The Parliament of Ghana was compelled to defer the 2nd Reading of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Bill, 2025, during proceedings on Monday, July 22, 2025.

The Bill, which was laid before the House by the Minister of Health, saw the granting of a request for its consideration under a Certificate of Urgency by the Health Committee after its First Reading on the floor.

Despite emphasising their concerns over the Bill being rushed and the possibility of this leading to a lack of adequate scrutiny, engagement, and consultations, the Minority expressed their willingness to support the Bill owing to its fundamental objective, which aims to address the rising cases of non-communicable diseases in the country.

However, after a debate on the Bill by the Minority and Majority Caucuses, the Deputy Chief Whip of the Minority Caucus, Habib Iddrisu, arrested the motion by citing Article 124 of the 1992 Constitution.

"Mr. Speaker, you gave the indication that you want to put the question, and I will urge you not to. Mr. Speaker, you cannot put the question now because in the chamber at the moment, we are 58. Mr. Speaker, if you read the 1992 Constitution in Article 104, it states, ‘decisions in Parliament shall be determined by more than half of the number.’

“The highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, in the case of *Justice Abdulai v. The Republic*, determined that matters to be decided in Parliament must be determined by more than half of the members. Mr. Speaker, we don’t have 138 members in this chamber. Mr. Speaker, I will urge you not to put the question,” he stated.

“Mr. Speaker, I am guided, and I am drawing your attention to and invoking Article 104 of the Constitution, highlighting the absence of a decision-making quorum as made clear in the Constitution,” he insisted.

Despite an attempt by the Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, to defer the matter to Standing Order 64 of Parliament, the Minority Chief Whip rebutted that his objection was grounded in Article 104, which pertains to the quorum for decision-making and not the quorum for conducting business as specified in the cited Standing Order and Article 102 of the Constitution.

The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, while arguing against the ability of the Minority Chief Whip to stop the Speaker from putting a question by procedure, noted the exhaustion of members and some absences due to other engagements and supported the need for an adjournment.

“Mr. Speaker, today we had a very big conference in Tamale, in which we took about 57 members of Parliament to Tamale for a conference on Northern development by the Northern Caucus, and so, as a result, we have some challenges with our numbers. So, I was speaking with our colleagues, and indeed, it was attended by myself and my colleague, the Minority Leader. I know for sure that many of our colleagues flew back without us, but out of exhaustion, having come to the House, we, as leaders, feel responsible to come and see what is happening here.

“Even Habib was also there. So, we don’t have the numbers, and I was pleading with my colleague that at least let’s take the vote on the report so that we can adopt the report and defer the consideration of the Bill to tomorrow. But if my colleagues have strong objections to us taking the votes, I have no problem with us taking the question to tomorrow,” the Majority Leader said.

“Personally, my views are that once the Honourable member invoked the Constitution, it’s clear, and until he probably decides to put it aside, I have no option but to adjourn the House till tomorrow. The Constitution is clear; he didn’t use the Standing Orders whereby we could probably go through the procedure, and if he abandons his application, we will move on. Other than that, indulge me to end proceedings,” the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, ruled.

The Ghana Medical Trust Fund Bill, according to the government, seeks to enact legislation for the mobilisation of resources to finance and support the provision of specialised medical care for the treatment of persons with chronic diseases and to provide for the management of the fund and related matters.

The Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund, also known as Mahama Cares, was launched on April 29, 2025, by President John Dramani Mahama to provide financial support for Ghanaians with chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, and stroke.

It aims to cover treatment costs not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which is funded primarily by the uncapped National Health Insurance Levy, government budgets, and corporate contributions.

However, some members of the Minority, including the Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, have various concerns regarding issues of funding, duplicity, and sustainability of the fund.

According to the Ranking Member, the objective of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, in comparison to the NHIS, has the potential to lead to duplications.

GA