Minority Members Boycott Aidoo's Address in Parliament

Tony Aidoo’s day in Parliament

Minority Resent Speaker's Ruling

Expedite Action on Payment of Allowances - House

Parliament on Keta sea defence

Fines to be Reviewed Upwards

Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

More than half of the Minority members in parliament on Wednesday walked out of proceedings in protest against Dr Tony Aidoo, Deputy Minister of Defence, as he took the floor to make a personal statement.

The boycott was preceded by constant booing and drumming of tables for about five minutes as Dr Aidoo got up to make the statement, thus making it impossible for him to be heard.

When order was finally restored, Mr Daniel F. Annan, Speaker, asked members who were prepared to listen to do so and those who were not to walk out. The Minority members did so but 12 of them, including the leadership, came back.

It all began when Mr Speaker informed the House that Dr Aidoo was in the House to make a personal statement in response to certain allegations made against him on the floor of the House by some members of the Minority before he was made a Deputy Minister.

This is the first time that a minister or a member is making a personal statement since the beginning of the fourth Parliament.

The Minority, led by Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr J.H. Mensah, protested and argued that since the issues being raised happened when the Deputy Minister was not a minister, and for that matter a member of the House, he could not use the floor of the House to clear those issues.

Members are not allowed by standing orders of the House to debate personal statements or comment on them.

Nana Akufo-Addo said: "it is quite clear that there are other avenues available to the member; the floor of the House is not available for him, in so far as it is of retrospective nature".

Mr Speaker explained that he was granting the Deputy Minister permission on the basis of standing order 72 and article 111 of the constitution.

Mr Speaker ruled that within standing order 72 and article 111 of the constitution, the Deputy Minister could make a personal statement.

According to order 72, Mr Speaker may allow a member to explain a matter of personal nature or make a statement on a matter of urgent public importance.

Article 111 of the constitution allows the Vice-President or a Minister or Deputy Minister who is not a member of the House to participate in the proceedings and shall be accorded all privileges of an MP but is not entitled to vote or hold an office in Parliament.

By definition, Dr Aidoo is not a member of the House but is covered by article 111.

This brought a lot of members from the Minority side to the floor in protest but Mr Speaker stuck to his ruling and disallowed any further protests.

When all avenues failed, the Minority began to drum their tables in protest and finally walked out when Mr Speaker asked those prepared to listen to the statement to do so.

"Those who want to listen should do so and those who are not interested may choose to walk out," he stated.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

Dr Tony Aidoo, deputy Minister of Defence told Parliament on Wednesday that he was displeased with certain remarks about his nomination for the post of deputy minister for defence, made by Mr J.H Mensah and Mr Kwamena Bartels.

Dr Aidoo said Mr Mensah told the House during the debate that "Dr Tony Aidoo's record that I know is that of an abrasive and rather unbalanced character".

The Deputy Minister said a person described as having an "unbalanced character" can only be clinically deemed to be mentally unstable or to have a pathological state of mental health.

"I have never been clinically declared or otherwise evidenced to be mentally unstable or to have a pathological state of mental health," he said.

This, he said, could only be a diabolical attempt by the Minority Leader to deceive the House into concluding that he is not a proper and a fit person to hold the office of a Deputy Minister.

Dr Aidoo’s presence in the floor of the House to make a personal statement nearly marred parliamentary proceedings when the minority group walked out in protest.

The Minority returned in a few minutes later and greeted every word from Dr Aidoo with deafening shouts and hooting. The Speaker had a difficult time putting the House in order.

Dr Aidoo said the allegations made against him by Mr Bartels, which alleged wrongdoing on his part while working at the University of Cape Coast, were also false.

Mr Bartels said Dr Aidoo was given a research grant of 6,000 dollars which he never used for the purpose and demanded to be paid an ex-gratia expatriate end-of-service benefits when, indeed, he had filled his forms as a Ghanaian.

He said further that Dr Aidoo once led a delegation to the Castle to insult Mr Justice Daniel Francis Annan, then a member of the PNDC, over the controversy relating to the appointment of a vice-chancellor of the university.

Dr Aidoo said to the extent that Mr Bartels was an assistant registrar at that time, that position could not have authorised him to have access to his personal file and its confidential information.

He said Mr Bartels claimed the Francois Report as his source of information but that report was published two years before his appointment at the university came to an end.

The terms of his retirement from the service of the university could, therefore, not possibly appear in that document.

Dr Aidoo explained further that the Francois Commission was instituted by the then PNDC Secretary for Education over the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor and the UTAG, dissatisfied with it, petitioned the PNDC for review and Mr Justice Annan was appointed to handle the issue.

He said UTAG met with Mr Justice Annan at the State House and not the Castle as alleged and the incident of the abuse could not have been recorded in that report.

With regard to the 6,000-dollar allegation, Dr Aidoo said the original allegation of misappropriation was made by the then head of department who was an adversary in the UTAG versus the Vice-Chancellor dispute.

