GHANA: Women Demand Gender-Sensitive Constitution

National Women organizers of the four political parties with representation in Parliament have proposed that the constitution be amended to guarantee at least 30% of Parliamentary seats, assembly members, board members as well as intake into tertiary institutions to women.

However, "we must admit that in the current scheme of things, this provision may not help women unless the political party's law is also amended to compel parties to select women for at least 30% of the seats they contest. Adequate safeguards must also be put in place to ensure that 30% of seats in a party's strongholds are reserved for women."

They made the call at a forum organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), in Accra, under the theme "Strenghtening Women's Right and Gender Equity: Towards a Gender Responsive Constitution." The women's organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ms Anita J. Desosu, said to achieve gender equality and equity, there should be an affirmative action programme. "Offering every Ghanaian a fair chance to achieve success is a central tenet of our constitutional and political system, and is a bedrock value in our culture."She believed that the NDC administration is on the right path of fulfilling the 1998 Affirmative Action Policy which granted that women would be given 40% representation on all government boards, committees and official bodies including cabinet and council of state.

Ms. Desosu maintained that it is necessary to have parliamentary seat reserved for women. This, according to her, would increase the number of women in Parliament and there would be a fair representation of the society."I therefore propose a constitutional review to take into consideration having a reserved quota of parliamentary seats for women from different political parties."
The national women's organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ms Otiko Afisah Dzaba, stated that Ghana's Constitution must define an electoral system that is gender sensitive."Our constitutional right of freedom against discrimination of all forms must be reinforced to stop women from groping with challenges of disparity because governments always fail to translate the constitutional requirement into action," she added.

She said the NPP's administration demonstrated its commitment to improving gender equality and equity by establishing the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), the first in the history of Ghana to address issues of gender parity and empowerment. She said the passage of the Domestic Violence Act and Human Traffic Act to protect women and children all lend credence to the government's commitment to the issues of women.

"I propose that our Constitution should adopt the quota system of representation and have it entrenched in our electoral laws. This for now is the best method to jumpstart the process of increasing women's participation in leadership and to incorporate them in development processes." Ms. Christina Bentie of People's National Party (PNC)was of the view that political parties must set up a Special Support Fund for women candidates to educate and encourage them through capacity building programmes to enable them to participate in political activities at all levels.She recommended that a minimum number of 20 seats be reserved for women in Parliament."These seats would be shared among parties with representation in Parliament after every election based on their relative strength in the house," she explained.

The National Women's Organizer of the Convention People Party (CPP), Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim-Haruna, lamented that one of the challenges women face in their bid to avail themselves for political leadership is the fear of being tagged and labeled. She said women in politics are called all manner of names including prostitute and flirts."When that is done to one woman, about thousand other women are discouraged from ever making the effort to come out in any field."

She maintained that there are enough women to fill the 30% seats but prospective candidates must be supported and encouraged to make themselves available for public service."We will recommend that legislation is enacted to ensure that at least 30% of candidates presented for parliamentary elections by political parties should be women before clearance is given for the party to contest general elections,"she concluded.