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The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Djaba, has said most of the men criticizing her funky hairstyle are grumbling because they wish their wives had the courage to keep such hairstyles.

Otiko is a 55-year old woman with natural beauty that has been spiced up by her ‘wild’ hairstyle which makes her look half her age. Barbadian singer and actress Rihanna is noted for wearing a similar hairstyle which ass a short-cut on both sides of the scalp just above the ears and leaves a chunk of permed hair in-between the two short-cuts.

Otiko’s decision to wear this hairstyle seems to be a problem for some Ghanaian men and politicians, and many of her critics are bending over backwards to find fault with the hairstyle a 55-year old woman decides for herself.

Joy News asked Otiko her thoughts on why some condemn her hairstyle, “It is the propaganda of my opponents. They wish they could have my hairstyle. They wish their wives could have my hairstyle. You have to be confident about how you look and I am very confident about how I look and I am okay with it. The day I want to wear a headscarf, I will, if I decide to change my hair, it is my choice but not because of somebody else. And that is what we need to understand. Diversity is okay in Ghana.”

The newly-appointed minister in the same interview said some of her critics who describe her hair as wrong because it is ‘not Ghanaian’ hold a prejudice mentality which they ought to leave behind and move on.

“It is part of the prejudice. I know people who paint their hair yellow or blue. People do their hair like Rasta; the first lady used to have that look. Some time back, people said that look was not correct and that it was a crazy look. But today, a lot of women say it is a natural look. Men who are growing bald take off all their hair and then their head looks like something from one of these space (alien) movies. Others also leave their beard and they do not ask anybody permission for that.

She continued…”look, my hairstyle does not affect the price of ‘kenkey’. My hairstyle does not affect poverty. My hairstyle is a winning hairstyle. It encourages the young people. Ghana has about sixty five percent of our population being youth and being a ‘swagger mama’, I believe I am the best person to engage the youth and make them feel comfortable with me because they see themselves in me and I feel for them. I do the hairstyle that I feel suits me and the youth call me the ‘swagger mama’. They enjoy me because I am young at heart. And when I hit the campuses they are happy because of my hairstyle. It is a winning hairstyle,” Otiko said.