MPs advocate the use of French as Ghana's second official language

General News on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-02

On Monday, some members of parliament pleaded for the country to adopt French as Ghana's second official language.

Ghana is surrounded by three countries that officially speak French and is one of only five countries in the West Africa subregion where English is the official language.

However, the use of French in official circles has not been very deep and the House on Monday used the opportunity to celebrate the Semaine de la francophonie to draw attention to the need to make French the second official. language for Ghana.

This statement follows a statement on behalf of Mr. Eric Darfour, Member of Parliament for Nkawkaw, on the occasion of La Semaine de la Francophonie, celebrated from March 17 to 25; This allowed Francophones around the world to celebrate the French language in all its diversity. More than 1,500 events involving 70 countries took place.

Mr. Darfour paid tribute to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who spoke French fluently in a speech at the last Francophonie Summit, in which he stated that Ghana's membership in the Francophonie should constitute a major badet for mutual concerns.

The deputy also congratulated the king of the Asante kingdom, Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, for his contribution to the study of French by instituting the annual Lady Julia French questionnaire, which aims to encourage and reward students and institutions learning the French language.

"Being bilingual or multilingual makes it a unique and more usable place," said Darfur, adding that the Ministry of Education had, in this regard, organized a seminar on teaching and learning. ;French learning.

The contributions of MM. Mathew Nyidam, MP for Kpandai, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu, both stressed the need for the government to deliberately adopt a policy to make French Ghana the second official language other things.