Skip to main content

Ghana's Elections: (Re)-Socializing a New Generation of Female Voters & Leaders


Originally published on the blog Women Change Africa
--

As the Ghana elections get closer, we thought it would be great to hear from one of our fabulous, smart and beautiful friends of WCA Ms. Jemila Abdulai. Jemila is a woman who is  definitely changing Africa. Amongst her many hats she wears, Jemila is a attaining her Masters in International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, owns and operates a very highly read blog titled Circumspecte which focuses on various issues in Africa, and of course is part of the Ghana Decides team working to help engage youth in Ghana to get involved and vote pre and during elections.  We hope you enjoy and learn about Ghana's elections and women, and be inspired the way we were with Ms. Abdulai. Enjoy! 




My name is Jemila Abdulai and I’m from Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s northern region. I attended Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, and obtained my bachelor’s degree at Mount Holyoke College. My time at both institutions made me cognizant of gender issues; because it has to do with their being all-women institutions. I am currently a second-year graduate student at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington, DC, where I focus on African development.

I believe in Ghana and Africa’s future, and recognize that much of that future will be decided by us, the youth. I also believe in the power of innovative networks and thinking. One of such networks is BloggingGhana - an association of bloggers in Ghana - and its non-partisan election project Ghana Decides. Since March 2012, Ghana Decides has undertaken numerous activities in its bid to foster a better-informed electorate for the upcoming December 7 elections. In addition to debates on issues like education, poverty, employment, and women via TwitterFacebook, andYoutube the organization has helped provide a platform for young Ghanaians to share their views and engage with political leaders. Through campaigns  #iRegistered, Ghana Decides Tag, and Speak Ghana, youth political participation is quickly becoming the coolest thing in town.

For the first time in Ghana’s history, Ghanaian youth are actively participating in the political process through social media. A new space has been created for young Ghanaian women to air their views on issues like reproductive health and political leadership on their own terms. This will go a long way in inspiring confidence in young women who could ultimately end up in Ghana’s political sphere. Another first in this election is the number of female vice-presidential candidates. Indeed, it’s the first time Ghana has ever had a vice-presidential candidate, much more two. While it’s yet to be seen whether either will actually get into power, a strong message is being sent to young Ghanaian women: there is a space (and need) for you in the political realm. Finally, with former first lady Nana Konadu’s attempt at becoming a presidential candidate, the dice has been cast and the debate about whether Ghana is ready to have a female president has been launched.

In the long term, all of these serve to re-socialize young Ghanaian women and youth on being politically involved and contributing to Ghana’s development. In the interim, more young women are owning their stories and sharing their thoughts. If young women’s participation so far in Ghana Decides’ Our Vote, Our Voice Campaign is any indication, you can be sure that those who are registered will turn up at the polls to exercise their vote; for woman and country.


Contact: Twitter: @Jabdulai

Popular posts from this blog

Review of 'The Perfect Picture' & the Ghanaian Movie Industry

The Ghana-Naija movie industry saga. That's always a tough one where I'm concerned. On the one hand is my allegiance to Ghana - my motherland, homeland and basically where most of my formative years were spent. On the other hand is my undeniable connection to Nigeria - my birthland and the land of my ancestors. Even though I barely remember that much about Nigeria, I do joke about when I will "finally return to my birthland." Maybe it's this umbilical connection, that makes me slightly biased towards Nollywood when it comes to the Ghana-Naija movie saga. Truth be told, I barely paid Ghanaian movies enough mind when I was growing up. I was more likely to watch a Nigerian movie instead, and even then, I was picky. Ramsey Noah or Genevive Nnaji had to be part of the cast. Why this bias towards Naija movies? It's simple really; their acting was generally better. These days, I'm more willing to watch anything Ghana-related. For one thing, the surges of homesi

Lifestylz GH Interview: Sangu Delle

As part of Lifestylz GH’s interview series, we bring you our premier interview with Sangu Delle. Profile: Sangu Delle Sangu Delle is a senior at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Ghana, and is the youngest of five children in a bi-religious family (his father is Catholic while his mum is Muslim). He attended Christ the King Catholic School (CTK) and went on to study at the Ghana International School (GIS) until his O-Levels when he transferred to the Peddie School (a college preparatory school in NJ) on scholarship. His areas of concentration in academics are Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development. Aspirations To be involved in the development of Ghana and Africa at large in some capacity. In the past, he was more involved in non-profit and development work, but has increasingly become active in entrepreneurial and business ventures; a testament to his belief that there should be “less foundations and more entrepreneurs” in Africa. In his own

Interview: Maame Sampah, Emmanuel Lamptey, REACH Ghana

Circumspect interviews Maame Sampah and Emmanuel Lamptey, Executive Board Members of the Representatives for Equal Access to Community Healthcare (REACH) Ghana to find out how they got started, what projects they're currently working on, and what they're looking forward to. -- Circumspect: Tell us about yourselves. Maame Sampah (M.S.): I’m currently a graduate student. I’m with an HIV group right now, and so I basically do HIV research. Before then, I did undergrad in biochemistry and French at Grinnell College. I’m doing grad school at [Johns] Hopkins now. I went through the Ghana education system - Wesley Girls, Bishop Bowers before then. I can give you the name of my nursery school. And yeah, so here I am. I’m going to be in school for a while, and basically I’m going to end up in a career in clinical and research medicine. I have a huge family, I have four siblings. My parents both live in Ghana. My siblings however are kind of scattered in the U.K and here [U.S.] an