'Parliament is not a place for entertainment' - Inusah Fuseini fires Oppong Nkrumah

Member of Parliament for Tamale Central in the Northern Region, Hon Inusah Fuseini has slammed his colleague Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi in the Eastern Region, Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah for turning Parliament into an entertainment ground.

According to the former Minister of Roads and Highways, Parliament is a law-making House which its standing orders do not allow the use of certain words on the floor of the House and also cast aspersions against a person.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Hon Inusah Fuseini insisted that Kojo Oppong Nkrumah's usage of the phrase ‘Papa no’ did not merit the discussion on the floor of parliament.

“We all know that ‘Papa no’ is coming from social media between two ladies who decided to make public their promiscuous lifestyles and that was where they use the word ‘Papa no’ [that man]; how can this come to Parliament? Words take their colours from their surroundings. Check what Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said, read it again, and ask yourself where does the ‘Papa no’ come in?” he rhetorically asked.

“Parliament is not a place for entertainment; we go there to make laws and so we don’t play over there. If you look at our standing orders, we have a word you cannot use in Parliament. We also have orders that say that we cannot speak against someone who is not in Parliament to respond to the issue; it will be unfair to speak ill of somebody who is not on the floor of the House,” he chastised.

'Papa no' in Parliament

Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says his ‘Papa no’ comment in Parliament on Friday was not meant to offend anybody.

According to him, the comment was made in jest.

“If you say something in jest, you do not mean it seriously,” the Ofoase Ayirebi MP said.

The phrase ‘papa no’ has become popular on social media after actress Tracey Boakye used it repeatedly to describe a married man she claims she and musician Mzbel are in the same relationship with.

It found its way onto the floor of parliament as the House approved the Agyapa Royalties Limited agreement.

“Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues on the other side. I want to encourage my good friend who just spoke (John Jinapor). In my hometown, we will say, ‘Papa no.’ ‘Papa no.’ I want to encourage ‘Papa no’ to take some time and follow the structure of this conversation and support,” the Ofoase Ayirebi MP told the House.

Minority leader demands withdrawal

Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu demanded he withdraws the comment else they won’t recognise him as a Minister and referred to him as ‘Maame no’. He does not understand why the Minister will introduce popular phrases being used on social media in the house.

The Tamale Central lawmaker, however, maintained that the behaviour of the Information Minister on the floor of Parliament goes against the orders of the House which prohibit casting aspersions against a person.

“You cannot also cast pertinent aspersions against a person because Parliament is the centre-piece of any democracy. We can have a government but there cannot be democracy without Parliament and so Parliament is so key and central to any democratic experiment,” he said.

He, therefore, cautioned on the importance to attach seriousness to whatever being discussed on the floor of parliament as it is a privilege for some few trained individuals to be elected among 30 million people as Members of Parliament to serve a constituency.

“If you come to Parliament to debate issues, it is important to attach seriousness to whatever you say because all the 275 members of parliament represent 30 million Ghanaians and it means that it is a privilege of a trained magnitude to be elected a member of parliament to serve a constituency,” he said.

“So it should be that while discussing issues, we will not turn the place [parliament] into a playing ground . . . Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is being dishonest to say that what he said was a jest,” he stressed.