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OVER the past five decades after Ghana’s independence, the representation of women in local and national level politics, as well as in other areas of decision-making, has become one of the burning governance issues.

In the First Republic, Dr Kwame Nkrumah introduced an affirmative action which saw 10 women getting elected into Ghana’s Parliament.

This became possible after he introduced the Representation of the People (Women Members) Bill in 1960 when he realised that the country’s Parliament was made up of only men. The bill was passed and it received the Governor-General’s assent on June 16, 1960.

Through the act, 10 women were elected unopposed as Members of Parliament (MPs) in June 1960. They were Susana Al-Hassan, Ayanori Bukaru and Victoria Nyarko, all representing the Northern Region; Sophia Doku and Mary Koranteng, Eastern Region; and Regina Asamani, Volta Region.

The rest were Grace Ayensu and Christiana Wilmot, Western Region; Comfort Asamoah, Ashanti Region; and Lucy Anim, Brong Ahafo. That made Ghana one of the first African countries to introduce a quota system for women.

Since the overthrow of Nkrumah, however, no concrete effort has been made to advance the cause of women in this male-dominated environment.

In the Second Republic, there were two women MPs — Madam Akanbodiipo Lydia Azure, who stood on the ticket of the National Alliance of Liberals (NAL), won the Sandema seat; and Madam Tedam Catherine, who won the Chiana-Paga seat for the Progress Party (PP).

Again, in the Third Republic, five women served as MPs, and in the first Parliament of the Fourth Republic, 16 women were elected as MPs while in 1996, 18 out of the 53 women contestants were elected. In 2000, 19 out of the 95 female contestants were elected while in 2004, 25 out of the 104 contestants were elected.

The 2008 election saw 103 contesting, with 20 of them winning, but the increase in the number of constituencies to 175 saw a record number of 133 women contesting parliamentary seats in Ghana’s political history in 2012.

Out of the 133 aspirants, 34 ran in the Greater Accra Region, followed by the Ashanti and Central regions, which respectively saw 26 and 15 women running. The others ran in the Western, Eastern, Volta, Northern and Upper East regions, which respectively boasted of 12, 10, 7, 6 and 5 female candidates. The Upper West was the only region that had no female contestant.

At the end of the day, 29 women made it to the august house – 16 on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and 13 on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Even though it is early days yet, indications are that the number of female aspirants may decline going into the 2016 general elections. With the two major parties – the NDC and the NPP – holding their primaries, and the NPP, so far, electing 25 women to contest while the NDC also has 24 women on their ticket, it is difficult to see how the nation can surpass the record entry of 133 in 2012.

Nonetheless, the 2016 women’s race to Parliament would not be devoid of excitement and enthusiasm. The truth is that a number of new faces have emerged in the horizon, bubbling with energy, fresh blood and youthful exuberance to usher a new wave of dynamism into our body politic.

From the camp of the NPP, for instance, comes Francisca Oteng-Mensah, a 22-year-old Level 200 law student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), who is eyeing the Kwabre East seat. Mavis Nkansah-Boadu, 26, is also warming up to take charge of the Afigya-Sekyere East Constituency.

The amazing feat of both women is that they dethroned sitting male MPs on their way to stardom. Mavis, on her part, dethroned the incumbent Herric David Yeboah while Francisca stole the spotlight after she handed the incumbent Kofi Frimpong a shocking defeat in the parliamentary primaries in the Ashanti Region.

She polled 321, leaving Kofi Frimpong trailing with 187 votes. Two other contenders, Lawyer Osei-Poku got 202 votes while Adjei-Sefa managed 33 votes.

Her victory set off a social media buzz, with critics arguing she was too young to understand the intricacies of law making. They maintain she also lacks any professional experience to become MP, but she claims that she demonstrated her maturity to the delegates in the run-up to the election.

Francisca said she suffered relentless attacks from her male contestants, but she refrained from replying with vituperations whenever she interacted with delegates. According to her, the delegates saw her unwillingness to resort to personality attacks and endorsed her bid to become the youngest Member of Parliament.

“That kind of politics in which you go and attack people, I think people are tired of that”, the law student stressed.

