Women assembly members trading off their seats

Tamale, April 7, GNA - Some female assembly members in the Northern Region have declared their intentions not to contest the upcoming district level elections, and are supposedly negotiating with men to take up their seats when their tenure of office ends.

The assembly women are said to have taken this decision because of the frustrations they face in the discharge of their duties, as well as the over politilisation of the assembly system and other socio-cultural factors, and the excessive demands made on them by people in their electoral areas. Mr. Alhassan Awal, Director of Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC), disclosed this at a forum organised for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Tamale on Tuesday. NORSAAC is a gender based advocacy organisation that seeks to ensure the adequate representation of women in decision making both at the local and national levels.

Mr. Awal expressed the concern that if the trend of females declining to contest for the district level elections continues, then the Northern Region which is already disadvantaged would witness a drastic reduction of female participation in politics and in matters of gender that affect them. He observed that the gender desk offices in the assemblies were also loosing their recognition and attributed it in part to political interference. Mr. Awal said in view of this NORSAAC in collaboration with other CSOs were among other things putting in place measures to monitor the 2010 district level elections, as well as providing logistical support for women interested in participating in the elections. The Organisation, he said, was also lobbying with the Regional House of Chiefs to increase female representation in the assemblies to at least 20 percent. Madam Hafsah Sey Sumani, Programmes Coordinator of NORSAAC, said the situation whereby out of the 20 district assemblies in the Northern region only one woman had been elected as a District Chief Executive. She therefore urged CSOs to facilitate regional campaigns on women's participation in leadership and decision making to get more women elected into the assemblies and other top public offices. 7 April 10