Patricia Appiagyei is the Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Asokwa
The Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, Patricia Appiagyei, has clarified her statement on President John Dramani Mahama’s appointment of people from the north, which she made in a recent interview with Angel FM.
In a statement issued by the deputy leader’s office, she indicated that her remarks have been misconstrued to mean that she was castigating the president’s appointments of people from the northern parts of the country.
The office explained that Appiagyei, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa, was only calling out the president over the low representation of women in some positions in his government.
“The Honourable Member, in her interview conducted in Twi, was responding to a question about women and gender representation in President Mahama’s administration. She expressed concern about the lack of regional balance and the inadequate inclusion of women in government appointments, as mandated by the Constitution of Ghana. Specifically, she questioned why even northern women who represent a significant and vibrant portion of Ghana’s population were excluded from leadership roles.
“Her comments were not in any way a critique of northerners or driven by tribal sentiment. Rather, they were meant to highlight the broader issue of equity, gender inclusion, and fair regional representation principles rooted in our constitutional values,” part of the statement reads.
It further clarified that; “It is unfortunate that this thoughtful call for inclusivity and representation has been twisted into a tribal narrative, which Hon. Patricia Appiagyei completely rejects and condemns. She has always stood for national unity, diversity, and equal opportunity for all Ghanaians, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or background.”
What Patricia Appiagyei said:
The Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, Patricia Appiagyei, accused President John Dramani Mahama of neglecting females in the appointment of Chief Executive Officers for the various state-owned institutions in the country.
According to the Deputy Minority Leader, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa, the president has not only failed Ghanaian women in his appointments, but has also failed to give adequate allocation to women from the northern part of the country, where the majority of his appointed CEOs hail from.
She added that the president’s action violates the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which provides for regional balance in appointments to such positions, and sets a dangerous precedent.
“One of the reasons I’m sad is that majority of them (male) who have been chosen to be chief executives are from the north. It is even more astonishing if you look at the Ashanti Region. What I think is that maybe he is not getting women from the north to appoint as he said… If this is the case, then there is a problem.
“Even the recent district assembly appointees they brought had the majority of them (the male appointees) from the north… This is very dangerous because it was the whole of Ghana that voted, and the law of Ghana, which is the constitution, states that appointments should be done in a way that ensures balance (regional balance),” she said in the Twi dialect during an interview on Angel TV, on May 15, 2025.
The Asokwa legislator added, “If you look at the population size, they are not more than the remaining of us. In terms of population, Akans and the other tribes are more than them, so why should the appointment be lopsided in this manner?”
Watch her remarks in the video below:
“I feel sad when I look at the list of President Mahama’s appointees. Most of them are Northerners, and I believe that’s a dangerous trend.”
– Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Asokwa, Hon. Patricia Appiagyei, has expressed concerns over what she describes as a disproportionate… pic.twitter.com/gVJYpzEjQo
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) May 16, 2025
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