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Okyeame Kwame has opened up about his preference for female leadership, saying he would vote for a woman in a presidential contest if she and a male candidate were equally qualified and responsible.
The Ghanaian rapper and social advocate made the comments during an interview with Nikki Samonas on Joy Prime’s Changes, where he was asked whether he would support a female candidate seeking the presidency.
“If that woman and the man are both equally qualified and they’re equally responsible, I’ll vote for the woman because women usually, not all the time, have a bit more empathy and they’re less likely to steal from the state than men,” he said.
Okyeame Kwame acknowledged that his view should not be treated as a universal rule, noting that women have also been involved in cases concerning the misuse of state resources. His argument, however, is that women can bring qualities such as empathy, nurture and concern for people’s welfare into leadership.
“Women come with a lot of love, empathy, sympathy, nurture; they have that motherly thing where they care more about people,” he explained, adding that he believes “a female president will be dope.”
His comments come alongside his latest musical project, Big Up, which celebrates women who contributed to Ghana’s development and independence but, in his view, have not received enough recognition.
Among the women referenced in the song are Susanna Al-Hassan, Naa Dedei Ashikishan, Theodosia Okoh, Mabel Danquah and Ama Nkrumah. Okyeame Kwame said their sacrifices and contributions deserve greater attention in Ghana’s national history.
He is also calling for their stories to become more prominent in the education system and public spaces.
“I want to see all of them in Social Studies books; I want students to write exams about them. I want young girls to know that we don’t only have the founding fathers, but there are also founding mothers,” he said.
He further suggested that prominent streets and public landmarks could be named after some of these women as a way of preserving their legacy.
For Okyeame Kwame, the conversation is therefore bigger than who occupies Ghana’s highest political office. It is also about how the country remembers the women who helped shape its history and whether their contributions receive the same public recognition as those of the men traditionally associated with Ghana’s independence story.
