Gov’t urged to appoint 40 percent women to Assemblies

Government has been urged to honour its promise of appointing 40 per cent women out of the 30 per cent of the District Assembly appointees.

Members of the Upper East Network of Women in Local Governance (WiLG) made the appeal at a regional dialogue with the Regional Minister, District Chief Executives and regional executives of the National Democratic Party in Bolgatanga on Friday.

A speech read by the leader of the group, Ms Grace Nkoum on behalf of her colleagues, said most of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the last District level election flouted the government’s directive that 40 per cent of the 30 per cent of District Assemblies appointed members should be women.

“Some of the MMDAs in this Region did not even appoint a single woman in the last election. A classic example is the Bawku Municipal.”

The Upper East Network of WiLG has among its objectives to boost women’s representation and political participation in local governance and traditional leadership in the Region.

It stated that organizations like the Community Development and Advocacy Centre (CODAC), and IBIS Ghana among others had built the capacity of women in the Region to help them perform creditably at the assemblies and wondered why they had been ignored.

The group therefore, appealed to the Regional Coordinating Council to enforce the legal provision by directing all the MMDAs in the Region to appoint at least 40 per cent of the nominees as women to the district and municipal assemblies.

Whilst proposing that out of the 40 per cent of the women appointees, some of them should be women with disabilities, the group also called on the women in Local Government Network, CODAC and other Civil Society Organizations to monitor to ensure that the directive was adhered to.

Arguing their points further, the group cited the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the MDG 3, the 1992 Constitution and the National Democratic Congress Manifesto, as some of the examples that advocated for gender equality and speak against marginalization.

Mr Daud James Aban-Gos, the Chairman of the Regional Inter-sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET), expressed regret about the abysmal representation of women in political and government positions in the region, and advocated for the inclusion of more women.

Mr Seidu Musah Akugri, the Programme Manager of CODAC, said through the support from IBIS Ghana, his outfit had identified potential candidates, built their capacity as well as built a database for all of them and urged the MMDAs to consult them in their appointment of the women.

He also impressed upon the MMDAs to appoint women who had the potential to perform and to desist from appointing them based on political affiliation.

Responding, the Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, who stood in for the Regional Minister, Mr James Tiigah Zuugah, gave the assurance that their concerns would be addressed and impressed upon the women to support their colleagues who would be contesting for the impending election.