African Woman! Lace up your political boots!

So, for those of us living in Ghana, we have received news of the selection of a woman as a vice presidential candidate for the largest opposition party- the National Democratic Congress (NDC). It has made headlines with many touting is as a victory for womankind. 

 

Personally, I do not rank this feat as spectacular if you compare this to other women breaking boundaries right here in Africa. Far from the myth that many competent women do not want to be embroiled in ‘dirty politics’, prefer to stay passively and submissively in the background, do not perform as required, etc, I note many strong women are making strides in governance and decision making in Africa and with their own track record, not as wives, daughters or assigns of others.  

Indeed Africa is one of the few continents to have had several women elected and competent Presidents. Madam Joyce Banda of Malawi comes to mind, then Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, twice elected, and worked tirelessly to build a healthy and prosperous post-war society in Liberia. Even more spectacular are the successes achieved by Madam Dlamini Zuma as the Chairperson of the African Union between the years of 2012-2017. During her time, I was privileged to be the Mo Ibrahim Fellow with the UNECA also based in Addis Ababa where is supported my Boss, Carlos Lopes on several key projects with the AU spearheaded by this phenomenal woman. These ranged from peace keeping, financing development to pan Africanism and the new African Renaissance. It was symbolic that fifty years after the creation of the OAU, a female chairperson championed the creation of Agenda 2063 with its focus on a strong and prosperous Africa. Madam Dlamini-Zuma continues to be one of my ardent pan African inspirations and I continue to wish her well as she battles the COVID Pandemic in South Africa. I will also add Madam Amina J Mohammed, now a Deputy General Secretary of the United Nations and formerly Nigerian Minister of Environment.

Regardless of the above, the selection of a female vice presidential candidate is gargantuan news in Ghana when taken into context. This is a woman who has credibility, candour and years of competence in her chosen field of experience and most importantly, has accepted the call to political duty to serve her country.  She joins the list of many other women who also accepted the call to political duty in Ghana at legislative and executive level in Ghana. I pay tribute to the late Eva Lokko of blessed memory and currently to Madam Brigitte Dzogbenuku who we hope continues to be the VP candidate for the PPP in the 2020 elections. 

So why is this important? Because it serves to change the narrative of the competent women shying away from politics, and not just any politics, but the type of politics that breeds statements such as ‘all die be die’. Secondly, I sincerely believe she was not chosen for this role simply because she had a vagina but because she has the competencies, skills, experience and emotional intelligence to do this job and do it well. 

So I ask myself again, why is this important? In a country that has never really reached more than 11% of women’s participation in parliament in all our seven elections and placed 150th out of 193 countries by the Inter-Parliament Union as at 1st September, 2016. Indeed, in some regions, there are no female DCEs and at the committee level, women elected officials continue to congregate in the ‘social’ committee leaving the economic and finance committees to the men.

This is more appalling if you note that Ghana’s Affirmative Action Bill sits on the lower rungs of priority for policy makers, having been in parliament in one form or the other for the past 10 years; equitable distribution of spousal rights in land and inheritance continue to be in abeyance at the whims and caprices of a patriarchal society; girls continue to suffer the indignity of early marriages and ‘propertised’ for material gain;  and to a large extent, gender based violence continue to be culturally acceptable.

To make the selection of a vice presidential candidate truly significant, Ghanaians must look at not just the female, but the extent to which the solution of a myriad of women’s issues are vertically and horizontally integrated into our patriarchal governance systems and challenge and change the structures and systems that keep many women far far away from being part of decision making processes that influence their lives, especially now within this COVID era. This is not a silver bullet solution to gender equality but will add on to the building blocks that together will provide the tipping point. But there is much more that has to be done.

Our total aspiration as women continue to be enshrined in various international and local conventions such as Aspiration No 6, goal 17 of Agenda 2063, SDG Goal 5 and found in the 12 critical areas identified in the Beijing Platform for Action. Locally, the Women’s Manifesto speaks to key targets on women in decision making which continuously fail to be achieved in more than 10 years since its publication.

Across Africa, I see a lot more competent women who are warming up on the sidelines, in their afrocentric running boots, and working towards changing the narrative, not as wives, mothers or advisers, but as key decision makers, of high international repute, in politics and governance. I see Madam Dlamini Zuma as President of South Africa, Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala whose accolades and achievement, no one disputes, ready to lead the more than 200 million strong country to their promise land. Both unabasedly clear and direct about their vision.  

Across the continent, more and more women are ready and willing to pick up the baton, throw off the shackles of tokenism and sexism and work diligently to make Africa a better place for their children and their children’s children.

So I ask my fellow women, should you be given the opportunity to serve your country in a political capacity , I hope your answer will be a resounding ‘yes’! African woman! 

Lace up your boots! Lets jump into the river that is called politics!

Tsoooboi!

IN HONOUR OF DR. CARLOS LOPES AS HE BIDS FAREWELL TO THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (UNECA)

In October 2016, Dr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) bid farewell to the organisation he had been heading since 2012. Dr. Lopes has previously served in many academic and political positions in his native Guinea Bissau and in addition worked in diverse offices within the UN before he was appointed as Executive Secretary of UNECA. 

