With 62 per cent of the 133 NDC MPs in the House and 58 per cent of the Opposition?s 67 MPs also present, Parliament voted by 82 ? 38 to adopted the lease agreement for the acquisition of the Presidential Jet. A notable abstention on the government bench was Mrs. Vida Amaadi Yeboah, NDC Akwapim South, who abstained from the voting to endorse the purchase of the new presidential jet, during a head count.

The Minority Group had earlier challenged the outcome of the voting initially decided on a voice-count.

In the debate on Wednesday, Mr.Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, the Minority Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, opposed the motion for the adoption of the Committee's report, saying the government's desire to acquire the executive jet shows its insensitivity to Ghana's economic plight.

He said he wondered how the purchase of an aircraft should take precedence over the needs of the 'impoverished' rural communities.

He said he has never seen an agreement in which the owner is indemnified from all liabilities, adding, "we should for once, say this is one worse situation that we cannot accept".

Mr. Owusu-Agyemang, therefore, appealed to the authorities to go back and if possible, renegotiate the agreement.

Mr. Kosi Kedem, NDC-Hohoe South, said no one questions the usefulness of an executive jet but what is in issue is the propriety of the transaction.

He said the Minority had sought refuge in Article 181 of the Constitution to blame the Minister of Finance, for acting unconstitutionally, but the Minister acted under Article 181 (5) in good faith and transacted the agreement to the best of his understanding of this constitutional provision.

He said if there is any blame due to the ambiguity in Article 181 (5), it must be borne by Parliament, which should have provided the modalities under which such an international business or economic transactions should be dealt with as required by the Constitution.

Mr Kedem said that the bottom line of the matter is whether the acquisition of the aircraft is a priority. "I will say with confidence that if you ask any farmer, teacher or any unemployed, he would tell you that the first priority in this country is the safety of our President", he declared.

"As a nation, he is the symbol."

He said there is no doubt that the President and the Executive need a reliable aircraft and if the lease agreement would make it possible for them to have it, then "we must let them have it".

Mr. Doe Adjaho, the Majority Chief Whip, said the aircraft lease was financed from the contingency fund, which comes under the Appropriation Act of 1999 passed by the House.

He wondered whether the Minister had to seek any more parliamentary approval when the House had passed the Appropriation Act giving spending authorisation to the Minister.

Reacting, Nana Akufo Addo, the Minority Spokesman on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, said in a situation where an international financial transaction puts obligation on the Consolidated Fund, the Minister is required by the Constitution to seek prior parliamentary approval.

Continuing, Mr. Adjaho said there is a problem with the interpretation of Article 181 (5), and questioned whether the House is going to subject all international financial transactions to the refinements of Article 181.

He, therefore, supported the Committee's recommendation that Parliament should come out with modifications to be applied to such international transactions.

He said until when Parliament provides such modalities, the benefit of the doubt about Article 181 (5), should go in favour of the Minister.

Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, NPP-Asante Akyem North, described the mode of payment of the deposit as an irregular way of acquiring an asset for the state, saying the transaction was in breach of the Constitution.

He referred to Article 179 (8) and questioned whether the Minister complied with this provision in the transaction.

The provision states in part that, "where, in respect of a financial year, monies appropriated by the Appropriation Act is insufficient; or that a need has arisen for expenditure for which no sum of monies has been appropriated by that Act; a supplementary estimate showing the sum of money required, shall be laid before Parliament for its approval".

On a point of explanation, Mr. John Mahama, Minister of Communications, said in this circumstance, the aircraft is a lease item and not a purchase, where this provision would apply.

But Mr Baah-Wiredu said the transaction covered an expenditure item and suggested that those involved in the agreement should be surcharged.

Mr. Alban Bagbin, NDC-Nadowli North, said arguments so far advanced by the Minority "are muddled and confusing", noting that some of the contributions were politically motivated and mere emotional outbursts.

