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Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Dr. Prince Hamid Armah, has stated that attempts by a group of persons to undermine the cultural sensibilities of any ethnic group in the country through published materials should not be tolerated.
He described as unfortunate the political twist being giving to the matter and the insinuations that there is a deliberate attempt to institute tribal bigotry in the country.
He noted that as a country Ghana has ethnic groups with diverse cultural backgrounds who have lived together in peace and tranquillity for so long and have indeed inter-married.
“So any attempt by a group of persons to publish materials that seek to undermine or violate the cultural sensibility of our people should be condemned in no uncertain terms.”
“I, therefore, join hands with others who have condemned this material and I add that it should not be tolerated.”
Dr. Armah stated these in an interview in Parliament in response to the ongoing fracas over two publications by Badu Nkansah whose contents denigrate the Ewe tribe.
He disclosed that he will champion legislation that would empower the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) of Ghana to sanction erring publishers.
According to him, giving NaCCA more teeth to bite will halt the perennial scandals where publishers are condemned for bringing out unwholesome contents.
He stated that together with colleagues on the Education Committee, he will pursue the agenda to give the institution punitive powers on publishers.
Dr. Armah noted the NaCCA, by law, deals with publications of books and indicated that the institution is mandated to approve these materials and instruction resources including textbooks and e-books for schools.
The institution, he said, has a guideline for publishers to submit materials they intend to publish for review but stressed it cannot stop them from printing and selling books.
According to him, NaCCA rigorously and meticulously assesses submitted materials and then makes recommendations to the Ministry of Education and stressed that the controversial books may not have gone through the processes.
He indicated that revision of the books before publication is very important especially when these are materials intended for children and therefore the content must meet certain benchmarks.
He, however, argued that the job of NaCCA is more of advisory because it has no power to sanction or surcharge publishers who commit publication offences.
“NaCCA does not have the power to enforce its recommendations and cannot also go round arresting publishers for publications that do not meet the standard,” he added.
The MP asserted that the publishers are very powerful and could bully NaCCA, especially where the mandate of the institution does not go beyond advisory and therefore powerless to enforce the law in case of regulatory violations.
He cited the McMillan saga as an example when the publishers took on the Kufuor government for the printing of some textbooks for Ghanaian schools by a foreign entity.
The solution, he said, is for Parliament to pass a Legislative Instrument (L.I.) to enhance the capacity and authority of NaCCA to be able to enforce the laws and sanction publishers for violation in terms of published materials.
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Frontpageghana.com/Ghana
