Students sacked from Parliament

Students of Morning Glory School in Teshie-Nungua were yesterday sacked from Parliament's public gallery after enthusiastically clapping for Stephen Kwaku Balado Manu, Member of Parliament for Ahafo-Ano South in the Ashanti region.

The students, who were in the House to witness parliamentary proceedings, spontaneously clapped after apparently enjoying the MP's fluency in French on the floor of the House.

Asking a question on behalf of Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, MP for Weija, Mr. Manu asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration whether in the light of the evacuation efforts by government to bring home Ghanaians from Libya, President Atta Mills had now revised his 'Dzi wo fie asem' foreign policy.

But Deputy Majority Leader, Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, demanded that Mr. Balado Manu explain the 'Dzi wo fie asem' mantra for all MPs to understand.

It would be recalled that while addressing editors and senior journalists at the Castle - the seat of Government - early this year, President Mills indicated Ghana was not going to meddle in the political stalemate in La Cote d'Ivoire because he believed in the Fante dictum 'Dzi wo fie asem.'

Mr. Balado Manu explained that the Fante phrase meant 'mind your own business' and 'Occupes-toi de tes affaires' in English and French respectively.

Mr. Manu, a French scholar and a law student, is one of the most experienced lawmakers in the country as he has represented the people of Ahafo-Ano South since 1997.

Obviously thrilled by the rare use of the French language in the country's legislature, the students from Morning Glory School gleefully clapped for the MP.

However, immediately after the applause, some parliamentary staff hurriedly drove the students from the public gallery, saying that their behaviour was against the rules of the House.

DAILY GUIDE monitored the students as they quickly rushed to their bus and took off from the precincts of Parliament.