By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
NyamewaaNyamewaa
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Women
  • Culture
Reading: Let Ama Sey be, Parliament isn’t just for English speakers
Share
Aa
Aa
NyamewaaNyamewaa
Search
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Women
  • Culture
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2023 | Just Nana Ama
Politics

Let Ama Sey be, Parliament isn’t just for English speakers

Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
Last updated: 2017/03/15 at 10:55 AM
Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
Share
Ama Sey, MP for Akwatia
SHARE

As a rule, I do not comment on the work of other journalists. I try not to criticize their views on life or national debates either. It’s a small community, and, we often are on one side, trying to hold the powerful accountable and keep citizens informed. We do so much with so little under challenging circumstances that it helps no one to fight over missed angles. But Manasseh Azure crossed a line on Monday that cannot be ignored. In a post on Facebook, he criticized the MP for Akwatia, Ama Sey’s inability to speak English. Azure holds some problematic views on life, women, and gay rights but this is beyond disappointing.

He wrote: “So how are you able to scrutinize bills and complex issues that come before the House of Parliament? This lame excuse should not be tolerated. Even night watchmen these days are required to have an educational qualification. Teachers, nurses, police and all other persons who serve the nation have educational qualification as a requirement. If you are to pass laws and approve loans and enter into agreements that have serious consequences for all of us, you should be educated enough to understand what you are doing.”

This despicable mixture of condescension, self-hatred and classist tripe was his response to Ama Sey’s comment that English isn’t her mother-tongue. What does he mean by “even night watchmen are required to have an educational qualification?” He had the nerve to suggest that the people of Akwatia made a mistake in electing Sey because she cannot speak (flawless?) English as if he does not know that a bunch of educated men ruined our country. What is lame and offensive is his suggestion that people must be “educated enough” to pass laws and approve loans and agreements. He makes it sound like MPs only review documents.

To be honest, long before Manasseh made this ignorant comment, long before Ama Sey arrived in Accra to take the parliamentary oath of office, her opponents from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had already told us about her inability to speak English. They had expected this to count against her, but the people of Akwatia didn’t care. They elected her, and by a wide margin too. The bitter people she trounced are the ones that released the recording of her Independence Day speech for mockery on social media. They also wondered if she could work in parliament with her flawed English.

This is fueled by the belief that, some spaces should be reserved for educated Ghanaians alone. That, English is a marker of intelligence and people who cannot speak it or speak it without a middle-class accent have nothing to contribute to the governance process, even though they make meaningful contributions to the economy. It is the hard work of Ghanaian cocoa farmers that governments get foreign exchange for development. It is the uneducated women who make sure, food from the farm gets to the plates of people like Azure.

The reason I’m making an example of Manasseh Azure, a journalist beloved for his exposure of corruption and shady deals, is because very few people have seen how the educated and powerful in political spaces have failed and continue to fail Ghana as he has. He was the one who travelled to Burkina Faso to unravel the mystery behind a $600,000 wall and a $100,000 Ford Explorer vehicle. I suppose some would say, former President John Mahama is educated enough and speaks flawless English. I presume the better-educated people in the previous Parliament were in the room where deals like Ameri, Karpower and ENI power deals passed.

This is not to say; education is not essential to the work of an MP. It is. But people like Manasseh must realize that Parliament isn’t some exclusive club for the privileged and educated. Ghana still has schools under trees and communities without schools. There are families yet to have one person educated. I expected a more nuanced, thoughtful and inclusive perspective from a journalist of his calibre. Azure, who has written copiously about his upbringing should know that the ability to speak English does not make anyone in this land more deserving of access and power. He should know there are women and men like Ama Sey in the general population who deserve to be represented in Parliament.

The English language was one of the tools colonialists used to segregate and oppress our ancestors. We cannot, 60 years after independence be perpetuating that system of oppression that privileged the English language and an exclusive governance system. The voices of all our peoples, (the barely educated, those who do not speak English at all, and those who some imperfect version of it) must be heard to make our democracy healthy. The people of Akwatia chose someone they believe will represent their best interests in Accra. I’m stunned that our focus is on her imperfect English and not how to get Parliament to work with her specific needs to make sure she participates in the process in whatever language she is comfortable with.

