Ghana’s Ministry of Gender glows with beauty

By Alhaji Alhasan Abdulai
The ministries’ vicinity in the capital city of Ghana, Accra near Osu, the popular suburb of the city, was carved out by the government of the First Republic of Ghana to accommodate almost all the ministers and office staff of the Government of Ghana. A visit to the area especially on week days reveals activities of office workers and especially visitors to the area who come from all parts of the country and abroad to transact business. Of all the ministerial building the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection stands out so distinctly due to its exceptional architecture. The building stands on stilts as those built by the British colonial government in the Gold Coast days in the cantonments and the asylum down areas, were largely built with dark painted wood. The building was first erected by the US government and used by the Embassy of the United States of America in Ghana. It is situated in between the Accountant General’s office, the Ministries of Lands and Natural Resources and Works and Housing. After handing over the building to the government of Ghana by the government of the US, a decade ago, the building has since been used as the Ministry of Women Affairs by succeeding governments formed by the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress. However under the current Minister of Gender Nana Oye Lithur, the ministry has seen some face lift especially by extension to the edifice to house the offices of Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty( LEAP) office, an arm of the ministry. Apart from that the ministry has proved to be in charge of women affairs by decorating it with banners imposing posters and huge pictures of its activities concerning women, girls and social protection. All visitors to the building are greeted with imposing sign scripts which help them to be able to learn on their own the various activities of the ministry. Though it is relatively smaller than most of the ministerial buildings, it seems more beautiful that most of the buildings and it stands out so clearly that anybody paying a visit to the building cannot miss his way to it. I believe the Americans still love the building which they built and occupied for some years before handing it over to the government and people of Ghana, yet they would be happy to find that the current occupants are maintaining it so well. Kudos to the Ministry Of Gender for making Ghanaians proud for turning your ministry into a good working place and a tourist attraction and also making it beautiful as a ministry that truly takes care of the affairs of our mother, sisters and girl children.





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