He said the allegations were debunked at the hearing of the "Francois Commission", adding that the evidence he tended to the effect that the grant was utilised for the purpose of its disbursement was accepted in the report of the commission.

The Deputy Minister said he had throughout his life exhibited outstanding behaviour to the admiration of numerous Ghanaians and foreigners.

He has also rendered selfless service to the country for the past 19 years as a lecturer and director of the National Development Planning Commission and has also been a member of several presidential and government delegations.

"I was also a member of the Consultative Assembly that drafted our country's 1992 national constitution ... and I am inclined to belief that it was in recognition of the above behaviour qualities and services that the President nominated me ... for the post of Deputy Minister of Defence."

Dr Aidoo said the two members of Parliament, being members of the Appointment Committee, could have confronted him with these allegations during the public hearing.

"They failed or refused to do so because they knew that the fallacy of the allegations would be easily exposed in confrontation with me," Dr Aidoo added.

He said his statement had the singular purpose of maintaining the sanctity of the constitution and the standing orders of the House against such blatant abuses.

Mr Justice Annan turned down a request by Mr Mensah to respond to the Deputy Minister's statement.

The Speaker advised members who want to respond to the statement to use other parliamentary channels available to them.

According to the House's standing orders, personal statements are not to be commented on or debated.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

The Minority Group in Parliament on Wednesday said they resented the way the Speaker, Mr Justice Daniel Francis Annan, conducted business in the House by allowing Dr Tony Aidoo, Deputy Minister of Defence, to make a personal statement on the floor.

Mr J.H. Mensah, Minority Leader, on behalf of the group, said it is unprecedented for a non-Member of Parliament to be given such privilege as accorded Dr Aidoo.

Dr Aidoo had sought and obtained the consent of the Speaker to make a statement on the floor of the House to refute certain allegations made against him by the Minority Leader and Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minority Spokesman on Works and Housing.

Mr Mensah said if there is any precedent, Dr Aidoo's is the worst case, adding that the Deputy Minister's intervention wasted the time of the House, which is two days away from rising.

The Minority Leader said under Parliamentary Standing Order 72, only Members of Parliament may explain a matter of a personal nature or make a statement of urgent public importance.

Standing Order 70 (2) entitles a Minister of State to make an announcement or a statement of government policy.

Article 111 of the Constitution states in part that: "The Vice-President, a Minister or a Deputy Minister, who is not a Member of Parliament, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the House and shall be accorded all the privileges of a Member of Parliament".

Mr Mensah said his opinion on Dr Aidoo is on record. "I said he is a man of unbalanced character. There is nothing, therefore, to occasion the Speaker to admit a statement of personal character".

He alleged that certain authorities outside Parliament have been allowed to influence the business of the House, saying this is unacceptable.

He said Dr Aidoo's issue is not the first time the Minority is regretting a ruling by the Speaker, and indicated that the group is advising itself on what to do next.

"The bottomline is not the fault of Tony Aidoo's but the Speaker's for allowing him to make such a disruptive statement in the House".

Mr Mensah said "even though the Speaker told us that if we want to respond, we should follow laid-down procedures, we have to take other rules to prevent this kind of disruption from the House".

Asked why most of the Minority left the chamber following the Speaker's ruling, Mr Mensah explained that "it was not a walk-out, we left the chamber to consult on the ruling, having told the Speaker of our intention to do so".

On whether he will apologise to Dr Aidoo as he had demanded in his statement, the Minority leader responded, "it is a joke, I am not going to apologise to Tony Aidoo for my opinion on him".

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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

Parliament on Wednesday urged the Ministries of Health and Finance to expedite action on the payment of nurses' allowances to help end their industrial action.

In a statement to the House on "The Nurses' Industrial Action", Dr Richard Winfred Anane, NPP-Bantama, observed that while the nation should not be permitted to be taken to ransom by any section of the society, "the peculiar circumstances of the striking nurses vis-à-vis unfulfilled promises should be appreciated".

Dr Anane pointed out that hospitals in the country will surely be paralysed if there is a complete withdrawal of nursing services.

"Our doctors alone will never be able to cope because the nurses' role is a necessary complement to the doctor's.

"We do not have to permit unnecessary and untimely mortalities to occur before we take corrective measures," he stressed.

Dr Anane said there is a "credibility gap" between the nurses and the Ministry of Health and, therefore, appealed to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health to intervene to help find a lasting solution to the problem.

Mr Austin Akufo Gamey, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, urged nurses who have not yet submitted their forms to do so without any further delay, to speed up payment of the allowances.

Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minority Spokesman on Health, asked the Ministry of Health to approach the issue in an impartial manner.

Dr Addo-Kufuor, who is also the MP for Manhyia, hoped the ministry would fulfil all promises made to health workers, including the striking nurses.

Mr A S K Bagbin, NDC-Nadowli North, stressed the need to bridge the communication gap between the employer and the employee, and urged government to release adequate funds to help educate the people.

Squadron Leader Clend Sowu, NDC-Anlo, said because election is just around the corner, the labour front should guard against what he termed the "election syndrome" by minimising the numerous industrial unrests.

