I'll Campaign On Women, Children Issues — Mrs Akufo-Addo

Rebecca , wife of the presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has promised that she would impress on Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to give importance to women and children issues when he is given the mandate to rule the nation.

She said her husband, is deeply concerned about issues that militated against the development and welfare of women and children and would therefore not turn a blind eye on them when given the mandate by the people.

“ I will personally ensure that as the first lady, my husband would make good all the campaign promises and also let him champion the welfare of Ghanaian women, since women are the builders of the home and society at large and also constitute the majority of the country's population,” she stressed.

Mrs Akufo-Addo made the promise when she interacted with paramount and divisional queens from the various traditional areas in the Brong Ahafo Region in Sunyani recently as part of her three-day campaign tour of the region.

She was accompanied by Mrs Esther Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mrs Addo-Kufuor, Mrs Apraku, Mrs Frimpong Boateng and Mrs Osafo-Maafo.

Also in her entourage were Mrs Anna Nyamekye, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, and also the incumbent Member of Parliament for Jaman South in the Brong Ahafo Region as well as Madam Sophia Honneh-Sam, a Deputy Minister of Harbours and Railways.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said an NPP government retained in power would continue and improve the policies and programmes initiated by President Kufuor to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.

He mentioned some of them as the free basic education and feeding, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Metro Mass Transport services, free maternal health care as well as health care for children, among others.

According to her, Nana Akufo-Addo would also bring to fruition all the campaign promises he had made to Ghanaians, especially the fee-free secondary education and the pension scheme for farmers.

and therefore urged all to vote massively for her husband to take over from President Kufour, who had laid a solid foundation for the country towards her socio-economic advancement.

She pledged that as the first lady she would table their concerns and needs. Mrs Akufo-Addo appealed to the queens to continue to preach peace in their various traditional areas to ensure peace before, during and after the general election in December.

Mrs Nyamekye and Madam Honneh-Sam, both Deputy Ministers, who took turns to address the queens, urged them to speak to their subjects especially the youth to eschew violence so as to ensure a peaceful election, adding that if there was war or civil strife in the country as a result of the election it would be women and children who would be most affected.

The Paramount Queen of the Techiman Traditional Area, Nana Afia Abrafi, on behalf of her queen thanked Mrs Akufo-Addo and her team for recognising the important role of queens in society and towards national development.

She added that as traditional rulers the laws of the country debarred them from taking part in active politics but they would continue to impress on their subjects the need to ensure peace before and after the general election so that Ghana would continue to be a role model in multi-party democracy and an oasis of peace and stability in the sub-region.

Mrs Akufo-Addo also visited the Sunyani central market and business district area were she addressed the market women and a section of the public who had defied a downpour to listen to her.

Mr Kwame Twumasi Awuah, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, who also addressed the market women, disclosed that the government had voted GH¢4 million for the construction of a new market for Sunyani as part of the modernisation programme for Sunyani as the Brong Ahafo Regional capital.

She later addressed the Christian Women Association, hairdressers and seamstresses at the Christ the King Hall in Sunyani and also students at the Sunyani Nursing Training College explaining why there was the need to retain the NPP in power.

Mrs Akufo-Addo additionally addressed various women's groups and market women at Bechem, Goaso and Kenyasi to solicit their votes for her husband. She assured them that her husband when voted as president would champion their cause.

Story by Samuel Duodu.