Minister-designate for Gender Children and Social Protection, and MP for Dome Kwabenya, Adwoa Safo
Convenor of the Alliance for Inclusive Governance, Okatakyie Peter Asante, has made a passionate appeal to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint more women into leadership positions in his new government.
The appeal, he said, was necessary because women were inadequately represented in the current 46-member ministerial appointment list submitted to Parliament of which only eight were women.
Mr. Asante, in a media interview, underscored the need for President Akufo-Addo to include more women in his next ministerial appointment list in order to meet a minimum threshold of 30 per cent women representation.
He stated that the appointment of 30 per cent women would be fulfilling both local and international obligations on appointing women into decision-making positions.
“The President must make a concerted effort to push in a sizable number of competent women into decision-making positions.After all, women are reputed to be more cautious and analytical in their decision making which makes them excellent leaders in whatever sphere they find themselves in,” he said.
He said a research published by the Harvard Business Review projected twenty first women as enterprising, resilient, result driven, and of high integrity and honesty.
These attributes mentioned, he said, could be described as crucial in public sector leadership.
“It goes without saying also that women in Ghana are not an exception to these standards. Women who have served in leadership positions since the Fourth Republic started in January 1993 have brought a remarkable change to whatever they serve and are indicators of what Ghanaian women are capable of when given the chance,” he added.
With the appointment of more women, the convenor said not only would the government be assured of competent leadership to carry out its agenda, but they would also be bringing in a diversity of thought that would further enrich discussions surrounding the formulation and execution of this administration’s development agenda.
He said it could not be denied that the President needed people with intelligence to help consolidate gains made in the last four years.
He explained that a move towards integrating more women into the governance process would be seen as a respectful nod to give women fair representation as they form the majority in the country.
“It will also serve as a benchmark to most young ladies in the country that they can aspire to higher height and affirm the credentials of the President as a champion of women’s rights and development, a reputation which won him the Africa Union (AU) Gender Champion Award in 2017.
“I would therefore urge that, as the President and his team work on filling the myriad posts in government, they consider placing more women in these positions to both ensure that there is a diversity of voices and competent leadership which is currently needed in government to execute the administration’s agenda,” he added.