Politics

Appoint more women in government – DCI-Ghana to Mahama

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President John Dramani Mahama has been called upon to implement the provisions under the Affirmative Action ACT 2024 (ACT 1121) by appointing more women into his government and by extension, giving tangible meaning to the Affirmative Action Act.

A press release by Defense For Children International Ghana (DCI-Ghana) signed by the Programmes Manager, Ms. Faustina Osei Prempeh pointed out that women’s representation in governance has been relatively low over the past three decades which is perpetrated by gender inequality and manifest discrimination in governance, education, socio-cultural setting and families.

The statement said statistics from the Parliament of Ghana shows a significantly low representation of women in Parliament from the First to the Fourth Republic and called on President Mahama to find innovative ways of addressing the anomaly by appointing more young women in his government especially as MMDCEs and CEOs of state institutions.

DCI-Ghana said with a total of 112 Parliamentary seats in the First Republic (1960-1966), there were only 10 women representing 8.9 percent, the Second Republic of 1969-1972 with a total of 140 seats produced only 2 women representing 1.4 percent and the Third Republic of 1979-1981 with same number of 140 Parliamentary seats also produced only 5 women representing 3.6 percent.

The statement also lamented that the Fourth Republic since its inception between 1993-2024 with an increase from 200 to 275 parliamentary seats has only produced a negligible increase of women in Parliament from 16 to 40 women over the period.

It also lamented that women representation in Parliament constituted only 8.9 percent in the First Republic and has only slightly increased to 14.54 percent after 64 years despite the country’s tireless efforts to address gender inequalities and discriminations by signing onto various UN Conventions including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (DACEDAW).

Ghana, according to DCI-Ghana, has made national efforts to implement gender equality laws including the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution, the National Gender Policy (2015), Domestic Violence Act 2007(ACT 732) and Child and Family Welfare, among others.

The statement noted that the recent passage and Presidential assent of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act 2024 (ACT 1121) and the historic and a new wave in the country’s political history, where for the first time, a woman was elected as the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 general elections, make a good case for, at least, 30 percent of women representation in governance.

Referencing portions of the Affirmative Action law, the statement said “we appeal to the President to appoint 39 women into the various managerial and decision-making offices to meet the 30 percent quota by 2026 as clearly defined in the Act.

The NGO also appealed to the President to appoint 79 women including young women into the various MMDAs across the 261 districts.

While congratulating Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang on behalf of The SHE Leads team in Ghana for being the first woman to be elected as a Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, the statement concluded by reminding the Vice President of her own words to “keep the door open for more females”, women and girls to enter into leadership positions. END

 

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