Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has ordered for his ‘Papa no’ comment to be expunged from the records of Parliament following a protest from the minority side of the house.
Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Friday, August 4, 2020 during a debate in parliament to approve the Agyapa Royalties Agreement used the phrase, ‘Papa nu’ to refer to his colleague on the minority side of the house, John Abu Jinapor.
But the minority got infuriated by the minister’s comment and raised an objection. Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu who is the minority leader demanded that the minister withdraw the phrase threatening not to recognise him as minister of state should he fail to withdraw it. Mr. Iddrisu further threatened to call the minister names if he does not withdraw the comment.
The minister who had tried to defend the use of the phrase read a portion of the standing orders of Parliament which permit members of Parliament to express themselves in a number of local languages which include Twi. But the minority leader insisted that the use of the phrase which he said was a term used on social media was unacceptable on the floor of Parliament.
In response to the livid minority, the minister said his reference to Mr. Jinapor as ‘Papa no’ was in jest and was not meant to offend him or any other person. He therefore asked that the comment be withdrawn from the parliamentary hansard.
“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 offence to it, the records should reflect that it’s been expunged,” he stated after the agreement was passed.
The ‘Pap no’, a Twi phrase became a social media craze after it was used in a feud between actress Tracey Boakye and musician, Mzbel. The term was used to refer to an influential married man who allegedly had an affair with both of them.
Though they did not disclose who the ‘Papa no’ is, a section of the public particularly members of the New Patriotic Party have linked the phrase to a leading member of the National Democratic Congress.