He said the lease agreement was lawful and constitutional, adding that many members had tried painfully to apply Article 181 to support their arguments.

He said the article deals with three scenarios in which clauses (1) and (2) offer a situation, where the government is granting a loan from public fund; while clauses (3) and (4) apply when the government is receiving a loan; in which case, Parliament is guided by provisions of the Loans Act.

He said the drafters of the Constitution realised that the government could not use clauses (1) (2) (3) and (4) for international financial transactions, so they are asking parliament to come out with guidelines to operationalise Article 181 (5).

The Speaker noted that there is a lot of difficulty with clause (5) of article 181, saying that it is a matter, which calls for discussions and debate by the House.

Asked what should be done if Article 181 (5) is not sufficiently amplified to handle international financial transactions, the Speaker said this could be addressed by an Act of Parliament.

Mr. J. H. Mensah, the Minority Leader, referred to the moral issue involved in the transaction and the outcome of voting on the adoption of the report on the lease agreement, saying it would indicate the moral standing of the House.

He said: "in our dire economic circumstances today, should we spend about 20 million dollars of the taxpayers' money to pay for an executive aircraft?"

"Millions of Ghanaians say we must not take such a decision and we, on this side of the House, are saying the same thing.

"There are many of us here, who think this is not the time to use 20 million dollars to buy an aircraft for the President but they dare not say so", the Minority Leader said.

Mr Mensah indicated that the vote on the motion would not end the matter because the Minority "considers it as a moral issue that should not be allowed to die".

The Minority Leader read to the House copies of a number of correspondence he had sent to the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), whose subsidiary, Gallen Limited is involved in the lease agreement and said investigations indicated that the addresses of Gallen did not exist.

"The government has signed an agreement with a company representing himself with an address, which does not exist".

Reacting to some of the issues raised, Mr. Kwame Peprah, Minister of Finance, told the House that the deposit paid by the government was committed to the lease of the aircraft with an option of a purchase.

He said HSBC wanted the transaction to be more efficient so it set up a special purpose company, Gallen Limited, to negotiate with the government on its behalf, adding that the purchase agreement did not involve any financial outlay.

Winding up the debate, Commodore Steve Obimpeh (rtd), Chairman of the Finance Committee, said all issues raised during the contributions were considered at the Committee level.

He said there is every justification to approve the lease agreement because Parliament had enacted the Appropriation Act under which the Minister was authorised to spend money from the Contingency Fund.

He said the Minister, therefore, acted within the law and "the agreement is properly before the House" and therefore called for its approval. GRi

Members of Parliament ******************* The 200 Members are split along party lines as follows: National Democratice Congress - 133 New Patriotic Party - 61 Peoples Convention Party - 5 and Peoples National Convention - 1.

Articles 179 & 180 of the 1992 Constitution *********************************** 179.

(1) The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament at least one month before the end of the financial year, estimates ofd the revenues and expenditure of the Government of Ghana for the following financial year.

(2) The estimates of the expenditure of all public offices and public corporations, other than those set up as commercial ventures-

(a) shall be classified under programmes or activities which shall be included in a bill to be known as an Appropriation Bill and which shall be introduced into Parliament to provide for the issue from the Consolidated Fund or such other appropriate fund, of the sums of money necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified in that bill; and

(b) shall, in respect of payments charged on the Consolidated Fund, be laid before Parliament for the information of members of Parliament.

(3) The Chief Justice shall, in consultation with the Judicial Council, cause to be submitted to the President at least two months before the end of each financial year, and thereafter as and when the need arises.

(a) the estimates of administrative expenses of the Judiciary charged on the Consolidated Fund under article 127 of this Constitution; and

(b) estimates of development expenditure of the Judiciary.

(4) The President shall, at the time specified in clause (1) of this article, or thereafter, as and when submitted to him under clause (3) of this article, cause the estimated referred to in clause (3) of this article to be laid before Parliament.

