Claim: Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is the first female Vice-President elect in West Africa
Source: GhanaWeb
Verdict: False
Researched by Gifty Danso
An article titled “5 ‘firsts’ that make Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang a trailblazer,” published by Ghanaweb claimed Ghana’s incoming Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, would be West Africa’s first female Vice President when she takes office on January 7, 2025.
The article published on December 14, 2024, had a list of achievements by the running mate to president-elect John Dramani Mahama. The article suggested that one of the feats that awaited the former Education Minister was that she would become “First Female Vice President-Elect in West Africa.”
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“Beyond Ghana, her achievement resonates across West Africa, where female representation in leadership remains scarce. As the region’s first female vice president, Professor Opoku-Agyemang embodies hope and progress, challenging entrenched gender norms and inspiring the next generation of leaders across the continent,” the writer said:
This fact-check will verify the authenticity of the claim.
Fact-check
GhanaFact findings show that GhanaWeb’s article about Prof. Opoku-Agyemang being the first female Vice President in West Africa is not factual.
An article by Business Insider Africa on December 9, 2024, has documented 21 female Vice Presidents in 17 sub-Saharan African nations (archived here).
Of the 21 listed, five women had served as Vice President in three West African countries including The Gambia, Liberia, and Benin, which makes Prof. Opoku Agyemang the sixth woman in the sub-region to become a Vice President. Ghana will, however, become the fourth West African nation with a woman as Vice President.
Between 1997 and 2022, The Gambia had three successive female Vice Presidents.
Its first, Isatou Njie-Saidy, served between 1997 and 2017. She quit in 2017 after long-time Gambian ruler Yahya Jammeh refused to step down when he lost presidential elections to Adama Barrow.
President Adama Barrow appointed another female vice president, Fatoumata Tambajang who served from 2017 until a government reshuffle in 2018 forced her to resign. She was replaced by Isatou Touray also a female who also served from 2019 till 2022.
It is worth noting that in the case of The Gambia, all the holders of the role are appointed directly by the president.
The George Weah administration in Liberia had Dr Jewel Howard-Taylor as Vice President. The former wife of the country’s ex-leader, Charles Taylor, served in the Weah administration until their exit in 2023.
In Benin, its first female Vice President, Mariam Chabi Talata Zimé Yérima, ran alongside President Patrice Talon in the country’s 2021 election which saw the duo elected for a term of five years.
When GhanaFact contacted an editor at GhanaWeb with our findings, he admitted that they had their facts wrong.
Verdict
The claim that Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will become the first female vice president in West Africa is false.
GD/TA/AS
