Pressure Mount On Akufo-Addo To Appoint 60% Of Women To MMDAs
Pressure Mount On Akufo-Addo To Appoint 60% Of Women To MMDAs
Network for Women’s Rights In Ghana (NETRIGHT), in partnership with Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA), National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, and Women’s Manifesto Coalition(WMC) have called on President Akufo-Addo to appoint at least 60% of women to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs).
The clarion call on President Akufo-Addo to appoint at least 60% of women to MMDAs according to the above-mentioned groups is a result of the unaccepted under-representation of women in decision-making positions in Ghana.
In statement released after a media briefing in Accra, it said, “Pending the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill 2023, our coalition in solidarity with several others make a passionate call to President Akufo-Addo to take decisive step towards gender parity by appointing at least 60% of women out of the 30% assembly members to be nominated as government appointees as well as a critical number of women appointees among the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives that are to serve in the next four years.
In the spirit of fair and equal representation, our Coalition believes that such an initiative not only serves to balance the prevailing under-representation but also, ensures that gender considerations are systematically taken into account in decision-making for sustainable development.”
According to the statement, the unaccepted under-representation of women in decision-making positions in Ghana remains a matter of grave concern, especially at the local level.
It said Ghana’s local government system was intended to be in line with the global trend of introducing broader efforts towards democratization, equality, and inclusion of the marginalised, especially women in leadership, power-sharing, and control of resources.
“While some strides had been made to address the level of disparity, these had not been comprehensive in prioritising women’s equal access to leadership and positions of decision-making.
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There exist systematic barriers which create conditions for women’s marginalisation and vulnerability that are being ignored. The country continues to accommodate gendered inequality practices resulting in low participation and representation with huge gaps in some women’s ability to access public decision-making structures, election after election.
At the local governance level, elections are failing to deliver district assemblies that are devoid of gender marginalisation for effective local governance which requires gender sensitivity and responsiveness.
Ghana is therefore failing to achieve a local environment for equal political engagement between women and men for genuine consensus-building to strengthen democracy,” the statement further added.
Source: Adovor Nutifafa
dovor100@gmail.com
