By Bajin D. Pobia
Wa, Oct. 14, GNA – Mr. Cletus Seidu Dapilah, the Member of Parliament for the Jirapa Constituency, has called on gender activists to advocate for the review of Ghana’s Constitution to take care of some key provisions of the Affirmative Action Law to ensure its effective implementation.
He said the passing of the Affirmative Action Bill into law alone was not a guarantee that gender parity could be achieved if its provisions were not enshrined in the Constitution to discourage opponents from manipulating the law in their favour.
Mr Dapilah made the call when he addressed 33 participants including Queen Mothers, some Members of Parliament, women groups, People with Disabilities and heads of government departments and institutions at a day’s Regional Women Advocacy Forum held in Wa, to discuss the role of stakeholders in the implementation of the Affirmative Action Law.
He said if there was ever an opportunity for the review of the constitution, all must show interest and ensure that the law was adequately backed so that some slots could be allotted to women both at the national and local level elections by political parties and the government in its appointment portfolios.
The Member of Parliament stated that Ghana was home to good laws but was challenged with their enforcement to make them operational to serve the purpose of enacting them.
Dr Abdul-Hassan Pelpuo, the Member of Parliament for the Wa Central constituency, in a brief remark on the commitment of Members of Parliament from the region, said it was a well-known fact that when laws are enacted, they do not become laws if they are not implemented.
He said the Affirmative Action Law if implemented, would do a lot of good to the human resource base, as it would enhance equal rights and opportunities for all and for effective and efficient management of resources and governance of the country.
Defending the position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Pelpuo said the NDC was gender sensitive and more committed to gender advocacy and would do its best to ensure that the law was implemented to take care of the marginalised and vulnerable groups in society.
Mr. Salifu Kanton, the Executive Director of CDA said the adequacies of women in all sectors of national endeavours must be addressed through deliberate and a sustained attempt to bring about gender parity to enhance inclusivity and create fertile grounds for effective decision-making processes in the governance systems.
He called for adequate resource allocation to the Ministry of Gender and improved its institutional capacity to enable it to ensure that the law was successfully implemented.
He entreated political parties and politicians to recognise the role of women in politics and their contributions towards national development and give them their due share of the national cake when it comes to the distribution of positions.
Madam Mercy Dakogri, the Project Manager of the Giving for Change Project at CDA, said section five of the Law talked about the establishment of a Committee and a Secretariat to support the Committee and appealed to the authorities to make it gender sensitive for effective monitoring and evaluation of the committee’s work on a yearly basis.
She encouraged the authorities to raise awareness about the Law and ensure that women’s participation was not compromised especially with regards to capacity building of key stakeholders in government departments and institutions to be abreast with the law.
The Community Development Alliance in partnership with Star Ghana organised the forum.
GNA