For the first time in Ashesi’s history, an all-female team has been elected to head the university’s student government. Students elected Esther Yaa Pokua Addei ’16 and Ewurabena Hagan ’16 to serve as President and Vice-President (respectively) of the Executive arm of the Ashesi Student Council, while Sedem Banini ’16 and Onyinye Stephanie Oguego ’17 were elected as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson (respectively) of the Judicial and Electoral Committee.
(From left: Esther Addei ’16, Ewurabena Hagan ’16, Sedem Banini ’16 and Stephanie Ogueguo ’16)
“Our vision is to foster a strong culture in which students at Ashesi can live better with each other even as our diversity grows,” says Addei. “We have the conviction that we can, and will, do this as a community.”
The election this year served as a heavy test for the Ashesi Student Council’s constitution, and election structures, as students questioned the electoral process after a tough vetting committee disqualified several applicants from contesting for various reasons.
As the Council’s new heads prepare to be formally inducted, they are well aware of not only their remarkable legacy, but also of the work that needs to be done to build a stronger Ashesi community.
“I am glad to see that students are taking an interest in how the student government at Ashesi works,” Banini explains. “We want to ensure that students have as much access to their leaders as possible, so this trend continues. They should be able to not only approach us with issues around Ashesi’s student government, but also be able to fully understand how the student government is supposed to work. This will allow for increased transparency and accountability.”
Ahead of the induction, Addei, Hagan, Banini and Oguego will be putting together their teams to help steer the affairs of the Ashesi student community. Congratulations to our new incoming student government leaders!