Ghana’s female journalists embrace the hope of a ‘Woman King’

The sounds of warring warriors resonated through a room full of people who share the same commitment to Ghana's national development project. Fearless female journalists around the country are vocalising their concerns and complaints over impediments to their freedom to exercise their professional rights in an industry that seems set against their success.

Journalists and media women in Ghana shared that they face harassment, lack adequate healthcare and employment benefits, and face barriers to professional advancement due to maternal roles, receiving less compensation than men.

"Our newsrooms are deliberately biased against” and “our efforts to make progress as individuals and as a group are largely hindered," and “we are treated unfairly." These were some of the words spoken as these women opened up to one regarded as the ‘Woman King’, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, Ghana's first-ever female vice presidential candidate.

Despite being vocal on a range of national issues and supporting marginalised groups and human rights, women in the media acknowledged that, despite putting on a bold front to speak truth to power on other topics, their personal accounts were nothing to be proud of.

They contended that they had to work in unsafe environments in a field where it is almost forbidden for them to openly voice their worries and inconveniences on the job for fear of losing their livelihoods and the limited opportunities for the stories that matter most to societal advancement.

Opoku Agyemang had organised a day's forum to create a safe space where these female journalists could voice any needs for potential policy redress should her party win the mandate to lead the country after the December elections. Before the conversations started, Opoku Agyemang promised these journalists and women serving in various capacities in the media space that she would be hands-on in assisting her flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, in developing policies that serve the interests of the Ghanaian people as a whole, including female media professionals.

In the ancient West African kingdom of Benin, the concept of the "Woman King" entailed women taking on the traditional duties and obligations of male kings. Stories from the 18th and 19th centuries tell of Woman Kings like Hangbe in the Kingdom of Dahomey, who oversaw and led the "Dahomey Amazons," an all-female military force.

She was a powerful figure in politics and the armed forces, influencing diplomacy, military strategy, and operations. She symbolised the values of leadership and embodied the power and insight of authority.

John Mahama, who is Ghana’s former president and the current flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, in this year’s elections, has decided with his party to present Ghanaians with this hope of having such a unifying force in the electioneering discourse, a strategy that might just win him the 2024 elections.

Mahama led the Ghanaian people for one term, after which the current leader, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, defeated him in his attempt to secure a second term in 2020.

The former president is fighting fiercely to come back to power with a commitment to “undo” what he says have been the “negative effects” President Akufo-Addo’s eight-year leadership has had on the positive legacy he established during his own four-year administration.

During his party’s official unveiling of Jane Nana Opoku Agyemang as running mate, the former president said Ghana needed “a leadership that would place value on integrity, truth, and accountability” and a “leadership that is inspiring," as well as one that gives women a lot of room to operate at the top. A well-thought-out strategy that he would speedily bring Ghana back on a “reset” growth trajectory.

The shrewd VP candidate, a former Minister for Education who served in Mahama’s erstwhile cabinet was to him the perfect choice of the individual who could help his government see things from a perspective that otherwise an all-male leadership has failed to perceive in the past.

The critical role women play in nation-building:

It is a firm personal belief that when women are in high political leadership, they bring a new perspective to government. They push for policies and ways of making decisions that are open to everyone, which goes against traditional ideas and biases mostly but is positive in the long term. If there is an opportunity to harness the complete potential of a nation's human resources, why not take it?

Women leaders put concerns about healthcare, education, and social welfare at the top of their lists of priorities. Of course, they will seize the opportunity to lower gender gaps and improve the health of mothers and children. These actions are essential for breaking the cycles of poverty and promoting long-term growth in communities that hardly see or experience better standards of living. In the long run, this has a positive effect on society, bringing about equality that helps communities and the country as a whole.

Looking through the perspectives of these realities, I believe account for the willingness of these journalists, who themselves have spent years on the frontlines of telling stories about the marginalised in society, to let go and speak up with hopes that this kind of change could be experienced in Ghana.

Seizing an opportunity for transformation:

Before the forum on Thursday, June 20, 2024, the industry’s history had never recorded such a large number of female journalists gathered to voice work-related grievances in the presence of, let alone political authority, instead of media house management, board, professional bodies, or union leaders. It was the first instance, and the unspoken consensus in the room was deafening.

Over one hundred and twenty newsroom and media production professionals were willing to take the risk of voicing their opinions on the day, believing that this trailblazer would take their viewpoint more seriously than media managers, who are predominantly male, had in the past.

Women in the media and politics clearly share a lot of common realities, including underrepresentation, unfavourable prejudices and stereotyping, low economic status, sexual harassment, and so on.

As a woman who has risen so high through the ranks with a real shot at becoming the VP of the nation, she not only made it through the harsh conditions one must navigate to survive the trenches, but she also attained this prestigious position by sheer merit, breaking her personal and professional glass ceilings, as published records of her milestones have proven.

So, inspired by her story, these women took their chances, temporarily compromising ethical principles in the hopes that she would help offer solutions should they (John and Jane) emerge winners of the December 2024 elections. Shamima Muslim, the convener for the Alliance for Women in Media Africa, moderated the conversations, saying, “Our issues are ignored, so we need to speak up before she assumes the high office. We are confident that, if elected, she will demonstrate the strength and moral integrity to consider our concerns and contribute to their resolution.”

The twelve hundred participants said they hoped for future interactions across the divide, real opportunities for growth, respect, maternity leave, sensitivity to women, and protection against harassment.

Prof Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang told the women to keep telling powerful stories about their lives and careers. Stories that have never been told before. To be their own best supporter, to be brave, and to make the most of the chances that come their way. She said she very well understood the many problems and roadblocks to progress that women in the media face and promised to make them heard.

Standing in the back, reading the room, and following the conversations, I found it interestingly assuring that my colleagues and I were beginning to find our own voices, telling our own stories even as we told the stories of others. I found it comforting that a time may soon come when we don’t have to sacrifice our personal comforts in order to continue in our mandate of watching the gates of the nation’s development journey.

And it was particularly reassuring to hear the vice presidential candidate tell the room she is “committed” to ensuring some of these concerns make it to the table of deliberations.