I am not a feminist; I will court men to be successful – Gender Minister-designate

Gender, Children and Social Protection minister-designate, Cynthia Morrison, has indicated she is not a feminist, hence will ensure that issues of men are not relegated to the background during her tenure.

She assured that the Ministry, which has been viewed as championing mainly issues of women and children, will focus on issues of men in order to succeed.

“When you want to get things right for women, we have to bring the men along; without the men, we can’t succeed,” she said on 3FM’s Sunrise Morning show on Friday.

Ms. Morrison who is the Member of Parliament for Agona West said she would rally men behind her, saying “the men will be our shoulders we will cry on and know that you [men] are going to pamper us and make our works succeed”.

The MP is educationist by profession said she grew up in an all “girls home,” explained she is not a “girls, girls person.

“I like to bring boys together; so the men, we are going to work together and make sure that you get your due, not to separate you even though you are stronger than us, we will make it work” she assured.

She said she is an open-minded person and ever ready to receive suggestions from the people, adding, “when I’m going wrong, call me. Don’t wait for the thing to escalate and then come and sit on air and talk about it; day one when you hear of it call me”.

Ghana’s adoption system, she said, will be another issue that she will look at.

“Let’s look at the adoption system in the country, we can all attest to the fact that they are venerable children who unfortunately find themselves in places that they shouldn’t be,” she observed

“They have to get a home that is number one. I believe that every child should be in a children’s home, every child should have a regular home, unless of course, somebody is taking care of them,” she added.

Ms. Morrison said it was unfortunate that both juveniles and adults were being kept exposing them to a lot of things which eventually make the juveniles come out destroyed.

“Unfortunately today, you hear a 17-year-old is in the same cell with an elderly person like fifty or something and even in the same jail with them. They come back rather not reformed, they come back destroyed”

Accordingly, she said she is exploring how that will be addressed children will be separated from adults in prison and police cells in order to give them education and trade to ensure they come out as better persons.

“I’m praying that during my tenure, we can have a centre for the elderly even if it’s a shield; a place where they can sit and socialize. We realize that when they are old and alone they begin to talk to themselves when there is no body,” she said