I read with profound interest and fervid admiration
the piece published in the Daily Graphic of Wednesday, 11th March, 2015 with
the caption With women, we flatter to deceive written by Elizabeth Ohene, a
woman that has marvelled this country with the heights she had risen to.
My understanding of the piece is that our setting
of the world is designed in such a way that a woman rising to a position of
repute is treated as one of the rarities and oddities of life.
The piece stroke a chord within me because of all
the explanations given to hardwork and diligence of women who brave all odds to
“make a dent” in the universe in our part of the world, adultery and favour
from pleasure of flesh is the most used.
In the early nineties, we saw how a woman who
fought hard for the liberation of Mandela and an end to the ignoble
Apartheid system, Winnie Madikizela Mandela, was vilified and accused of going
out with men as young as her age as the lawyer Dali Mpofu. This
scathing accusation made her marriage fall like a pack of cards despite the
travails she went through after waiting a score and seven years for
an incarcerated Mandela.
In a like manner, a spurious and complete
falsehood was canalized through the media that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first
woman President in Africa, was being laid by her young ministers.
On our local scene, this phenomenon showed its ugly
face in a significant style and fashion. It was significant because it proved
that “the only way to silence your critic is through your performance.” Madam
Patricia Appiagyei was appointed by President Kufuor to replace Maxwell Kofi
Jumah as the mayor of Kumasi.
He later became the Member of Parliament for Asokwa
Constituency in the Ashanti Region. In 2012, Madam Appiagyei expressed her
desire to contest him in the primaries. When he was interviewed on that, he
made a statement that not only put the woman in a bad light, but
ignited the flame in women in that region to the extent that they threatened a
naked demonstration if he did not retract and apologize.
He stated that if she got the position of mayor
from sexual favours, she should not think she could unseat him now. That indeed
was an extreme form of verbal barbarity. Madam Appiagyei won him and further
sunk his name into the darkest bowls of history. Women therefore should take a
cue from Madam Patricia.
No one can empower you than your very self. All
over the world, women have proven times without number that when given a ground
devoid of any prejudice, they could also change the cause of history just as
men.
It was a woman who braved all the odds and started
preparing the grounds for the liberation of blacks from the clutches and
manacles of slavery. Harriet Tubman as she was called later came to be
known as the “Moses of slavery” due to the significant strides she made in the
emancipation of a considerable number of slaves.
No one can talk about the civil rights struggle of
America without mentioning Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks defied that odious order to
vacate her seat for a white person on the bus just because she was black. This
singular act culminated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott which set off a chain
reaction that led to the current level of sanity in the United States of
America.
Susan B. Anthony led the campaign on woman’s
right to suffrage when it was a crime for a woman to give her conviction in
choosing of leaders through the ballot.
The glade then is well-screened for women to rise
from the bowliness and unleash the glory of the Lord in them. The subjugation
of women must stop. And this stoppage must begin from women themselves.
Self-empowerment is key and vital to the survival of womanhood, one of the
finest creation of God.
A woman that is shaking the foundation of democracy
in Africa is the South African Speaker of Parliament who doubles as the
Chairperson of the oldest and most powerful political party in Africa, African
National Congress, Baleka Mbete. She really brings a fit of tranquillity
in a chaotic parliament as that of South Africa. Women have the knack to see
where trouble looms and how to curb it. It is therefore not surprising when she
stated;
“There’s a list that ought to be going to the
Pan-African Parliament so that the leaders of our continent can see the issues
that continue to be a big blot on progress. We shouldn’t fool ourselves because
many of the leaders don’t want that. They are about having an easy ride and
continuing to enjoy themselves.”
Up you women, you can achieve what you will!
NB: The writer is a National Service Person at the
Graphic Communications Group Limited.
