Ghana’s sole female political party founder and leader, Madam Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) has spited the choice of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as running mate to the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama for the December 2020 elections.
She says the track record of the vice-presidential candidate of the NDC while in office as Ghana’s Minister of Education under the previous government of Mr Mahama gives her away as a person who has no good intention for the future generations of the country, though it is welcoming that a woman has been considered for that enviable position.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Kumasi-based Angel FM moments after the NDC announced the nomination and endorsement of Prof Opoku-Agyemang, Akua Donkor said, “it would have been good to have a female as a Vice President but this Mahama-Naana pair will not achieve anything”.
“God himself has already dethroned Mahama, so this nomination won’t do anything to help him; moreover this woman cancelled the teacher trainees allowances when she was the Education Minister, so Ghanaians will know that she is insensitive and even vote against Mahama because of her”, she said.
John Dramani Mahama settled on Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang as his running mate for the December 7 election after wide consultation with party stakeholders.
She comes in as the first-ever female running mate of the opposition NDC.
Here’s her profile
Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls’ Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls’ School.
She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971.
She completed B.Ed.(Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.
Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986.
She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research.
From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora.
From 2008-2012 she was the University’s Vice-Chancellor.
In March 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
In October 2009, she was elected Ghana’s representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Ahead of the 2012 general elections, Jane Opoku Agyemang moderated the debate with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana.
—MyNewsGh
