I love the idea of Ghana getting its first female president and I think the
repercussions of such an event will be great. I personally think it is time for
a female president and a strong one at that too. Nana Konadu is our best chance
to come out of the terrible mess Mills has made of our country. Make no mistake,
Nana Konadu is a once-in-a-generation possibility. Admittedly, in many ways she
is too good to be true. There are several reasons why Nana Konadu is poised to
become first female to make a serious run at the Presidency. These includes
decades of experience in public service, her name recognition of being a first
lady, her charisma, stature, credibility, personality and speaking ability, her
political astuteness, the fact that she has a built in base of women and her
popular husband: former President Rawlings. When we break down each reason, it
will be easy to see that Nana Konadu is indeed our best bet for the Presidency
in 2012.
Nana Konadu has shown her professionalism when she was 1st lady and she will
show her professionalism and tremendous strength as President. She's very
intelligent and very strong. She won't back down in a man's world and we need a
strong and courageous woman like her for president. Nana Konadu will do an
excellent job. She's confident, strong, intelligent, and professional. Ghana is
tired and discouraged these days. The country is right to seek a little
inspiration, a lifting of the spirits, a sense of renewal. Mrs Rawlings is the
perfect antithesis of those things. She is commanding in debate; she knows her
facts. She personifies united Ghana. The NDC would be right to make her their
nominee for 2012 in my view.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings will be a transformative President. – In her
several years of public service, Mrs Rawlings has proven her ability to move
beyond politics as usual by reaching across the aisle to work with the ordinary
person across the length and breadth of Ghana. She has demonstrated by her
actions that she has both the wisdom and the tenacity to follow through on
progressive projects, including successful bipartisan collaborations. Actions
speak louder than words. During the 19 years her husband was president; Mrs
Rawlings bravely transformed the antiquated role of “First Lady” and showed the
country (and the world) that spouses of presidents have a higher calling than
merely redecorating the seat of government or paying lip service to charitable
causes. I’m sure Mrs Naadu Mills has come to appreciate that. Indeed, Nana
Konadu took a lot of flack for her unique approach to the role of First Lady in
an era of backlash against women’s progress. She has already transformed the
role of “First Lady” and is now ready to transform the role of President of
Ghana.
I trust Nana Konadu’s judgment and experience. – From her ideas on economic
policy to her ideas on education and health care reform, from foreign relations
and national politics to women’s rights and civil rights, I believe Nana Konadu
has both well-thought out policies and the necessary experience in moving her
progressive ideals from thought to action through concrete legislation. I am
convinced she knows more than anybody about our health care system and as
President, she will have success in bringing the universal health care coverage
that nearly every other developed country in the world already has. She is more
seasoned in maneuvering our very complex political systems to bring about needed
changes. Nana Konadu is virtuous to boot and can make the case that needs to be
made. She can relate to anybody from anywhere, be they child or adult, male or
female, black or white, educated or uneducated, northerner or southerner,
westerner or easterner, mediocre or talented. She can inspire a new generation
to new heights of social responsibility with her exemplary biography. And Nana
Konadu will bring in a new and fresh generation of hardworking, intelligent,
educated,upright and incorruptible batch of Ghanaians into the public realm.
Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Nana Konadu is committed to Social Justice.
As we know, women continue to make up the majority of our nation’s and the
world’s poor. Protecting women’s right is the obligation of all and Nana Konadu
will continue to give families hope as President. Nana Konadu’s leadership
dates back to her days as a student activist at the University of Science and
Technology in the 1960s. She came of age as right activists in the 80s and has
been a lifelong champion of civil rights, women’s rights, children’s rights and
advocate for the ordinary man. She understands that none of these causes are
mutually exclusive and in fact that they are all intertwined. These are
qualities that matter to me in a president.
Nana Konadu’s presidency would end the decades-long Dynasty of Patriarchs. –
We’ve had a man in the seat of government since 1957. That’s not less than10
male head of states over the course of 54 years. While women comprise over 50%
of the population, they currently hold less than 32% of positions in government
and only 20 of 230 members of parliament. Patriarchy is undemocratic. Nana
Konadu has proven her intellect and her abilities through more than 30 years of
hard work and service. She is a formidable candidate in her own right. The
reality is that Nana Konadu is an exceptionally gifted once-in-a-lifetime
candidate. If we pass up this opportunity to see what changes a woman can bring
to our democracy, we may not get another chance for decades. Anyone who has
taken a look into women’s history knows that the majority of female heads of
state in other countries have been the daughters, wives, and widows of male
political leaders. Consider Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Corazon Aquino of the
Philippines, and Indira Gandhi of India. Historically, women from political
families are offered the first inroads to the political arena and they set the
stage for others to follow. Nana Konadu will pave the way for future women
leaders by inspiring this generation of girls and young women to reach their
full potential. She will do this not just by role modeling but with policies
that address the myriad concerns of women.
Nana Konadu’s experience is broad, relevant, and serves everyone. – Nana Konadu
as advocate of the ordinary people has served low-income communities and dealt
with sensitive and complex matters such as child abuse and domestic violence.
Throughout her years as First Lady of Ghana, she has been a tireless advocate of
women’s rights, children’s rights, and civil rights. She has demonstrated an
impressive grasp and mature take on issues ranging from child’s right, economy,
to education, health care, and international relation. Nana Konadu is equally
in tune with the struggles of all Ghanaians and perhaps more in tune with the
struggles of the working class. I believe Nana Konadu is more committed to
giving hope to Ghanaians, making life better for average Ghanaian, providing
health care for every single Ghanaians, and making education more affordable for
the working and middle classes.
Nana Konadu is more electable against Akufo Addo, the New Patriotic Party
candidate. She will unite the Nation under her Presidency. She has already been
reaching across the aisle to bridge the bipartisan divide. Furthermore, Nana
Konadu has been in the line of fire for nearly two decades of media and the NPP
scrutiny, has endured the public humiliation of her character among other
challenges, and come out of it with her head held high and her dignity intact.
She has not only survived the attacks and mud-slinging of the NPP machine. she
has thrived in national politics. More importantly, she has handled the
onslaught of antagonistic, sarcastic, and often times sexist line of questioning
and comments directed at her by hostile media with grace and humor.


Nana Konadu is something unusual in politics. She appears to believe in
something. Her fundamental views have not changed since 1981, when she decided
to become campaigner for the ordinary man. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is many
things to many people, revered in some quarters, reviled in others but the fact
is she has seen it all in politics. We know Nana Konadu just like any other
human being isn’t perfect, but then all we really crave for is an honest man –
or – woman, who will do an honest job and not continue to make the NDC a
laughing stock in the eyes of Ghanaians. She has more than two decades of
experience standing her ground in the face of adversity. She is the tried and
tested candidate when it comes to responding to mud-slinging from NPP. Nana
Konadu has already proven that she has the resilience and the sense of humor
needed to take the hits and keep on keeping on. She represents a choice that
will bring real change to Ghanaians and we owe it a duty to posterity to make
history by selecting her as our first ever female President.

We shall be back!
Emmanuel Dela Coffie
delacoffie.wordpress.com