Use of national anthem on mobile phones, Parliament discusses

Page 14, Date Nov 3, 2007
Story: Kweku Tsen & Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE use of the national anthem as mobile phone call-in tune by a number of Ghanaians on Wednesday caught the attention of Members of Parliament (MPs) following a statement made on the subject by the MP for Amenfi East, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo.
While some of the MPs who contributed to the statement said that the practice was an abuse of the national anthem, others were of the opinion that those indulging in the act had been motivated by their pride as Ghanaians and love for the country.
Mr Aidoo in the statement intimated that the national anthem, together with the National Flag and Coat-of-Arms, constituted very important symbols of the nation.
“When played or sung in schools and colleges, at international sporting events and ceremonial occasions, the National Anthem fires in pupils, soldiers, public and civil servants, the spirit of patriotism and the desire to die for mother Ghana.”
He said, however, that while civic responsibility demanded that Ghanaian citizens flew high the national flag and sang the national anthem wherever they may be, courtesy required that “we do so with some amount of discretion”.
“Mr Speaker, when the National Anthem is being played these days, there are many a Ghanaian who never pay any attention, or know the significance or care a hoot. It is sad to observe that students at school functions or public gatherings sit, without any excuse whatsoever, when the anthem is being played,” he added.
He, therefore, called on those who had made the national anthem their phone-in tune to remove it as a matter of civic responsibility, adding that the upholding of respect towards the anthem must be inculcated in pupils and students right in schools to make it become part and parcel of their lives.
Contributing to the statement, the MP for Jomoro, Mr Lee Ocran, said during the early days of independence, it was an offence for anyone to abuse the national anthem and called for that law to be enforced.
He accused some of his colleagues of using the national anthem as their mobile phone tunes.
The Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nkawkaw, Okerchire Adusa, noted that the Coat-of-Arms, National Flag and the national anthem held the people of the country together and efforts should be made to accord them the necessary respect.
However, three MPs, Mr Eric Opoku (Asunafo South), Alhaji Abukari Sumani (Tamale North) and Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh (Wa West), argued that there was nothing wrong with the use of the national anthem as phone-in tune.
They argued that the lyrics of the national anthem were written as prayer and it would be wrong for anybody to ban any Ghanaian from praying.
Mr Sumani in particular mentioned that he had the national anthem on one of his mobile phones, adding that the tune gave him inspiration whenever it was played.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwamena Bartels, yesterday told Parliament that the ministry would seek for a minimum amount of $120,000 in the next year’s supplementary budget for the provision of accommodation for all the security agencies.
He was answering a question posed by the MP for Ketu South, Mr Albert Kwasi Zigah, who wanted to know when the accommodation facilities at the Aflao Police Station would be upgraded.
Mr Bartels stated that efforts were being made to source the requisite resources, both locally and internationally, to handle the accommodation problem of the security agencies, including the police, adding that the Aflao Police Station would not be left out.
He added that the security services had also been asked to submit the list of all uncompleted projects, saying that a committee had been set up to assess the total budgetary implications for the completion of the projects to enable the ministry to source funds to complete them.