Prof. Ransford Edward Gyampo, a political scientist, has indicated that the announcement on Monday, of a woman as the running mate to John Dramani Mahama may sound good but it may not translate into votes as women since 1992 have not constituted one constituency to support each other.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, Prof. Gyampo told Paul Adom-Otchere that the women in Ghana may express their excitement that a woman has been raised up the political ladder but when it comes to voting they will prefer to vote for the candidates of their political party.
“Women are almost 52% of our population and ideally they should be excited about a woman being given that nod…if women are going to really constitute themselves into a constituency and vote their own, then the electoral fortunes of John Mahama will be great,” Prof Gyampo explained. “But unfortunately, since 1992, women have not constituted one constituency in supporting their own. Well, they’ll tell you we’re excited a woman has been given the nod but when it comes to voting they’ll tell you; you’re a good woman [but] because you don’t belong to (sic) my party, we’re not going to vote for you. And they’ve done this from 1992 till now (sic)”.
He added that this trend has been very difficult for women who put themselves out there to gather the needed support from their fellow women.
Prof. Ransford Gyampo further stated that the argument that since Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang is a woman, she will be able to champion the cause of women, will be flawed when subjected to critical scrutiny.
He added that Ghanaians shouldn’t be looking for a candidate that is going to match another candidate, for, “it is an irrational factor that often tends to dominate our choice”.
He stated: “What we have to look for is somebody who will be able to match development. Look for somebody who will be able to help translate policies into tangible developmental outcomes that will be reflected in the lives of the ordinary people.”
Prof Gyampo observed that people with so many qualifications do not necessarily express depth in their communications, for, academic qualifications do not necessarily translate into competence.
He said further that the competence of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang will also be assessed by what she will say at her first press conference. This will give an indication, “whether she will be able to competently handle the position that has been entrusted to her care”.
Source: ghanaweb
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Perfect analysis Prof. This is the position I have argued with others about. She is a good technocrat or academician. From the little I know about her, she is a good woman but this cannot translate into votes. Since 1992, we have had presidential candidates of smallers parties picking female vice about 7 times, the recent being PPP Paa Kwesi Nduom (2 times), CPP Abu Sakara (once) and PNC Hassan Ayariga (Once). We may argue that these are smaller parties without clout. However, if females vote em mass for a party with female vice, then we should have even see improvement in votes garnered by these parties. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for these parties. Some even suffered reductions in votes garnered compared to previous election, even when they fielded female vice presidential candidates. In fact, the argument that academicians, Naana Jane's constituency will also support is to me flawed too. This is a constituency which by virtue of their work do not take things on face value. They scrutinize, critic and delve into in-depth analysis before forming informed opinion. This is what the party must know. NDC needs to do more convincing and will have to work hard on this in the next five months before the elections. Like Prof said, I want to see leadership that translates policies into tangible outcomes that impact positively on the lives of the masses. Voting for someone because he/she is in my social group, from my region, from my ethnic group, a male/female, tall/short, fair/dark, ***barred word***/beautiful etc. are about 90% not likely to give me what I want from such leader. I really like Naana and wish her well (just as I wish all women who even contest in local council elections beat their male contestants), as has always been my position, Ghanaians do not come across as people ready to female leadership at the highest level. She has a tall order on hand but all the best.
If being a woman is the only reason we expect all women to vote en mass for a particular party, then to say the least, we're belittling women, and in fact contradicting the whole concept of women empowerment! The women I know, know better and certainly deserve better. As a man, it doesn't even cross my mind to support someone simply because he's a man. Having worked with both men and women in leadership, and seeing no difference in capabilities on the basis of gender, this will not be my criteria. There must be something more and in this case, we're not looking for a mother (or for that matter a father) to the nation. We're looking for someone to MANAGE OUR ECONOMY. Given the two possible candidates, I choose Bawumia, while I continue to reserve my soft spot for women!