The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, on Thursday implored members of Parliament to let their passion to promote Ghanaian language and culture reflect in their dressing.
This was his response to a spirited conversation on the floor about dying indigenous languages led by Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament for Ellembele Constituency in the Western Region.
Mr Bagbin said the call by the MPs touches the heart of everybody, not just Ghanaians.
The Speaker, thus, directed the education, culture and tourism and finance committees to provide a comprehensive report on the way forward.
Mr Bagbin, an avid promoter of Ghanaian culture, said the Standing Orders makes provision for Parliament to conduct proceedings in different Ghanaian languages, adding that the next Parliament would ensure contemporaneous interpretation of proceedings.
Mr Buah, who initiated the conversation, expressed concerns about the exclusion of Nzema language in the curricula of colleges in the Western Region.
Contributing to the conversation, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, said the challenge was not exclusive to the Western Region.
He said the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had already reported that nearly 3,000 of the 7,000 languages spoken across the globe were on the verge of total extinction.
The legislator said that it was a matter that required urgent national attention.
Mr Ablakwa said the issue at hand was important because language was what represented “our culture and heritage.”
Mr Ablakwa, who is a Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, bemoaned how students were punished for speaking local languages which was referred to as vernacular.
In addition, the North Tongu lawmaker said that inter-marriages, which should rather be a blessing, had become a bane, adding that in some homes, parents spoke English with their children instead of their local dialect.
Mr Ablakwa said Ghanaians should be proud of the local language and encouraged everybody to speak it.
He said when tourists visit Ghana, the first thing they pick up was the local Ghanaian language, and that the promotion of English at the expense of the local language could have adverse effect on tourism.
The North Tongu MP suggested exchange programmes, resourcing language bureaus and training of students in indigenous languages by the colleges of education.
Mr Samuel Nartey George, the Member of Parliament for the Ningo Pampram Constituency, said Ghanaians threw away culture because the West described it as demonic.
He said that when he became an MP in 2017, there were 37 Akan teachers and only two Dangme teachers in the constituency.
He called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to post specific language teachers to where their services were needed.
For his part, Mr Stephen Amoah, the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, said language fosters cohesion for national development.
He said he was concerned that children born and raised in Ghana could not speak their mother tongue, and advocated urgent steps be taken to address the issue.
Mr Amoah, who is a Deputy Minister of Trade, said the rich Ghanaian culture of which language is an integral part should be promoted in every facet of life.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
