The maiden edition of the Trends Runway show was held in Tamale at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in November 2021. The night brought some delight to the city of Tamale. Generally, the organizers were impressed with the number of audiences who turned out for the program and the patience they exercise and stayed till the show was over.

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One of the Accra-based designers, expressed his joy and delightfulness at seeing the audience still glued to their seats as late as 12 midnight when people would begin to leave at about 9 pm in Accra when the show has not ended. The atmosphere and reception of the people of Tamale were a new experience for him and this overwhelming. According to him, this was an indication that they were really welcomed in Tamale with their fashion.

The missing vibe in the organization’s structure was the conspicuous absence of women. In an interview with Abdul Raafi Mohammed on Sanatu Zambang Hotspot Live, the organizers bemoaned the difficulty of getting women involved in working with them but they hope to improve upon representation in the subsequent editions.    

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They also expressed some difficulties in training the models. They had to run shifts for the trainees because most of them were not regular and kept missing days in training. This made their work very difficult.

Talking of the sponsorship, the organizers admitted that, they had a tough time getting people and organizations to sponsor the program.  They reiterated that most cooperate bodies would ask for sponsorship letters but when the letters are given out to them, they would decline to grant any sponsorship.  

In organizing this fashion show, they noted that most of their sponsorships came from friends and family members, which was totally unacceptable and discouraging for the growth and success of the program.

One of the points that were also highlighted in the interview was the fact that designers are being limited by clients says Abdul Raafi. Fashion designers are not being challenged by clients to be creative and come out with their own designs. Clients come to seek services demanding replicas of dresses they see on the internet. But the panelist was of a different view. They said it was the duty of these fashion designers to educate their clients about the fashion business and the work they actually do.  

 Source: Cynthia Kuyoli | Sanatu Zambang

l usually don’t chat on group WhatsApp platforms. But yesterday, l had the pleasure of exerting epistemic madness on two professors.

After all said and done, wisdom prevailed that we should suspend the needless, uninformed comparison between Ghana and the late industrialized nations – the Asian Tigers.

I graciously succeeded in convincing my interlocutors that the problem of Ghana and the world isn’t technical (how answers), but adaptive (why answers).

After politics suffocates the nation, splitting us into needless tribalistic pieces, l relax with the sagacity of the sages on GBC every Friday.

I pray that, as a nation, we will take a break, see the ontological nobility of the other and polish the pearls of ancient wisdom to advance human flourishing.

My readings allow me to surmise that the world has progressed technologically in a manner that is unprecedented.

Similarly, we have retrogressed morally in breaking all ethical and ontological boundaries.

The above antinomy is precise because, whereas the “why” endless questions were anterior to the “how” pragmatic answers, the inverse of the two has been the aporia of human civilization.

Whenever l read the Bible, especially the Egyptian enslavement of the Israelites, l see the wisdom in enslavement for building in us, resilience and empathy.

No wonder, God’s major concern wasn’t about the “how” progress of the Israelites, but the “why” issues of their civilization (cf. Deuteronomy 8).

If l were a leader, l will cut down all needless and pretentious democratic and political shows by 90 percent.

The too-knowing and half-baked, partisan journalists are sinking the nation.

Similarly, comprador civil society groups keep trading Ghana cheaply, keeping the nation in the orbit of perpetual recolonization.

In replacement, l will assemble young men and women to dialogue with the older generation to take Ghana from our between and betwixt state to the next level.

At least, in my home, no politics. No anxieties about material things.

We hold the philosophy that when one shares power, one loses influence. When one shares the wealth, one loses worth. But when one share love, one receives life.

Enough of the needless partisan politics. Let’s reinstate wisdom and sanity in the public sphere.

The noise is too much, no wonder logic runs in the reverse in the public sphere.

Kasa no adoo so. Maganganu yaa ya wa mu na.

Satyagraha

Prempeh Charles

She Leads…In a world where being a female means working extra hard to ‘catch up’ to what many call ‘a man’s world’, it is imperative that all avenues be used to remind society of the proverb ‘if you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.

It is with this background that Plan International launches a media campaign dubbed ‘SHE LEADS’.

The campaign was launched on International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated on 8th of March each year. The celebration is to recognize women’s social, economic, and political achievements. It also highlights the importance of creating conditions favorable to women for their full and equal participation in social development.

Presenting the general overview of the project, Anna Nabere, Program Manager of the Campaign, stated that the strategic objective of the project is to increase sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions. She added that, the long-term aim (impact) of She Leads is that GYW’s perspectives are included in gender responsive laws and policies and societal norms and practices.

In her presentation, she delved into the geographic focus of the campaign. “East Africa (Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya), West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia) and the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan). Regional level programs, targeting regional institutions and others. In Ghana, specifically Ashanti Region, North East Region, Central Region, Western North region, Upper West Region and Greater Accra Region.

The keynote speaker of the event, Sheila Minkah-Premo Esq. – Women’s Rights Activist And Convenor Of The Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, in her presentation on “Bias Towards Women Leadership – Addressing The Challenge”. She reiterated that women are not given enough seats at the ‘high tables’ “Women’s Rights Activist and Convenor of the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition. Women have been marginalized in governance. The percentage of women in Parliament is a reflection of the imbalance. The percentage has ranged from 9.6% in 1960 to 8.7 in 2008 to the current Parliament of 2021 where we have 40 out of 275 making it 14.45%. We have had one female Speaker of Parliament since independence with the rest being male. We have never had a female President or vice president. Ministerial positions have always had more men than women. The Judiciary has more men in the Superior as well as Lower Courts than women and have had two female Chief Justices since independence”. 

She ended by calling on stakeholders to come on board to make this campaign a success and women to aspire to do and be more “As you launch the She Leads project today, I look forward to the opportunities it will create to enable young women aspire for leadership. Women are capable of achieving laurels in the public and private sectors. They need to be equipped and inspired to aspire for leadership. There is also the need to break the bias to make their push for leadership possible. This can be made possible by laws like the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Law, which will put in place programmes to ensure that there is a level playing field for both sexes”.

Songstress Adina Thembi was introduced and unveiled as the official brand ambassador for the She Leads Campaign.  She performed for the first time, the official jingle for the Campaign.

The official pledge for the campaign “I pledge to give a girl a chance because when she leads, we gain”

The She Leads Project is by Plan International Ghana in partnership with Defense for Children Ghana, Women Aspire Network and Gender Centre for Empowering Development, with funding support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

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