Omitting mothers in the National Pledge is gender-insensitive - Adwoa Safo

The Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has called for the inclusion of the role of mothers in the National Pledge.

According to her, the part of the pledge which reads “through the blood and toil of our fathers” omits the crucial role mothers played, describing it as gender-insensitive.

Speaking in parliament after the House recited the National Pledge, marking the implementation of the new Standing Orders of Parliament, she said,

“Mr. Speaker, the National Pledge, it talks about ‘through the blood and toil of our fathers.’ Mr. Speaker, it omits mothers.

“Mr. Speaker, the mothers also toiled for this country. I think that it is gender-insensitive. Even when we are making reference to the country, we call it our motherland, but when it comes to the pledge and we are referring to the toil, we omit that of our mothers, and I want to draw your attention to it, so we become more gender-sensitive when it comes to our national pledge.”

Her statement is her first public speech after she lost her seat in the just-ended parliamentary primaries of the NPP.

The primaries, held on Saturday, January 27, saw Mike Oquaye Jnr securing a significant 1,194 votes, ultimately surpassing Adwoa Safo to become the NPP parliamentary candidate for Dome-Kwabenya.

Sarah Adwoa Safo, a lawyer and former Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, who has been a prominent figure in Ghanaian politics and a key member of the governing NPP, however, polled 328 votes in that election.

NAY/AE