President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo has asked women across the world to push hard to be part of decision-making process.
He believed this would put women in a better position to help shape policy and decision-making and promote cause.
This was when he participated in the ‘Women Deliver’ 2019 Conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Even though he admitted to the fact that women across the world are taking and being appointed to occupy key and sensitive positions in government and society, he was of the belief that it was not enough and that it is the reason they must strive to take positions for their voices to be heard and be part of decision-making processes.
The President who is one of the United Nations
Co-Chair for the Sustainable Development Goals and a decorated Africa Union
Gender Champion indicated that 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”, he noted in his open remarks.
But even before he could finish making his submission, Canadian Physician and UN Sustainable Development Goals advocate, Alaa Mubarit, interjected in disagreement, literally stampeding the Ghanaian President in the process to the surprise of many whiles moderator of the programme looked on.
Her argument was that the approach should rather be about changing existing systems which have been shaped to deny women the opportunity to get into positions of power. She goes ahead to argue that there are “dynamic, incredible women” that the door remains closed to.
President could not but retorted “we are talking about decisions, not wishes and hopes, we are talking about decisions that are going to make the difference”, thereby provoking a banter between the two with president Nana Akufo-Addo having to ask “how is the door going to open?”. She insisted it was important for male allies in positions of power like the President to recognise the impactful, incredible, dynamic women in the communities, and “amplify them not empower them because they have agency” but “amplify them to put them in positions of power”.
An obviously stunned President Akufo-Addo therefore had cause to reveal that under his leadership, the women component of his administration has been increased to 30%, a figure he believed can be improved but that would depend more broadly on sustained women activism.
He could not but prided himself for having been the first President in Africa to appoint a woman in the person of Frema Osei Opare as Chief of Staff and appointing yet another woman, Sophia Akuffo as Chief Justice to succeed her predecessor, Georgina Woode who was also a woman, not to talk of the several women he has appointed to key and influential government positions including cabinet Minister.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Vancouver, Canada?