From Parliament House

Members of Parliament yesterday noted that Ghanaians cannot break away from the shackles of poverty if they do not uphold discipline both in their public and private lives.

They were contributing to a statement in Parliament by Mr. Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi (NPP-Odotobri) on “Nation building and Indiscipline as regards sanitation, work attitude and Road Accident”.

Mr. Gyamfi said “indiscipline which is lack of control in peoples or individual's behaviour has a negative effect on attempt to break away from the shackles of poverty which has bedevilled our dear nation.”

Indiscipline, he said is a serious affront to development and a nation without much discipline cannot progress as expected.

Touching on indiscipline in the public sector, Mr. Gyamfi said some workers were involved in what he termed “bureaucratic inertia” to an extent that people feel frustrated whenever they had something to do with the public sector.

He said there were so much unnecessary delays that work that could be done in a few days ended up taking months.

“Some workers, especially those at the front desk, have no regard for good customer care, they behave so rudely to visitors that they become uncomfortable to return to them for further transactions.”

Mr. Gyamfi said such irresponsibility and lack of diligence scared away potential investors and slowed down the growth of the economy.

He said: “workers report to work very late with so many excuses, yet they do not want to do extra hours to compensate for the time lost.”

“They discuss television programmes and funerals during official working hours. They work lotto and unilaterally extend their lunch break while some do not even report at work at all.”

Mr. Gyamfi said sadly, those workers were the first to leave office even before closing time forgetting that productivity and good condition of service were mutually inter-twined and cannot be separated.

On sanitation, the MP urged metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies responsible for sanitation to be proactive by providing the necessary sanitation facilities and to enforce bye-laws strictly to forestall filth.

Mr. Gyamfi said the ban on the selling of alcoholic drinks at lorry parks should also be strictly enforced, he said and added that drivers found culpable of accidents resulting in the death of innocent passengers should be ruthlessly dealt with.

Contributing, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, (NPP-Bosomtwe) said the Vehicle Examination and Licence Department should be allowed to train and also license commercial drivers in the country.

He regretted that some commercial drivers who cart crates of eggs, for instance, conveyed such foods carefully to their destinations but often took passengers for granted resulting in fatal accidents.

Mr. Joe Gidisu (NDC-Central Tongu), while calling for positive work attributes on the part of Ghanaians, urged government and other employers to live up to expectation by providing the necessary motivation to make workers give of their best.
while calling for positive work attributes on the part of Ghanaians, urged government and other employers to live up to expectation by providing the necessary motivation to make workers give of their best.

Mr. David Oppon-Kusi (NPP-Ayirebi-Ofoase) appealed to landlords and land-ladies to endeavour to provide sanitary facilities in their buildings to prevent their tenants from disposing of wastes in gutters and open environments.
appealed to landlords and land-ladies to endeavour to provide sanitary facilities in their buildings to prevent their tenants from disposing of wastes in gutters and open environments.

Nii Amasah Namoale (NDC-Dade Kotopon) condemned the complicity of some staff and metropolitan and district assemblies in the issuance of building permits to people to build at unauthorized sites especially in the capital.
condemned the complicity of some staff and metropolitan and district assemblies in the issuance of building permits to people to build at unauthorized sites especially in the capital.

Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Darko (NPP-Sunyani West), said it was ironic that some Ghanaians complain of acute poverty and yet spend money they could have saved for useful ventures on alcohol.
said it was ironic that some Ghanaians complain of acute poverty and yet spend money they could have saved for useful ventures on alcohol.

Mr. Alban Bagbin, the minority leader, urged his colleagues to demonstrate to Ghanaians that they were disciplined in the manner they attended to parliamentary duties.

“We should stop preaching; we should practice what we preach, when people see it, they will follow us,” he said.

The Data Processing Control Board Decree (Repeal Bill) the Criminal Code (Amendment) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Bills were laid.

The Data Processing Control Board Decree (Repeal Bill) seeks, among other things, to repeal an earlier decree (S.M.C.D 19) of 1976 by placing the data processing unit under the Ministry of Communications instead of Finance and Economic Planning.

The Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill is intended to amend the criminal code to change the reference “female circumcision” to “female genital mutilation” to reflect the actual nature of the offence and to alter the scope of responsibility in relation to the offence.

The WACE Bill seeks to revise the WAEC Law 2991 (PNDCL 255) to bring it into consonance with the revised WAEC convention of 2004.

The revision has become necessary in view of the increase in the membership of the Council which the participating member-countries are bound to adhere to.