President John Mahama has intimated the possibility of Ghana having its first female president as he spoke about Ghana’s progress towards gender equality.
“I am confident that, in the very near future, our women will break the glass ceiling and that a woman will be president of the Republic of Ghana,” he said on Monday while speaking at the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, China.
Among the other things, President Mahama said Ghana has taken steps to integrate gender perspectives into national development policies, citing improvements in institutions such as the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), the Domestic Violence Secretariat, and the Specialised Domestic Violence Courts.
“As the African Union Champion for Gender and Women’s Empowerment, I am proud to say that Ghana remains steadfast in its pursuit of equality for all,” he said.
Ghana’s Vice President, Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, is currently the first woman to occupy that position.
Internally, the President’s party – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – has not put forth a candidate for the next election in 2028, but a number of names have been rumored to potentially contest as flagbearer for the next election. Among them includes Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Johnson Aseidu Nketia, the national chairman of the NDC, and Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu
Opoku-Agyemang’s name hasn’t come up yet.