The Abirem MP (right) in a group picture with the minister as well as the chief and queen mother of the area after his famous question
Names of towns in the Abirem constituency of the Eastern Region associated with sexual organs of humans which needed to be connected to the national grid generated huge euphoria and laughter in Parliament yesterday when the Minister of Energy came to answer a question posed by the Member of Parliament for the area, John Frimpong Osei.
Names such as ‘Twenwinso’ (on pubic hair), ‘Twe Nim Nyansa’ (vagina is wise), ‘Kote Ye Aboa’ (penis is a fool), ‘Hwoa Ye Mmobo’ (testicles are miserable) which were being mentioned one after the other by the MP for the area threw both male and female MPs into a state of hilarity.
Even before the question concerning what plans the Ministry of Energy has in providing off-grid electricity to those communities in the Abirem constituency was posed to the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, by the MP for the area, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, had pleaded with the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was presiding, to ask the Abirem MP to spare the House those names otherwise commotion would be created in the House.
He said the First Deputy Speaker needed to avoid what he thought could create pandemonium and affect business of the House, but the First Deputy Speaker rejected the request by the majority leader and said the names of the towns should be mentioned as advertised on the ‘Order Paper’ because they are names of existing communities in the Abirem constituency which are populated by people.
The ruling of the First Deputy Speaker was protested against by MPs from both sides of the House. They wanted the names to be mentioned on the floor.
When the floor was given to the MP for Abirem to ask his question as to what plans the Ministry of Energy has to provide off-grid electricity to those towns in his constituency, the chamber was dead silent as all the MPs were ready with ‘cocked’ ears to listen to the names of the towns for the second time.
When the MP started mentioning the names again, the whole chamber erupted into thunderous laughter with the First Deputy Speaker himself, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu and Deputy Majority Leader, Adwoa Safo, laughing as well.
Answering the question, the Energy Minister said the MP had done well to even bring the chief and the queen mother of the area to witness proceedings during the ‘Question Time’ adding that the names of the towns had brought a lot of comic relief to the MPs.
He said that the objective of the National Electrification Scheme (NES) towards the achievement of the universal access is to provide electricity to all communities either through grid extension of off-grid or mini-grid solutions for remote or island communities.
“For the communities in the Abirem constituency including Kyiri Ahantan, Akyekyeresu, Tetteh Boafo, Asarekrom, Alhajikrom and Yaw Broni all in the area which are difficult to be connected to the national grid, the ministry will explore the possibility of connecting them through off-grid or mini-grid solutions,” the minister said.
He indicated the ministry had taken note of the request and would conduct engineering survey to determine the best means of providing electricity to those communities in line with the national electrification programme.
The minister told the House that among the names of the towns, Hwoa Ye Mmobo (testicles are miserable) tells a lot of story and that indeed ‘testicles are very miserable’.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr