Company Code Amendment bill passed
Parliament delays sittings due to lack of quorum
Dangbe East District to operate radio network
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 June 2002- Parliament on Thursday unanimously passed the Company Code (Amendment) Bill. It amended the eight schedule of Item 5 of the code, which deals with the duty on stated capital of a company from two per cent to a reduced rate of 0.5 per cent.
The second amendment changes the fee for filing annual returns from 50,000 cedis where it was inadvertently pegged under the last amendment to 150,000 cedis.
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Revenue agencies to retain 3% of revenue
collected
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 June 2002- Parliament has decided that all the revenue agencies, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Value Added Tax Services and Internal Revenue Service must be permitted to retain a ceiling of three per cent of the revenue they collect.
The report on the Revenue Agencies (Retention of part of the Revenue) Bill on Thursday went through the consideration stage and duly read for the third time and passed by Parliament.
The Motion, which was debated by the House, was read on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo by the Senior Minister, Mr J. H. Mensah. The Objective of the Bill is to put into law for the agencies to use the amount for their operational and administrative expenses.
Mr Mensah said that the disbursement of the amount would be in accordance with the current budget processes and Parliament would be involved. He said it was necessary to ensure that the agencies understood that the three per cent was a ceiling and that the percentage retention may vary from year to year with the Revenue Agency Board to supervise the use of the money.
Mr Collins Appiah-Ofori, Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee, who read the report said the Bill was laid in the House on 11 June and referred to the Committee for consideration and report in accordance with Article 169 of the Standing Orders of the House.
He said it was found out that the current statutes governing these agencies did not allow them to retain any part of the revenue collected for their operational and administrative expenses but required them to pay all monies into the Consolidated Fund.
Mr Appiah-Ofori said it was expected that the retention of some of the revenue collected would ensure the smooth running of these agencies as envisaged in their enabling enactment's to lead to efficiency and optimum collection of taxes. It was further observed that the retention of the three per cent would enable the revenue agencies to undertake and acquire their basic and capital needs.
He said the Committee, however, did not agree to a petition from the Federation of Associations and Unions of the national revenue agencies request for five per cent instead of three per cent since it considered the three per cent ceiling as quite enough and must be left at such.
Mr Dan Abodakpi, NDC-Keta, said the passing of the Bill was a proactive move, which aimed at motivating the revenue agencies to perform their duties effectively to support government to meet its budgetary requirements. Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, NDC-Wenchi West, disagreed with the statement that the three per cent would not be automatic and said it ought to be so to motivate the collection of more taxes.
Mr Abuga Pele, NDC- Chiana-Paga, said he was worried about the granting to the Minister for Finance the discretion of retaining the percentage since such an arrangement would be a disservice to the collectors and suggested that there should be institutional controls.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the Majority Leader, said there was the need to recognise that the revenue agencies were under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and there should be some control measures.
He said if the percentage were made absolute, it would tie the hands of the Minister since he could not monitor the collection of revenue. Papa Owusu-Ankomah said it would not be advisable to make the percentage open since "we have just begun and appealed that the Bill be considered so that come next year some changes can be considered.
Alhaji Seidu Amadu, NDC- Yapei/Kusawgu, said care must be taken about the issue and asked whether when the agencies did not achieve the target they were still to retain the three per cent and suggested that they should rather be honoured when they make excess collection.
The Senior Minister in summing up, said the facility meant that whenever an amount was collected the revenue agencies could put aside the three per cent without referring it to the Accountant General's Department since previously they needed a fiat from the Department before they could make their purchases from the revenue collected.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 June 2002- Proceedings in Parliament on Thursday was suspended for about 20 minutes when a member on a point of order pointed out that the House did not form a quorum to enable it to continue with commencement of public business.
Mr Kwakye Addo, NDC Member of Parliament for Afram Plains South, said members in the House which stood at 31 for the Majority side and 33 for the Minority did not form a quorum as spelt out in the Standing Orders of the House, Order 48 (1). The Order states that at least one third of all members besides the person presiding shall be necessary to constitute a quorum of the House.
The Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey after consulting with the Clerk of the House asked the bell to be rang for members, who might be in the lobby to attend to the sittings and said if after 10 minutes the number was not up he would decide on the next line of action.
After the 10 minutes had elapsed, the Speaker said the House did not still form a quorum and quoted Order 48 (2) which says he has the authority to adjourn sittings without question if there was no quorum after the 10 minutes had elapsed until the next sittings. Just then the Clerks informed him that a few members had entered the Chamber to swell up the numbers to form a quorum.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Majority Leader raised a point of order and said the issue of quorum should be carefully considered because certain circumstances could make it impossible for members to be present in the House to attend to meetings, since they might be attending to other committee sittings.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 June 2002- A barrage of criticisms were hurled at the formula for the distribution of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) but members said this year's distribution was better than 2001. Members expressed fears that well-endowed societies and schools stood to benefit more than poor ones whose plight and concerns necessitated its creation.
