Women MPs Not Happy With Representation Quota On Committees

Female Members of Parliament (MPs) appear to be worried they are not fully represented on Parliament�s standing and select committees. To this end, they have advocated a change in the Standing Orders of Parliament to allow some of them to be members of two or more committees to play leading advocacy roles in advancing women issues. The call came up during Tuesday�s deliberations on the floor of Parliament. MP for Asawase and Majority Chief Whip Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak argued that only 90 percent of members belong to more than one committee and so allowing colleague female MPs to be on every committee will put some members at a disadvantage of not being on a single committee. �And that will be against the Standing Orders of this House,� he added. This did not go down well with New Patriotic Party�s MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Eugenia Kusi, who asked the former Minister for Youth and Sports to check the records since there has been a time when all committees have had at least one female MP as member. �Our numbers don�t matter, we can be 30 but we can be on two or three committees. Mr Speaker, I don�t agree with that assertion,� she said. MP for Atwima-Mponua Isaac Kwame Asiamah argued that the same arrangement for leaders of the House to belong to two or more committees can be made for female MPs. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP for Manhyia, said the Standing Orders, which stipulate that female MPs must be allocated according to their percentage in parliament, does not augur well for the committees. Since they constitute only 10 per cent they stand at a disadvantage, he said, in committees with less than 20 members. �Mr Speaker, we have to take a comprehensive look at this report,� he said, asking Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho to suspend deliberations on the issue for committees and sub-committees �to deal with certain things�. Eventually, the House adopted the report but the Speaker advised the House to make necessary amendments. �The rules are very clear,� said the former Akatsi South Member of Parliament. �We have to approve this report today because it is the last day � 10 days after being brought before the House but I will urge the leadership of both sides of the House to take into account the views expressed on the floor of the House in their various caucuses and in the course of the week if possible.