Women urged to remain agents of change

Mrs Patricia Ofosua Tweneboah, the Deputy General Secretary of the Health Services Workers' Union (HSWU) has urged women to thrive in all fields and remain a force to reckon with.

She said women were agents of change and have the capabilities to work and change the fortunes of the organisations they work for.

Mrs Tweneboah, speaking in an interview with the GNA in Accra, encouraged women not to give up on their dreams but pursue every dream diligently and with consistency until they achieve them.

"Women should not give up. Women as agents for change have the capabilities to work. We are managers of homes and we can also manage the administration and organisations.

"I believe that women have passion and when they are assigned to do certain work, they do it with all their zeal and we are a force to reckon with," she added.

Mrs Tweneboah was elected the Deputy General Secretary (DGS) of the Union in the just ended National Quadrennial Delegates Conference, making her the first-ever DGS in the history of Ghana's Union Movement.

Trades Union Congress (Ghana) now has two female on its Steering Committee and that reaffirms the Congress' vision in increasing women’s participation and inclusion at the top level.

Mrs Comfort A. Agamba, the General Secretary (GS) of General Construction, Manufacturing and Quarries Workers’ Union of the TUC (GCMQWU), was the first female to ascend that feat.

Mrs Tweneboah, therefore, urged women in a leadership position to encourage more women, mentor them to rise along with them, "so that we get more women in leadership positions and more women representation and participation to do more for their organisations and the development of the country's economy".

She said she saw her election as the fruit of her hard work over the years and expressed the hope that her position would serve as an example for other women to build their confidence and emulate her.

"I feel happy because I have been representing women for a very long time now and my passion for women to have positions at the top is overwhelming. I have been able to mentor a lot of women and I think that now that I have taken the position it will encourage more to also present themselves for future elections.

"We have done a lot of sensitisations on the part of women inclusion, participation, and the need for women to assume a leadership position. We have been talking about women representation and participation being very low and therefore the need to get more women at the leadership position so that women as an agent of change can also bring their experience and contributions to promote the Union's development.

The DGS also stressed the need for more sensitisation for more women to build their confidence level to give of their best to enhance the work of the Unions.

She also expressed her gratitude to delegates for the confidence reposed in her and pledged her continuous support to the Union's work and women representation, and participation in general.

On COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs Tweneboah advised Ghanaians to continue to respect all the protocols put in place especially during the festivities so that "we can all come back to continue our work.

She said: "The pandemic is still there and we do not have to joke with it... we need to conduct ourselves well to stay healthy."

She said health sector workers have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families and the public and must therefore adhere to the protocol and educate others to do the same to ensure a healthy society.

Mrs Tweneboah contested the DGS position last four years but lost to the current General Secretary of HSWU, Mr Franklin Owusu Ansah.

This year too, she contested another male member and this time around she came out victorious.