Gender activists at the Women Deliver Conference in Canada were not too pleased with President Akufo-Addo’s submission on women empowerment in Ghana.
The President has said, despite the majority being women in Ghana, not much political action had been witnessed in their push for greater inclusion in Ghana’s political administration.
“We are not seeing enough dynamism and activism on the part of those who are seeking. I am talking about dynamism where it matters…electing people to Parliament, controlling political parties because they are the instruments by which our societies make decisions.
“We are talking about decisions, not wishes and hopes, we are talking about decisions that are going to make the difference,” President Akufo-Addo added.
He said under his leadership for the past two and half years, the women component of his administration was about 30%, a figure he believed can be improved but that would depend more broadly on sustained women activism
One of the female panelists, Dr Alaa Murabit, the UN’s High Commissioner on Health Employment and Economic Growth, appeared ruffled by the president’s position and could be seen interrupting the president spontaneously.
She charged the president to “open the door” to women in Ghana whom she believed are qualified and empowered enough to participate prominently in his government.
President Akufo-Addo, branded gender champion in Africa was the first to appoint a female Chief of Staff in government.
He is also on record to have a second female Chief Justice, a female
Attorney-General and could be the first to appoint the country’s first
female Inspector General of Police (IGP).
