Have you ever wondered why this country is called mother Ghana? It most probably mean it will take a woman to make this country a better place. It is obvious the men who became president in Ghana have for most part failed this country, and I, Rachael Abena Adjei Darkwaa, want to be the first female president of Ghana and turn the country into a better place.

Many people think it takes academic qualifications to be president of a country, but I believe there is more to it than that. Education is key, but beyond that, a good heart and an excellent spirit are critical to making the world a better place. I have always dreamt of being the president of Ghana, to take care of the country and the people like how a mother takes care of the home and everything and everybody in it.

I look at it this way; a mother has organizational skills, and she is able to excellently juggle between caring for her husband, children and for herself; plus, she also puts things in order at home and makes sure that the home is conducive for the family.

Call it prejudice, but right from childhood, I knew men could not take good care of their own stuff much less other people's stuff. As the only girl in the midst of two strong boys, I always had a problem with by brothers because of the way they managed their things at home. Their cloths are either in the sofa, on the floor or in some obscure corner. Shoes here, bags there, everything scattered. Well, I thought they would change with time but they grew up with same attitude. I always wondered if they could ever take care of their own homes, but I realized very early that men and orderliness are two parallel lines, they never meet.

I am therefore not surprised how the management of this country by men, largely, is messed up. Graduate unemployment, power crises, unpaid salaries, strike actions, demonstrations, civil conflicts, galamsey (dangerous illegal mining), water problems, I can go on and on. But the men go with their heads so high and swim in riches and wealth while the citizens wallow in absolute poverty. It all boils down to the fact that men cannot manage anything properly.

Most of the boys I grew up with, always brought home one trouble or the other. They always brought debt for their parents to pay. Is it so surprising that a country like Ghana, with all the natural resources like cocoa, timber, gold and now oil, among other things, has piled so much national debt for generations unborn to come and pay? There are countries which do not have half of the resources Ghana has but they are better off. Even war-torn countries like Rwanda and others are reportedly doing much better now. Yes, those countries are also managed by men, but Ghana's men don't seem to have what it takes.

Think about how hard it is for a woman to provide a healthy meal for her family with very little money that her husband provides for the home. I did a little survey on how much housekeeping money some men provide and the magic their wives work with such little money I'm the face of sky rocketing food prices. But the women keep managing because they have the family at heart. Women have automatic  Masters degrees in managing with the little they have just to keep everybody at home happy, sometimes at their own expense.

A woman of understanding, would never borrow and create a debt burden for the husband and the home, when she is aware the husband does not have a solid source of funding. But men are quick to borrow, and that is what we have seen with our presidents since independence till date; poor management of our own resources, but quick to run to the credit market and borrow for both capital and recurrent expenditures, which only leaves the future generation with debts rather than a sound footing to take off. Indeed, the borrowing would not have been a problem, if the purpose of it is seen in our national life. But what we have is a very huge national debt with a messed up economy to show for it.

In past when we did not have oil, our male leaders often told us that because of the rising crude oil prices on the world market, it was difficult to subsidize fuel prices in Ghana. Today we have oil, and are getting some oil money. But our male leaders are again telling us that falling crude oil prices on the world market is making it impossible for us to subsidize fuel prices for our people. So as a woman, I wonder if the oil we made noise about was worth it at all. It looks like oil or no oil, we are worse off. Obviously, the problem is not the resources; it is the people managing it; men!

Presidential Promises

There is a huge problem with communication from the presidency of this country. Our president has a penchant for making promises, which are never fulfilled. Everybody knows about the famous "I John Mahama, I will fix the 'dumsor' in the first year of my presidency" promise. The MAN is in his final year of presidency and the dumsor (power crisis) is still not quite over yet. Recently, at the meet-the-press session to mark the completion of his third year in office, he tried to make another dumsor promise but he quickly advised himself and backtracked, amidst thunderous laughter from the audience. The MAN just loves making promises he is not sure of fulfilling.

But he is not the only one who has made promises and not fulfilled. The other men who have gone ahead of him also made some promises which never saw the light of day. A simple promise like making 40 percent of cabinet ministers and government appointees women was never fulfilled by any of the men who made those campaign promises. Yes, that is what they are, campaign promises, targeted at winning the votes of gullible Ghanaians, but no commitment to fulfilling them.

Successive governments have made campaign promises to cut down on fuel prices. Once they win power they turn round and explain that the factors determining fuel prices are not within their control. But when they are on the campaign trail they hit hard at the incumbent and promise to bring a magic wand that will turn the fortunes of the country around. But strangely, some of them come to power and the first thing they do is to rather increase fuel prices.

