Politicians urged to be transformational leaders
Professor Helen Yitah, Head of English Department, University of Ghana, has called on aspiring politicians to adopt the tenets of transformational leadership, saying it is the best way to move the nation forward.
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“A transformational leader is simply someone who can guide, guard, direct and sometimes take painful decisions to bring about the needed changes in a society,” he explained.
She said although the ideals of transformational leadership were not usually adhered to by politicians, it was important for aspiring leaders to change from that mentality to help develop the nation.
Prof Yitah said this in Accra during a five-day training workshop on gender and political participation organised by the Association of African Women for Research and Development (AAWORD).
The training, which was mainly for aspiring politicians less than 30 years of age, was to encourage women to actively participate in politics as well as to enable men to understand gender-based issues.
Prof Yitah urged them to see leadership as an opportunity to serve those who brought them into power and not to yield to the interests of just a few people.
She appealed to them to make the attainment of peace and the equitable distribution of national resources a priority to avoid discontentment among the people they served.
Prof Yitah said it was also important to be truthful and deliver campaign promises in order to court the trust and the support of the people.
She also urged them to make transparency and accountability their watch words and allow themselves to be guided and guarded by the desire to “do the right thing at all times”.
Human right issues, Prof Yitah said, should be one of their topmost priorities, adding that insults, fear and lack of support were some of the main obstacles preventing women from participating in politics in the country.
Madam Dede Amanor-Wilks, the Programme Coordinator, said the workshop was to equip the participants with knowledge on fundraising, electoral campaign process and mobilisation.
“We also hope to equip the participants with knowledge on how to create the appropriate network to enable them to get what they want”, she said.
Source: GNA
