At this year's General Assembly (Synod) of the EP Church in Tamale/Ghana, Prof. Dr Salome Praise Otami- Abutlate was elected as the new Presbyter Executive on 24 August 2024. In German churches, this would be the position of the non-theological member of the church leadership. Several years have passed between the last election of a woman to this position and the current one. Otami-Abutiate will take up her new role on 1 January 2025.

Prof Dr Praise Otami-Abutlate studied philosophy in the USA and is currently a senior professor at the University of Winneba, Ghana. She has already held many other honorary posts in the EPCG. Among other things, she was a member of the board of the Theological Seminary (Trinity College) of the EP Church in Accra. NM General Secretary Heike Jakubeit was present at the synod and spoke to the new Presbyter Executive. When asked what motivated her to stand for election, she replied that she wanted to support the EPCG in forward-looking processes. Her office includes the further development of programmes for the church. The new Presbyter Executive is primarily concerned with the situation of young adults. In Ghana, the unemployment rate in this age group is very high. Otami-Abutiate intends to prepare young people for start-ups. Materials are to be developed for this purpose. In addition, there will be more church-based training programmes. In order to achieve good results here, Prof Otami-Abutiate wants to bring all stakeholders together around one table. She is in favour of a team-based approach. For her, it is essential that young people also have a voice that is heard when it comes to the future of the EPCG. She also wants to campaign for this.

During her first 90 days in office, Prof Otami-Abutiate wants to thoroughly study the relevant EPCG documents and familiarise herself with all stakeholders and processes. She wants to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the EPCG organisation. The first meetings regarding her major goal - reducing youth unemployment through self-empowerment - are already scheduled to take place. It became clear at the synod that there are many different groups of women in the church who do not necessarily all work together. Prof Otami-Abutiate wants to support the new representative for women's work in uniting the various groups of women in the church in order to strengthen the EPCG's women's work.