I still wonder why the men who have led us, cannot just tell us the real situation and the gradual and painstaking process it will take to solve it, instead of promising heaven. As a woman, I have had my fair share of men making promises they never fulfilled, particularly after getting what they want. But it is hardly in the nature of women to make promises they cannot fulfill. All things being equal, it is more natural with women to paint a real picture of a situation than it is for men. Men, as we have witnessed, will make it about their ego and paint heaven when the situation is not quite so.

I just can't wait to be the first female president of Ghana. We need a heavy dose of truth and reality in our body politic and that is what I bring onboard. I learnt one thing from my mother when growing up. She knew how to explain difficult situations for us to understand and live with. We sometimes went to school with no money because we knew and understood that our parents did not have. But we also knew that no condition is permanent. My father was usually quiet about it, but mom would make us see the reality and we understood it. That is the value I bring onboard the presidency.

But beside injecting reality into our system, my mother also knew how to read and understand even the looks on our faces and she often knew exactly what magic to do to bring positive change. She knows when, how and what to say to her husband to make things work at home. She knows how to communicate with children in public and at home and she can even communicate with food or her appearance to get the best result needed. That is the value I bring. In fact a double portion of that value is waiting in me to be unleashed on the presidency.

A leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty to accomplish the task at hand, or to serve the people. How many men really do this? Women are masters and naturals at getting themselves dirty for the job.That is why when everybody is wailing and in distress in the country because of economic hardship, our presidents ride in big cars, sleep in big mansion, live luxuriously and do little or nothing about the economic hardships in the country because they do not pay bills like the ordinary Ghanaian does; their children don't wear tarted clothes, and their family members do not go jobless even without any working experience to show at job interviews; they simply have no clue the frustrations the people of this country face because they have seen none of that in their lives.

I usually get worried when Ghanaians view the political leadership as a group rather than as individuals who bring this personal values or lack of it, to bear on the governance of the country. That view of leadership as a political party is what has made our society polarized on political party lines, instead of focus on the character and values of the individuals put before as as presidential and parliamentary candidates.

It is the values and qualities of the persons seeking out votes that will usually translate into whether we progress as a country or not. The truth is each political party usually has a very juicy manifesto going into elections, but the characteristics of the persons making those manifesto promises is what will finally determine if those promises will be fulfilled or not.

Over the years, the men who have run the affairs of this country have largely proven that they lack the commitment a mother attaches to providing for her children and family. My natural instincts as female presidential candidate would be not to make extreme promises just for electoral victory. I will make reasonable promises I can fulfill and go on the back of the achievement of those promises to do other things for my family. Indeed, I would consider the citizens of the country as my family, unlike the men who have led this country discriminate between their own families and the rest of the citizens.

The question of women and children's welfare is key to the development of every country. Everyone of the male leaders of this country have made public pronouncements at one time or the other, about how important investment in women and children is to national development. But over the years the men who have led this country have treated women and children issues as a piece meal issue, when it come to real action. Good talk, poor action. We only need a female president to inject some real heavy dose of commitment into that and get serious with reaping the benefits we all talk about. I stand to be counted on that score.

My passion

Throughout my life, I have played a lot of leadership roles right from school to the community level. In school, I was always commended for playing my prefectoral role well and that pepped me on to take roles in my community after school.

I did a lot for my community even at a time I had no position in the community. Due to my good works, the people in my community pressured me to contest district assembly elections. They even paid for my nomination forms. Eventually, I won because my people knew my capabilities and knew I will never fail them. The trust they had in me and the heart and zeal to help my community to be a better place for the inhabitants gave me strength to carry on my good works.

I have risen through the ranks and my passion, vision and utmost determination is to be a president of this country to change things and bring good governance to the people of this country. I know how it feels to be homeless, to be poor and above all to live without basic necessities as I grew up from a humble beginning. My heart always aches when I see how our leaders govern this country as if life is all about today not even thinking of generations unborn.

Ministers, MPs and public sector workers do things anyhow and everybody looks on unconcerned and watch things go from bad to worse. There is no accountability and nobody to check who is doing what and that has been the fundamental cause of the canker in our country.

I know for a fact that people always do what is right when they know somebody is watching and will also be accountable to somebody and that will be my number one step to changing this country to how it should be. There are lots of things I will do but will not say it now until I become the first female president of this country which I know I will be.

I know that by now you are already wishing that I come to power to make this country what it needs to be and more. Keep hope alive because you might get your wish.