Accra, May 18, GNA - Nanahemaa Adjoa Awindor, Chief Executive Officer of Premier Productions, has advised queen mothers to make education their main focus. She said the only asset that could not be taken from anyone was knowledge, beliefs and attitudes needed to pursue education in spite of one's financial background. Nanahemaa Awindor gave the advice when she led a group of queen mothers to tour the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday. The tour was part of a five-day national conference on governance organised for over 50 queen mothers from Ghana. The conference is being sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and Development Queens Foundation. It has the theme: 93Promoting Good Governance in Ghana: The Role of Queen Mothers".

Nanahemaa Awindor said the conference was to enhance the work of queen mothers by making them more development-oriented and educate them on different issues to help them advocate on such issues. She said their roles in governance was very important as they were supposed to be the mothers of their various communities and government was increasingly appreciating their roles by appointing them to advisory positions in government and the assemblies. "The recent appointment by government of some queen mothers to the National House of Chiefs is a move that is commendable," she added. Nanahemaa Awindor urged them to continue to educate themselves to enhance their knowledge and equip them for future roles. She said more educational seminars would be organised for them on various issues including information communication technology, with support from Ghana Telecom University and anti HIV and AIDS Campaign with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), urged them to live up to their roles as mothers of the land and ensure that Ghana progressed especially in the area of sanitation. She lauded the move of the queen mothers in undertaking the course on governance saying 93You are doing the right thing, I have always believed that Ghana's governance should be based on our own traditions. Other countries whose governance systems have succeeded were probably because it was based on their traditions." Mrs Owusu-Fianko pledged the GACL's readiness to support the queen mothers in organising more educational programmes.