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Former Supreme Court Judge, Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe has advised the general public to adopt as the local language for both official and non-official purposes instead of English which happens to be the colonial language.
Justice Crabbe speaking on TV3 recently explained that “Ghanaians should not be proud because they can speak English, but rather be proud of being able to project and preserve our local languages for our present and future generations to come.”
He elaborated that, the act should begin from our parliament where laws are made; members should begin to use the local dialect to debate in the House. They should agree to use one local language, by so doing, before a person will contest for a parliamentary seat he/she should be able to speak the very language accepted by the House.
In Tanzania for instance, their parliamentarians speak Swahili on the floor of parliament, but here in Ghana, parliamentarians have made English the formal language to use in the House, therefore compelling every member to speak the colonial language. This means that if a person is not able to speak English, he or she cannot contribute to discussions and debates on the floor parliament.
The former Supreme Court Judge suggested that the Ghana Education Service (GES) should enforce all schools in the country, both public and private to teach the pupils with the local languages irrespective of where they find themselves.
According to him, the nation must enact a law to compel officials from the highest office of the land which is the Presidency to the lowest, to use local dialect for formal engagements.
But, the Youth Chief of Ahwerease – Darmang near Nsawam in the Eastern Region,Sarkin Samari, Mohammed Suleman, disagreed with Justice crabbe.Mr Suleman Argued that Ghanaians have gone too far with what Justice Crabbe described as colonial language and does not think there will be any turning back. He said, abandoning the colonial or English Language and adopting the local languages for official engagements will mean going back to begin from the scratch and possibly amending the constitution of the republic of Ghana.
He advised that parents should rather be encouraged to speak the local languages to their children regularly so as to ensure they don’t forget their roots. He indicated that there are instances where parents who have lived abroad for a long time have been able to teach their children the local languages and they are able to speak fluently, therefore there is the need to encourage the parents to rather up their game.
By:Diana Nartey
