The Ghanaian Journal

IT IS now official. After several months of speculations in the media, Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, has confirmed that she is all set to be the running mate to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for the December polls.

“If it is offered to me, yes, why not? I am prepared and ever ready to serve my country and party in that capacity. I have to make it clear that the position of Vice President is not a contestable one or one that you can go lobbying for; it is the prerogative of the flag-bearer. He may come out with a name or a set of names and the party, at different levels, would have to look at it,” Hajia Alima stated.

Speaking exclusively to DAILY GUIDE, the Nalerigu-Gambaga MP noted that it was time a female became Ghana’s Vice President, saying the country has many capable women for the job.

“I believe it is possible and I think it is about time Ghana did that. Gambia has a female Vice President; South Africa has a female Vice President; Uganda has had a female Vice President and Liberia has a female President. So it is not a huge task if Ghana goes for a female Vice President.”

She opined that on the contrary, such a move would add to the nation’s possible credentials, and boost its image abroad.

“In time past, women were relegated to the background because most of them were not very educated. But times have since changed and Ghanaian women are now very capable. In our schools, you see the girls getting all the prices. Check from the medical schools, the Journalism institutions and the universities and you would realize that times have changed.

“We now have women in leadership positions, and I have met a lot of men who want to see women pushed forward the more because they believe that women have something to offer this country.”

The 50-year-old Legislature and mother of one gave the paper an insight into her early life and background, her alleged connection with the 31st December Women’s Movement; her childhood and school days; and her political career, as well as how some current politicians, including the Northern Regional Minister ‘treated’ her in school.

Please read on:
Daily Guide (DG): You look sweet on a busy and hot afternoon; what is the secret, madam?
Hajia Alima Mahama (HAM): Ei! Well, thank you. I am just cheerful and I like to be happy; I have been working all day. I actually start work from the house before going to Parliament and later to the Ministry. I get to the house around 8:30 pm, work a bit and go straight to bed.

DG: No hanging-out after work?
HAM: No, not during the week because I get home very tired. But I do hang-out sometimes on weekends.

DG: Who do you hang-out with?
HAM: My school mates and a few other friends. They have parties and I go.

DG: You enjoyed your school days, I guess.
HAM: I went to the Walewale Primary School, St. Francis’ Girls Secondary School at Tsurapa, and then to the Wesley Girls High School for my Sixth Form. I proceeded to the University of Ghana to do Law and Sociology, and then to the Ghana Law School for my masters’ degree. I also did a few post graduate studies after that.
DG: Did you practice as a Lawyer?
HAM: Yes; I practiced for three years.

DG: Why did you shift from law to politics?
HAM: Law and politics go together well. The Legislature is about law making and if I were not a Lawyer, reading bills would have been technical and boring to me. So I think my legal background has been helpful in politics. But I am also a Development Planner and was very much involved in community work; so after law and community work, the next level was to go into politics, of course with a lot of encouragement.

DG: Encouragement from which people?
HAM: From the community, from my people, from the party executive, even from the President. He encouraged me to run for Parliament.

DG: So you and the President were friends before you entered politics?
HAM: Well, he was our presidential candidate in 1996 and then in 2000 so he was coming to the North to campaign, and that was how I got to know him.

DG: You must have been a very active person.
HAM: Oh yes. I was in my community where I worked so they all asked me to run, but I was dragging my feet in 1996 because I was worried about losing as my community had become predominantly NDC. But in 2000, I decided to try it and I lost, but my party won the presidency. In 2004, I tried it again and won.

DG: Is politics the ultimate for you?
HAM: I do not intend to stay in politics forever but I would do my best as long as I am in it and when I am about 60, I would retire and do some writing. Politics is very involving and can be stressful but you have to have the passion for it; and right now, I have that passion and feel confident that I am making a difference in my community and country.

For example, I have started a Senior High School for girls, the Kambaga Senior Girls High School, and we have admitted 40 girls.

I started it with part of my common fund and HIPC allocation. We have constructed a three-dormitory room block, three-classroom block, a dining hall, kitchen, a 20-cubicle bathroom and a 10-seater KVIP. Next academic year, we would admit 40 more girls and I hope they would all pass and make it to the university.

