Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings
History abounds with people from the same home or family making massive contributions in diverse spheres of human endeavours to the development of their nations.
The Kennedys in the United States of America will never be forgotten by their compatriots in the USA for their contributions towards the social and political development of that country. The David Trump family, also in the USA, the Wright Brothers and others all over the world have contributed to the development of mankind.
Here in Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor and his brother Kwame Addo Kufuor, the late President Professor Evans Atta Mills and his brother Dr Cadman Mills, served this nation in the best of their abilities and are appreciated by those who directly and individually benefited from their contributions towards this country’s development.
Indeed, there are so many others in this country and outside whose contributions towards their society cannot be forgotten, and they came from the same parentage or home.
What has gone unnoticed is the story of some powerful women in Ghana politics who all hail from the same community (Ejuratia-Mpobi) in the Afigya Kwabre District of Ashanti region.
They are Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former First Lady and leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, Ghana’s first female Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Madam Akua Donkor, Ghana’s first female to form a political party which is Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and Madam Juliet Takyiwaa, a former Member of Parliament of Kwabre constituency.
However, among the four, only three had declared their dreams of becoming president of the Republic of Ghana in the not too distant future.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings exited the ruling NDC to pursue her desire to enter the record books as the first female president in the December, 2012 elections.
She was the first lady of Ghana during the long rule of her husband, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings between 1981-2000 and is reputed to be the first woman who significantly changed the roles of First Ladies in Ghana.
Mrs Rawlings is the President of 31st December Women’s Movement and succeeded in empowering many women and making them alive to their rights and political responsibilities.
Her desire is to see the emancipation of women at every level of development to enable them contribute and benefit from the socio-economic and political progress of the country.
To her, women have a vital role to play in promoting peace in the family, the country and the world at large and therefore should be acknowledged as such. To be able to do this, women must be empowered politically to adequately equip them for the challenges of critically identifying and assessing solutions for the betterment of society.
Madam Akua Donkor, a farmer and philanthropist, also burst onto the nation’s political scene last year as the presidential candidate of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).
Though not formally educated, she garnered the attention of most voters who admired her for the courage to express interest in the highest office of the land.
Madam Donkor’s involvement in politics and governance dates back to 2004 when she won elections to become the assembly member for the Ejuratia Electoral area in the Afigya Kwabre District.
With her entry into the assembly, she took keen interest in the development of the three communities in the electoral area – Hemang, Ejuratia and Abrade.
In the 2008 elections, she stood as an independent parliamentary candidate for the Kwabre West Constituency but lost to the late Emmanuel Owusu Ansah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Interestingly, the two female presidential aspirants were both disqualified by the Electoral Commission for what the EC claims were improperly endorsed forms, bringing any hope of a female president in Ghana from Ejuratia-Mpobi to an abrupt end in the last general election.
Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu
Despite being the most recently vilified female politician, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu is not perturbed in climbing the ladder to achieve her utmost desire.
She told the host of the Personality Profile segment of Joy FM’s Drive Time, Bola Ray in 2011 that, her years of experience in politics could enable her achieve her greatest ambition of becoming president or the second in command.
She also speaks of how her desire to serve her country makes her do what she does. “I’ve always been driven; I’ve always had the desire to do a lot for my country, especially, for the women of my country – to be a role model, you know, to teach the way, to show women that they can achieve the almost impossible,” she said.
And it appears she draws that desire from her mom, who is from this same community in the Ashanti, who had the urge to strive to the top. “I come from that background where the women strive for success; where the women are actually the hub of the family. And I wanted to transcend family and go into the workforce and it happened for me.”
Last but not the least is Madam Juliet Takyiwaa who is the first female Member of Parliament of Kwabre Constituency between 1992-1996.
When she was visited at her residence in the community last week to ascertain from her why women in politics from her community were more effective than men, she said, “Have you ever seen a nation send an all-women army into battle against women? You will not because they will go to war and come home a week later knowing how to get all the work done without guns, bullets and bombs. Women politicians are no different. They are good.”
Conclusively, the greatest litmus test of the amount of democracy in a particular country is the gender parity. Female political leadership seems to be the global norm and the in-vogue game or trend.
Such good people leave legacies not only for the general society, but for members of their generations yet unborn as long as they carry the family name.
The writer is a native of the community and a journalist