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The Speaker of parliament Alban Bagbin has taken a swipe at Members of Parliament who have refused to wear made in Ghana cloths to parliament after he announced that it should be a norm to promote make in Ghana goods.

He set the example by ditching the colonial cloak of the Speaker for Ghanaian traditional clothing.

Speaking to the lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday, 16 February 2022, the speaker reminded the lawmakers of the need to promote their culture not just by words but by their actions.

Mr Bagbin told the house that “I put a lot of value on the African, I respect our traditions and cultures, if you don’t love yourself, nobody will love you, if you don’t treasure yourself nobody will treasure you, if you don’t market yourself, nobody will market you, if you see somebody being better than you, you’ll continue to be a slave to that person.

“Let’s liberate ourselves from mental slavery, I’ve shown the way, if you’ll not follow, you’ll be left behind, posterity will judge all of us.” “We must value Ghana, we must market Ghana and we just don’t do it by words, we also do it by actions,” he counselled.  

He noted that “I said from the very beginning, I expect to see many of you in traditional wear unfortunately, you’re all still stuck in the past except a few. Once again I’m compelled to say this, that is how you provide market for your own produce.

“Even the Chinese who do contract work in Ghana, almost all the materials they use for the contract work come from China, you think it’s for nothing?” he quizzed, adding “that is how you grow.” He beseeched the lawmakers “please as leaders, let’s show the way and our people will follow...”

“We must change, you don’t have to always follow somebody’s ideas or his values or principles, hold your own that determines who you are…so please let’s change our ways…” he added.