‘Break the cycle of male dominance in governance’

By Edmund Smith-Asante, ACCRA

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings speaking at the summit

 Former first lady and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has called for a break in the cycle of male dominance in Ghana’s governance system.


She said it was unacceptable that out of the 275 parliamentarians in Ghana’s legislature, only 30, which was less than 20 per cent of the total number, were women.

At a leadership summit organised by the KKOR Foundation, in collaboration with the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Tuesday, she said the passage of various laws aimed at protecting women and children had dragged on because there were few women in the legislature to champion such causes.

Mrs Rawlings, who spoke on the theme of the summit, “Leadership and Governance in the Fourth Republic”, however, added that there were men in the legislature who were gender-sensitive, while some of the 30 women might not be necessarily gender- sensitive.

“Women must continue pushing to achieve. You shouldn’t stop because people are complaining. Confront the negatives and break the cycle of male-dominated governance,” she charged women in the audience.

Leadership in Ghana

Shifting to the nature of leadership in Ghana today, Mrs Rawlings stated, “There is the dearth of leadership at the national level because some [leaders] have been content with playing second fiddle and are not assertive to steer the country out of stormy waters.

“There is no identifiable national agenda, which citizens can recognise as the path we are taking.”
Saying that leadership meant influence and must evoke respect, she added that without respect and cooperation, there could not be positive results.

“Leadership in Ghana today does not  earn respect to enable it to gain positive results,” she bemoaned, asking women who aspired to be in leadership to have respect and exhibit accountability among other virtues.

“Leadership in government is also about the strength of character and decisiveness”, Mrs Rawlings stressed, noting that indecisiveness came at great cost to the nation.

Affirmative action

The former first lady said she believed in affirmative action because it allowed people who did not know their capabilities to get involved and excel.

“An attempt to create quotas will help women to come forward. Without that women should push themselves forward based on their capabilities,” she urged.

She, however, lamented that some people had received the calls for affirmative action with mixed feelings, while after the Beijing Conference about 20 years ago; Ghana’s Affirmative Action Bill had still not been passed.

Mrs Rawlings said Ghana needed good quality men and women in governance, and added that “there has to be a certain balance to allow for a level-playing field for good governance”.

Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh 

This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on April 2, 2015