First female running mate of Fourth Republic dies

Professor Naa Afaley Sackeyfio, one of Ghana’s pioneering female politicians of the Fourth Republic, has passed away.

Family sources confirmed that she died over the weekend, although further details about the circumstances of her death have not yet been made public.

Despite her distinguished academic background, Professor Sackeyfio had a brief but historic involvement in national politics when she became a running mate of the National Independence Party (NIP) during Ghana’s return to constitutional rule in 1992. The NIP was one of five political parties that contested the presidential election that year.

Profile

Professor Sackeyfio, a Professor of English Language, spent the greater part of her academic career at the University of Cape Coast, where she made significant contributions to teaching and scholarship.

She was also an accomplished author and poet whose works contributed meaningfully to Ghana’s literary landscape. Her published titles include Tales My Mother Used to Tell, Culture Clothed in Tales and Comprehension Plus.

Her entry into politics came in 1992, when she was selected as the running mate to the NIP’s presidential candidate, Dr Kwabena Darko. The party placed fourth in the presidential race, and a year later became defunct, effectively ending her direct participation in partisan politics.

Professor Sackeyfio subsequently returned to academic life but continued to advocate increased participation of women in politics, particularly at the highest levels of leadership.

History

Professor Sackeyfio remains the second woman in Ghana’s political history to have contested as a running mate during the country’s democratic era.

The first was Lieutenant Colonel Christine Kwabea Debrah, who made history in 1979 when she was chosen as running mate to independent presidential candidate Robert Patrick Baffour during elections that ushered in the Third Republic.

A professional nurse and former head of the Nursing Department at the 37 Military Hospital, Lt Col Debrah later exited active politics but remained in public service. She broke significant barriers in both the military and political spheres.

Following her nursing career, she became the first Executive Chairperson of the Environmental Protection Agency, serving from 1985 to 1990. She later retired from public service but remained a vocal advocate for women’s empowerment in leadership and politics until her death in 2014.