A report by Odekro at the end of the seventh Parliament revealed that 19 MPs did not say a word in the four years they were in the house. Not a word. Not even, “ Mr Speaker…” Perhaps if we stop mocking people for the way they speak English, and demand space in Parliament for people to speak their local languages, maybe no MP will stay silent for four years.

You Might Also Like

Parliamentary Committee Report on Ghana’s Anti-gay Bill

Why is the Ghanaian Christian God so cruel?

In Ghana no life matters — unless you are among the elite

On interns, insults, and ministers

#DropThatChamber: In Praise of Ernesto Yeboah

TAGGED: Akwatia, Ama Sey, Ghana, NDC, NPP, Parliament of Ghana, Women's rights

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
[mc4wp_form]
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Nana Ama Agyemang Asante March 15, 2017 March 15, 2017
Previous Article Counselor Lutterodt’s views belong in the bin, not on radio
Next Article Otiko: Educate yourself, unlearn your misogynistic ways
7 Comments
  • Baaba says:
    March 15, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    Growing up in Kumasi, we used to get caned for speaking Twi at school. The message I got was that English was far superior to Twi. I’m in my 30’s and I’m just realizing that English is to the British, Americans, etc what Twi, Ga, Ewe, etc are to Ghanaians. It isn’t a superior language; it’s just a language spoken by a group of people who then colonized other people and imposed their language on them. The underlying problem is that we see all things Ghanaian as far inferior to all things Western.

    Reply
    • nyamewaa says:
      March 15, 2017 at 3:04 pm

      Oh i grew up in Kumasi too, i was lashed for speaking Twi too. The caning does something to our sense of confidence about all things Ghanaian.

      Reply
      • Baaba says:
        March 24, 2017 at 10:57 am

        Hi fellow Kumasi-girl! I found this article today and it reminded me of your blog post:

        https://archive.org/stream/DecolonisingTheMind/Decolonising_the_Mind_djvu.txt

        I desperately want to read the entire book one day.

        Reply
        • nyamewaa says:
          March 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

          Thank you so much for sharing Baaba. I hope we can contribute in small ways to change minds whenever we find ourselves in our country.

          Reply
  • Anonymous says:
    March 15, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    OMG! I saw this coming and been waiting patiently to hear Nana’s backlash. Need I say more? Thank you.

    Reply
  • Desaha says:
    March 15, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    We have being brainwashed that English language is the best thing that ever happened to us and that we should feel privilege or brilliant for speaking good and fluent English. These days I’ve being battling with myself because I feel am not really a party of the community I come from. How can I, when I pray in English, think in English and everything in-between in English. Is sad, we just need more people like her to remind who we really are and people like you to defend her all the way.
    Insightful piece.

    Reply
  • Kweku Yeboah says:
    March 15, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    I beg to disagree with you vehemently. Whether we like it or not English is the official language for business, education and government in Ghana. MPs are there to make laws and the laws are written in English. How is she to research and make any meaningful contribution to this in Parliament?. In short she is just occupying space in parliament and cannot make any constructive input over there.

    I bet you if Ama Sey was in the NDC your mantra would have been we are being ruled by ignorant and incompetent people but because she comes from your favourate party you can’t see that she is ill equipped to perform the role that she has been elected to perform.

    At the moment no local language has been accepted or found to be suitable to replace English as the language for business, education and government and political parties will do us a favour to select people who have the language skills to perform the skills they are elected to perform.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

Sex, Sermons, and Submission: Why I Left the Church
Society Women
Government blundering making us all seem stupid
Politics
In Ghana no life matters — unless you are among the elite
Politics
Christianity is un-African, homosexuality isn’t
Society
Whose vagina is it anyway?
Society
On interns, insults, and ministers
Journalism Politics
Otabil’s pricey, unbiblical menu of miracles
Society
In praise of Otiko’s refusal to bend
Politics Women
Letter to President Mahama: Fix Dumsor already, damn it!
Politics Society
Parliamentary Committee Report on Ghana’s Anti-gay Bill
Politics
Follow US
© 2023 Just Nana Ama