Otiko Afisa Djaba, the former Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, has explained why she turned down an offer from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to serve as Ghana's Ambassador to Italy in 2018.
Otiko Afisa Djaba
She stated that she has no regrets about turning down the position because she is retiring from politics.
She stated on GTV that her four children endured years of an absentee mother due to her work in the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sector and later in full-time party and national politics.
Otiko Djaba stated, "I had labored for sixteen years, had four children, and was waking up at 2:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. to travel the country for work. I had the freedom to spend time with my children after I became an absentee mother.
"It is the best thing that has ever happened to me not to go to Italy, and the best thing that has ever happened to me to leave development and enter politics," she continued.
She, however, conveyed gratitude to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), stating that, prior to entering politics, she worked in 98 communities and that, without the NPP, it would have been impossible to accomplish all of the aforementioned accomplishments.
Otiko Djaba, a loyalist of Nana Addo, disclosed that she has informed the President of both decisions and that she plans to spend time with her family.
Before joining the government in February 2017, Ms. Djaba was the National Women's Organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), where she frequently called for fasting and prayer when the party descended into acrimonious internal squabbles in 2015 with a crucial general election approaching in December 2016.