Taking women as running mates is no achievement – ActionAid

Madam Adwoa Kluvitse, Country Director of ActionAid Ghana has downplayed the nomination of women by some political parties as their running mates saying,  that merely choosing women as running mates is no achievement.

“What we want is the passage of  an affirmative action law”, said Madam Kluvitse in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the recent nomination of some women as running mates to flagbearers of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the Peoples National Convention (PNC)  and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) for the December 7 general election.

She explained that the minimum acceptable levels at which the country could pat itself on the back was to give 30 per cent representation to women at all levels of decision making in the country, stressing that women constituted more than 51 per cent of the population and must be accordingly represented.

“We want the passage of an affirmative action law that will  tackle problems relating to women, children and the vulnerable in society and when that is achieved, we can then jubilate”, she said.

She enumerated some of the factors militating against women’s active participation in politics saying that the negative perception of Ghanaians about women, social and cultural barriers, and unequal levels in the political playing field as some of the challenges.

Madam Kluvitse whose organization has been championing and advocating for the interests of women and the vulnerable, said women in the country had not been given a good foundation, thereby  making some women to lack  the courage and confidence to compete favourably like their male counterparts.

She called for a quota of women to be given positions in  the District Assemblies, as well as  the building of capacities of women and urged society  to reflect positively about the role of women.

Source: GNA