Deputy Minister-designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Francisca Oteng Mensah, has expressed the dream to contest for the president of Ghana in future.
According to her, she harboured the dream of becoming a legislator when she was a young girl, which has come to pass and indicated sometime in her political career, she would like to take a shot at the presidency.
The nominee disclosed these when she appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday, December 15 to be vetted for the position of deputy minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Alexander Afenyo Markin had questioned whether the nominee, who became the youngest Member of Parliament at age 23 and is about to become one of the youngest ministers in Ghana at 29 would gun for the presidency in future.
Hon. Francisca Oteng who is the Member of Parliament for Kwabre East said, “I think there is nothing wrong with me to have presidential ambition. I will definitely aspire to be one so that I can inspire more young people.”
“By the records of Parliament, I am still the youngest member. Participating in local politics in my constituency inspired me to do more and motivate more young people, most especially young girls to also work hard to attain greater heights.”
She urged the youth that age is not a barrier but just a number and that anything they wish to attain in life would have to be started now and all the efforts will come to fruition one day.
Asked whether she could work well under the Minister in view of the fact that President Akufo-Addo did not consult the sector minister before nominating her, the nominee indicated her age gives her leverage and will consider the Minister as a mother figure.
According to her, with the experience of Hajia Lariba, she would be able to learn more and effectively work with her Minister to ensure the programmes being pursued by the government would be achieved.
She said, “As the Chairperson of the Gender Committee, I know the Minister-nominee is very accommodating, and looking at my age, I should be able to work with her easily because I also have some young people working under me.”
Speaking on the operations and activities of orphanages in the country, the Deputy Minister-designate indicated that operating them is quite a challenge as a result government only runs three orphanages across the country with the rest owned by private individuals.
She called for a second look at the foster care system to ensure children without parents are brought up in the family setting rather than in an institution.
Hon. Francisca Oteng pledged to work with her Minister if given the nod to come up with such a programme and also see how orphanages in existence can be supported to make them more effective in the upbringing of the children.