Increase parliamentary seats from 275 to 300 - Haruna Iddrisu

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu is clamouring for an increase in Ghana‘s Parliamentary seats from 275 to 300.

The lawmaker said he wants 25 more seats to be added so that more women will have the opportunity to contest.

In his view, the additional seats should be solely reserved for women in order to increase their numbers in Parliament.

The Minority Leader made the call on the floor of Parliament while the House was discussing women empowerment.

“Mr Speaker maybe today we have 275 seats in Ghana’s parliament, but we could decide to add additional twenty-five more seats by dedicating it solely to women,” Mr. Iddrisu said.

According to him, such a move will empower women and encourage more of them to venture into politics.

The Minority Leader added that increasing the number of Parliamentarians and reserving the additional seats for women could be the best way to push the the women empowerment agenda.

This comes after a former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, called for appropriate legal and policy frameworks to ensure that all bottlenecks to the empowerment of women in Ghana are removed.

She said it’s high time the grounds were laid to make it easier for Ghanaian women to thrive in politics, just like in other parts of the world.