Fritz Kwabena Okrah is a fifth-year sustainable and renewable energy engineering student with a minor in industrial economics. He is running to be Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s next vice-president (student issues). Born in Ghana, he moved to Canada with his family at the age of 10.
Previous experiences
Kwabena Okrah is the vice-president (finance) of Student Energy and vice-president (internal) of CUCycling. He has also represented Carleton University at the world’s largest youth conference on energy and sustainability.
He has also helped Climate Action Carleton organize during last semester’s Climate Strike, worked as a climate action officer within the federal government, and completed a co-op for Hydro Ottawa Limited.
Off campus, Kwabena Okrah serves as the youth representative to the federal and provincial Ottawa Centre Liberal Association, as well as has years of experience as vice-president and president of the Ottawa Centre Young Liberals.
Reasons for running
Kwabena Okrah said his biggest motivation to run for an executive position was because he believes CUSA’s efforts have become repetitive over the years.
“There are many people with great ideas, but if they’re not given the opportunity to be heard, then we’ll be stuck in a process of just same-old, same-old,” he said.
He added university is one of the only places where young people are listened to, so it is important to take advantage of the opportunities available.
Slate or independent?
Kwabena Okrah said although being an independent candidate is a lot of work, he is happy to do it.
“It’s very important [to run independently] for our democracy because it encourages other people who have good ideas to step forward,” Kwabena Okrah said. “It’s important to have an ear to the ground and be accessible to the people you’re supposed to be leading.”
“As a leader, you’re not the boss, the people are the boss of you,” he continued. “And, if you’re not talking to the people who are supposed to be your boss, odds are you’re probably going to do a pretty shitty job.”
Campaign goals
Kwabena Okrah’s platform’s three main points are sustainability, mental health, and community.
For sustainability, he said he hopes to advocate for Carleton to make its investment information open to students and urge the university to divest from fossil fuels.
“At this point, we’re at level zero, because there’s a lack of transparency between us and the university,” he said. “[Divestment] is an investment towards our future.”
Kwabena Okrah also said he wants to see mental health go from reactive to proactive at Carleton.
“We’ve been having the same repetitive conversation for the past five years that I’ve been here, and it’s always about popping the stigma,” he said. “We need to move the conversation to this question: how do we create a culture of wellness on campus?”
Finally, Kwabena Okrah said he hopes to foster community, and include voices who have felt disenfranchised from CUSA in the past, through open dialogue.
“We need to reevaluate how we interact with the wider campus,” he said.
Final thoughts
Kwabena Okrah concluded by asking students to look into candidates’ policies.
“Actually take the time to learn about who these candidates are,” he said. “Learn about their policy points, and not just make a decision based on face value.”
“There’s a lot of money on the line,” he added. “We need responsible people there to overlook it and to do things that will benefit the wider community.”
“It’s our duty to do due diligence.”
Featured image by Tim Austen.
