Female MPs outline their vision

Daily Graphic, Pg. 17, Jan 13/09

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

FIVE of the newly elected female Members of Parliament (MP) have resolved to collaborate with human rights organisations and public-spirited individuals to improve the status of people in their constituencies.
They said they would address the education and health needs of the people, especially women and children, and also provide skills training for women and the youth.
Speaking to them at the Parliament House where 228 Members of Parliament (MPs) including 20 women, were sworn in by the Speaker, Mrs Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, to commence the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic in Accra on January 7, 2009, they said they would also add their voice to debates to championing the course of women and children.
They are Madam Dubie Alhassan Halutie (NDC, Sissala), Ms Grace Addo (NPP, Amasie West), Mrs Catherine Ablema Afeku (NPP, MP Evalue Gwira), Ms Samia Yaba Catherine Nkrumah (CPP, Jomoro) and Mrs Bernice Beatrice Boateng (NPP, New Juaben South).
Madam Halutie, who defeated the incumbent People’s National Convention (PNC) MP, Mr Moses Dani Baah, to become the first female MP for the constituency, expressed her profound gratitude to the people for the confidence reposed in her.
She said she was determined to use her position to better the lot of women who suffered various forms of abuse and neglect.
The MP, who is a retired Deputy Chief Medical Assistant, observed that most of the youth in the constituency dropped out of school at early stages to take up menial jobs such as head portage in the big cities and stated that she would enlighten parents on the need to give the education of their children a priority.
She said one of her priorities was to identify such young girls and encourage them to learn a trade so that they could go back to their various communities as responsible people.
The MP also said since farming was a major economic activity of the people in the area, she would lobby for financial assistance and other farming inputs to enable farmers to improve production.
The MP for Amansie West, Ms Grace Addo, said she would take special interest in promoting quality health care in the area and also tackle the issue of early marriages, which is a problem confronting young girls in her constituency.
According to her, access to health care was a major problem in the area due to inadequate health facilities, adding that apart from the St Martin’s Catholic Hospital, the few facilities available were not well resourced.
According to her, most of the challenges confronting people in the constituency were related to poverty and she was optimistic that with the right investments in skills training and the creation of employment avenues for the youth, the issue would be resolved.
Mrs Afeku, a former Government Spokesperson on Infrastructure, also thanked her constituents for giving her the mandate to represent them in parliament.
She said her vision apart from serving the people in the constituency was to help improve the lot of the girl-child in the area, as well as improve on their educational standards.
She said since most young girls in the area did not perform well in school, she would work to boost the rate of enrolment of the girl-child in her constituency through the setting up of educational foundations and scholarship schemes.
She said she would involve the youth in most of her activities saying that she would incorporate them in decision-making to boost their confidence levels.
On her part, Ms Nkrumah said her focus would be on education and water and sanitation.
She said she would be committed to improve on the educational needs of her people especially the education of the girl child, as well as provide vocational and skills training for the youth.
She said she would also create a business centre to offer small loan services to women so that they could expand their businesses and improve on their income.
According to her, when women had access to credit facilities they would be able to improve on their economic well-being and empower themselves to support the upkeep of the home.
Ms Nkrumah also mentioned that most of the diseases that were confronting the constituency were water-borne, saying that she had begun a water project to ensure potable water to the people.
She said she would work closely with the people, especially women and the youth in her community, so as to identify their needs and work towards them.
For her part, Madam Boateng said she would establish small-scale businesses to support women and also encourage the youth to take their education seriously.
She advised women in her constituency to give her the maximum co-operation to enable her to function effectively as a leader, facilitator and convenor and mobilise available human and material resources to develop the area, especially in the areas of education, health, water and sanitation and skills training for the youth.