I’m not your co-equal – Mahama tells MPs

President John Mahama got the entire Parliament bursting out with laughter on Tuesday when he, in jest, told heckling MPs: “Herr! Order. I’m not your co-equal”.

After gales of laughter reverberated through the chamber, the President added jovially: “Who said ‘tweaa’?”


The President yo-yoed between jokes and real business as he presented his second State of the Nation Address to the House.


‘Tweaa’ is a local version of pshawing. It became popular following an embarrassing spectacle between the District Chief Executive for Ahafo Ano South Gabriel Barimah, and a health worker who heckled him with that word at a public function.


The DCE stopped mid-way through his address and asked angrily: ‘Who said tweaa; am I your co-equal?’ He was reprimanded by the Government for his misconduct.

Ever since that incident two months ago, the word has become the most popular means of expressing disapproval in both formal and informal conversations. Even in Parliament.


Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho recently had to caution MPs against using the word in Parliament.


Doe Adjaho’s warning notwithstanding, President Mahama got ‘tweaa’ in edgeways despite the heckles hurled at him.