NPP Accused of Failing to Deliver

There is growing concern among some women rights activists about what they see as the failure of the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to fulfill its promise of increasing women's political participation in government.

The NPP's manifesto said that it would support affirmative action.

Though a women's ministry of cabinet rank has been created and some women have been appointed to high-ranking ministerial and deputy-ministerial positions.

But these appointments have not significantly improved the situation of women,according Dzodzi Tsikata, a member of Netright, an umbrella organisation of women's rights groups and activits.

Tsikata told Public Agenda, that the appointments so far fall "short of what we really wanted to see." She said the small number of women appointees represented a rejection of many competent and qualified women who could play vital roles in government.

Tsikata said the small number of female appointees and the government's allocation of a small budget to the women's ministry indicate the government's lack of commitment to gender issues. The government's allocation of 6.99 billion ccedis to the ministry was one of the smallest budgets of the year.

Tsikata's comments reflect the position of many other activists. Gloria Ofori-Boadu of the federation of women lawyers (FIDA), made similar observations in a two-part article on women nominees at the local government level in the new government, published in the Daily Graphic last June.

Ofori Boadu's article "Nominating women to local government structures" complained about the small number of women District Chief Executive (DCE) nominees which at the time stood at five out of 101 nominations.

The overall DCE nominations reveal a decline in the number of women DCEs, compared to the previous government. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) had 13 women as DCEs out of 110 DCEs. The NPP has nominated six, representing a decrease of more than 50 per cent.

Tsikata challenged the argument that few women expressed interest in the position. "The positions were never advertised. These women who were interested could not apply because they were not made aware that they needed to apply. The usual male networks worked to the disadvantage of women", she said.

In her article, FIDA's Ofori Boadu said that even though the women who applied for the position of DCEs satisfied the criterion of merit "the goal post was shifted to political activism, commitment and sacrifice for the party" when it was realized that the women candidates had more merit (academic) than the male candidates.

Source close to the women's ministry say the government has not finished with its appointments. The government is yet to appoint more women to ambassadorial and board membership positions. The feeling on the women's front however appears to be less hopeful.

While not giving up the pressure for more women to be appointed, there is skepticism about any significant change occurring in the trend of appointments. Other activists who talked to Public Agenda on condition of anonymity pointed out that the assurances that were given from the time of the initial ministerial appointments "were never fulfilled".

They called on the government to show greater commitment to other areas that affect the lives of women and to formulate a comprehensive gender policy that will guide the government and women rights organisations.