People always shop for reasons why women occupy top positions – Maame Yaa Tiwaa laments

The Director-General in Charge Welfare at the Ghana Police Service COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah has bemoaned the stereotyping of women in leadership positions in the country.

According to her, people for reasons best known to them are always in a rush to shop for weird and non-existent reasons for which some women have been able to ascend certain positions in the country.

Whereas such persons may have been able to assume such enviable positions based on their competence and academic records, others mostly misogynists feel they never deserved them and therefore will always find reasons for which they have been appointed into such positions.

Speaking to youth leaders drawn from the various political parties and civil society organizations at a workshop under the auspices of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), she noted that it is one of the many challenges facing women leaders.

“It is challenging being a woman leader in Ghana where there is male dominance. People always try to find a reason why you are there in Ghana in the first place. You must accept it as a challenge and focus on what you have been appointed to do. Some even ask whether you slept with appointing authorities to get your post,” she sadly revealed.

The Chartered Accountant, however, appealed to the youth in the face of these challenges, pursue their dreams and give off their best in every chosen field they find themselves indicating it could be a major turning point in their lives.

“You do not know who is watching what you are doing and the impact you could be making in the development of society. Where ever you find yourself do your assigned roles to the best of your ability and do not lazy around because the benefits thereof will be enormous”, she advised.

Concluding, she recounted how a policewoman at a distance inspired her to join the service while as a hawker at Konongo in the Ashanti Region.