Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Haruna Iddrisu
Parliament was thrown into confusion last Friday evening when a popular social media term, ‘Papa No’, which literally means ‘The Man’, was used in the chamber.
The whole ‘fracas’ started when Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase Ayirebi who doubles as Minister of Information, in making a submission, mentioned ‘Papa No’ to make a point.
Following his submission, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs went haywire as if the term ‘Papa No’ was their patented phraseology.
The Information Minister used ‘Papa No’ to reference the NDC MP for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, during a parliamentary debate, drawing angry responses from the Minority MPs.
It led to jeers from the NDC MPs who, in opposition to the use of the term, banged tables and shouted “this is unparliamentary”.
Slay Queens Brawl
The ‘Papa No’ term went viral after a video of actress Tracey Boakye had sparked a social media ‘fire’ which is fast spreading to the corridors of ex-President John Mahama who is staging a comeback after being humiliated at the polls in 2016.
Two Kumawood actresses, who are both members of the opposition NDC, have been running battles on social media for some time now, and it reached a crescendo when Gloria Kani alleged that the ‘Papa No’ that Tracey had been referring to was the ex-President.
From the ‘fight’, the two appeared to have enjoyed state largesse when Mr. Mahama and his NDC were at the helm. Both actresses were seen on various campaign platforms of the NDC ahead of the 2016 general election.
Tracey had talked about how the ‘Papa No’ had bought expensive things including a house at East Legon, Accra, expensive cars, and put her into a life of luxury.
‘Papa No’
Responding to Tracey, Gloria kept mentioning ‘Papa No’ in the course of her rants on social media and let loose the ex-President’s name as the person she (Tracey) had been referring to and even claimed that Tracey was trying to entrap Mr. Mahama with a child.
She claimed Tracey had given birth to a girl and had been saying it was Mr. Mahama’s baby but insisted that she would lead a crusade for Mr. Mahama to do a DNA test because she knew Tracey was having amorous relationships with other men.
House Debate
When the Information Minister took the floor in the chamber, he said, “Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues on the other side, especially my good friend who just spoke (John Jinapor). In my hometown, we will say ‘Papa No’. I want to encourage ‘Papa No’ to take some time and follow the structure of this conversation and support.”
The MPs were debating the report of the Finance Committee on the Minerals and Royalties Investment Agreement between government and the Minerals Income Investment Fund, Agyapa Royalties Limited, and ARG Royalties Ghana Limited in relation to gold royalties monetization transaction under the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 (Act 978).
Angry Response
Unhappy about the nomenclature and insinuation therein, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, hurriedly stood up to demand the withdrawal of the remark, saying “people use words on social media which are unacceptable and 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 minister. You will withdraw or we will not. Do what you want to do,” he insisted.
Throwing his hands in gestures warning the minister, Haruna Iddrisu added, “From today, we won’t recognize you as minister of this republic and we’ll not accord you any respect as minister. Let’s throw it to the dogs. What do you take us for? So, ‘Papa No’ accepted. But from today, we will not…”
As if that was not enough, the angry Minority Leader continued, “We will give you a name and we are serving notice. He (referring to Jinapor) was elected just like you and his constituents respect him. Because you people use ‘papa no’ on social media …We know what it means and we will match you.”
“You have lost my respect as Minority Leader from today. We will match with you. We too, we will call you ‘maame no,” he declared.
Majority Response
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in a response, said much as he agreed that the MPs should not indulge in the use of uncomplimentary references, the Minority Leader was equally ‘guilty’ of the ‘charge’ against the Ofoase-Ayirebi MP by also calling Oppong Nkrumah ‘Maame No’.
“The Minority Leader should know that two wrongs do not make a right and that Mr. Haruna Iddrisu would also withdraw and apologize if the Information Minister did so as being demanded,” he added.
Speaker
However, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Wusu, who was in the chair, ruled that the MPs should allow ‘sleeping dogs to lie’ as it was not the first time an incident of such nature had occurred in the House.
He said the Yapei Kusawgu MP also failed to withdraw a false statement he made when his attention was drawn to it and found a clever way to gloss over the order.
The incident, which vividly showed the depth of disagreement in the House, held up proceedings in the 275-member chamber for some minutes and it is symbolic of the partisan nature of the legislature.
Meanwhile, the ‘Papa No’ has since stirred both debate and mockery on social media, with some criticizing the Minority Leader for his emotional outburst and not exercising moderation in his language during the incident.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House