After completing their respective primaries to elect candidates for the November 7, 2016 parliamentary elections, both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have only three female candidates to contest three out of the 29 parliamentary seats in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The two incumbent female Members of Parliament (MPs) from the region, Ms Freda Prempeh, NPP MP for Tano North, and Dr Hanna Louisa Bissiw, NDC MP for Tano South, won their respective primaries to enable them to contest their seats on December 7, 2016.
The only newcomer is Ms Felicia Adjei, who defeated the former District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Kintampo South District, Mr Kwadwo Nyame Datiakwa, to emerge as the NDC parliamentary candidate for Kintampo South.
It is now not known whether other political parties will field women as their candidates for the November 7, 2016 polls or some women would file their nominations as independent candidates in the region. For now, we will focus our attention on the three already known candidates.
Ms Felicia Adjei
Ms Felicia Adjei is a citizen of Anyima in the Kintampo South District who had her early education at the Kintampo Methodist School.
She holds an Advance Certificate and a Diploma in Catering and Food and Nutrition from the Adventist Vocational Institute, now the Techiman Campus of the Valley View University, and the Sunyani Polytechnic respectively.
She has also done other certificate courses in customer care and entrepreneurship.
Ms Adjei had her first job experience at the Catering Rest House, Sunyani and later relocated to the United States of America, where she worked with companies such as Motorola and General Motors.
She is currently the chief executive officer of the Adfall Company Limited and the Founder of the Felicia Adjei Foundation.
Political ambitions
The NDC parliamentary candidate for Kintampo South told the Daily Graphic that she hoped to maintain the seat which has traditionally belonged to the NDC in the upcoming elections.
She explained that she was able to defeat Mr Datiakwa during the primary with a dedicated team which was able to research into the needs and wants of the constituents.
“We organised programmes and designed packages to address their needs. Even before I was elected, I was able to provide some communities with boreholes, and corn mills among other facilities,” she said.
Ms Adjei said it was to address the problems of people in the constituency that she set up the Felicia Adjei Foundation.
According to her, the objectives of the foundation were to empower women through vocational training, youth development through education and sports, farming, supporting the physically challenged and the provision of healthcare and other community service.
Dr Hanna Louisa Bissiw
Dr Hanna Louisa Bissiw is the incumbent NDC MP for Tano South. She is also a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture.
The veterinary doctor holds DVM from the Agrarian University of Havana, Cuba. She hails from Techimantia one of the big communities in the constituency.
Work and political experience
Dr Bissiw, who will be seeking her second term in office as MP, previously worked as the quality control manageress at the West Africa Fisheries before being appointed as a Deputy Minister for Works and Housing from January 2009 to January 2013.
In the December 2012 parliamentary election, she had 19,236 votes, representing 51.49 per cent of the 37,362 valid votes cast, to beat the incumbent NPP MP, Mr Andrew Adjei Yeboah, who obtained 17,856 votes, representing 47.79 per cent of the valid votes.
Dr Bissiw, who won the 2015 NDC primary in the constituency unopposed, is hoping to retain the seat during the November 7, 2016 general election.
Ms Freda Akosua Ohene Afrewo Prempeh
The two constituencies in the Tano area of the Brong Ahafo Region seem to have understood the campaign messages of the affirmative action to give females in the area a chance to prove their worth at the highest level of decision-making in the country.
While Dr Hanna Bissiw is the NDC MP for the Tano South, Ms Freda Prempeh is also the incumbent NPP MP for Tano North.
She is a Public Relation and Marketing Executive. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Administration) Human Resource Management Option from the University of Ghana, CIM, UK, CPA (GIMPA) and Diploma (GIJ). She recently obtained her Master of Arts in Public Relations at the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Work and political experience
Ms Prempeh served as the Assemblywoman of the Lokoo Electoral Area of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and also the Managing Director of the Mega Anagkazo Limited, Accra, before moving to the higher level in politics to become the Member of Parliament of the Tano North Constituency.
In the 2009 NPP primary in the Tano North, Ms Prempeh nearly caused an upset when the incumbent NPP MP, Mr Ernest Akubuor Debrah, who was also the Minister of Food and Agriculture, won the contest by just some few votes.
It was, therefore, a matter of course that when Mr Debrah decided not to contest the 2012 election, Ms Prempeh became the obvious choice for her party.
In the 2012 parliamentary election, she won the seat with 18,531 votes out of the 34,379 valid votes cast, representing 53.80 per cent, to beat the NDC candidate and DCE for Tano North, Mr Apraku Lartey, who had 14,789, representing 43.02 per cent.
Ms Prempeh, who won the primary by defeating some male contestants, will be seeking to retain the seat which traditionally belongs to the NPP during the November 7, 2016 polls.
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