Ms. Francisca Oteng-Mensah, the Member of Parliament for Kwabre East in the Ashanti region has charged Ghanaian women to take up leadership roles and not be intimidated by whatever force that come their way.
She said: “In Ghana, we have very few women and young women who are into politics and I happen to be in these two categories, but if you are determined and focused, you can get there, if you truly have to be there”.
Francisca Oteng expressed hope to see a lot of youth and women in parliament so that they can help push the agenda for women, who according her, are the dominant group when it comes to Ghana’s population.
Nevertheless, the youngest parliamentarian in Ghana expressed optimism that a lot more women and youth would be motivated to go into politics in the subsequent years as the emergence of young women in politics would motivate them
“Politics is a very big platform and meant for those who always have the zeal to help people, but if you are doing it as a private person, the opportunity to spread your tentacles and help a lot of people is very low, but with a political platform, you would be able to help a lot of people”, she told the media in an interview after receiving excellence award from Concerned NPP Youth in Kumasi.
According to her, Kwabre is a strong New Patriotic Party constituency where most of the people have unflinching love for the party, but they just need someone to motivate them.
She stated: “I came at the right time, and I managed to pull a record votes of 71,757 for parliamentary and presidential. People of Kwabre have done a great job, she said adding adding that she would increase the votes in future, which she stressed will depend on what the NPP does as they are in power and what people within constituency will do, because “if we take bad step, it is going to affect the party.”
The young legislator charged NPP members: “With Ghanaians giving us the huge mandate to govern our motherland, I believe it is great task so we have to work hard as party faithful to maintain or improve upon it.
Asked about her first-day experience in parliament, Ms Oteng-Mensah revealed that it was a very nice experience, “just that at a point in time a lot of things were new to us, but after orientation, through education and with our old colleagues, they managed to help us to come back on track and everything is okay. So far, it has been a nice experience”.
She added: “Initially things were new to us, especially finding your way out in Parliament House was something very difficult for most of the new MPs. Now we know what is going on; if a motion is moved, you know where to contribute and a lot more.
On winning the excellence award for polling the highest votes in the December 7, 2016 general elections, Ms Oteng-Mensah dedicated the feat to her constituents.