The Bureau of Ghana Languages (BGL) has for the past decade, not published a single book due to budgetary constraints. The Bureau is mandated to publish at least one novel or language guide every year in any of the 11 local Ghanaian languages, but has not been able to do so. The languages include Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, Dagaare, Dangbe, Ewe and Ga. The rest are Gonja, Kasem, Mfante, and Nzema. Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in Accra, the acting assistant Director of the Bureau, Peter Essien, said the inability of the organization to perform was having serious implications on the country’s culture and languages, since students pursuing courses in the local languages could not get the right text book to use. The bureau, he said had also not been able to reprint some of its best seller novels such as Okrabiri, Afrakoma, Obeede, Fia Tsatsala, Ku Di Fo Nanawu for the past decade, thus providing room for their piracy. Mr. Essien attributed the challenges facing the bureau to inadequate budgetary allocation which he said made it very difficult for the organization to carry out its constitutional mandate. He said the last time, the bureau published a book was in 20001, when it published a Twi novel titled Obreguo. Mr. Essien said that the bureau had a critical role to play in the development of the country, through the publication of local literature in the local languages. He regretted that successive government paid little attention to the bureau. He said of the GH¢200,000 required by the bureau annually to operate effectively, only GH¢700 was allocated to its quarterly for administrative purposes, and wondered how the bureau could function with such a meager amount. Among other challenges facing the bureau, Mr. Essien said the organization was understaffed, noting that while it needed additional in its Accra and Temale offices, there were only 431. ‘‘Some of the languages offices, especially in Tamale, lack officials like translators,’’ he added. Mr. Essien said at present, the Accra office had only one vehicle, and as a result had to hire vehicles for official duties whenever that vehicle broke down. He appealed to the government to relocate the bureau from the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture to the Ministry of Education, alleging that the plight of the BGL continued to worsen when it was moved from Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture. He said the relocation of the bureau to the Ministry of Education, would enable it to access the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETF) to run its programmes. Asked what was keeping the bureau going, he said it was translation, and added that the bureau had been contracted by the Supreme Court to translate some of the court terminologies into the 11 local languages. Mr. Essien said the BGL had already translated the Children’s Act, the Domestic Violent Act, and the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy 1 and 2 as well as the State of the Nation Address 2004/2005 into the 11 local languages the bureau is dealing with. Outlining other strategies for the bureau to thrive, he said the bureau was collaborating with some of the Twi Radio Stations to build the capacity of the staff on the use of the Twi languages. The BGL, formally known as the Vernacular Literature Board was established in 1951 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and charged with the responsibility of producing reading materials for schools and the general public. Source: The Ghanaian Times