(5) The estimates shall be laid before Parliament under clause (4) by the President without revision but with any recommendations that the Government may have on them.

(6) The development expenditure of the Judiciary, if approved by Parliament, shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.

(7) Parliament shall prescribe the procedure for the presentation of Appropriation Bills.

(8) Where, in respect of a financial year, it is found that the amount of moneys appropriated by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no sum of moneys has been appropriated by that Act, a supplemntary estimate showing the sum of money required, shall be laid before Parliament for its approval.

(9) Where, in the case of a financial year, a supplemntary estimate has been approved by Parliament in accordance with clause (8) of this article, a supplementary Appropriation Bill shall be introduced into Parliament in the financial year next following the financial year to which the estimates relates, providing for the appropriation of the sum so approved for the purposes specified in that estimate.

(10) Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding clauses of this article, the President may cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament, estimates of revenue and expenditure of Ghana for periods of over one year.

(11) Whenever in the estimates prepared in accordance with clauses (1) and (8) of this article provision is made for an item or vote other than for the Contingency Fund, not relating to a specific item of expenditure, any moneys voted by Parliament in respect of that item or vote shall be under the control and supervision of a Committee which shall consist of the President, the Speaker and the Chairman of the Council of the Council of State.

180.

Where it appears to the President that the Appropriation Act in respect of any financial year will not come into operation by the beginning of that financial year, he may, with the prior approval of Parliament by a resolution, authorise the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government in respect of the period expiring three months from the beginning of the financial year or on the coming into operation of the Act whichever is earlier.

181.

(1) Parliament may, be a resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all the members of Parliament, authorise the Government to enter into an agreement for the granting of a loan out of any public fund or public account.

(2) An agreement entered into under clause (1) of this article shall be laid before Parliament and shall not come into operation unless it is approved by a resolution of Parliament.

(3) No loan shall be raised by the Government on behalf of itself or any other public institution or authority otherwise than by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament.

(4) An Act of Parliament enacted in accordance with clause (3) of this article shall provide -

(a) that the terms and conditions of a loan shall be laid before Parliament and shall not come into operation unless they have been approved by a resolution of Parliament; and

(b) that any moneys received in respect of that loan shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund and form part of that Fund or into some other public fund of Ghana either existing or created for the purposes of the loan.

(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.

(6) For the purposes of this article, "loan" includes any moneys lent or given to or by the Government on condition of return or repayment, and any other form of borrowing or lending in respect of which -

(a) moneys from the Consolidated Fund or any other public fund may be used for payment or repayment; or

(b) moneys from any fund by whatever name called, established for the purposes of payment or repayment whether directly or indirectly, may be used for payment or repayment.

(7) The Minister responsible for finance shall, at such times as Parliament may determine, present to Parliament any information concerning any discrepancies relating to -

(a) the granting of loans, their repayment and servicing;

(b) the payment into the Consolidated Fund or other public fund of moneys derived from loans raised on institutions outside Ghana.

The Debate on Tuesday 15-02-2000 Hot exchanges in Parliament as purchase of presidential jet is debated

Accra (Greater Accra), 16 February 2000

A constitutional issue was raised in Parliament on Tuesday as to the legality or otherwise of the mode of acquisition of the Gulfstream III aircraft popularly known as the "Presidential Jet".

This came about when the debate on a motion for the adoption of the House's Finance Committee's report on an agreement between the government and Gallen Limited for the lease of the aircraft came up.

While the Majority Group said the lease agreement was properly and constitutionally executed, the Minority said that the transaction was in clear violation of the Constitution since it was contracted without the prior approval of Parliament.

Moving for the adoption of the report, Commodore Steve Obimpeh, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said some members at the committee level, expressed the view that the lease agreement should have been presented for parliamentary scrutiny and approval before its execution in accordance with Article 181 of the Constitution.

