Women’s leadership is always at the forefront of unfolding discussions on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Women leaders of today are tenacious and diverse. They mobilise for the global climate movement, and push for social protections, among other issues.
Equality is still far off, and progress on women’s participation in decision-making is slow.
Many still believe men make better leaders than women whiles institutions are set up to favour and propel the leadership of men, the funding for women’s campaigns and initiatives remains pitifully low.
At the current rate of progress, it will take years to reach gender equality in the highest positions of power.
Ghana has a rich history of remarkable women whose actions have positively shaped the country both locally and on the international stage.
The female political leaders are making a tremendous contribution to gender diversity, women, and youth empowerment in Ghana.
These individuals serve as role models to the youth.
Pulse.com.gh lists inspiring female politicians young women should look up to.
- Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings
She was the First Lady of Ghana from June 4, 1979, to September 24, 1979, and from December 31, 1981, to January 7, 2001.
She married the late President Jerry John Rawlings. In 2016, Konadu became the first woman to run for President.
She would have become the first female president of Ghana if she had won with her newly formed party in 2016.
She won 0.16% of the votes cast. She submitted her nomination forms to lead her party, the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2020 general elections.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’ formed a non-governmental organization that aspires to achieve these objectives through the effective mobilization of women.
The NGO called 31 December Women’s Movement desires to see the emancipation of women at every level of development to enable them to contribute and benefit from the socio-economic and political progress of the country.
She believed women’s vital role in promoting peace in the family, the country, and the world at large must be acknowledged.
- Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang
Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is a politician and educationalist who served as Minister for Education in Ghana.
She was named the running mate to the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama in the 2020 general elections.
Opoku-Agyemang is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, University Teachers Association of Ghana, English Studies Association, African Studies Association, United States, African Literature Association, United States and International Fulbright Scholars Association, Commonwealth of Learning, among others.
She has been honored with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies and Winston-Salem University. She also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
She also received the Officer of the Order of the Volta award for Academic Distinction and the Ghana Women of Excellence Award in the Education category.
Opoku-Agyemang has been acknowledged for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA.
- Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong
Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong is a legal practitioner and a former Attorney General of Ghana and a Minister for Justice.
She served as the Attorney General in 2013 and is the second woman to hold the office after Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu.
She was appointed to serve on the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce from July 1, 2018, for a three-year term.
She is an Honorary Council Member of the Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA).
Marietta has been a practicing lawyer for the past twenty years when she started her practice at Fugar and Co. law firm.
She was a member of the Ghana @50 Commission of Enquiry and also a board member of the Volta River Authority (VRA) appointed by the late President John Atta-Mills in 2009.
- Dr. Zanetor Agyemang Rawlings
She is a Ghanaian medical doctor and a Member of Parliament for the Klottey-Korley constituency.
She has participated in various foundations and initiatives championing women’s and children’s rights and improving sanitation in Ghana.
In March 2014, Dr. Rawlings was a special guest at the exceptional Meeting of African Women in the framework of the crans-Montana Forum on Africa and the South-South Cooperation in Dakhla, which was aimed at promoting a more humane and impartial world.
In June 2015, she led a team to donate relief items to victims of the Goil oil fire and flood disaster which took the lives of about 150 Ghanaians.
- Abena Osei Asare, MP for Atiwa East
She is the Member of Parliament for Atiwa East. Prior to entering parliament, she worked as the assistant director for the New York University of Ghana between the period of 2004 and 2007.
She currently serves as a board member in parliament and also runs an NGO, the Waterbrooke Foundation which supports brilliant but needy students with their education.
Gloria Akuffo is a lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Ghana and Minister for Justice, from 2017 to 2021.
She is a former Deputy Attorney General and Aviation Minister.
She was a founding partner in a private legal firm, Owusu-Yeboah, Akuffo & Associates, in Accra.
She is Head of Litigation at Blay and Associates.
From 2001 to 2005 Akuffo was Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General, the first woman to hold these positions. From 2005 to 2006 Akuffo was Deputy Minister for the Greater Accra Region.
Akuffo served as the first Minister of Aviation from 2006 till July 2008. She was appointed Ambassador to Ireland in July 2008.
She was a key member of the legal team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2012 election petition.
She is currently the Minister of Foreign affairs and regional integration. She was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as Minister of Foreign Affairs on January 10, 2017.
She was a Member of Parliament for Anyaa-Sowutuom from 2013 to 2021 and had served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Minister of State at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing under John Kufuor.
She is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In the last NPP administration under President John Agyekum Kufuor, Ayorkor Botchwey served as Deputy Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Information, as well as the Trade and Industry ministries.
Before entering into frontline politics, Shirley ran a Marketing and Communications Company where she was a consultant for the Ministry of Tourism. She was also the managing director of Dynacom Limited.
- Joycelyn Tetteh, North Dayi MP
She is a Member of Parliament for North Dayi in the Volta Region.
She is an anti-human trafficking ambassador for Ghana by the international organization on migration and, an ambassador at the regional launch of the standard operating procedures to combat human trafficking.
She has plans of sensitizing people about human trafficking.
- Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare, MP for Techiman North
She is a lawyer and politician who served as Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts.
She was appointed by former President John Mahama in 2013 when he formed his first substantive government.
She is a member of the NDC and a member of the 8th Parliament representing the Techiman North constituency.
- Francisca Oteng Mensah, MP for Kwabre East
She happens to be the youngest parliamentarian under Ghana’s Fourth Republic, and the Member of Parliament for Kwabre East constituency in the Ashanti Region.
In December 2017, she was appointed as the chairperson of the National Youth Authority.
Also, she was part of the management of the national youth authority to donate PPEs to the Ministry of Health to combat the deadly coronavirus.
