By Christiana Afua Nyarko and Dorcas Appiah
Accra, Sept 6, 2023, GNA – Akorfa Ejeani, a Ghanaian actress, has encouraged young people, particularly women, to strive for greater success in their fields of interest.
The seasoned actress, who is also the younger sister of Ghana’s first female military general, the late Major-General Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu, advised females to identify their abilities and strengths and pursue them even in fields dominated by men.
“To the youth out there, especially females who want to be like the late Major General, do not be afraid; know what you want, what you are capable of doing, and just start. Once you start, you will finish. And when you start, be strong and brave, and don’t listen to people.”
Madam Ejeane was speaking at the launch of the deceased military officer’s autobiography, titled “The Lady in Boots: Memoirs of Ghana’s First Female Major General.”
She said the book would help to preserve her sister’s forty-year legacy in the Armed Forces and other accomplishments during her service to the country.
“We want to send copies of her book to secondary schools across Ghana so that they can have it in their libraries. They will read about her and know that there’s no challenge they cannot surmount”, she said.
Fred Afenu, the late military officer’s husband, said the book would inspire young women to aspire higher and accomplish more than his wife did.
“She did not merely want to tell her story but was inspired by any changes that were happening in the military. It is therefore our hope that Constance’s story inspires as many young people as possible, and the young ladies to live their dreams and contribute to the transformation of Ghana,” he said.
Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa, a former Chief of Defence Staff and the Chairperson said the late officer’s literary piece was an “eloquent testament of her foresight, commitment and sense of purpose.”
He commended the family for their efforts to publish the senior officer’s work despite her death in January 2022.
Brigadier General Anita Asmah, Deputy Force Commander, United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), who gave an extensive review of the 326-page book, pointed out that with equal opportunities, an enabling environment, and appropriate conditions, women could succeed in the military or any chosen field.
Constance Edjeani-Afenu was Ghana’s first female soldier to be promoted to Brigadier General and then to Major General of the Ghana Armed Forces.
She entered the Ghana Armed Forces in 1978, at age 18. During her time at the Military Academy, she was made a Cadet Sergeant, a rank that was primarily reserved for male recruits, and she received the Determination and Perseverance Trophy in her graduating class.
In February 1999, Major-General Edjeani-Afenu was appointed the Commanding Officer of the Forces Pay Office, making her the first female Commanding Officer of a Unit in the Ghana Armed Forces.
She has since broken several barriers in terms of active female participation in the upper echelons of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Notable among them was the conferment of the rank of Brigadier-General in March 2017, making her the first female in the history of the country to attain that rank in the GAF.
In that same year, she was named the African Union (AU) Gender champion by the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
She received the “First Lady’s Award” on International Women’s Day in 2019 and was posthumously awarded that Title.
GNA