He said the Minister of Finance, however, intimated that the purchase agreement was a preliminary step in a lengthy negotiation process, and as such, it was important to exercise discretion and secrecy in order not to alert other competitors interested in the same aircraft before the conclusion of the negotiations.

Besides, he said, the lease agreement was transacted under Article 181 (5) of the Constitution, which does not provide any clear cut guidelines on the constitutional procedure to deal with lease agreements and at what period Parliament should be informed.

Article 181 clause (1) states in part that: "Parliament may, by a resolution authorise the government to enter into an agreement for the granting of a loan out of any public fund or public account.

Clause two says that any such agreement entered into shall be laid before Parliament and shall not come into operation unless it is approved by a resolution of the House.

Clause (5) of the same Article states: 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.

The report said in the reasoning of some members of the Finance Committee, the lease agreement, being an international business or economic transaction, should be considered under Article 181 (5) of the Constitution.

The Article according to them enjoins Parliament to fashion out modalities for considering agreements such as the lease before the House.

It said in the candid opinion of the Committee there was the urgent need for Parliament to address whatever limitations Article 181 (5) imposes.

Notwithstanding, the Committee took note of the Minister's explanation that the lease of the aircraft was based on its conviction that there is a marked difference between a lease agreement and a loan agreement.

The Committee explained that under a loan agreement, the borrower is obliged to honour the terms and conditions in its entirety until the entire loan is repaid.

On the other hand, it said, in a lease agreement as in Gulf Stream III, the lessee can "walk out" of the lease agreement after having given the appropriate notice to the lessor and would, therefore, be no more obliged to make further payments.

The report said the Committee was informed that the down payment and the first semi-annual payment for the lease agreement, was drawn from the contingency vote of the 1999 Appropriation Act (Act 568).

That "this is quite distinct from the contingency fund provided for by the Constitution under Article 177" Article 177 states in part that "there shall be paid into the Contingency Fund monies voted for the purpose by Parliament".

That advances may be made from that fund, which are authorised by Parliament, when an urgent or unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision exists to meet the need".

The report said the Minister of Finance informed the Committee that the purchase agreement was entered into on February 4, 1999 and it was negotiated between the government and Trans Air Trade S.A.

Thereafter, Trans Air Trade, the government and Gallen Limited entered into a "Novation Agreement", which released and discharged the government from buying the aircraft from Trans Air.

The report said according to the Minister, the Novation Agreement gave the right of purchase of the jet to Gallen Limited, which then paid for the aircraft, thus becoming the owner.

It said the Committee was informed that since the decision of the government was to lease the aircraft, the question of a loan to purchase it did not arise.

The Committee put the total cost of the aircraft at 16.68 million dollars and gave the breakdown as 13.5 million dollars for cost price and 3.18 million dollars for the provision of five pilots, five mechanics, spare parts and modification works.

It said after the conclusion of the agreement, the government made a deposit of 2.95 million dollars, representing a down payment of 1.45 million dollars and first semi-annual payment of 1.5 million dollars, in accordance with the terms of the lease agreement, to secure the aircraft.

The report said the Committee was informed that subsequent payments would be provided for under respective annual budgets, adding that the period of the lease spans five years.

The Finance Committee asked the House to come out with modalities under which such international business or economic transactions would be dealt with as provided under Article 181 (5) of the Constitution.

It said majority of its members "are satisfied that the lease agreement is for a good cause and, therefore, recommends it for approval by the House".

Seconding the motion, Mr Joseph Emmanuel Ackah, NDC- Jomoro, supported the view of the Committee and said Parliament should enact appropriate legislation to clear doubts about Article 181 (5).

He said with the successful conclusion of the lease agreement, the old Presidential jet referred to as the 'Flying Coffin', would be replaced by a more reliable and safer aircraft.

Opposing the motion, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, the Minority Spokesman on Finance, said it could not have been a worse time for the Minister to seek parliamentary approval for the lease agreement, considering the economic crisis facing the country.

He said the Minister has failed to address the economic problem facing the country as requested by the House.

