The Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has revealed that she did not undertake national service after her tertiary education.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments committee Monday, the Member of Parliament for the Anyaa-Sowutuom constituency said the law for national service to be mandatory came into effect a year after she had graduated. “I did not do national service…the law came into effect a year after I left school,” Mrs. Ayorkor Botchwey told the vetting committee.”

Ghanaian students who graduate from accredited tertiary institutions are required under law to do a one-year national service to the country. People are often denied jobs due to their failure to undertake the one-year mandatory service to the nation.

Mrs. Botchwey also stated that her ministry will ensure that Ghanaian women who embark on the dangerous trips to Middle Eastern countries for jobs and suffer severe maltreatment is brought to an end under her tenure.

She told the committee that she will do everything within her power to ensure that the rights of undocumented Ghanaians living outside the country are respected and protected.

“We need to engage countries that we know or have evidence of treating such persons in inhumane ways to know that these people when they are arrested are treated well and their human rights are respected.”