DG: What are your thoughts about a female President or Vice President for Ghana?
HAM: I believe it is possible and I think it is about time Ghana did that. Gambia has a female Vice President; South Africa has a female Vice President; Uganda has had a female Vice President and Liberia has a female President; so it is not anything huge if Ghana was to have a female Vice President. Rather, it would be great because many Ghanaians now are thinking about having women in such positions; having a woman as a Vice President in this country would be a good thing and a very loud, audible and positive statement. The fact is that now, we have the critical mass of that educated class of people, be they men or women.

Having a woman as a Vice President is not something that Ghanaians would be hesitant about.

DG: That is something you believe in; would you go for it in your own party?
HAM: If it is offered me, yes, why not? I am prepared and ever ready to serve my country and party in that capacity. I have to make it clear that the position of Vice President is not a contestable one or one that you can go lobbying for; it is the prerogative of the flag- bearer. He may come out with a name or a set of names and the party at different levels would have to look at it.

The flagbearer knows what he wants to deliver and the kind of person he would feel comfortable working with. He has his own criteria and our party has a lot of capable women and men.

DG: Are you surprised people are mentioning your name as part of the tall list of names making the rounds?
HAM: I would not say I am surprised; what I would say it that I am happy in the sense that it means people are seeing me as capable and
someone who is delivering and is capable of going further. I see it as a tap on my back to say that ‘Alima, you are doing well.’

DG: What would be your legacy for your Ministry?
HAM: Quite a lot, but to mention just a few, I would say I took the Domestic Violence Bill and traveled with it throughout the country doing consultation and giving education and had it passed in Parliament, and you can testify to the importance of this bill.

Talk of the Human Trafficking Act, it was my baby; I got the country to rectify the African Protocol on Women, which is very comprehensive and if we were to implement it, there would be no problem of gender inequality. We have pushed for the government to come out with a statement that the budget would be gender responsive and in the budget guidelines that the Ministry of Finance has sent out this year, we have written in it that the budget would be gender responsive. So when the budget is read in 2009, it is left for civil society groups to pick it up and demand that, if it had been rubbed in.

We have been able to send about GH¢11million as micro credit to women since the Ministry was established, and a lot of women are trading with it mostly in the informal sector to help their families.

DG: Were you ever a part of the 31st December Women’s Movement?
HAM: Never! I am surprised where that rumour is coming from.

They have never invited me to their meetings and I have never associated with them. It is not as if they invited me and I did not go or I went and left or I was part and left; I have not been part of them. So what is making the rounds is not true.

DG: Did you grow up the hard way or you were pampered?
HAM: I worked hard, but of course with the support of a lot of people. I was born in Walewale, a town on the way to Tamale. My mum, Hajia Azara Bonya, was a housewife and my dad, Mahama Tampurie, was a United Party (UP) Member of Parliament, but he was an Accountant by profession. He died in 1990 at the age of 65.

I had 25 siblings but lost one brother, so we are now 24.
But my father did well because out of the 25 children, 15 of us are university graduates who have their masters’ degrees and are working happily.

DG: You must have been a beautiful girl?
HAM: I guess I was.
DG: How did you handle the advances from the men at that time?
HAM: Interestingly, the men saw me as an innocent girl and used to play with me. They did not really make advances.

DG: Were you innocent or they saw you as being innocent?
HAM: I guess I was; I had a lot of male friends but they were not chasing me. Most of my male friends were very protective of me. I may now have to find out from them why they were doing that.

DG: Are some of them around now?
HAM: Yes. Mustapha Ali, the Northern Regional Minister, was one of them. He was fiercely protective when he saw any man talking to me. There were a lot of them: Dr. Abdulai Sari, and so many of them who did not take it kindly when they saw men around me.

DG: So at what point did they stop?
HAM: Stop? I had to stop them when I gathered the courage to talk back to them and challenged them when they talked. I started to tell them it was not part of their business. My female friends and I would hide and plan against them and scheme on how to outwit them.

DG: You have children?
HAM: I have a son; he is in the Law School and is writing his final papers.
Credit: DAILY GUIDE