Some women groups have expressed their disappointment over the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) decision to withdraw its affirmative action directives.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ggDP8K87gZsYDqH3VoFn4nSsZziZ7HrX”]The National Council of the NPP on Wednesday suspended the controversial affirmative action policy, which sought to secure Parliamentary seats for female Members of Parliament (MPs) after the announcement of the policy stirred mixed reactions from members of the party.
In an interview with Citi News, the Executive Director of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA-Ghana, Jane Quaye asked the NPP to make do their pledge by reintroducing the policy.
She stated that it is high time politicians “walked the talk…where is the equality when it comes to the issue of men and women? I am very disappointed and posterity will judge.”
According to her, huge progress is only made in development and human rights agenda when people fight for causes they believe in and therefore, the NPP should have stood firm by the decision rather than caving in after protests from party members.
“If Mandela had left things, South Africa will not be where it is now. He could easily have given up but today, he is a hero. You need to go through something before you can achieve whatever cause you are fighting for and I believe that tomorrow, it will be a better picture and a better place for the Ghanaian woman.”
The Board Chairperson of Women in Law and Development (WILDAF) Angela Dwamena Aboagye on her part discounted claims that women want affirmative action because they are incompetent.
She expressed grave disappointment at the NPP’s decision saying, “I am pained, pained, and pained but well, I will just breathe in and out and hope they will do something critical about maintaining women in elective positions should they come to power or whichever party comes to power that the issue of women will be seriously looked at.”
Angela Dwamena Aboagye was of the view that it is wrong to talk about competence when majority of individuals running the affairs of the nation are men “and I think that we need to take a good look again.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan