The Member of Parliament for Ofoasi Ayiriebi who also doubles as the Minister of Information, Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has explained why he used the popular social media slang, “Papa No” in parliament.
According to Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, he used the word in jest and never meant to offend anyone with his outburst.
He, therefore, called on the First Deputy Speaker who was presiding over Parliament at the time of the incident to expunge his comment from the records.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah following the minority staging a walkout of the house said:
“Mr. Speaker, earlier, I was trying to catch your eye to request that the use of my expression which caused apprehension on the other side be expunged from the record. I didn’t mean it to offend anybody. It was in jest. And if anybody took offense to it, the records should reflect that it’s been expunged”.
On Friday 14th August 2020, Kojo who was making a counter-argument against the minority caucus in parliament used the popular social media term “Papa No” in his speech.
“Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues on the other side. I want to encourage my good friend who just spoke (John Jinapor). In my hometown, we will say, ‘Papa no.’ ‘Papa no.’ I want to encourage ‘Papa no’ to take some time and follow the structure of this conversation and support,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu took serious offense to the statement from Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and asked him to retract and apologize to Parliament for the wrong choice of words.
“You come to parliament to employ those words used on social media, we take strong objection to it. If you don’t withdraw, we won’t recognize you today as a minister. We will not. Do what you will do,” Mr. Iddrisu said
“From today, we won’t recognize you as minister of this republic. And we will not accord you any respect as a minister. Let’s throw it to the dogs. What do you take us for? So, ‘Papa no’ accepted. But from today, we will not.
“We will give you a name. We will give you a name. And we are serving notice, he was elected just like you. And his constituents respect him. Because you people use ‘Papa no’ on social media. We know what it means. We will match you. You have lost my respect as a Minority leader from today. We will match you. We too, we will call you ‘Maame no,” Mr. Iddrisu added.
However, the First Deputy Speaker who was presiding over the house, Mr. Joseph Osei Wusu did not find the minority’s anger well placed.
He believed they were blowing the whole issue out of proportion and should not be made an issue as the minority was trying to make it.
Mr. Joseph Osei Wusu said:
“The honorable Minority Leader’s anger, I pretended to overlook it because I think it’s in the spur of the moment. And knowing this house, tomorrow, we will get over it. But some insist on making an issue over it.
“I don’t think we will gain anything as a House by pretending this is new. And the threats don’t come to anything. So, the House will proceed.”
This statement from the presiding speaker angered the minority even more. The Minority caucus in parliament staged a walkout.
“Papa No” has become a popular descriptive phrase on social media following its frequent use by Ghanaians actresses and musicians, Tracey Boakye, Gloria Kani, and Mzbel.
Papa No was used to describe the rich sugar daddy who has been spending on women. The man has supposedly bought houses in rich suburbs for these girls as well as million-dollar vehicles as gifts have been given to Tracey Boakye, Mzbel, and Kani Gloria.
It’s unclear who exactly this man is but it’s been alleged he is a high ranking member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) hence Minorities’ anger with the use of Papa No in parliament by Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
