Stop Attacking Lordina, Samira- POWA Warns Politicians

The Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement (POWA) has called for an immediate end to personal attacks, insults and gendered mockery directed at First Lady Lordina Mahama and former Second Lady Samira Bawumia.

POWA warned that such attacks go far beyond ordinary partisan exchanges and are entrenching a troubling pattern that undermines women’s collective dignity and political power.

In a press statement signed by Dr. Victoria Lakshmi Hamah, the Founder and President of POWA, the organisation said “women can belong to different political parties, hold different political views, and disagree strongly without becoming enemies.”

POWA said though the two women under attack are politically exposed, there is a difference between legitimate scrutiny and gendered abuse. “Our concern is not to shield either woman from legitimate public scrutiny. Women in political and public office must remain accountable for their words, actions, and policies. However, accountability is fundamentally different from humiliation, misogyny, and personal attacks,” the statement said.

The statement directly appealed to Lordina Mahama and Samira Bawumia to consider leading a broader conversation on women’s political solidarity beyond party lines.

“Lordina Mahama need not agree with Samira Bawumia, and vice versa. Solidarity does not require political uniformity. It requires recognising that advancing women’s collective development is bigger than any political party,” POWA said.

“Ghana needs more women at the table. It needs women who can disagree without destroying one another. It needs women who can compete politically while still cooperating on issues that affect the lives of millions of women and girls.”

The organisation called on Women’s Rights Organisations, women’s groups, Civil Society Organisations and “all right-thinking Ghanaians” to reject the normalisation of gendered insults and personal attacks on women in public life.

POWA urged women across Ghana to resist reproducing the divisions that have historically weakened women’s collective bargaining power, and called on men who believe in equality to reject gendered political attacks. It also asked political actors across the divide to demonstrate that political competition can coexist with respect for women’s dignity.

The statement said “women’s power is people’s power. Let us not allow partisan politics to pit women against one another when there is so much work to be done together.”

The statement said both Lordina Mahama and Samira Bawumia hold highly visible positions within Ghana’s political leadership and have platforms to advance the interests of women, girls and vulnerable communities.

“Those platforms should not become instruments of pitting women against one another. POWA therefore calls on Women’s Rights Organisations, Women’s groups, Civil Society Organisations, and all right-thinking Ghanaians to reject the normalisation of gendered insults and personal attacks on women in public life”, the statement added

POWA explained why the issue has consequences far beyond the two women at the centre of the political attacks: “when women are encouraged to expend their political energy fighting one another, attention can be diverted from the structural inequalities that continue to limit women’s participation and influence”

The organisation said the issue at stake require collective action especially when they are happening in an era where Ghanaian women continue to face challenges of inadequate political representation, economic inequality, violence against women and girls, unequal access to opportunities, unpaid care burdens and barriers to decision-making.

POWA’s intervention is not an isolated one. Dr. Victoria Hamah has long been a vocal advocate for women’s political participation in Ghana. In 2024, she publicly called on then-candidate John Mahama to commit to ensuring that at least 30 per cent of ministerial and high-level decision-making positions be reserved for women upon assuming office, arguing that “the liberation struggle of women can only be achieved when linked to the broader question of citizens’ rights.”

The two women at the centre of POWA’s statement embody both the promise and the pressure of women in Ghana’s political spotlight.

Lordina Mahama, who returned to the role of First Lady in January 2025 after previously serving from 2012 to 2017, has built a substantial legacy in maternal and child health through the Lordina Foundation, constructing modern health facilities in Bole, Nkoranza, Bodom and Asukawkaw, and receiving a traditional development queenmother title in recognition of her work.

Samira Bawumia served as Second Lady from 2017 until January 2025, and her Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) has undertaken extensive work in literacy, girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment across the country.

They also sit on opposite sides of Ghana’s biggest political divide. Lordina Mahama’s husband, President John Dramani Mahama, leads the National Democratic Congress (NDC), while Samira Bawumia’s husband, former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, if flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the next general elections in 2028.

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