My choice is belief in Ghanaian women — Prof. Opoku-Agyemang

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang to the electorate as its running mate for the December 7 presidential election at a well attended forum in Accra last night.

Accepting the challenge to partner former President John Dramani Mahama for the upcoming December 7 elections, she pledged to repay the abiding confidence reposed in her “with loyalty, understanding and a devotion to duty.”

Speaking before a packed auditorium of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, who was the running mate of former President Mahama in the 2016 elections, said: “I see your choice as an affirmation of your belief in the capabilities of the Ghanaian woman.”

The atmosphere was filled with excitement when Prof. Opoku-Agyemang arrived in the auditorium in a golden green traditional kente outfit. She was almost immediately followed by former President Mahama, accompanied by his wife, Lordina Mahama, who acknowledged cheers from party members and supporters at the auditorium.

The event took on an all-female theme as Shamima Moslem hosted the proceedings and a female pastor delivered the opening prayer.

High achievements

The former Minister of Education said her output, going forward, would continue to demonstrate what the world knew already that women were also capable of high achievements; “that we do so with that reservoir of strength, determination and mental acuity that only those who are noble and far-sighted can comprehend and contend with”.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the election ahead was not about making history, returning a former president back to power, or producing the first woman vice-president, though they were historical and exciting.

“The purpose is the opportunity to hold our country together, again; to heal Ghana; it is about the chance to pull Ghana from the precipice of destruction, of normalising corruption, of incomprehensible greed, from deep despair,” she said, stressing “the election ahead is about hard work and abiding sacrifice. It is to embrace everyone in building a Ghana that functions, again”.

She said winning the 2024 elections was to work towards a Ghana where citizens had confidence and hope and were determined to regain their independence of thought and of agenda.

“We must work towards a Ghana that at the very least, can feed itself; where the law truly works; where there is shared prosperity; where democracy has not become a fluke; where people are not abused and where the basic necessities of life are not denied the majority or eventually, anyone,” she stated. 

Issues of state

The professor of English Language referenced complaints and stories across the political divide, social and professional groupings and among the youth concerning state capture, where the “government had chosen to use its power not in the broader interest of all Ghanaians, but to favour a small clique.”

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said she had agreed with the flag bearer of the NDC that whoever had participated in the plunder of the state must be held accountable, a position she described as a promise, and not a threat, and that it was premised on the wishes of the citizens across the various political and social divides, and hinged on the principle of accountability.

“John and I have agreed, that whoever has participated in the plunder of the state must be held accountable,” she said. She said the promotion of ethnocentric elitism masquerading as intellectualism; nepotism cloaked as know-how; weakness strutting as courage, and crony capitalism masked as development in freedom, as well as shameless hypocrisy acting as objectivity never served a country determined to make progress at any level. 
Rather, she said, the most significant achievement of those