By Adnan Adams Mohammed
Senior Presidential Adviser and Special Aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, served as the Guest of Honor at the 67th Homecoming and Speech and Prize Giving Day of St. Francis Girls’ Senior High School (FOGA) over the weekend in Jirapa, inspiring students to embrace integrity, discipline, and ambitious leadership.
Reflecting on her own educational journey as a former science student from Tamale Secondary School who later enrolled at St. Francis Girls’ SHS to undertake her O-Levels and study Home Economics, Mogtari highlighted how the institution shaped her career path into becoming a senior maritime lawyer, entrepreneur, and presidential advisor.
“Life has a remarkable way of unfolding, and sometimes the seeds of our greatest achievements are planted in places and circumstances we may not fully appreciate at the time,” Mogtari stated during her address. “Who would have imagined all those years ago that one day I, Joyce Bawah, would return here as a very senior lawyer… and senior presidential advisor to the President of the Republic of Ghana.”
Addressing the current student body, Mogtari pointed to the historic election of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Ghana’s first female Vice President as proof that traditional gender barriers in high-level leadership are dissolving.
“Her journey tells every girl in Ghana that no ambition is too great simply because she is female,” Mogtari remarked. “And if Ghana can have its first female vice president, then surely the curtain draws closer to us electing our first female president. Why should that not be possible?”
Highlighting the event’s theme, “67 Years of Nurturing Leaders and Inspiring Excellence: Time to Retrace Our Steps,” Mogtari encouraged students to align their ambitions with the school’s Latin motto, Ad veritatem per caritatem (To truth through charity). She urged them to complement their academic pursuits with integrity and decisive action, concluding with her personal guiding philosophy: “Acta non verba actions, not words.”
Delivering felicitations on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, Mogtari reiterated the administration’s commitment to female empowerment, noting World Bank research on how educating women boosts national economic progress.
“When we invest in the education of girls, we invest not only in their individual futures but also in the prosperity and progress of our nation,” she added.
During the ceremony, the Headmistress of St. Francis Girls’ SHS, Anastasia Kaarawo, provided an update on the school’s growth, revealing that total enrollment currently stands at 1,380 students. While celebrating ongoing developments such as the construction of a new three-story ICT and science laboratory block Kaarawo also detailed urgent infrastructure constraints facing the Category A institution.
“If you go to the dormitories, it is overcrowded. Every available space, like the box room and the laundries, have been converted into dormitories,” Kaarawo reported, appealing to alumnae, government bodies, and development partners for assistance with dormitories, classroom furniture, and utility supplies.
Speaking on behalf of traditional authorities, the Chairman of the occasion emphasized the societal imperative of girl-child education, drawing on the iconic words of Dr. James Kwegyir Aggrey.
“The girl child is not a baby to be managed; she is a treasure to be nurtured, a mind to be developed, and a force to be empowered,” the Chairman stated. “If you educate a man, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman, you educate an entire generation.”
The event concluded with calls for the Franciscan Old Girls Association (FOGA) to establish structured mentorship, scholarship, and career guidance networks to support upcoming generations of students.
