Gideon Gabor, 20, from GIMPA, had the overall best essay. Shafic Osman, 22, and Naana Darku Yeboah, both from the University of Ghana tied as winners.

The topic for the competition was “What should a 2016 election manifesto say if young people mattered?”

The competition was designed to give the youth between the ages of 18-30 years, the opportunity to present their policy choices for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous society to Ghana’s political leaders and the general public.

It was also to intended to offer a platform to the young ones to tell the politicians seeking power why, how and what they ought to do; rather than the usual trend of listening to politicians speak about why they want power, what they intend to do, and how they intend to achieve it.

The top three winners were given cash prices of three thousand cedis, two thousand cedis and one thousand cedis respectively.

In addition, the two tie winners were given laptop, books and certificates.

In all, 29 participants were awarded with books and certificates.

The event was organised by the African Heights Foundation, a not-for-profit youth civic advocacy group in Ghana, with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (Ghana.

The two groups were also responsible for the just-ended 2016 ‘Youth Debates Series’ ahead of the 2016 elections. The debate series was designed to provide a platform to assess which of the parties in this year’s election best responds to issues affecting the youth and women.

The debates took place at the University of Ghana campus, Legon, the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology- KNUST which was an all-female contest, and at the University of Development Studies (UDS) campus in Tamale.

The youth leaders of the five major political parties debated on the thematic areas of poverty reduction and economic development, the right to education and skills training (Youth employment), energy and natural resources, unemployment, corruption, the justice system, the rule of law and women’s empowerment

About African Heights Foundation

The African Heights Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, based in Accra, Ghana, dedicated to using the tools of education, advocacy and civic participation to raise leaders and active citizens excelling in various sectors of society in Ghana and Africa.

The Foundation aims at strengthening democratic values and increasing citizens’ participation in decision making processes and thereby contributing to improved policies and practices that affects people’s lives.

The Foundation also focuses on developing leaders and citizens with a sound understanding and a deep commitment to quality education, democracy, economic development and human rights as underlying values for building a peaceful, prosperous and ambitious country.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GIMPA, UG students named winners of Youth Manifesto competition appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Although government has repeatedly said it remained committed to the passage of the Property Rights of Spouses Bill and the Affirmative Action Bill, representatives of the various political leaders said almost eight years in power, betrays such commitment.

The Property Rights of Spouses Bill is designed to regulate property rights of spouses in accordance with article 22 of the 1992 constitution.

The article provides that parliament shall enact a legislation to grant spouses access to property acquired jointly and an equitable distribution of such property.

The Affirmative Action Bill also seeks to rectify discrimination on the basis of sex or gender.

It provides for a 40 per cent representation and participation of women in governance, public positions of power and decision making.

The debate, which was organized by the African height foundation in collaboration with the debate society and Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the KNUST, was the third in a row sponsored by the open society initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Women political leaders were drawn from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), People’s National Convention (PNC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

The NPP’s parliamentary candidate for the Evalue Gwira constituency, Catherine Afeku, said the best gift voters can give women is to vote out the ruling NDC.

“We still have not been able to pass affirmative action in eight years under the NDC. That’s because it is not a priority for this government. When we come to power, in two months, we will make sure affirmative action is a law. Women will be given equal footing in politics, in business, on boards. We are over 50% in this nation and we have a lot of competent women capable of leading.”

The governing NDC’ Debora Dugbartey was heckled by the audience throughout the debate. But the strong-willed Deborah dusted it off anytime.

She contended that, the John Dramani Mahama administration was committed to rolling out a progressive approach towards more women inclusion in governance.

“My party is encouraging women, giving them the resources and strengthening them. It’s a progressive policy where in the first term; we are increasing women participation in governance by fifteen per cent and then probably the next two years twenty per cent. It’s a gradual process and not something that can happen at a go.”

The National Women’s Organiser of the CPP, Hajia Aisha Futa, however proposed a rather aggressive approach to getting the Affirmative Action Bill passed.

“Irrespective of the political colouring, we are all women so let’s come out and fight together for our rights. We can come together and say if the Affirmative Action Bill is not passed, women are not going to vote in Ghana again,” Hajia charged.

The PNC, which was represented by its national women’s organiser, Janet Nabla, gave assurances that her party would pass the two Bills within six months in office.

She however said the Corporate World must also accept part of the blame for what she described as discriminatory approach towards employment.

The PPPs National Women’s Coordinator, Mrs. Vivian Kakie Tetteh, drew attention to the number of women with disabilities whose equal rights to governance and employment have been curtailed with little or no focus on them.

The participants also decried the state of unemployment among the youth.

However, the NDC’s Deborah disagreed with arguments about mass youth unemployment, saying the Mahama administration has created enough jobs, and that many of those complaining about lack of jobs lack the right qualifications.

The debaters also discussed the quality of education and the need to pay attention to technical and vocational training.

Each party promised a better deal for women and the youth when voted or retained in office.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 2016 polls: Affirmative Action Bill dominates Women’s debate at KNUST appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.