Dr George Sipah Yankey, Minister of Health, appeared before Parliament yesterday to answer series of questions relating to his ministry.
He told the House that the Mental Health Bill would be sent to cabinet by the end of the month for consideration and subsequent forwarding to Parliament.
This was when Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi (NPP-Asante Akim North) sought to find out when the Bill would be presented to Parliament.
He said the Bill seeks among other things to decentralise mental health so that families of the mental health patients would be closer to the patients for support and easy reintegration when they are cured.
Meanwhile, Parliament is sourcing a 12 million dollar loan facility from the Societe-Generale-Social Security Bank (SG-SSB) to procure means of transport for Members of Parliament.
The loan agreement between the Parliamentary Service and SG-SSB Limited with the government as a guarantor was laid before the House yesterday.
The Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, laid the agreement before the House and was referred by Edward Doe Adjaho (NDC Avenor-Ave), First Deputy Speaker of Parliament who was in the chair, to the committee for consideration and report.
The House adopted the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Auditor-General’s report on the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and Traditional Houses of Chiefs and Councils for 2001-2004.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Albert Kan-Dapaah, said fraudulent payments amounting to 79.3 million old Ghana cedis were identified during the audit.
Additionally, he said, 42.5 million old Ghana cedis representing unsubstantiated payments were also recorded.
Consequently, Mr Kan-Dapaah said the committee recommended that the Ministry of Chieftaincy takes steps to recover the outstanding amount.
He said the audit revealed that out of 184 houses of chiefs and councils, only 55, representing 30 per cent, prepared their annual financial statements and submitted them for audit.
Among the fraudulent deals revealed by the audit, Mr Kan-Dapaah said was an amount of ¢19.7 million old Ghana cedis used for the purchase of a computer for the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs.
According to Mr Kan-Dapaah, the audit examination revealed that the Institute of African Studies donated that particular computer to the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs.
The report cited Mr Otchere Boateng, a registrar, now on retirement, for his alleged involvement in the fraudulent deals.
Members of Parliament in their contribution urged the house of chiefs and traditional councils to preserve the dignity of the institution by being accountable and transparent.
He told the House that the Mental Health Bill would be sent to cabinet by the end of the month for consideration and subsequent forwarding to Parliament.
This was when Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi (NPP-Asante Akim North) sought to find out when the Bill would be presented to Parliament.
He said the Bill seeks among other things to decentralise mental health so that families of the mental health patients would be closer to the patients for support and easy reintegration when they are cured.
Meanwhile, Parliament is sourcing a 12 million dollar loan facility from the Societe-Generale-Social Security Bank (SG-SSB) to procure means of transport for Members of Parliament.
The loan agreement between the Parliamentary Service and SG-SSB Limited with the government as a guarantor was laid before the House yesterday.
The Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, laid the agreement before the House and was referred by Edward Doe Adjaho (NDC Avenor-Ave), First Deputy Speaker of Parliament who was in the chair, to the committee for consideration and report.
The House adopted the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Auditor-General’s report on the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and Traditional Houses of Chiefs and Councils for 2001-2004.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Albert Kan-Dapaah, said fraudulent payments amounting to 79.3 million old Ghana cedis were identified during the audit.
Additionally, he said, 42.5 million old Ghana cedis representing unsubstantiated payments were also recorded.
Consequently, Mr Kan-Dapaah said the committee recommended that the Ministry of Chieftaincy takes steps to recover the outstanding amount.
He said the audit revealed that out of 184 houses of chiefs and councils, only 55, representing 30 per cent, prepared their annual financial statements and submitted them for audit.
Among the fraudulent deals revealed by the audit, Mr Kan-Dapaah said was an amount of ¢19.7 million old Ghana cedis used for the purchase of a computer for the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs.
According to Mr Kan-Dapaah, the audit examination revealed that the Institute of African Studies donated that particular computer to the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs.
The report cited Mr Otchere Boateng, a registrar, now on retirement, for his alleged involvement in the fraudulent deals.
Members of Parliament in their contribution urged the house of chiefs and traditional councils to preserve the dignity of the institution by being accountable and transparent.
