Election 2016: Know your female parliamentary candidates (4)

They are women who have resolved to serve their country by becoming law-makers in Parliament  and we want you, our dear readers,  to  become familiar with  all of them  through weekly features.

We hope the information we put out about them would, in some way, help voters make up their minds about the people they want to represent them in Parliament. 

Laadi Ayishetu Ayamba

NDC, Pusiga, Upper East Region

Call it baby steps. Hajia Laadi Ayishetu Ayamba, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Pusiga Constituency in the Upper East Region, started her political journey as a student politician in 1979 with the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

In 1992, she joined mainstream politics at the unit level and from there, rose through the ranks of branch women organiser, zonal unit organiser, deputy constituency women organiser, constituency women organiser, deputy regional women organiser, deputy national women organiser and deputy national propaganda secretary.

In the 2012 parliamentary primary, Hajia Ayamba thought it was about time she contested the position of an MP which she won and subsequently, the parliamentary elections.

Within the four years of her regime as an MP, Hajia Ayamba has bagged quite a large number of achievements both through her personal funding and lobbied government projects.

Having been a teacher for 26 years, Hajia Ayamba is very passionate about education and this has resulted in the massive improvement of the educational sector in the Pusiga Constituency.

She has put up a lot of Basic school structures in various communities in the constituency including Tendantenga, Yariga, Kogadem, Sanga, Taichungu, Belimtanga, Daware, Kolgongu, Ninkogo, Sugidi and Bimpiel number one and two.

“I also support all those who request for assistance with the payment of school fees,” Hajia Ayamba said.

Aside from the school structures, Hajia Ayamba has provided laptops to almost all the junior high school pupils in the constituency and desktop computers for all the departments in Pusiga Training College.

“The circuit supervisors have also benefitted by getting motorbikes and almost all the primary schools have been provided with boreholes,” she stated.

In the health sector, Hajia Ayamba has provided her constituency with a Community-based Health Planning and Service compound at Dabia, an ambulance for the hospital in Pusiga town and has rehabilitated a National Health Insurance Scheme bungalow.

The Agriculture sector has also had its share of improvement as up to 35 water pumping machines have been provided for dry season farming groups.

A number of women groups in the constituency have also been supported with Microfinance and Small Loans Center (MASLOC) loans and10 Motor Kings.

She has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Education, Winneba.

After teaching for 26 years, she left the Ghana Education Service as an Assistant Director of Education and also the District Director in charge of nursery schools in the Bawku Municipality education office.

Ms Anita Abaidoo

CPP, Okaikoi South Constituency, Greater Accra Region

In politics, knowing your terrain extensively is very key for one to lead a whole constituency. Having lived within the Okaikoi South Constituency since 1989, Ms Anita Abaidoo feels the time is right to helps solve some of the teething problems in the community she lives.

As a former Deputy Women’s Organiser of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ms Abaidoo is representing her party and will struggle it out with the NDC and the NPP for the seat.

Ms Abaidoo,who said she had paid her due to the party as the Okaikoi South Constituency Secretary, Constituency Chairperson and the 2012 parliamentary candidate for the CPP, was confident  the delegates will endorse her this year. She also said she had been inspired by Ghanaian women leaders’ bid to increase female participation in politics and social activities.

Asked why she decided to go on the ticket of the CPP, she explained that people who knew her well would attest to the fact that she loved Dr Kwame Nkrumah and what he stood for. Therefore, it is only right to serve the people on his ticket to restore hope to the needy and hopeless.

“While growing up, my parents always spoke fondly of Nkrumah and some of the landmark achievements he made for Ghana. Besides, he was hard working, a disciplinarian and results oriented. Today, indiscipline has taken the better side of the youth who are the hope for the future”.

Born on July 31, 1963, Ms Abaidoo described herself as someone who has passion to serve the underprivileged and also engage in active community work. For instance, she said apart from the issue with sanitation, streetism is one of the major canker hampering the development of children in her community.

“The problems facing our community were numerous and needed to be tackled with the seriousness it deserved,” she stressed.

Ms Abaidoo disclosed that she lost her dad at a tender age and,therefore, had tasted hardship and knew how it felt to lack common amenities to make life comfortable.

“Currently, the community needs a well-stocked library for schoolchildren to study instead of spending their leisure engaging in certain vices. Indeed, Nana Akomea the former MP put up a library but unfortunately the place was never opened to the public and some people are using it as their sleeping abode as of now.”

