Nana Yaa Asantewaa Foundation holds lecturee to encourages women to contribute to dev’t

The Nana Yaa Asantewaa Foundation has organised a lecture on the theme: “Women Challenging the Heights of Governance and leadership: The Icon of Nana Yaa Asantewaa.”

The lecture, aimed at inspiring young women to aspire to greater heights, was organised as part of activities to immortalise the name of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, a Queenmother of Ejisu who led the Ashanti warriors against the British army in a war in 1900.

The lecture, which was attended by students from a number of senior high schools drawn from the region, was organised by the foundation, in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural and African Studies of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Ejisu Traditional Council, under the auspices of the Manhyia Palace.

Rationale

Speaking at the lecture, the President of the Foundation, Mr Kwame Omane Kwarteng, stated that, the foundation wanted to build on the achievements of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, to groom more women to become influential in society and also contribute to the development of the nation.

He said the objective of the foundation was to educate Ghanaians, particularly the youth, on the country’s rich culture through symposia, festivals and educational tours.

He said the foundation had lined up a number of activities for the maiden Yaa Asantewaa Festival which would be climaxed in August this year with a grand durbar.

Women in energy sector

Speaking on women’s role in the energy sector, the CEO of Cirrus Oil Services Limited, Mrs Ivy Apea Owusu, said even though there were a number of opportunities for women in that industry, women’s representation in that field was woefully inadequate.

She said aside the engineering aspect, women could be part of the Human Resource Department of the Health and Safety Environment where women could be employed to increase their representation.

For her part, the Director of Vodafone Business and Wholesale, Ms Angela Mensah-Poku, also encouraged young girls not to look down on their small beginning but to keep the faith and pursue their dreams.

A former Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Art of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Mrs Vesta Adu Gyamfi, called for the institution of the Yaa Asantewaa Festival as an annual event to boost tourism in the country.

Chairman

The Chairman of the foundation, Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, reiterated the call on political parties to give meaning to their women’s representation in Parliament by adopting the proportional representation method.

Through proportional representation, he said, political parties would not file candidates at the various constituencies but depending on the percentages galvanised at the constituencies, the party would equitably share the slots among both men and women.