Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, and Head of the Youth Bridge Research Institute, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has taken Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to the cleaners over his ‘Papa no’ comment in parliament.

The expression, ‘Papa no’ started trending on social media following an unfortunate exchange between actress Tracey Boakye and musician Mzbel.

It subsequently popped up in Parliament during a debate between the minority and the majority over the Agyapa Royalties Limited agreement.

During the proceedings, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah described former Deputy Energy Minister and MP for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor as ‘papa no’.

“Mr Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues on the other side. I want to encourage my good friend who just spoke [referring to John Jinapor]. In my hometown, we will say, ‘papa no’. ‘Papa no’, I want to encourage ‘papa no’ to take some time and follow the structure of this conversation and support," Oppong Nkrumah said.

However, in a post on social media in reaction to the Information Minister’s comment, Prof Gyampo wrote: “It is needless to spark needless controversy by using bogus social media lexicon in a parliament that has clear lexicon and appropriate formal register of lingua franca. If the way parliamentarians dress, is prescribed, the way they express themselves on the formal floor, cannot be unprescribed."