“Women are the drivers of change! Women are the movers of progress! Women are the makers of peace!” Hon. Mariam charged. Absolutely, to complement Hon. Mariam, women are the backbone of society, the best teachers in society, the promoters of the house and the society at large.

For these reasons, it is not surprising women all over the world are celebrated on a special day each year. On this day, all women alike are celebrated but, special women like my mother and your mother are celebrated in a special fashion.

Iconic women are given platforms to educate, sensitize, advice, motivate and share their thoughts with other women on various societal issues. Of course, on such platforms, these iconic women highlight the achievement of other women they celebrate.

Whiles Hon. Mariam was celebrating other women, most of us were also celebrating her. The MC of the occasion spoke to her mike “on this special day, I believe each and every one of us has people we celebrate, and I want to use this opportunity to tell you that I am honestly celebrating Hon. Mariam, the MCE of Sagnarigu”.

“She deserves to be celebrated”, a thought came on my mind and coincidentally, I heard one of the participants at my back said in a clearer voice “di tu ni ti puhi o” (she deserves the celebration). There I realized the comments and utterances were not born out of nothing.

It was unfortunate you were not at Radach Lodge and Conference center to listen to Hon. Mariam’s speech. Powerful, driving, and motivating. As one of the guest speakers of the occasion, Hon. Mariam did justice to the theme “Press for Progress towards Gender Parity”.

Moving forward, I must confess that I like listening to Hon. Mariam when she speaks to issues. From her acceptance speech on the day she was confirmed to her speech on the international women’s day celebration. Always speaking to issues with the passion they deserve. With melodious voice of Eve, and the calm posture of Merry, Hon. Mariam did nothing but justice to the theme of the celebration.

She maintained that there is the need for fifty-fifty shares between the two genders. However, she was quick to add that the fifty-fifty cannot be attained without the support of the male counterparts. In her speech, she called on the media to highlight women contribution to national development to ensure that females have equal rights in all endeavours.

She said “let me add that it was not by chance the President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo won the African gender champion award last year. Our President wants to encourage women participation in governance and politics hence, for the first time we have about, not about, we have thirty six (36) out the two hundred and sixteen (216) of the 2016 Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) being women”…………….

“Now I urge all women appointees to prove to the world that “women are the drivers of change, women are the movers of progress and women are the makers of peace”, Hon. Marian charged.

I confirmed Hon. Mariam as my woman of the day when she elaborated as part of her speech the projects her outfit has outlined to promote the lives of females within her jurisdiction.

Among the programs she mentioned was the sensitization drive of all women in tertiary schools in the Sagnarigu Municipality. This she said will enlighten the female students on the various roles they can play in the development of the municipality. She revealed that as part of the female related projects, a girl’s educational fund is to be established to take care of brilliant but needy girls.

The most catching aspect of Hon. Mariam’s speech which compelled journalist and media houses at the gathering to seek more clarity was the fact that the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly will now consider qualified female contractors in awarding the Assembly’s contracts. This she said was necessary because when she reviewed contracts awarded by her predecessor, she noticed not even a single contract was awarded to a female contractor, although some of the contracts could be handled by females if they were qualified.

This trend she said she will work with the various leaders and stakeholders at the assembly to make sure contracts are awarded considering both qualified male and female contractors. If a woman of this competency is not celebrated, who then will be celebrated? Cheers! I think we all have to come onboard to celebrate this woman and help her achieve her intended projects.

It is a call to duty for the President and all and sundry of Sagnarigu Municipality to help this humble, confident and energetic woman dreams for the Sagnarigu Municipality materialize.