I will ensure women are not marginalised - Churcher

Accra, Feb. 24, GNA - Ms. Christine Churcher, aspiring Women's Organiser of New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Wednesday said that she would ensure that women in the party were not marginalised if given the nod. She would also ensure that women were well represented at all levels of the party structure and their potentials harnessed for the growth of the NPP.

Ms Churcher, a gender advocate and former Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, made the pledge at a press conference in Accra, to round off her campaign tour of the country. She pledged to ensure women were placed alongside men during Election 2012.

Ms. Churcher noted that in politics, women were not restricted by God and challenged women to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men. She was of the conviction that the NPP needed a woman who would be able to sell the party to all and sundry and "she possessed that quality to wrestle power for the NPP in 2012".

"My qualities and capabilities make me the obvious choice for the task of our women. I therefore offer myself to be elected as National Women's Organiser to provide the right kind of leadership that would propel the woman to a greater height," she said.

Ms. Churcher, former Minister of Education in-Charge of Basic, Secondary and Girl Child Education during the NPP administration said during her countrywide tour she noticed that with the right leadership and resources, potentials of women could be unearthed to benefit the party and the country. "It is important to note that even though women have contributed to the party over the years, their full potentials have been under utilised for the benefit of our great party," she added.

She therefore promised to mobilise and empower the various women groups by offering them training to enable them undertake viable economic ventures. On the internal wrangling in the party, Ms Churcher also former Minister of Environment and Science admitted that there were fragmentations saying "if she gets the nod, she would mobilise the women to close "the gaps" in the party".

"Politics is about numbers. We need to get more women on board. I therefore challenge all women to start politics in their homes," she added. Ms. Churcher noted that the current factionalism in the party was manageable adding there was bound to be difference over choice of candidates.

She assured delegates to lead women to spearhead the campaign for unity in the party and urged all to be reconciliatory in their utterances and actions. "Let us not forget that unity is the watch word for Election 2012 if victory is to be ours," she added Another contestant to the position is Ms Otiko Djaba, a 47-year-old Communications Consultant and NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Bole Bamboi. 24 Feb. 10