TRUE to the pledge in the manifesto of the NDC, President J.E.A. Mills has given more women the opportunity to serve the nation in the first batch of ministerial nominees which came out on Thursday .
Out of the 15 nominees, six are women, representing 40 per cent of those he has so far nominated.
We are aware that more nominations are being considered, but this shows there are good things to come, as our people say, “Coming events cast their shadows” or “Agoro beso a efiri anopa.”
The Daily Graphic is delighted at the steps being taken by the Mills administration in its early days to boost affirmative action.
For far too long society as a whole has failed to tap into the potential of our women, majority of whom have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavour. Today, we have a 50/50 gender balance in the four most important people in the country, namely, the President, Prof Mills; the Vice, Mr John Mahama; the Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, and the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood.
We have a long way to go, though, but this step is commendable. The Daily Graphic will, however, encourage the NDC administration to demonstrate to the whole world that women who qualify for any position will be offered the opportunity to serve the people. The time has come for us to collectively fight against all the prejudices that thwart efforts by our women to rise to the top in their chosen fields of endeavour.
Meanwhile, as we celebrate the decision of the President and congratulate these distinguished women who have been offered the opportunity to serve the nation, we are dismayed at the reduction in the number of female MPs in our Fifth Parliament.
In the Fourth Parliament, 25 women from various parts of the country represented our people in the house. It is sad that presently what most believers of affirmative action were against is the case as the number has reduced to 20.
The Daily Graphic believes that political parties must first recognise the role women play in political mobilisation and social change, especially their unique roles as mothers with a passion for life.
If the parties continue to subject women, who are capable of achieving better results than their male counterparts, to the rigours of primaries before they are selected as parliamentary candidates, many of them will not be motivated to seek election to public office.
This is not to suggest that women are incapable of going through the rigours of elections. The dynamics of our society call for the collaboration of all sectors of society in order to achieve progress.
Indeed, goal three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that Ghana agreed to implement encourages all nations to take steps to uplift women and children from their present status.
The goal enjoins nations to “promote gender equality and empower women”.
In the First Republic the first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, offered 10 positions to females in his government and the records indicate that they distinguished themselves.
We appeal to all in organisations where women are being encouraged to offer their expertise towards the building of the country to co-operate with them for the objective of affirmative action to be attained.
Once again we salute the nominees and all our women folk for their resilience and preparedness to partner the Mills administration in national development.
The task ahead is not going to be easy but we know the capacity of our women folk on the farms, in the markets, at home and in offices and we are certain that the female appointees will rise to the occasion.
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