Members were contributing to a motion for the adoption of a report of the Committee Of The Whole House on the distribution formula for the GETfund. Mr Norbert Awulley, NDC-Builsa South, said this year's formula for distributing the fund failed to address concerns of historically disadvantaged societies in the country. "No money was set aside to reduce illiteracy of these poor societies as demanded by the law that established the fund."
He accused the Governing Board of GETfund of non-compliance of some of the important rules including the periodic issuance of reports on the health of the fund.
Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, NDC-Gomoa West, said the disabled or the physically challenged were left out of the distribution.
Mr Kofi Atto, NDC-Ho Central, said it was wrong for only schools under the Ministry of Education to draw from the fund. He said the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), National Institute of Film and Television (NIFTI) and other schools that train professionals but not under the Ministry of Education should be included on the list of beneficiaries.
Mr Kosi Kedem, Ranking member on Education, asked the GETfund administrators to look outside the proceeds from the Value Added Tax and seek other avenues for raising money for the fund. He said the Fund should establish proper links with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) student's loan scheme so that money channelled into it could be properly accounted for.
Mr Sarkodie Addo, Chairman, Committee on Education, called for a mechanism that would identify true needy students that were supposed to draw the fund. He lauded the Fund for giving the Ghana Library Board money to improve on its stocking position. An amount of 390 billion cedis is expected to accrue to the fund in 2002.
In practical terms, a base grant of 174 billion cedis had been allocated to the tertiary sector and 117 billion cedis to the second cycle level. According the report on account of the donor support of 107 billion cedis for the basic sector, no specific allocation was made.
The remaining 25 per cent was shared on the basis of enrolment and number of institutions and to management. The GETfund was established in 2000 by the government to provide finance to supplement the provision of education at all levels.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 June 2002- The National Communications Authority has assigned a frequency to the Dangbe East District Health Administration to operate its Very High Frequency radio Network in health institutions in the district. The frequency of 139.275 megahertz is to enable the Dangbe District set up and operate the VHF radio network which comprises five base stations and one mobile unit.
Mr Felix Owusu-Agyapong, Minister for Communications and Technology, announced this in Parliament on Thursday when answering a question asked by Mr E.T. Mensah, NDC- Ningo/Prampram on behalf of Mr Amos Larwerh Buertey, NDC-Ada, as to whether the NCA would allocate a frequency to the health institutions in the district.
Mr Stephen Adoma-Yeboah, NPP-Dormaa East, asked the Minister whether Ghana Telecom had any plans to extend its Mobile One Touch telephone facility to
Dormaa Ahenkro and its environs and when work would commence.
Mr Owusu-Agyapong said there were plans to extend the services to Dormaa Ahenkro as early as possible and civil works including the building to house the
Base Station was expected to commence by the first quarter of this year. He said the project had unfortunately been suspended because of financial constraints Ghana Telecom was experiencing but efforts were ongoing to secure funding for implementation of the project.
Mr Adoma-Yeboah asked whether the civil work, which did not cost much would commence immediately the Minister said it was all inclusive of the total cost and the Ministry was sourcing for funds for both the development of the station.
Nana Asante-Frempong, NPP-Kwabre, asked the Minister when telephone facilities would be extended to Mamponten, Kenyase, Kodie and Antoa in the
Kwabre District. Mr Owusu-Agyapong said there were at present two telephone lines extended to Mamponten from GT's telephone exchange at Aboase, which were used by the District Assembly and the Police Service in the town.
He said plans were underway to expand the facility at Aboase to enable GT deploy a number of public pay phones to the town, however, the ultimate solution would involve the installation of a 1,000-line switch at Mamponten to cover towns like Antoa, Kodie and Kenyase.
Nana Asante-Frempong, however, told the Minister that GT officials had misled him since it was not true that two telephone lines had been extended to
Mamponten. The Minister said he had to agree with the member since there were a lot of question marks about the former management of GT and would ask that the new management rectify the situation.
Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, NDC-Wenchi West, asked whether the Minister was saying that he should be held responsible for lying to the House. The Minister said he would endeavour to get the necessary answer from GT and report back to the House but if it was found out that they were lying to him and using him as a vehicle of lies he would advise himself.
Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, NDC-Lawra/Nandom, asked the Minister whether he had any obligations to crosscheck the facts before appearing before the House, the
Minister answered in the affirmative and said if the answers were reasonable he had to accept his technical people's report but he was bearing in mind that an administration whose term had expired could do anything.
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