A level 600 MPhil Management and Planning student at the University for Development Studies, Tamale, Liza Abagrey, is hoping to become the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG) President for the university.
Ms. Abagrey outperformed her contenders, securing a simple majority win in the election. According to Ms. Abagrey, it wasn’t until hours after she was declared the winner that the Electoral Commission explained that she needed 50 percent +1 to win the election.
For this reason, there is expected to be a runoff on Friday, July 19, 2024.
When Ms. Abagrey spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Equal Voices programme, she was optimistic that Friday’s outcome would not be any different from the previous results.
Speaking about her experiences while running for the position, Ms. Abagrey recounted what she described as the unfortunate comments that have been made about her and the general remarks often made about women who put themselves up for leadership positions.
She explained that the comments included accusations that these women are sexually promiscuous, irresponsible, and cannot tend to the home; a role that has been socially assigned to women.
For young women who want to run for leadership positions, Ms. Abagrey said, “Composure is key. You also need focus and discipline. All the machinations because you are female would come out, all the accusations, all the attacks, will come. I have got them. I just put them aside.”
She added, “If you keep listening to negative things, you would not go anywhere. If you listen to what people say, it would demoralize you.”
Ms. Abagrey continued to say that some of the attacks targeted at women seeking leadership positions are deliberate.
“I want to tell the women out there, some of these things they do are intentional to cow us into sitting in the homes, to sit in the rooms and allow others to lead us. They are intentionally making us feel that we cannot lead. Sometimes, people mistake boldness for arrogance.”
She charged other women interested in taking up leadership positions at the tertiary level to remain focused and continue to persevere to see their dreams realized.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga|
