‘After watching the men, I think Ghana needs a female president” – Charlotte Osei

Former Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, is certain a female president will do better for Ghanaians.

Speaking on Joy FM in honour of International Women’s Day which was marked across the globe on Sunday, the private legal practitioner said, “after watching the men, I think Ghana needs a female president.”

But, a law professor at the University of Ghana, Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu thought while the idea of a female president was nice,  unfortunately, Ghana was not ready for one.

“As for [a] female president, yes. It will be nice [but] I don’t think Ghana is ready,” she stressed.

The closest a female fought for the seat of government was in 2016 when the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, contested the presidential polls on the ticket of the National Democratic Party (NDP). Her ambitions drew a comparison to others in developed democracies with the UK’s Telegraph newspaper describing her as ‘The Hillary Clinton of Africa’

Madam Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and Samia Yaba Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana’s first president, are the other women who have exhibited the desire for a presidential bid.

There were rumours that President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008 considered naming Alima Mahama as running mate, but was reportedly prevailed upon by party functionaries to abandon the idea.

In developed democracies, it is not so much better.

In the UK, there have been only two female prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and most recently, Theresa May.

In the US, which prides itself as the epitome of democracy, the closest it came to getting a female leader was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton lost to President Donald Trump in the general elections.

Massachusetts Senator, Elizabeth Warren, just dropped out of the Democratic primaries, killing the chance of a female US President in 2021.