The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) has attributed the loss of some female incumbent Members of Parliament to the low participation of women in the district-level elections.
The Association believes that the prejudice of many Ghanaians against women as incapable of handling political positions has been a crippling factor in the frequent loss of women in both national and district-level elections.
This follows the recent New Patriotic Party parliamentary primaries on January 27, 2024, where most 28 incumbent MPs lost their bid.
Most of the defeated incumbents were females, including Adwoa Safo, MP for the Dome Kwabenya constituency.
Similarly, the low representation of women was also reflected in the district-level elections as only 4.1 percent of women were elected while men constituted up to 95.9 percent.
The General Secretary of NALAG, Kokro Amankwah, in an interview with Citi News‘ Sheba Araba Bennin, referred to the district-level elections as a training ground for women as it is the first level of the political sphere.
“I think that the assembly level should be a training ground to aspire to higher political office, and so in a situation where we have 14.5% in the 2020 elections as female MPs who were elected to parliament and today we are seeing the numbers decrease from what we experienced in 2020, then we ought to be alarmed. We may not even get 14% in the national parliament and that is very worrying.”
He further stressed that the challenge for women should only be at the district level and should get easier as they rise in the political ranks.
“As of now, we have not been able to kill the stereotype and the prejudices we have against women when it comes to leadership. However, leadership must take decisive action to implement Affirmative Action.”
Meanwhile, NALAG together with the Network for Women’s Rights is appealing to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint 60% of women to the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.
The Local Government Act, 2016 (Act 936) allows the president to appoint 30 percent of Assemblymen and women while the remaining 70 percent are elected.
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