Accra: Participants at a post-elections consultative forum in Accra have called for commitment from both the public and private sectors towards the effective implementation of the Affirmative Action and Gender Equity law. They noted that the implementation process had been slow, and it appeared that government's commitment to the 30 per cent appointment reserved for women as stipulated in the law, was not encouraging.
According to Ghana News Agency, there are currently 40 females in Parliament out of the 275 seats, with 30 on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and 10 for the New Patriotic Party (NPP). One constituency remains outstanding. Ms Becky Enyonam Ahadzi, the Coordinator of the Affirmative Action Law Coalition, highlighted that the law did not have a significant impact on the 2024 elections because it was passed when political parties had concluded the selection of parliamentary candidates.
Speaking at the Post-Elections Consultative Forum in Accra on Tuesday, she expressed regret over the delay in establishing fundamental processes such as setting up the gender equity committee to facilitate the smooth implementation of the Affirmative Action and gender equity law. However, the Coalition is advocating for a constitutional amendment so that the Electoral Commission (EC) can direct political parties to field 30 per cent women as parliamentary candidates to realize the law.
The Forum, organized by the Network for Women's Rights (NETRIGHT) with support from the Star-Ghana Foundation, aims to assess the outcomes of the 2024 general election and review key observations to inform reforms and recommendations for future elections. Ms Ahadzi noted that having a female Vice President was a significant step but emphasized that more needed to be done for women, which must be supported by the commitment of everyone to change the narratives.
Ms Cynthia Sunu, Programmes Manager at NETRIGHT-Ghana, remarked that despite reaching a historic milestone for women's leadership in the country, the numbers showed that women remained vastly underrepresented in Parliament. She stressed the need for deliberate actions to ensure that women's representation moved beyond tokenism and became a structural priority in the nation's governance system.
Mrs Beauty Emefa Nartey from the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and Dr Charity Binka, Executive Director of Women, Change and Media (WOMEC), emphasized that mobilizing women and youth was key to ensuring better election outcomes in the future. About 50 participants, mainly women from academia, civil society, political parties, gender advocacy, election observation, government agencies, media, and development partners, deliberated on the state of Ghana's democracy, accountability, and the future of its gender-responsive governance.
