Fulfil Promise To Promote Ga Language -Chief Urges Gt Accra Minister

The Oyibi Gonten Mantse, Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, has urged the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, to fulfil his ‘vetting’ promise of granting scholarships to brilliant students who would show interest in studying the Ga language at the highest level.

Nii Frankwa II said the traditional authorities in the entire region had welcomed the promise as they acknowledged that the provision of scholarships would serve as an incentive to compel more students to develop interest in the language. Besides, it would help the students pursue it at the highest level to help produce teachers who would be dedicated to the teaching of the language.

“This must not be a rhetoric which would not be supported with any action because the idea is good and the entire region will support him when he begins engagements to have it implemented,” he said.  

Nii Frankwa II, who is also the Regent of the Nungua Mankralo Stool, was speaking to the Daily Graphic on phone on the need to ensure that all basic schools in the Greater Accra Region would study the Ga language.

It was a follow up to an earlier interview in February this year in which Nii Frankwa said he had taken notice of the refusal of some schools in the region to offer Ga as a language at the basic level.

Vetting promise

During his vetting before the appointments committee of Parliament in March this year, Mr Quartey who was reacting to the lack of Ga language teachers, promised to grant scholarships to entice students to study the language at the highest level.

“When given the nod by the grace of God, I will collaborate with the Minister of Education and the Ghana Education Service to ensure that the few Ga teachers that we have, are brought back to teach Ga in the schools.

“We will fall on other opinion leaders to support us to grant scholarships to people to begin to have interest in learning the Ga language at the Bureau of Ghana Languages,” Mr Quartey said.


Assurance

Nii Frankwa assured the minister of the support of the chiefs, and said a delegation would officially meet with him to help make the promise a reality.


“It is of interest to everyone that the language is taught in schools, including the young ones who are the custodians of the traditions and deserve to be taught the language as a first step to the attainment of enlightenment about their own traditions,” he said.

He also congratulated the minister for the campaign he has started, dubbed “Make Accra Work” which seeks to ensure discipline among the public.

“We are also behind him fully as a son of the land with all that he has started to help make Accra clean and beautiful because the reality is that with effort Accra could actually become the clean city we all envisage,” he said.

He called on the public to support the minister to help bring “sanity on our roads, ensure safety in market places, ensure clean surroundings and general discipline”.