Ghana Contemplating Adopting One Official Language?

As indicated by Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the country should take on a local tongue as their official language.

He has called for a strong effort among stakeholders to figure out a national strategy to embrace one local language as the country’s first language.

He described Ghana’s current official language – the English language as another man’s language, saying; “no society develops with the language of another society”.

The speaker is of the view that, this is one of the challenges in Ghana, and authorities should get their language right as a country. He said:

”For example, the Arabs are ahead of us in terms of development because they have adopted an official language of theirs which every citizen understands.”

It was judicious for the country to embrace an exceptional national identity that would cultivate genial relationship among the populace to assist with speeding up growth and development in the country, Mr Bagbin added.

The Speaker of Parliament said this when he paid a civility call to Nana Kobena Nketsia V, the Principal Head of Essikado at his royal residence, at Essikado in the Western region of Ghana.

The visit was part of the Speaker’s engagements with key stakeholders to solicit their support to commemorate 30 years of uninterrupted parliamentary democracy under the fourth republic.

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Mr Bagbin said Ghana should be motivated by East and South Africa who had taken on Swahili as their official language and use a local language as the main language.

That, he said, would advance comprehensiveness and cooperation of everybody in the country’s journey to accomplish sustainable growth.

He said after 30 years of practicing democracy as a country, there was the need to re-evaluate and re-strategize certain aspects of the country’s democratic principles for its continuous sustenance.

“This could only be possible if Parliament engaged with the citizenry to understand their views and suggestions to inform policy reforms on parliamentary businesses”.

Mr Bagbin indicated that it was important to include traditional authorities more in the administration cycle saying, they were the caretakers of the land, adding,

“the real leaders of Ghana and Africa are the traditional leaders. They are the people that their followers really believe in.”