Mr Modestus Yawo Ahiable, NDC-Ketu North, appealed to nurses to call off their strike so as not, to put the precious lives of the ordinary people of this country at risk.

Junior nurses at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital embarked on strike action on Monday, July 19, to back their demand for the payment of their extra-duty allowances from January to July, this year.

At a meeting on the day before the strike, the nurses rejected government's promise to pay them the allowances by Monday, July 28.

On Monday, the striking nurses refused to take allowances paid to them because it worked up to only 35.7 per cent instead of the 50 per cent they claimed the Ministry of Health had promised them.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

Mr Isaac Adjei Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing, on Wednesday assured Parliament that the technical system to be used for the Keta Sea Defence Project can ''tame the Gulf of Guinea'' and stop it from causing further havoc at Keta.

''The system has been tried and tested at Srogboe, Tegbi, La, Busua and in Cape Town and all are holding, I am confident that the Gulf of Guinea can be tamed likewise.''

Mr Adjei-Mensah was responding to questions by the Minority, when the House was debating the motion for the adoption of the report of the Finance committee on the loan for the project.

The report, which was later adopted, was, "On the Export Credit Facility of 93,867,006 million US dollars between the Republic of Ghana and the Private Export Funding Corporation USA for the Turnkey Design and Construction of the Keta Sea Defence Works".

Mr Adjei -Mensah said the Salt Works component would be considered in the second phase of the project and already the government has made a trip to Spain to look for funds to finance it.

He said the original design and works have been expanded hence the increase in the contract sum from 42.8 million dollars to 93.9 million dollars.

These include land reclamation on the lagoon side, bird's habitat island and access road from Havedzi to Keta.

Mr Adjei-Mensah said it was under his administration that the Pentraxx issue was raised and he ordered that the contractor should refund the moneys paid to him.

He said so far 2.8 billion cedis were outstanding and the Attorney-Generals Department is handling the case, which has appeared in court twice.

''We will not condone any illegality and will take every legal step to ensure that the committee's recommendations are carried out.''

The Minister explained that, under modern terms the loan is considered to be concessionary.

Mr J .H Mensah, the Minority Leader said the Minority was willing to vote for the loan since they were interested in seeing that a solution was found for the Keta problem.

However, they would want an assurance from the President that an independent executing body along the lines of the Volta River Authority, to be known as Keta Sea Defence Board would be formed to handle the project.

He said the Ministry of Works and Housing cannot be trusted to handle such a big amount after having made a loss of about 3.8 billion cedis through the Pentraxx contract.

Mr J. H Mensah said the Minority would also want the Salt Works to be reinstated as an integral part of the project.

He said looking at the terms of the financing package, the Minority would have rejected it since a concessionary loan with low interest and long repayment period would have been more appropriate for this project.

''We have seen that President Rawlings has a political need to leave a major legacy for his mother's people before he leaves office.

''We are prepared to bail him. We, therefore, would want him to set up an independent advisory body to oversee the project.''

He said no independent consultants have been contracted to prove the technical viability of the project, hence the need for the advisory body.

Earlier in a report before the debate started, Mr Joseph E. Ackah, Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee recommended that the report for the loan agreement be approved.

He said the committee had examined the agreement and had concluded that the project when completed would give relief and ensure the security of life property and investments of the people of Keta.

Seconding him, Squadron Leader Clend Sowu, NDC-Anlo said the second phase of the project would take care of the felt needs and other socio-economic needs of the people.

He said the motion is historic and unique, in view of the fuss it generated in the press and called on every member to vote for it.

When the question was put the vote was carried.

Messrs Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of the USA have been contracted to undertake the project, which would begin in September.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July ’99

Cabinet has approved a "Fines (Penalty Units) Bill" which seeks to index fines to the going currency rate rather than express them in absolute cedi terms, thus automatically reviewing them upwards to accord with the deterrent intent of the law.

For instance, under the proposed bill, fines of 20,000 cedis and 100,000 cedis as found in PNDCL 229 are the equivalent of 10 and 50 penalty units respectively, which equal 200,000 cedis and one million cedis.

Mr Francis Korbieh, a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural

Development who announced this in Parliament on Wednesday, said fines expressed in cedis in existing enactments are to be converted into penalty units whose conversion will be done according to a formula in the bill.

The Deputy Minister was responding to a question by Mr Kwakye Addo,

NDC-Afram Plains South, who wanted to know the steps being taken by the ministry to place before Parliament proposals to review upwards fines prescribed by the Control and Prevention of Bushfires Law, 1990, PNDCL 229.

Mr Korbieh said the low level of fines provided for in PNDCL 229 is not an isolated statutory problem and cannot be treated in isolation.

An earlier attempt to resolve the problem holistically under PNDCL 251 did not succeed because that law exempted from its ambit fines imposed by pre-1991 enactments and also suffered from the same 'obsolete cedi fines prescribed in laws like PNDCL 229.

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