Four Twi words from Finance Minister Ato Forson turned Thursday's Budget reading into a slogan fight, with #AbanPapaAba trending overnight and Minority MPs answering in red.
Forson closed the debt section of the 2027 Budget in Parliament on Thursday evening, November 12, with a cheer: "Mr. Speaker, Aban Papa Aba!" In Twi, it means a good government has come. The line sits in the published full text, right after his promise that Ghana will not default again "on the watch of President John Dramani Mahama".
He had numbers to back the boast. Just before it, he listed the ratings news since May: a Fitch upgrade, an S&P affirmation and a Moody's upgrade in October.
Social media picked it up fast. By that evening #AbanPapaAba was in Ghana's top ten trends on X beside #Budget2027 and Dr Ato Forson, and it was still there at dawn, spelled both ways – #AbanPapaAba and #AbanpapaAba – all night long.
The Minority came with its own slogans, already printed. Our photos from the chamber show Minority MPs holding up red placards reading "Scam Government", "Cocaine Budget", "Paper Economy" and "Ato managing economy for his ambition as the people suffer!" in the In pictures story.
Their Twi counter-chant, Frakadam Aban, translates roughly as scam government – the label opposition supporters have been pressing on the Mahama administration all year. Outside the chamber, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin called it a "sloganeering" government and said it still owes people the jobs it promised.
The cocaine placards refer to a run of seizures linked to Ghana, including the 2.6 tonnes found in coconuts shipped from Tema to Spain, which came to light this week.
The debate on the GH¢389.2 billion budget is still to come, so expect to hear both chants again.
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