The Minority in Parliament on Friday expressed its displeasure after Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah addressed former Deputy Energy Minister John Jinapor as “Papa no.”
The tag ‘Papa no’ has become popular on social media after actress Tracey Boakye and musician Mzbel’s mystery man affair controversy.
The phrase brought drama in parliament late Friday night 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.
Reacting to the ‘Papa No’ phrase, minority leader Haruna Iddrisu said his side of the house will seize recognising Kojo Oppong as minister if he does not withdraw the comment and referred to him as ‘Maame no’.
“You come to parliament to employ those words used on social media, we take strong objection to it. If you don’t withdraw, we won’t recognise you today as minister. We will not. Do what you will do,” Haruna Iddrisu said.
“From today, we won’t recognise you as minister of this republic. And we will not accord you any respect as minister. Let’s throw it to the dogs. What do you take us for? So, ‘Papa no’ accepted. But from today, we will not.
“We will give you a name. We will give you a name. And we are serving notice, he was elected just like you. And his constituents respect him. Because you people use ‘Papa no’ on social media. We know what it means. We will match you. You have lost my respect as Minority leader from today. We will match with you. We too, we will call you ‘Maame no,” Mr. Iddrisu added.
The phrase managed to throw parliament into chaos as minority MPs banged the table whilst Majority MPs shouted ‘Papa no’ in the background as the debate continued.
First deputy Speaker of Parliament Joe Osei Owusu requested the house to look beyond the drama.
“The honourable minority leader’s anger, I pretended to overlook it because I think it’s in the spur of the moment. And knowing this house, tomorrow, we will get over it. But some insist on making an issue over it.
“I don’t think we will gain anything as a house by pretending this is new. And the threats don’t come to anything. So, the house will proceed,” he said.
The debate on the deal continued as the Minority in Parliament walked out in protest of the deal. But the majority went ahead to approve it.