Aside, she plans to use the market queens and other elders of the community to engage in massive education on sanitation. “Soon, the rains will come in and our community is always affected, therefore, there is the need to educate all and sundry”.

Ms Abaidoo, who is a renowned fashion designer and a caterer, hails from Anomabo in the Central Region. She was born to Madam Beatrice Esther Amoah and the late Mr Kwabena Abaidoo. She has four children.

Sarah Adwoa Safo

NPP, Dome-Kwabenya, Greater Accra

Miss Sarah Adwoa Safo is one of the most popular Members of Parliament in the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic and for this reason, winning the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) primary to contest the Dome-Kwabenya seat for the second was not a surprise.

Although the seat appears safe, she is still working harder to retain it and maximise votes for her flag bearer come November 7.

“I do not want to sound complacent because elections are full of surprises but I believe the people will look at what I have done in the last three years and what we are still doing to make their decisions. Aside the development projects, constituents also pay attention to how active their MPs are in Parliament and how they contribute to issues of national interest and policy making. With this in mind, I believe I am well placed to retain the seat.” She told The Mirror at her office at the State House last week.

This year, she wants to tailor her campaign messages to suit the different groups in her constituency so she is developing a campaign strategy which she would officially launch later this year.

Miss Safo says she is most grateful to her team members in the constituency who are in charge of most of the projects and initiatives she undertakes.

One of such initiatives is the educational fund that caters for needy brilliant students.

“There is an education committee at the constituency level which is in charge of approving scholarships for students who qualify, especially girls. I try to keep myself out of the selection process as there could be issues of favouring someone, so the educational committee which is non-partisan handles that.”She explained.

Others are construction of boreholes for 10 basic schools, distribution of books to schools in the constituency, reshaping of some roads in the constituency and donating six motorbikes and 100 rain coats to the district police command for patrols.

Some of her projects, which are yet to be completed are: a maternity clinic at Haatso, Dome market and the construction of the first senior high school in the constituency.

She added that because this is the first time a woman has been elected as the MP for the area,her focus is on issues related to women and to encourage more women to take part in politics and also to work harder to achieve greater successes.

Miss Safo graduated from the University of Ghana in 2002 with a bachelor of Law Degree.She was later called to the Ghana Bar Association in 2004 after completing the Ghana School of Law.

She also holds a Masters Degree in Law from the George Washington University, United State of America.

Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah

NPP,  Akuapem North, Eastern Region

When Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah – Adjei, decided to challenge the incumbent Member of Parliament for Akuapem North Mr William Ofori Boafo during the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary, nobody gave her a dog’s chance until the end of the polls when she became victorious.

Her tenacity of purpose, coupled with her affability, made delegates to repose confidence in her to be their possible next MP. Nana Dokua, as she is affectionately called by all and sundry, has been a political activist both within and outside the country for the past seven years.

During the Progress Party era, both parents were staunch activists and believers in the liberal democratic ideology of the NPP and according to her, “the party is interconnected within our families since all of us take antecedent from the United Party (UP) tradition”.

“As a parliamentary candidate, I am contesting to make laws to benefit our people and not for any parochial interest. When elected, I will initiate projects for the Akuapem North Constituency so that my people will also have their share of the national cake”, she told The Mirror.

Although not yet elected, Nana Dokua has provided street lights at various vantage points in the constituency and also taking care of the needs of some children as part of her humanitarian gesture. She promised to also institute scholarship schemes for excellent students, while looking for job opportunities for the youth.

“Ghana is going down because the youth are not being assisted to get employment. The development of any country hinges on the youth and ,therefore, they must be supported in their endeavours”, she said

Nana Dokua, who is confident and eloquent, was born and raised in Accra and Akropong in the Akuapem Traditional Area respectively.She studied at the St Roses Senior High School and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Ghana, Legon. Beyond this, she also trained in France and Florida in the USA in Logistics and Procurement, respectively.

She is a highly motivated and unique leader both in business and personal life and has practical hands- on experience in business management.

After school, she worked with a printing press in Accra before joining Pongas Limited and Bekleen Limited both Ghanaian - based international buying houses as a Director. With her excellent communication skills and innovative sales strategies, she became the Managing Director, a role she still occupies.

Nana Dokua has also founded her own company- Ohemea Food Ventures which deals in importation, production and sales of food products. She has many years of management experience in the procurement, logistics and real estate industries.

She has an inspiring passion and dedication to her work. A determined career woman and a go getter, she has passion to serve and not to be served. Nana Dokua is married with two children.