The editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has praised the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, for showing maturity in the “papa no” brouhaha that ensued in Parliament on Friday 13 August.
Oppong Nkrumah earned the anger of Minority MPs after addressing John Jinapor as “papa no”, a social media term that emanated from a verbal war between a musician and an actress.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu. did not take kindly to the comment and asked for a retraction from the Information Minister. Oppong Nkrumah apologised and asked that the statement be expunged from the records of Parliament.
“Harmless description”
Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo programme, Baako argued that Iddrisu had overreacted to a harmless comment by his colleague MP.
He defended that “papa no”, saying that it is not an “unparliamentary” phrase and deserved no such response from the Minority. However, he praised the MPs for settling the matter amicably.
“What animal is papa no? Ordinarily, it’s a harmless description. It wasn’t unparliamentary language. Kojo decided to mitigate it by asking for the record to be expunged. It’s the reaction by my good friend Haruna Iddrissu which I think was an overreaction,” Baako said.
Another Minority MP who took strong exception to Oppong Nkrumah’s description is the MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini. He described Oppong Nkrumah as “arrogant”, but said he has forgiven the Ofoase Ayirebi MP and promised to accord him every respect he deserves as a minister.
“This is an offensive language. I don’t know under what circumstances Oppong Nkrumah can just say this,” he told Okay FM’s Kwame Nkrumah Tikese.
“I forgive him because he is a first-timer and has been given a position in government which has made him arrogant and pompous.”
Wilberforce Asare
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