The Parliamentary Committee on Education has recommended that the National Service Authority Bill, 2024, be taken under a certificate of urgency by the House.
Mr Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah, Chairman, Education Committee of Parliament, a report to the House noted that having regard to the current status of the National Service Scheme under the existing Act and comprehensively analysing the object of the Bill, the Committee realised that there were opportunities to be derived if the Bill was urgently passed into law.
The object of the Bill is to establish the National Service Authority to mobilise and post persons qualified to undertake national service in areas of national priority for national development, inculcate the values of civic responsibility, discipline, patriotism, national cohesion and voluntarism in persons qualified to undertake national service and promote employability, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation among persons qualified to undertake national service.
The Bill seeks to establish
an Authority as a body corporate with the requisite legal capacity to develop and implement policies, and programmes for national Service.
The National Service Authority Bill, 2024, was laid in Parliament by the Education Minister under a certificate of urgency on Friday, 14th June, pursuant to the Cabinet Memorandum dated Tuesday, 7th May.
The Bill was subsequently referred to the Committee on Education for determination of the urgency or otherwise in accordance with Order 160(2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
The National Service Scheme was established under the Ghana National Service Scheme Act, 1980 (Act 426) with the core mandate of mobilising and deploying Ghanaian citizens of eighteen years and above for the national priority development programmes through a mandatory national service programme.
Mr Asiamah noted that Scheme had been in existence for some time and that it had become imperative that a new legislation was passed to address some challenges facing the Scheme under the Ghana Natio
nal Service Scheme Act, 1980 (Act 426) and to upgrade the Scheme to an Authority.
He said that the Scheme was not a body corporate, it lacks the requisite capacity to do so; saying ‘it is therefore imperative to establish the National Service as a body corporate, hence, the introduction of the National Service Authority Bill’.
He said the Scheme was currently working on a large track of land acquired in the name of the Scheme; adding that due to the lack of capacity of the Scheme, these enviable opportunities were evading the Scheme.
She cited an example that there was a difficulty in registering the lands in the name of the Scheme, resulting in the encroachment on some of these lands; saying, ‘unfortunately, the Scheme does not have the requisite capacity to institute legal actions against these encroachers.’
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) Tamale South, in supporting the Motion urged the Minister of Education to ensure that more consultation was held o
n the Bill with stakeholders, including the universities.
Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, reiterated the need for the Bill to be passed under a certificate of urgency; citing the challenges such encroachment of the Scheme’s lands other properties and the lack of corporate status.
Source: Ghana News Agency