The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s recent comment on gender parity at the 2019 Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, Canada, has been misconstrued.
According to him, the President only sought to make a point about the need for women to step up and forcefully fight for what matters most to them.
President Akufo-Addo at the conference among other things suggested that not enough movement is being made by women to take up key positions in governance; and that although 30 per cent of his cabinet are women, they are not seeing enough dynamism and activism from the women.
But the President’s comment has not been welcomed by women activists who feel that he has not taken notice of what they have been doing over the years to push for women empowerment.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM Thursday morning, the Information Minister, Mr Oppong-Nkrumah defended the President saying that his commitment to gender parity cannot be questioned.
He also disclosed that in a build-up to the 2008 general elections, President Akufo-Addo, as a result of his commitment to promoting the interest of women in the country, first considered a woman [Hajia Alima Mahama] for the position of Vice-Presidential candidate.
“The President has been one of our strongest champions for gender parity in our public life. In 2008 when he was selecting a Vice-Presidential candidate, his first choice was a woman. In 2012 he was the one who argued that women potential candidates in the NPP should be protected and should be given less of a fee to pay when they contest. He has been the President who has appointed the largest number of women in his administration, the numbers are all there. His commitment to gender parity is not in question,” the Information Minister argued.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah who is also a Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi in the Eastern Region, also explained that the President’s comment did not seek to discredit the efforts made by women.
“What people seek to do is to draw the President into a conversation of should it be the empowerment of women amplification. The President makes the point that [with regards to] empowerment and amplification, he has seen it all and he has done it all and even currently and even going beyond that to ensure that specific initiatives are put in place to build up a young girl child upwards.
“But one of the things he sees missing is to see a lot more dynamism in the fight, dynamism demonstrated by the women themselves, that the women themselves need to forcefully put up the fight where it matters most. A lot is being done now; he is not saying all is useless or not important? But we need to see more women to put themselves u,” he added.
Source: Daily Graphic
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It is disgusting how some of the women activists are responding to the President's comments. Not enough dynamism is definitely different from no dynamism.The comments by Gifty Anti on Joyfm was in very bad taste showing how intolerant people who criticize officialdom daily cannot take criticism. The panelists reacted the way they did because they are not privy to what pertains in Ghana. We in Ghana know the President's commitment with regard to gender issues and progress made in appointing women to top positions in government. This is a wake up call for women who are interested in politics to be actively involved in party activities and not sit on the fence wating to reap where they have not sown.
misconstrued
These npp apparatchiks and appointees are very funny. Are they telling us that they are smarter than the audience who booed when their lying president made that unfortunate comment? They will try to defend every indefensible act of the president.
One thing is very clear that our President is not a hypocrite. If you are not politically active and stay indifferent you allow fooolish people to rule you and decide for you.The population of women in Ghana outweighs that of men, yet we have more men in dicission making positions than women. And that is a fact. Therefore, we have to encourage more women to take up such positions. The quota rules and affirmative actions are just not enough in the long term. It appears as if without the lordship dashing the women the positions they are equally well qualified to possess like their men counterpart, they cannot make any meaningful headway by themselves. That in itself is very discriminatory and degrading as an able and confident woman. Indeed, the Government of the day can fairly provide the citizenry with the appropriate tools like education and awareness to bring all persons on board. I pray that NDC does not jump in here to make their usual carelessx, populistic and hypocritical politics.
I agree with you, but of course this is Ghana where depending on the colour of your shirt, know-it-alls will always find fault.