The race for parliamentary tickets in the National Democratic Congress ahead of the 2024 general election will be settled on May 13, 2023, all things being equal.
With Ghana being a signatory to the United Nation’s Affirmative Action goal, the fortunes of women contesting in the parliamentary race is one that is of keen interest to several political observers.
We profile below some six women who are candidates in the NDC parliamentary race.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is a second term member of parliament for the Korle Klottey Constituency.
Her late father, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings is a former president of Ghana and the founder of the NDC.
Dr Zanetor is facing stiff competition from contender, Meredith Naakai Lamptey-Addy.
Meredith Naakai Lamptey-Addy
Meredith is seeking to step in the direct footstep of her father, party stalwart David Lamptey.
Mr Lamptey between 1996 and 2000 was the member of parliament for Korle Klottey on the ticket of the NDC.
Meredith who directly understudied her father as his personal assistant during his days as Chief Executive Office of Sidalco group of companies, Dominion Oil, Radio and TV XYX, is set to battle Dr Zanetor for the Korle Klottey NDC ticket.
She is the Managing Director of Patmeco Ghana Limited, Game Idol printing and advertising and Worldwide Alliance Investment Limited which is also a real estate company owned by herself and her husband.
Betty Krosbi Mensah
Betty Krosbi Mensah, the current MP for Afram Plains North is the daughter of Krosbi Mensah, the first MP of the constituency.
Betty who was first elected MP in 2016 and won re-election in 2020 is aiming at a third term.
Before she became a Member of Parliament, Mensah was the managing director of Best Pat Ghana Limited from the year 2013 to the year 2016. She also served as the Second Deputy Coordinator for the National Youth Employment from 2009 to 2013. Mensah was also the Gender and Development Coordinator of Ghana Cooperative Credit Union from 2003 to 2005.
In the current 8th Parliament, she serves a member on the Gender and Children Committee and Health Committee.
Betty’s only challenger is Kperli Worlasi, a private legal practitioner who was also her main contender in the 2018 primaries.
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo is a former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection. She is a lawyer and a human rights activist. She is contesting in the Adentan Constituency.
The former minister is in the race for the parliamentary ticket in one of the most competitive constituencies in the country.
Her competitors in the race are the incumbent MP, Adamu Ramadan and another female, Linda Awuni.
Dorcas Affo-Toffey
Dorcas Affo-Toffey is the current MP for Jomoro Constituency who is seeking a re-election after winning her first term in the 2020 parliamentary election.
Her first term in parliament was nothing peaceful as she had to spend about 3 years dealing with a legal battle challenging her eligibility to represent the people of Jomoro.
Having been declared winner by a court in the legal tussle in which she was accused of not being a Ghanaian at the time of filing her nomination in 2020, Affo-Toffey is on a second term mission.
She is being contested by one Akatia Kwaido.
Prof Nana Ama Browne Klutse
Prof Nana Ama Browne Klutse challenged Felix Kwakye-Ofosu for the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese NDC ticket in 2018 ahead of the 2020 general election.
The two are back at it again in 2023 after the latter lost the race to the former in the 2018 contest.
Prof Ama Browne, an indigene of Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, is a senior lecturer at the Department of Physics of the University of Ghana.
She is an associate proffer of physics. She is currently a member of the Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments (TG-Data).
She previously worked as the Remote Sensing manager at the GIS and Climate Centre and as a senior research scientist at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
Source: ghanaweb.com
