At least 40 Ghanaian languages are on the brink of extinction, the Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA), Ziblim Alhassan Betintiche, has revealed, warning that urgent and deliberate steps are needed to safeguard the country’s linguistic heritage.
Speaking at the authority’s maiden International Mother Language Day commemoration in Accra on the theme “Languages Preserved on Page”, Mr Betintiche emphasised that language is more than a tool for communication—it is the foundation of identity, culture, and collective memory.
“Language is the vessel of our memory and the architecture of our worldview. When a language disappears, an entire system of knowledge, oral history, proverbs, and indigenous wisdom vanishes with it,” he said.
He noted that 70 African languages, including the Boro language in Ghana, have already become extinct. The Dompo language, once spoken by a hunter-gatherer group in Bono East, is now confirmed extinct, with former speakers largely shifting to Akan. Several other Ghanaian languages are critically endangered, including Nawuri in Northern Ghana, Tuwuli (Bowiri) in the Oti Region, Chala (Tshala) in eastern Ghana, and certain dialects of Anufo (Chakosi) in the north.
The decline, Mr. Betintiche explained, is fueled by dominant languages and younger generations increasingly abandoning their mother tongues.
The International Mother Language Day event, held under UNESCO’s global observance, brought together stakeholders from the education, culture, and heritage sectors, including academics, students, libraries, and creative arts institutions. The programme featured a panel discussion on archiving and transmitting Ghanaian languages, as well as a showcase of Professor Lade Wosornu’s translated poems, highlighting translation as a tool for preservation.
Mr Betintiche described libraries as “living archives of culture” and pledged that GhLA would expand the availability of Ghanaian language materials, intensify translation initiatives, and partner with traditional councils and creative arts groups to promote community-based reading and storytelling festivals.
He added that the authority would collaborate with the Bureau of Ghana Languages and the Ghana Institute of Languages to document endangered languages and stimulate public dialogue in indigenous tongues. “When we preserve languages on pages, we secure identity against erosion and ensure that modernisation does not become homogenisation,” he said.
The government reaffirmed its commitment to mother tongue-based education. Dr Clement Abas Apaak, Deputy Minister of Education and MP for Builsa South, said Ghanaian languages would remain the primary medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Primary Three, with English and French taught as subjects. Core mathematics and science materials are being translated into selected Ghanaian languages to improve learning outcomes.
Dr Apaak urged communities, academics, and policymakers to invest in developing and standardising local languages, describing such efforts as a lasting national legacy, and encouraged young political aspirants to learn multiple Ghanaian languages to build trust and connect with citizens.
On a global scale, UNESCO Representative Edmond Moukala N’Gouemo warned that a language disappears every two weeks, stressing the importance of books—both print and digital—as the most resilient safeguard against cultural amnesia. He encouraged translating global classics into Ghanaian languages and digitising local languages to ensure their relevance in the 21st century.
Reflecting on Ghana’s colonial past, Gideon Aryeequaye, Acting Executive Secretary of the Creative Arts Agency, noted that punitive measures against students speaking vernacular languages created generational stigma, and called for a cultural reset that restores pride in mother tongues through literature, performance, and creative expression.
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