News
Encourage young girls to develop interest in taking up leadership positions
Encouraging young girls to develop interest in taking up leadership positions through mentorship programmes is necessary to set them on the path of holding top positions in the future.
“Educating girls early enough on the relevance of aspiring for higher positions will make them ambitious and willing to take their academics seriously to achieve their dreams.”
Founder of the Leading Ladies Network (LLN), a women’s leadership development organisation, Madam Yawa Hansen-Quao made the assertion yesterday in Accra, during a girls mentorship programme held for pupils from selected schools within the Ga North Municipality.
The mentees were taken through topics including manners and courtesy, suicide prevention, entrepreneurship, voting and leadership in public, savings, investment and career choices.
According to her, girls from disadvantaged backgrounds especially, needed to be paid special attention and motivated enough, to enable them build confidence in themselves and have the belief that no matter their backgrounds, achieving success was possible.
Various researches, she said, had shown that the earlier young girls are exposed to leadership opportunities, the more likely it was for them to run public service positions when they come of age and the more likely it was for them to have the ambition to do extraordinary things.
“Mentorship guides girls to be on the right track, that is why we sometimes hold governance camps to select those interested in a career in public service, all in the quest to prepare them for what that looks like.”
“We take them on excursions to parliament as well, for them to understand the interactions between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, because we believe that will make them develop the interest in running for public offices one day,” she added.
Madam Hansen-Quao revealed that so far, her outfit had impacted more than 5,000 young girls from 32 different Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Ga North Municipality.
She hoped the number would increase to 10,000 by the end of the year.
The Girl Child Education Coordinator of the Ga North Municipality, Madam Christiana Ankrah on her part commended the LLN for their contribution towards promoting girl child education in the country, adding that the various mentorship programmes held within the municipality over the years by the LLN was yielding positive results.
Targeting young girls and coaching them to become successful and responsible adults, she said was a move in the right direction.
In furtherance, she advised the young girls to take their studies seriously and avoid indulging in acts that could mar their future.
A facilitator of the LLN, Mrs Ajoa Bright Tetteh urged the pupils to be entrepreneurially minded while chasing their dreams.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
The Ghana High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, is appealing to the public to help trace the relatives or next of kin of Apia Solomon, a Ghanaian national believed to be from Osu, Accra.
According to a public announcement by the High Commission, Mr. Solomon, born on March 6, 1960, in Accra, died on July 5, 2021, from cardiopulmonary failure.
He worked as a temporary civilian staff member at the National Defence College in Nigeria. His remains are currently being kept at the Nigerian Air Force Hospital morgue in Abuja, pending burial arrangements.
The High Commission says efforts to locate his relatives have so far been unsuccessful and is urging anyone with information about his family, friends or next of kin to come forward.
Anyone with relevant information is encouraged to contact the Ghana High Commission in Abuja.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Security consultant Richard Kumadoe has blamed what he describes as flawed recruitment and incomplete background checks for some of the problems facing the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI).
He has called on the leadership of the BNI to review the backgrounds of officers recruited during specific periods, particularly those who entered the agency under recent recruitment processes.
Speaking on the issue on TV3 yesterday, Mr Kumadoe alleged that some individuals were recruited into the intelligence agency without proper background checks and completed vetting.
“Certain categories of persons were dumped into the BNI, whose backgrounds were not checked, and whose vettings were not completed,” he stated.
He said some of the officers linked to the concerns appeared to have been recruited within the same period, making it necessary for the agency to examine the recruitment records and backgrounds of those who joined during that time.
Mr Kumadoe argued that the problems could be addressed by ensuring that recruitment procedures were properly followed and that all applicants underwent the required checks before being employed.
According to him, when the selection process is flawed, it can lead to problems within the institution.
He blamed the politicisation of security institutions, arguing that appointing people without the necessary intelligence experience and allowing political interests to influence recruitment could undermine their operations.
“When you have a selection procedure that was flawed because you politicised the place, brought in people to come and head the place when they have no business being there, they don’t know anything about being a BNI officer, they are not intelligence officers, and you flood the place with politicians and political artists, then you circumvent the standard procedure and you are going to have some of these problems,” he said.
Mr Kumadoe, however, defended the current leadership of the BNI, arguing that efforts to address longstanding problems within security institutions could bring such issues to light.
He said the leadership should be assessed in the context of the steps it is taking to improve the agency’s operations and uphold professional standards.
Drawing on his own experience in the intelligence field, he said the opportunity to serve under experienced officers had helped him develop the skills and integrity needed to contribute to national security.
By: Jacob Aggrey
