President John Dramani Mahama has expressed optimism that Ghana will soon witness the election of its first female president, marking what he describes as the next phase in the country’s journey toward gender equality and inclusive leadership.
Speaking in Beijing, China, at the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and UN Women, President Mahama said the election of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as Ghana’s first female Vice President represents a deliberate and strategic step toward full female representation in governance.
“Under my leadership and in my capacity as the African Union Champion for Gender and Women’s Empowerment, the Government of Ghana has taken decisive steps to mainstream gender across its national development policies,” Mahama said.
“We have achieved historic milestones, including the election of Ghana’s first female Vice President and the unprecedented appointment of women to leadership positions in government, the judiciary, the security services, and key national institutions. These are not symbolic gestures; they are a deliberate affirmation that women deserve a seat at the highest levels of decision-making. And I am confident that, in the very near future, our women will break the glass ceiling and that a woman will be president of the Republic of Ghana.”
President Mahama, who serves as the African Union’s Champion for Gender and Women’s Empowerment, emphasized that Ghana’s progress reflects a broader continental effort to ensure women are fully integrated into leadership and governance.
The two-day Global Leaders’ Meeting, which runs from October 13 to 14, brings together world leaders to renew commitments to the Beijing Declaration and accelerate its implementation. The event also marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995.