I met Carlos Lopes when I applied to be a Mo Ibrahim African Leadership Fellow in 2012 and was privileged to work with him in 2013 during his first full year as the Executive Secretary of UNECA, based in Addis Ababa. My time working with Carlos or  ‘Sir’ as we used to call him, was a time of deep learning and understanding of the African continent.  I also learnt a lot about myself as an African and a potential change agent. During my time working with Carlos, He had four assistants, all female and we branded ourselves as ‘Carlos’ Angels’. Although we came from different backgrounds- one was Kenyan Indian, another was Angolan Portuguese, a third was French Guinea Bissauan and I was Ghanaian- we bonded well and worked to support Carlos implement his vision for UNECA.

 As he bids farewell to the role in which I get acquainted with him, I would like to share some of the memories I hold dear about the man who has influenced not only me, but greater men in Africa and beyond.

CARLOS THE PAN AFRICAN.

Carlos is an example of a true pan African. As an academic, his writings embodied his love for the continent and the everlasting hope he has for Africa’s economic transformation. I remember a meeting Carlos once had with the Ambassador of a European country who had funds to support UNECA. In the meeting, Carlos spoke of the exciting work that UNECA was involved in- building a credible database for statistics, the campaign on industrialisation and collaborative works with the other continental pan African institutions. Carlos spoke glowingly of his vision for UNECA and the new policy direction. Not once did he make a request for funding support. The Ambassador was visibly impressed. After the meeting, I asked Carlos why he hadn’t directly asked for funding support and that in my mind, he had painted a picture that all was well, we therefore risk losing the funds that may have come to us. He responded that there was no need to speak about the problems and challenges and that Africa does not need to beg for money. The money will follow good deeds and by this, we have more power and say as to how to use the funds. Rightly so, in a few months’ time, the Ambassador of the country in question brought a proposal to support the UNECA in more ways than we had previously envisaged and for a longer period of time than we had thought.

This was a key trend and something I learnt working with Carlos. Africa has a positive future, so many indicators are speaking to a rising Africa, and we should celebrate this more. We must tell our own story of change in a positive manner.

CARLOS AND CABRAL

 The first thing one notices when one walks into Carlos’ office is a small black and white portrait picture of Amilcar Cabral. Carlos has written extensively on Cabral’s legacy and it implications to contemporary Africa. These writings are in Portuguese, French and English and widely published and highly acclaimed. Cabral was Carlos’ ‘utmost hero’ and as his Assistant, I also came to love and revere the works of Cabral.

Another favourite of Carlos was Mario de Andrade, the Angolan revolutionary who became Guinea Bissau’s Minister for Information and Culture. Mario shaped Carlos in many ways and although Mario is not well known outside the African Portuguese community, he is one of the key players and influencers of his time. Carlos speaks lovingly of Mario de Andrade and how when he (Carlos) had finished high school, he served as an assistant to Mario and learnt about Pan Africanism at the feet of the Master. I was privileged to get to know these great men of African history and others like them (my personal favourite was Franz Fanon) through their own writings and through reading the writings of Carlos himself. Infact, the title of my blog is a quote from Amilcar Cabral, ‘Claim no easy victories’, but that is another story for another day. 

CARLOS AND AGENDA 2063

Addis Ababa in May 2013 was the one place in the world I would have loved to be in. and I was there. Africa was celebrating 50 years of pan African institutionalism- the creation of the OAU, now the African Union. Addis, the capital of pan Africanism, was abuzz with activity and I had front row seats to the event of a lifetime. The Pan African Congress, The Youth Forum, the Women’s Forum, the African Union Executive Committee Meeting, NEPAD, the Actual AU Forum, several side meetings, bi-laterals, multi-laterals, concerts, exhibitions, and many more. Carlos made time to share this space with Africa and his message of a prosperous Africa resonated on all the platforms he spoke on. I remember the warmth he received when he attended the PAWA event and during the Youth Conference, the fact that he listens to the Kenyan rap group Sauti Sol drew lots of tweets from young Africans! On a more serious note, Carlos, through the UNECA, played a pivotal and leading role in developing Agenda 2063. At all stages of the development of this great document which captures the aspiration of Africans for the next 100 years, Carlos and his able lieutenants in the UNECA ensured that all the statistical, analytical support that was required to strengthen the document was available. This was a ground breaking event and agenda 2063 continues to stand as a key monument to the spirit of unity and pan Africanism that existed during those heady days in May 2013. 

CARLOS OF MANY COLORS

Carlos also had an artistic and fun loving side. He was a photographer, a lover of art, painting, books and music. His house was filled with art works from all over the world and his music collection had songs from South Africa, Capo Verde, Ivory Coast and Angola, among many others.

Carlos was not only a mentor but also a friend who supported my dream to continue formal education, to better understand pan Africanism whilst being a mother and a wife. He understood the many aspects of my changing circumstances and made room for that while not compromising on quality and timeliness of work. I learnt to love my work and in loving my work, I excelled. I grew and blossomed. Indeed the year 2013 is my overall best year and this was so because I met Dr. Carlos Lopes and of course, became a Carlos Angel.

I have no qualms that Carlos’ exit from the UNECA will be just another step in the illustrious career that he had woven even before I met him and which I will continue to follow and celebrate. Each stage of your life has not been easy, but you have claimed the victory, you have told no lies and have hidden nothing from the masses.

It will be apt therefore to end with a quote from Cabral taken from a speech he delivered at the 3^rd Conference of the African People held in Cairo where he stated that “We are for African unity, on a regional or continental scale, inasfar as it is necessary for the progress of the African peoples, and in order to guarantee their security and the continuity of this progress”

I wish you and Mrs. Mara well in your future endeavors. Looking forward to meeting with you soon.