GHANA: Women Groups Endorse Mahama’s Choice
Former President John Mahama and the Presidential Candidate for National Democratic Congress has settled on former Education Minister, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as his running mate for the 2020 elections.
The Council of Elders and Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) approved the choice of the candidate . She prevailed after stiff competition from other equally qualified candidates.
Women groups and activist have welcomed the decision and praised Mahama for the choice. Speaking to Starr Radio UK shortly after the announcement, Ms Mary Sarpong, a well known Gender activist said ” “I am very proud of my country Ghana, this is long overdue and I believe this is a historic moment and I am very excited about the announcement.”
If the NDC emerges victorious in the polls, she will be the first female Vice President of Ghana.
PROFILE OF THE RUNNING MATE
Prof. Opoku-Agyeman is a veteran educationist and became the first female Vice Chancellor of a public university of Ghana when she was appointed to head University of Cape Coast (UCC) in 2008.
Before then, she served at various levels of the university’s hierarchy.
When Mahama won the 2012 elections, Prof. Opoku-Agyeman was appointed to head the Ministry of Education and she held the position until the party lost power in 2016.
She has also served as Ghana’s representative to UNESCO’s Executive Board, a position she was elected to in 2009.
The Ghana Women of Excellence Award has been conferred on the professor in recognition of her contribution to the development and promotion of quality education in Ghana.
She is the incumbent Board Chair of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), an organization she has been a member of since 2014.
Prof. Opoku-Agyeman obtained secondary education at Wesley Girls SHS in the Central Region.
She proceeded to the University of Dakar, Senegal where she earned a Diploma in French Studies or Diplôme Supérieure d’Etudes Françaises.
She got a B. A. (Hons) with a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1977.
She proceeded to Canada where she gained her Masters and PhD from York University in Toronto in 1980 and 1986 respectively.