Instead of the Finance Minister coming to Parliament with solutions to the economic crisis, he rather came "asking us to rubber stamp a deal that stinks to the high heavens".

On a point of order, Mr. George Buadi, NDC- Amenfi East, said Dr Apraku is a member of the Finance Committee and since there was no Minority report of disagreement, there was only the motion for the approval of the lease agreement.

The Speaker, Mr. Justice Daniel Francis Annan, explained that what has been presented to the House was the Majority report, reflecting the viewpoint of the majority of the members.

He said since the motion is for the approval of the report, Dr Apraku was entitled to express contrary views on the report.

Continuing, Dr Apraku noted that the Minister had admitted that the down payment was made to Gallen Limited by the government from the Consolidated Fund.

He said, "this is a violation of the Constitution" since the Minister did not seek prior approval of Parliament before such a transaction, quoting Article 181 and 181 (6) to buttress his argument.

He said the Minister had ample opportunity to have put such a financial outlay in the budget or the contingency vote but "his disrespect and contempt for Parliament was his only motivation for not consulting the House".

Dr Apraku told the MPs that "this is the one time the House must rise in unison and assert itself by taking a decision that reflects national interest and not partisan consideration".

He challenged the total cost of the acquisition of the aircraft as presented in the Committee's report and said, "it stands at almost 20 million dollars".

Alhaji Malik Al-Hassan Yakubu, NPP-Yendi, opposing the motion, said the issue at stake is how the acquisition of the aircraft was pursued.

He said the manner in which the government executed the lease agreement "is an affront to Parliament", quoting Article 181 to support his assertion.

He said clause (5) of Article 181 does not stand alone but in tandem with other clauses of the article, whose thrust requires that any such transaction must have prior parliamentary approval.

He said Parliament was even denied access to all the documents that went into the lease agreement, adding, "if there is a time to censure the Minister, it is now.

"We are dealing with a matter not so much a question of money involved but the Constitution and the integrity of Parliament".

Squadron-Leader Clend Sowu, NDC-Anlo wondered how Article 181 (5) should be operated since no guidelines have been provided by Parliament.

He said airlifting of relief items to the recent flood victims in the North have been financed from the same contingency vote.

"We on this side of the House think that the purchase of the aircraft is of priority".

Nana Akufo Addo, the Minority Spokesman on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, questioned the transparency and propriety of the transaction between the government and Gallen Limited, saying how come that a sovereign government entered into a contractual agreement with a company whose shareholders are not known.

He said the owners of the aircraft are not known to anybody in the country and asked the Minister to tell the House who the owners are.

Responding, the Minister said Gallen is owned by "HSBC", which established it as a special purpose company to transact the lease agreement and that this device had been used in many high financial transactions.

Nana Akufo Addo said it is stated in all Constitutions of the country since 1969 that any expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund should have prior parliamentary approval.

He said the current Constitution also provides for emergency expenditures and asked whether the Minister was trying to find excuse in the ambiguity in Article 181 (5).

He said the Minister using the article to justify his action is an argument that is "dangerous and subversive of the role of Parliament".

Nana Akufo Addo noted that before the process of committing the state into the agreement, the Minister had already made a down payment, adding the transaction should have been carried out in its entirety before any money was spent.

The Minority ranking member said the heart of the matter is that money had been spent, before Parliament was being informed.

The Speaker intervened and asked the members to address their minds to the question of the source of funding and the authorisation of the spending, saying "these are the two issues at stake".

Nana Akufo Addo said although the amount spent was taken from the contingency vote the fact still remains that it was a liability on the Consolidated Fund for which the Minister should have sought prior parliamentary approval.

He said what the Minister did was a way to evade the constitutional provision and described the action as "illegal and in violation of the Constitution".

He said public interest has not benefited from this transaction, adding that the Minister's "action is reprehensible" and called on the House to reject the lease agreement. The debate continues on Wednesday.