Former Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, Sylvester Tetteh, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama for what he described as “empty promises” on gender empowerment, following Mahama’s recent comment that Ghana will soon have a female president.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, Mr Tetteh said it was ironic for Mr Mahama to predict the election of a female president when, currently under his administration, he failed to meet his pledge of appointing more women to key positions in government.
“You go to China to make yourself a hero of women empowerment, yet when you had the power to make change, you could not. What you had control over, you failed to deliver, but now you are promising what you do not have control over,” Mr Tetteh said.
President Mahama, addressing the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Beijing, expressed confidence that Ghana would soon elect its first female leader. He pointed to the election of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Vice President in 2024 and the growing representation of women in the judiciary and security services as signs of progress.
“I am confident that in the very near future, our women will break the glass ceiling and there will be a woman president in the Republic of Ghana,” Mr Mahama said.
But Mr Tetteh argued that Mahama’s record on women’s inclusion does not support his new optimism. He recalled that Mahama once promised to allocate 30 percent of cabinet positions to women but never achieved that goal.
“President Mahama’s government has only about 23 percent women appointees. Even under Former President Akufo-Addo, the figure was about 26 percent. So if you could not meet your own target, how do you now claim to foresee a female president?” Mr Tetteh questioned.
Source: metrotvonline.com
