Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has shared how her involvement in community work and faith guided her unconventional journey into politics.
The 49-year-old PhD holder from the University of Ghana recounted her transition into politics and rapid rise to a ministerial position during an interview on JoyNews Personality Profile.
Naa Momo began her political career in 2000 as an assemblywoman and later served as the presiding member of the Krowor Municipal Assembly.
A native of Nungua, she contested the December 2016 parliamentary elections on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket but lost to Elizabeth Afoley Quaye of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who won the Krowor seat.
With determination, she contested again in the 2020 election under the same party and won. She retained her seat in 2024 and was subsequently appointed as substantive Minister for Gender and Social Protection.
According to Naa Momo, politics was never her dream.
“If it’s not divine orchestration, then I’d say I stumbled upon it,” she reflected on her entry into politics. “This wasn’t something I planned for. People who knew me before are often surprised to see me in politics; they never associated me with it.”
Describing herself as “more of an introvert,” she admitted that politics was never her ambition. Her journey began through church activities with the Assemblies of God and later through civil society work.
“Through my charitable work with fishmongers, they eventually pushed me into politics,” she explained. “I was teaching them about leadership through a model training programme when the opportunity to serve as a chief executive arose.”
The turning point came when community members challenged her to practice what she preached about local government leadership. “They said, ‘You’ve been teaching us we can start from the local government level; now here’s your chance.’ It completely threw me off guard,” she recalled.
Despite initial setbacks, including being told she wasn’t partisan enough, she persevered. “I took it in good faith… When the opportunity came to serve as a government appointee, I was encouraged to contest as presiding member. By God’s grace, I won. That’s when my political journey began.”
Her story underscores how grassroots engagement and community encouragement can create unexpected pathways to public service—even for those who never envisioned a political career.