This she said would afford queen-mothers the respect that traditional Ghanaian culture gave women before colonial rule.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZmqeDhcrSq2rcJcu34Bja9Zt2mZ6EKeh”]”Culturally, we refer to nature as ‘asase yaa’ and women are held in reverence spiritually and culturally, so why the disconnect in our contemporary society where women are treated like second-class citizens,” she questioned.

Nana Konadu was giving an address at a symposium at the University of Ghana on the theme: “Women Empowerment: How Critical Is It To National Development?”

Her address narrowed into the makeup of the House of Chief, which is a constitutionally mandated traditional body, and has always been constituted by men.

“Can someone here give me reasons why our queen mothers are not permitted into the House of Chiefs? There really is no reason besides the fundamental fact that they are women and that is it,” she stated.

Queen mothers are noted as advisers to chiefs and kingmakers in some cases, so Nana Konadu questioned further why “they [the Queen-mothers] are not in the halls of real power?”

On this premise, she said the House of Chiefs should be named the “House of Chiefs and Queen-mothers” because there was a clear gender imbalance “that did not originate from our culture at all.”

What the constitution says

Despite the former First Lady’s concerns, Chapter 22 of the constitution, which deals with chieftaincy and the House of Chiefs, does not strictly exclude women from serving on the House of Chiefs.

The relevant section says “…unless the context otherwise requires, ‘chief’ means a person, who, hailing from the appropriate family and lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled, enskinned or installed as a chief or queen-mother in accordance with the relevant customary law and usage.”

Nana Konadu’s advocacy

Nana Konadu has been championing women’s issues and gender equality in the public eye for over 30 years.

She notably founded the 31st December Women’s Movement in 1982 after her husband, Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings seized power in a coup on December 31, 1981.

Nana Konadu also played a crucial role in the adoption of the Intestate Succession Law allowing women to inherit from the husband despite the absence of a will.

Traditionally, women had little or no rights of inheritance upon the death of their husbands.

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By: Marie Franz Fordjoe & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Open House of Chiefs to Queen-mothers – Nana Konadu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Electoral Commission (EC) had disqualified Mrs. Agyeman Rawlings along with 12 other flagbearers for filing presidential nomination forms with anomalies.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xT8hCbNwOtMibCVa4x85e0Lx7iiHzwQB”]But following legal tussles that began in the High Court and ended in the Supreme Court, the apex court ordered the EC to allow the affected candidates to correct the errors and resubmit them. Consequently, three of the parties were given the nod by the EC to contest.

Mrs. Agyeman Rawlings said of the development: “this win that we have got as NDP is not a win for me alone; it is a win for our supporters. It is a win for women, it is a chance for us as a nation to change what is going on so the young people, women, the elderly, everybody in Ghana who wants Ghana to be seen as having a stamp on the African continent will see this as their win as well.”

In her view, the ensuing litigation after the initial disqualification is proof that “the rule of law does work in Ghana and that every institution must work within the law.”

Following the balloting of for spots on the ballot paper, the NDP landed the second spot and Mrs. Agyeman Rawlings expressed hope that “being number two [on the ballot sheet] will also help propel us to the level that we want to get to.”

PPP, PNC also clear to contest

The Progressive People’s Party’s (PPP) Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom and the People’s National Congress’ (PNC), Dr. Edward Mahama were also cleared to contest in the upcoming Presidential elections on Wednesday as the EC approved of their respective party’s resubmitted presidential nomination forms after reviewing it.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post My appearance on ballot victory for rule of law – Nana Konadu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The NDP in a statement signed by its General Secretary, said the development was “a clear violation of our human rights.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”dzFlqIBdaCanFxBzTWbfVf0H9uDmpjS0”]On October 10, 2016 when the EC initially disqualified Mrs. Agyeman Rawlings, along with 12 other candidates, it identified just one error; one of subscribers on her forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation (2) (b) of CI 94.

The NDP and five other political parties thus proceeded to the High Court to fight the disqualification on the grounds of the single mistake, and this culminated in a Supreme Court judgement on Monday [November 7], ordering the EC to extend the period of filing of nomination forms to the close of day today [Tuesday].

“After fighting the matter in court all this while, the EC has suddenly and unexpectedly shifted the goal posts in a manner that shows that, all the EC wants to do is to disqualify us from participating in the coming presidential election by any means possible,” the NDP lamented in its statement.

“This cannot be what the Supreme Court meant when it ordered the EC to give us a hearing and permit us to comply with the law that gives us the right to an opportunity to amend our documents.”

The NDP thus dismissed the the EC’s announcement of new errors as a “clear attempt at victimization by the EC” and called on the EC to “immediately desist from its oppressive tactics, and with immediate effect reverse this illegal demand of us; else we would have no option but to return to court.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Oppressive’ EC victimising us – NDP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The party’s flagbearer, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of former President Rawlings, was disqualified by the Electoral Commission for failing to meet some requirements of the electoral laws ahead of the December polls.

She was disqualified together with twelve (12) other presidential aspirants.

In explaining the NDP’s disqualification, the EC explained that, “The Commission is unable to accept Mrs. Rawlings’ nomination because the number of subscribers to her forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. One subscriber on page 89 of her nomination forms is not a validly registered voter, and illegally registered twice and so is on the Exclusion list of multiple voters. Details are Salifu Abdulai District: Nanumba South, Voter ID no: 6617004814 (28.3.2012), Voter ID no: 2126900022 (04.8.2014).”

But according to the Deputy Communications  Director of the NDP, Ernest Owusu Bempah, the disqualification of the party’s flagbearer is a deliberate attempt by the EC to ensure the NDP does to contest in the elections.

“This is a deliberate attempt by Charlotte Osei and the EC to disqualify us… they should clap for themselves for tarnishing the image of our multiparty democracy in the country, and deliberately running into the pockets of the government of the day and trying to please their pay masters,” Mr Bempah told Richard Sky on Eyewitness News.

Owusu Bempah challenged the Electoral Commission’s reasons for his party’s disqualification stating that, the EC must provide additional information on the basis for their disqualification.

“You can’t just come and disqualify somebody because you have stated reasons. This is totally unacceptable and as a party we are going to take a strong decision on this particular one and we are going to go out there and make sure that if we can fight this to the highest level; we will do that to make sure we will never allow this one to pass. It is totally unacceptable, we know as far as we are concerned as a party that, we filled the document and we provided all the information that they [EC] needed, he said.

“If she [Charlotte Osei] wants to go that tangent, we will  strip her naked in this country for everybody to know.. we are all ready to play that game. She should come out and tell us who she really is,” he concluded.

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings in a Facebook post after the announcement of her disqualification said “the NDP is not backing down”.

This is the second time Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has been disqualified from the presidential race.

In 2012, she was disqualified by the Electoral Commission from contesting in the presidential elections over her inability to appropriately fill her nomination forms.

The party subsequently threatened a court action against the EC; but failed in its attempt to secure an injunction against that election. In the view of the NDP, they were disqualified largely because of machinations from the incumbent NDC.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll strip EC boss ‘naked’ for disqualifying us – NDP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.