Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey
The Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has stated that most Ghanaians are whittled down from shortlisted candidates for international positions as a result of lack of a second major international language apart from English Language.
According the minister-designate, Ghanaians are not getting top-notch appointments at the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other international organisations because they can speak only English language, unlike their francophone counterparts.
Responding to a barrage of questions from members of the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday, the nominee said she got excited about the candidature of a Ghanaian diplomat, Martha Ama Pobee, to become the Deputy Chairperson of the AU but was eventually not successful.
“One of the reasons I found at least with ECOWAS and AU is most Ghanaians don’t have a second language; and so they do apply, however, when it comes to the shortlist then they fall by the way side because they don’t have the French language,” she pointed out.
She added that “when you do the reverse most francophone people speak English and therefore they are able to get in.”
“We do not have enough Ghanaians in international positions. This was one of the priority areas for me when I was a Minister for Foreign Affairs. The candidature of Martha Pobee was something we were all proud of because as the first woman PR in New York, she did a great job and so we were all looking forward to having her at the African Union, and it was for that reason that we put her candidature up,” she posited.
She stated, however, that the candidature to the African Union for any country was “the candidature for ECOWAS in our case. So it is ECOWAS that put forward a candidate, even though it comes from member states.”
According to her, the heads of states, after consultation, decided to push for two commissioner positions for ECOWAS with priority areas focused on health and humanitarian as well as peace and security so that they would impact not just on the continent but also on the sub-region.
Ms. Botchwey explained that after back and forth and having regarded that some countries had presented candidates for education, macroeconomics and energy, heads of member-states of ECOWAS settled on the position of two commissioners.
Assurance
“But let me assure Honourable Members that I have set up a candidature’s unit which is first of all scanning all international agencies to find out, first the positions that are coming up and available and second, who we can put forward to those positions.
“By the grace of God, if you give me the nod, I hope that I can make an impact in that area, especially in ensuring that Ghanaians and women get positions in international organisations,” she assured.
Domestic Workers
On the issue of female domestic workers abroad, the Foreign Affairs Minister-designate said she was horrified by the stories of Ghanaian domestic workers in the Middle East and the Gulf countries.
“It is something that I can say, was one of my very low points, because you have these young women who go in search of greener pastures, so to speak. Many of them are deceived by unscrupulous agents even when there has been a ban on these agents to take the young ladies out of the country,” she said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu