation of the collection of the road tolls to it not generating enough revenue is unjustifiable. “It is a fact that in the 2022 budget road fund is supposed to generate at least 2 billion Ghana cedis; in 2021 the road tolls accrued over 78 million Ghana cedis, a government we are told is broke, 78 million Ghana cedis could have paid at least NABCO people”, he emphasized.
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The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu has called on Ghanaian writers, photographers and archivist to actively work to preserve the country’s history by properly documenting accounts/evidences of our country’s historical trajectory.

This, he said, will ensure that the Ghanaian story is told from the Ghanaian perspective, with all its nuances and cultural significances.

The First Deputy Speaker said this when he received a copy of the book, “Remnants of a Haunted Past, from the author and photographer, Yaw Pare.

The author, a Ghanaian born international photographer, said his quest to document places of historical and cultural significance stems from a passion to ensure that the story of the history and cultures of our people are told within the proper contexts.

The book contains photos of parts of the slave trade stories from different parts of Ghana.

Copies were presented to the MP for Awutu Senya West, Gizella Tetteh Agbotui and MP for Klottey Korle, Zanetor Rawlings.

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The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has hinted that his ministry is looking forward to rolling out 50 community mining schemes across the country this year.

He said these community schemes would ensure responsible community mining that is fit for purpose with environment officers on site, with mini clinic, or first aid post, changing room and has a proper database for all the miners and most importantly their operations are run on  environmentally sound manner.

According to him, his deputy minister responsible for mining, George Mireku Duker is working day and night to ensure the successful implementation of a viable and sustainable community mining schemes to create jobs for the teaming youth of the country.

“We will continue to pursue the concept of responsible community mining and indeed roll out-out 50 community mining schemes across the country this year”, he stated.

Community Mining

Government in its quest to finding solution to environmental degradation as a result of illegal mining popularly referred to as galamsey rolled out the Community Mining Scheme as a substitute for illegal small scale mining with the aim to providing members of the community the opportunity to engage in responsible, viable, sustainable and environmentally-sound mining for the benefit of the community.

In 2020, twenty (20) Community Mining Schemes were commissioned in fourteen (14) mining Districts across the country.

However, the Minister said lack of vigilance, led to an abuse of the Scheme by some operators.

The Minister answering who was answering a question from Mr. Daniel Ohene Darko, MP for Upper Denkyira West on the efforts being made by the ministry to ensure the operationalization of the Community Mining Programme  again stated that “In 2021, we revamped the Community Mining Scheme, and we have, since, reformed and clarified the legal and policy framework of the Scheme, to provide a clear pathway for responsible and sustainable small scale mining with community ownership, We have, therefore, working with the Minerals Commission, developed an Operational Manual, setting standards and guidelines which all Community Mining Schemes must meet, and/or comply.

He said the overall objective of the Operational Manual is to ensure that Community Mining Schemes, operate in a safe and healthy environment, and that the, operations, are sustainable and environmentally sound.

 Among its requirements, all Community Mining, Schemes must have a general office, a mini-clinic or first aid post, wash rooms, changing rooms, storage facilities for hazardous materials, potable water storage facility, and core processing area, with a mercury free ore processing equipment.

The Ministry, through the Minerals Commission, is investing, in the mercury-free ore processing equipment, known as “the Gold Katcha.” Already, we have procured hundred (100) of these equipment, which we are giving to Community Mining, Schemes across the country.

“Mr. Speaker, since revamping the Scheme in 2021, nine (9) Community Mining Schemes, with a total of thirty-three (33) concessions, have been commissioned in Mmaapehia, Kwabre-Nuba and Tarkwa in the Western Region; Adukrom, Jacobu, ‘Tepa, Tokwae and Kunsu in the Ashanti Region and Akyim Abaam in the Eastern Region. These nine (9) Schemes, are expected to create about forty-six thousand three hundred (46,300) direct and indirect jobs. Our commitment, is to commission fifty (50) well-managed community mining schemes by the end of the year. We will, however, insist that all Schemes meet the minimum requirements set out in the Operational Manual before commissioning.

As part of measures to effectively manage these Schemes, we have, in accordance with section 92 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 I9O (Act 703), begun inaugurating Small Scale Mining Committees in the various mining Districts, to assist the Minerals Commission in the monitoring, promotion and development of responsible and sustainable small scale mining operations”.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com