Women groups lobby president-For appointment of more women in next gov’t

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
GENDER activists have petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to ensure that he fulfills the promise of ensuring that 40 per cent of women are appointed in the new government and in other public institutions.
They have also stressed the need for the NDC government to fulfill its Better Ghana Manifesto of having 40 per cent of women in public office by proposing names of women and supporting the President’s efforts.
In a petition to President Mahama and other members of the executive, the gender activists urged the Appointments Committee of Parliament to reject the Executive’s list of nominations for Ministerial, Deputy Ministerial and other public appointments if the list did not contain at least 40 per cent females.
The petition was put together by the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) and Partners of the “We Know Politics” Project, which include the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), The Hunger Project -Ghana and the Gender Studies and the Human Rights Documentation Centre.
The group also urged the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and the Attorney’s General’s Office to expedite the process of drafting an Affirmative Action bill, stressing that “The NDC-led Parliament must pass the Affirmation Law as soon as possible”.
According to the group, the petition was informed by the commitment the NDC and government attached to affirmative action as stated in the 2012 Better Ghana Manifesto, page 26 to attain 40 per cent women’s representation in all public appointments.
It said it had taken note of the improved performance of women in the 2012 Elections where 30 women won, 14 of whom are from the NDC, and was also encouraged by Cabinet’s endorsement of an Affirmative Action Law for 40 per cent women’s representation in public office, as proposed by the Constitution Review Commission.
The group said it had also taken note of the victory speech by the President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, stating that he would consider ethnic, regional and gender balance in the appointment of officials in the government.
It noted that current political appointments did not reflect the commitment Ghana had made at both the national and international levels and would shamefully miss  target three of the Millenium Development Goals of a minimum threshold of 30 per cent representation of women by 2015.
Attached to the petition was the list of 65 potential women who could be considered for appointments in the next government, and they include the names of all the 14 NDC elected MPs; all the current female ministers and deputy ministers as well as outgoing ones in the present government, some active presiding and assemblywomen from various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country; some regional women organiser’s in the NDC and some gender experts and activists.
Others are NDC female parliamentary aspirants in the just ended elections, former female ministers in the NDC; some female chief executive officers; some female human right activists, former female Council of State Members, a female vice chancellor as well as some female heads of institutions.