The NDC was also quick to showcase of fresh faces from their camp at the end of their primaries. And as if to produce a perfect response to the NPP’s 22-year-old law student, there emerged Joycelyn Tetteh, a final year law student of the University of Cape Coast who defeated the incumbent George Loh along the way in a in a way a manner as good as Hollywood at box office. She had 3,037 votes against the incumbent’s 2,209.

Then also entered Ebiere Bright-Fasintei, popularly known as Ebi Bright, a household name in the Ghanaian movie industry, who was unopposed at Tema Central, and will be coming face to face with the NPP’s Kofi Brako, the incumbent MP. 

But that is not all. There is also the tall, vivacious Dr Ezenator Rawlings, first daughter of former President Jerry John Rawlings, who won the Klottey Korle seat in Greater Accra, having easily brushed aside the incumbent Nii Ashitey Armah, who had occupied the seat since 2008. Nii Ashietey polled 1,746 to succumb to Ezenator, who garnered 3,403 votes, representing 62.22% of the total votes cast.

But of the these aspirants, Francisca and Mavis, both of the NPP, and the NDC’s Joycelyn seem to have a relatively easy task ahead as the seats they have set their eyes on can be described as safe havens. Fact is that the NPP has completely dominated the Kwabre East and Afigya Sekyere East seats 1996 while the NDC has also taken charge of the North Dayi constituency since 1992, and it can, therefore, be safely predicted that all three young women virtually have one foot each in the 2016 parliament.

The same, however, cannot be said for Ezenator, who will up against the NPP’s Nii Noi Nortey for the Klottey Korle seat. This is because the records clearly show that the Klottey Korle seat is one of the swing constituencies in the Greater Accra Region.

In fact, after boycotting the 1992 parliamentary race, the NPP won the seat twice – in 2000 and 2004 – while the NDC did so thrice – in 1996, 2008 and 2012 – and even though the scales tilt slightly in favour of the NDC, Ezenator would have to work really hard to sail through.

Perhaps, what may even work to her advantage is the current confusion that is raging in the NPP over the conduct of their primaries which saw Nii Noi Nortey declared as winner. With Philip Addison and others still calling for a re-run of the polls, things would really play to Ezenator’s advantage if the matter is not dealt with decisively.

But another factor which could be crucial for Ezenator would be her charisma and personality, which won her a lot of admiration in the run-up to the NDC primaries.

Unlike her father, Jerry John, who burst onto the political limelight through the barrel of a gun, Ezenator cunningly used the horrifying events of the ‘June 3 Disaster’ as a launch pad to her political career.

Even though she vehemently debunked reports suggesting that she was using her relief support campaign to launch her political career, it is now obvious that her role as ambassador for TV3’s fundraising campaign, which was aimed at raising funds to support victims of the June 3 flood and fire disaster, gave her a lot of mileage before she formally entered the race on September 11.

Ezenator says one of her objectives for contesting in the parliamentary primaries of the NDC is to help the party get back to some of its "old values".

“I am not trying to invent the wheel. I am just helping us to remember some of the old values that we have, such as working together and not creating a gap between the constituents and leadership,” she stressed.

She said even though she loves politics, she is scared of the insults and abuse associated with the political terrain.

According to her, the politics of insults practiced in Ghana has always been a source of worry to her and her desire to enter the field.

Born in 1978, Ezenator attended North Ridge Lyceum and Achimota School for her basic education. She then graduated from the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast in 1995. Ezenator enrolled at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland for her medical degree. She currently works in General Practice.

Many believe Ezenator has a good chance of annexing the Klottey Korle seat. And so too does pollster Ben Epson. But he throws in a word of caution.

“She has a good chance of winning the seat if she wins the primaries. But she must not involve her father too much, for the simple reason that there are certain NDC members whose families suffered under the June 4 and 31st December issues.

“On her own, she can campaign and win. If she involves her father, she is likely to suffer reactions from her father’s past,” Ephson said.

But whichever way one looks at it, there are interesting times ahead and followers of the Ghanaian political terrain cannot simply wait.