Women breaking the glass ceiling!

Even though some professions may traditionally be considered the exclusive preserve of men, that fact is generally not openly accepted.

Indeed, the resulting expression, “glass ceiling” is explained as “an unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and minorities (Wikipedia).”

In recent times, however, women have made inroads into fields not generally considered their domain, hence the saying that, “women are breaking the glass ceiling.”

Glass ceiling broken
December 2024 or probably the last quarter of 2024 appears to have seen women hit the headlines not only in politics and diplomacy but also in the military in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.

On December 4, 2024, Madam Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72 years  earned the ticket as Namibia’s first female President-elect following the victory of her party in the 2024 election.

In Ghana, with victory by her party on December 7, 2024, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is Ghana’s first female Vice-President-elect.

Earlier in October 2024, Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway was elected the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the first Ghanaian for the appointment. She is due to take office in January 2025.

LECIAD

On the night of Wednesday, December 11, 2024, I arrived home from the University of Ghana, Legon close to 10 p.m. My class at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) for my MA (International Affairs) students was from 5-8 p.m. The class was, however, followed by an informal session of about an hour’s socialisation.

So, for the period of the lecture, until I got home, I was out of touch with the world as my phones were on silent. I was, therefore, surprised when, among the many WhatsApp messages, I saw one from a friend who had never communicated with me that late.

Her request was for me to ask my friend at Peace FM “to shine” (congratulate and project) the following morning Thursday, her schoolmate at the Aburi Girls Secondary School, Maj. Gen. Anita Asmah. She had just been promoted and appointed as the new Force Commander/Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Golan, Syria.

Incidentally, the topic I had lectured my students on just a few hours earlier was “Conflict and the United Nations —Prevention, Management and Resolution.”

As I lectured, little did I know that Ghana and indeed Africa had just had its first female United Nations Force Commander. This certainly would have spiced my presentation, as I mentioned previous Ghanaian Force Commanders such as the late Lt Gen. Alexander Erskine and Lt Gen. Seth Obeng (Rtd).

Maj. Gen. Anita Asmah
An alumna of the Aburi Girls Secondary School, she holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Ghana and is fluent in French. She has served for 31 years after being commissioned into the Education Corps of the Ghana Armed Forces and will be 60 at the time she takes over in February 2025.

Between 2021– 2023, she was the Deputy Force Commander of UNDOF. She,therefore, goes in with an understanding of the complex geopolitics and harsh weather of the mission area.

In United Nations circles, however, she is remembered for her role in the passage of Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 of 2000 on Women, Peace and Security. She spearheaded the passing of Resolution 1325 when Namibia had the presidency of the Security Council with her as the Chairperson in 2000. According to Wikipedia,

“SCR 1325 was the first formal and legal document from the Security Council that required parties in a conflict to prevent violations of Women’s rights, to support women’s participation in Peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction and to protect women and girls from wartime sexual violence.”

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang
As running mate to the victorious presidential candidate in Ghana’s December 7, 2024, presidential elections, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is Ghana’s first female Vice President-elect due to become the Vice-President on January 7, 2025. She became the first female Vice-Chancellor of a Ghanaian university, the University of Cape Coast from 2008-2012.

Ayorkor Botchway
She has been Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration since 2017. She is the Secretary-General-elect of the Commonwealth Secretariat and is due to take over in early 2025.

Discussion
The four ladies discussed can all be said to have broken the glass ceiling. While President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa will be sworn in as the first female President of Namibia in January 2025, Vice-President-elect Opoku-Agyemang will become Ghana’s first female Vice-President in January 2025.

Maj. General Anita Asmah will become the first Ghanaian/African female to command a United Nations Force.

This is the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Madame Shirley Ayorkor Botchway will become the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat in early 2025.

To all the four ladies, Congratulations! I wish you God’s guidance in your new roles in service to God and humanity.

Breaking the glass ceiling also reminds me of Colonel Ernestina Assan and Colonel Vera Quaye who in 2000 became Ghana’s first female paratroopers, operationally jumping out of aircraft after very rigorous training and Group Captain (Colonel) Selase Agbenyefia who qualified as Ghana’s first female helicopter pilot! To them and other “glass ceiling breakers” not mentioned here, congratulations!

Ghanaian females are encouraged to dare stereotyping which promotes the belief that some professions are the preserve of men only. Nothing is Rocket Science which females cannot do once they are determined to put in the effort.

Indeed, history was made on September 9, 2024, when Mrs Efua Ghartey was elected as the first female president of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA). After two previous unsuccessful attempts, she showed courage, determination and resilience in winning on the third attempt.

She was sworn in as the president of the GBA on November 4, 2024.

Long live Ghana! Long live Ghanaian women! Leadership, lead by Example! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!

The writer is a former CEO of the African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya/Council Chair of the Family Health University College, Accra.

E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com