Okyeame Kwame says he would back a woman for president and urges wider honour for women of independence era

Pinned summary · as of 06:12

Ghanaian rapper Okyeame Kwame, whose legal name is Kwame Nsiah-Apau, has said he would cast his vote for a woman seeking the presidency, provided she matched a male rival in ability and integrity. He spoke on the Changes show on Joy Prime, where he also argued that women who helped win Ghana's independence deserve much greater recognition.

What we know

• Okyeame Kwame told Joy Prime's Changes programme that, faced with a woman and a man who were equally qualified and equally responsible, he would vote for the woman.
• He said women tend, though not always, to show a little more empathy than men and to be less inclined to take state money illegally, while stressing that this should not be applied to every woman because some female leaders have themselves faced accusations of misusing public resources.
• In his view, women bring love, sympathy and nurture to leadership and care more about people, whereas men lean towards caring about things. He described the prospect of a woman as president as 'dope'.
• The musician cited Theodosia Okoh, Ama Nkrumah, Susanna Al-Hassan, Mabel Danquah and Naa Dedei Ashikishan as women he references in the third track of his 'Big Up' project, and said they made serious sacrifices in the push for independence, with some jailed or dismissed from work.
• Okyeame Kwame said these women have not been honoured enough and proposed that their lives be taught to schoolchildren and that prominent streets carry their names, so that girls learn the country has founding mothers as well as founding fathers.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Ghana Report reported that he wants their stories added to the Social Studies curriculum and floated a 'founding mothers roundabout'; The Publisher Online described the school proposal more generally, and neither detail has been matched by the other report.
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  The Publisher Online reported that the interviewer was Nikki Samonas, that he would gladly advocate a female party flagbearer, and that he believes women are naturally caring with a motherly instinct that suits them to running a country. The Ghana Report did not carry these points.
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  The Publisher Online reported that 'Big Up' is a new song dedicated to women who contributed to Ghana's growth, and quoted him as saying Susanna Al-Hassan was Africa's first female Minister of State and that Naa Dedei Ashikishan, a businesswoman, appears on the 50 pesewas coin. These descriptions come from a single report.
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  The Publisher Online also reported that he urged society to celebrate women as it does men, to create balance and to encourage men to embrace their feminine side; this has not appeared in other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

Women's representation in Ghana's top political offices is a regular topic ahead of future elections, and a well-known artist speaking on it reaches a young audience. His call to bring female independence-era figures into classrooms and public spaces also touches on what pupils in Ghanaian schools learn about the country's history.