Public Agenda (Accra)
Alberta Dudome
9 November 2009
Accra — Ghana is said to be performing badly on the ladder of women in active politics. According to Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), latest rankings put Ghana on a scale of 112 out of 150 nations in women in active politics. The disclosure was made during an interaction between the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children and WILDAF.
In his presentation on the history and facts of women's participation in politics, Mr Frank Wilson Bodzah, Programme Officer of WILDAF, recalled how Dr Kwame Nkrumah adopted an affirmative action strategy to ensure that there was a fair representation of women in the then National Assembly.
He said following the enactment of the Peoples Representative Act, 10 women were elected to Parliament unopposed in 1960 and 1965 respectively. He said the first President even recruited women into the Ghana Airforce some of whom were trained as pilots. He thus asked the nation to take a cue from Dr. Nkrumah's approach.
Nkrumah's action, in his view, was in recognition of the role of women during the sruggle for independence. He said this was underscored by the President's belief that, given the chance and equal opportunity women can perform equally as their male counterparts.
Following the Beijing Conference held in China, the Government of Ghana in 1998 increased the representation of women on public boards and commissions to 30 pecent; so also was the representation of Government appointees to the District Assemblies..
Mr Bodzah added that during the 2008 elections all the political parties, except the NPP stated the Percentages of women they will include in their Government, of which the ruling Party NDC gave 40 percent for women.
Mr .Bodzah lamented that there was no female representation on the 10-member Government Economic Advisory Council and this is at variance with Government's promise of giving 40 percent of appointments to women. For the Ambassadorial appointments out of a total of 32, only seven are women.
In respect of the Council of State, out of a total of 25, only three are women. For Regional Ministers there is only one woman out of 10 Ministers and with the deputies only three are women. There is also a gross imbalance with ministerial appointments. Out of a total of 60, only 15 are women and with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives only 11 out of 166 appointed are women.
The Chairman of the Select Committee on Gender and Children, Hon Sampson Ahi,
thanked WILDAF for the revelations but pointed out that the NDC administration nominated some women as DCEs but were rejected. Therefore the blame could not be put at the door step of the ruling party.
On her part the Ranking Member of the Committee, Hon Irene Naa Torshie Addo, was unhappy with the manner the Mills-led administration has performed the issue of women in his administration. She was of the opinion that if President Mills was indeed a father for all as he promised he would have appointed some women outside the NDC party.
The Ranking Member who is also the Member of Parliament for Tema East asked the Mills-administration to take the issue more seriously and fish out for women out there who can do the work and position them strategically.
Hon Beatrice Boateng, a member of the Committee, shared the concerns of Hon. Addo saying that government should be proactive in the business of female representation.
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