JOURNALISTS ASKED TO EDUCATE ELECTORATE TO SUPPORT FEMALE CANDIDATES

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and particularly gender advocates have in recent years opined that Ghana’s name could be highlighted more on the global map as a country in the African sub-region leading in the entrenchment of democracy, if more women are appointed to serve in key positions especially at the District Assembly level.

Ghana lags behind several African States, because her women are not supported enough to achieve their desired goals in the field of academics and entrepreneurships. Considering the fact that women constitute over 50% of farmers in the rural areas of the country, paying their children’s school fees, engaging in communal labour and among others, if they are supported very well, the gender imbalance in education and poverty levels among women, could be drastically reduced.

Generally, women are considered people who can manage homes very well because of their meticulous ways of approaching or solving issues regarding themselves and their family and how they manage resources efficiently in times of constraints.

This wisdom in women, in the opinion of gender advocates like Mrs. Rosemond Sumaya Kumah, Programmes Advocacy and Communications Officer of the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), could be translated into proper office management and equitable distribution of resources if more women are given equal chances like men to serve and take part in decision-making processes.

Speaking at a day’s workshop in Tamale to solicit the views of journalists on how the media could support women candidates in the Northern Region of Ghana to win the 2012 parliamentary elections, she asserted that women have been relegated to the background and indeed, needed support and encouragement from the media and Ghanaian electorate in order to further prove their worth.

According to Mrs. Kumah, it’s pathetic to have just one female from the region currently serving her term in Ghana’s parliament. This, in her estimation, does not motivate women enough to stand for elections and is also an indication that we’re retrogressing as a nation in terms of human development and progress.

She charged journalists and other stakeholders who see women as key contributors to the nation’s development to continue to champion the cause of women who aspire to leadership positions.

The Programmes Advocacy and Communications Officer of GDCA called on the various political parties in the country to seriously consider women and encourage them to contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections in December. Ghanaians, she stressed, must also take a paradigm shift by voting for women in parliamentary and District Assembly elections so as to enhance good implementation of policies especially the ones that are geared towards the development of women and children.

Mrs. Rosemond Kumah further asked the media and CSOs to keep reminding the ruling government about its pledge to appoint 40% of women across board to serve in leadership positions, because it is only when such transformation takes place that it would create opportunities for women to contest presidential elections in the future.

For instance, statistics indicated that Ghana’s Parliament has since 1960 been underrepresented by women where only 10 women were elected out of 104 legislators, 1965 recorded 19 female legislators out of 104, 1969 saw a very discomforting figure of 1 female Member of Parliament out of 104 while 1979 also saw an appreciable rise of 5 females out of 140 legislators.

Furthermore, in 1992, 16 females out of 200, 1996 saw 18 out of the same 200 and the figure rose to 19 in 2000 out of 200. However, the 2004 Parliament recorded a high number of 25 female legislators out of the 230 and 2008 also recorded 20 out of 230 but the number now stands at 19 females.

At the district or local level, the statistics further showed that 122 women were elected Assembly Members nationwide as against 4,082 males in 1994, 196 women in 1998 as against 4,624 males, year 2002 saw 341 women against 4,241 males and in 2006 recorded 433 elected women as against 4,301.

In the whole of Northern Region, 21 women were elected against 685 males. Besides 94 females were appointed by the government in the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) whereas 231 males were appointed.

Based on these demoralizing statistics, many gender advocates are calling on government to fulfill the constitutional requirement of allocating 50% of the 30% of Assembly appointees to women, in order to expand the number of women at the local government level.

The workshop which was part of a 36-month GDCA and European Union project dubbed: “Supporting Women’s Participation in Elections (SWOPE) in Northern Region” aimed at strengthening and enhancing women’s participation and representation in governance at the local and national levels.

It is also intended to increase civic awareness for support for women in politics in the Northern Region and also increase the number of women representation in the local governance system in 6 MMDAs including Tamale Metropolis, Yendi Municipality, Saboba, Central Gonja, Nanumba North and South Districts.

Meanwhile, Madam Khadijah Iddrisu, SWOPE Project Officer, attributed lack of funds to campaign, threats from male counterparts, harassments and insults from fellow women and men, chieftaincy and political affiliations as some of the challenges that confronted women during the 2010 District Assembly Elections, thereby contributing to the loss of most contestants.

She noted that under the project, GDCA would soon organize workshops for all women appointees, elected ones and even those who loss and Unit Committee members from the 6 project areas. Additionally, 30 potential women parliamentary candidates would be identified and capacity building workshops organized for them on national elections at the regional level.