The Bureau of Ghana Languages has dismissed calls to adopt an indigenous language as the nation’s official language, warning that elevating one local dialect above others would create inequality.
Addressing Parliament’s Committee on Chieftaincy, Culture and Religious Affairs, the Bureau’s Executive Secretary, Ebenezer Ahiator, argued that English must remain the country’s sole common language to ensure unity and protect linguistic diversity.
“You may have a predominant indigenous language, but that doesn’t mean you are supposed to learn how to speak all the indigenous languages. No. Because English is there for all of us. English is supposed to be spoken by everybody. But your language is your language,” he said.
Mr Ahiator emphasised that while citizens should be encouraged to learn additional local dialects, safeguarding all native languages from extinction remains the priority.
“We’ve already adopted English, so we have a common language we all communicate in. We don’t want to kill any other language and we don’t want to create the impression that some languages are less important than others,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
