Patience Pomary: A Candid Chat With Hohoe’s First Female MP

By Eddie Ameh Snr

She held the record as the only female Member of Parliament for the Hohoe North Constituency until current MP Bernice Adiku Heloo won in 2012.

Patience Esi Pomary was also the only female Member of Parliament from the Volta Region during her four-year stint in Ghana’s first parliament in the fourth republic from 1992 to 1996. She represented the constituency on the ticket of the national Democratic Congress.

 “I contested the primaries against two men who were indigenes but because of my work in the district, I
came out victorious,” the former lawmaker says.

During her time in the house, there were only 11 female MPs from across the country and Pomary was elected as the leader of the women caucus.

Originally from Adina in the Ketu district, Pomary moved to Hohoe in the 1970s as an employee of
then Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board. Her love and desire to see Hohoe prosper got her involved in local politics. She was a cadre during the revolutionary days and an active member of the 31^st December Women’s Movement. All these she did with so much passion that her hard work was recognized and she was selected as the only woman to represent women’s group from the Volta region on the team that drafted the 1992 constitution of Ghana.

Prior to that, Pomary had been elected as an assembly woman to represent the people of the Ahado electoral area at the Hohoe District Assembly.

Pomary believes when one resides in an area and has the love for the area, one has to work to make the place better.

“As for the Gbis, for as long as you work for them, they like you despite the fact that you’re not an indigene,” she says.

 "The people knew my work and rewarded me accordingly,” Pomary adds.

Even after losing her bid for a second term as an MP, Pomary worked with the party and campaigned for then candidate Emmanuel Aduadjoe who eventually won the seat. This she says endeared her to the hearts of the people even the more.

“They don’t see me as a stranger in any way and I am loved by everybody in all the nine traditional areas,” she says.

Pomary believes Hohoe is on its way to becoming one of the most developed in Ghana.

“Hohoe is already developed but in the future, for as long as the youth are also showing interest in politics, it will become even greater,” she says; adding: “Hohoe seems to be the star among the towns in the Volta Region.”

She says the youth of Hohoe should try and start setting up their own businesses and should not wait for the government to give them jobs. Pomary also encourages the youth to venture into agriculture.

“Farming is a very viable venture because when you go to Europe, farmers are more well to do than office workers,” she says.

Since leaving office, Pomary has been working in the tourism industry and advocacy for women and vulnerable groups. She also sits on a number of boards in the country.

Eddie Ameh Snr is a journalist at New Canadian Media, Ottawa, Ontario; a graduate of Carlton University and Ghana Institute of Journalism.Ameh grew up in Hohoe and is a member of the Gbi Viwo Community