By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Navrongo (U/E), March 9, GNA – The Upper East Regional Queen mothers Association has called on the Government and the Parliament of Ghana to enact legislation to give them representation right to the Regional and National Houses of Chiefs.
It said although the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana recognised a Queen mother as a Chief in its definition, only few traditional settings in the country accepted female traditional rulers.
This, it said, did not only defeat the provision of the Constitution and denied them the right to be represented at the various levels of the Houses of Chiefs but also denied women the opportunity to participate in critical decision making which affected the growth of women, thereby deepening the gender inequality and discrimination.
Pognaba Alice Ayamga, the Upper East Regional President of the Queen mothers Association said this on behalf of her colleagues at the commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day held at Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.
It was held on the theme, “Digital innovation and technology for gender equality,” organised by the Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAM) with funding from the Open Society Initiatives for West Africa (OSIWA-Senegal).
Pognaba Ayamga, who is also the Paramount Queen mother of Naaga Traditional Area, noted that although some traditional areas in the south had taken the initiative to include Queen mothers in their traditional councils, the same could not be said about Northern Ghana.
“Comparatively, the Southern part of the country recognises Queen mothers and assign them roles to take part in decision making processes effectively, but the situation is not so in the five regions of the north of Ghana.
“For instance, most of the traditional areas in the Upper East Region have not initiated the move to enskin Queen mothers to be part of the decision-making process at the traditional councils, the regional and National Houses of Chiefs,” she added.
She said even those who had been enskinned would have to pay an amount of GH₵500.00 and follow frustrating processes to be gazette, this disempowered them to take part in decision making processes.
“Society is dynamic, and research has shown that countries that have yielded for change are advancing in development. Classic example of these countries includes South Arica and Liberia, where Queen mothers are actively participating at the decision-making process,” she added.
The Paramount Queen mother noted that the fight for gender parity and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals would not be realised if urgent action were not taken to address the challenge, adding “it is therefore unjustifiable for female chiefs to be denied the opportunity at the houses of chiefs where critical decision making regarding to women takes place.”
Mr Emmanuel Atiiga, the Executive Director, OLAM, reiterated the commitment of OLAM to continue to collaborate with other partners to champion the welfare of women and children and said a new training center would soon be established at Doba and Kandiga following the return of peace to the areas.
“This center will add to the existing Paga and Navrongo Centers and bring the total number of training centers to three. Conflicts affect women and children the most and we are always willing to support initiatives to enhance peaceful coexistence and community development,” he said.
A total of four paramount Oueen mothers from the region were awarded for their contribution to development especially women issues at their traditional areas and were each given a citation, woven smock cloth and undisclosed amount of money.
GNA