While the media has been an expedient medium for politicians to make their messages known to the electorates and the general public, abuse on human rights has been on the rise on this same platform.
Participation and involvement of women in Ghanaian politics has not yielded much attention and recognition perhaps due to stigmatisation or cultural barriers. However, even for those who strive to break the existing and prevailing barriers, they tend to face more challenging problems along the way.
Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is one of those brave and strong women who are charting a promising future for Ghanaian women in the political space. With her charisma, maturity, and emotional intelligence, she is able to adapt professionally to the masculinity that comes with the current trends in politics.
An instance is when the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, well-known as Chairman Wontumi said on live radio (Wontumi radio) that Prof. Jane is “ugly” and “witch”, prior to the 2020 general elections.
Upon hearing this, Prof. Jane did not retaliate but rather pushed for change against men who abuse women verbally or in general terms all in the name of politics. Wontumi’s act was highly condemned by several women activists, and in indeed, the battle was won in favour of women in the Ghanaian political landscape because some men also stood strongly against such act.
National Democratic Congress’ decision to make Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang a running mate paved way for their major victory in the parliamentary elections in Ghana’s Central Region.
In Parliament this year, the current leader of the majority caucus, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, also attacked the age and the personality of Prof. Jane, raising critical questions about the future of women involvement in Ghanian politics.
He said: “Even if you look at his choice of running mate, he could not get somebody that one could say they are planning for the future. The person is over 70 years; we have no succession plan. From day one, their government will be in crisis. They went to pick the very old woman who could not perform at the Education Ministry.”