Reasons why Nana Konadu Represents The Right Choice For President!

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