By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 12, GNA – The Upper West Regional Female Chiefs Association (Queen Mothers) has appealed to Assembly Members in the Nadowli-Kaleo District to vote unanimously to confirm Ms. Mary Haruna, the District Chief Executive (DCE) nominee.
It said the Assembly Members should give her a hundred per cent confirmation as a sign of honour and respect to President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to nominate her to represent him in that district.
Pognaa Rosemary Bangzie Mumwilma, the Queen Mother of Duong community in the Nadowli-Kaleo District and Treasurer of the Female Chiefs Association made the appeal on behalf of the association, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Wa.
She explained that giving Ms. Haruna that overwhelming support would also be a reverend to the efforts and support of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party elders and leadership at all levels to secure her nomination.
Pognaa Mumwilma said women, traditional leaders, and the entire people in the region were looking up to the Assembly Members in Nadowli-Kaleo District to honour them by confirming the only female DCE nominee for the region to support the ten male DCE nominees.
“We are not just asking for some votes. We are asking for a hundred per cent (100%). That will motivate our listening President to even give us more women in the future,” she indicated.
She pleaded that the Assembly Members should not see her confirmation as a woman taking over from another woman but as a blessing to the district, which should be embraced and supported wholeheartedly.
She stated: “This position is not permanent. Let us give her the chance. When her time is up, someone else will come.”
The Queen Mother added: “Let us maintain the peace we are known for. Let us not allow political differences to destroy what we have.”
The Queen Mothers Association also thanked President Mahama for listening to their plea and the concerns of women in the Upper West Region by nominating a female DCE though they expected more females to have been nominated.
It could be recalled that Queen Mothers and gender advocates in the region raised concerns when 33 shortlisted DCE aspirants submitted to the President by the vetting committee for consideration excluded females though eight females applied and went through the vetting process.
Ms. Haruna’s nomination came as refreshing news to the Upper West Region at a time of increased calls for gender balance in political appointments, especially at the local governance level.
Many individuals and groups in the region including those within the NDC party had added their voices to calls for the Nadowli-Kaleo Assembly Members to confirm Ms. Haruna to give pride to women in the region.
The NDC Women’s Wing in Naro in that district, for instance, recently addressed a section of the media in the region, stressing the need for overwhelming confirmation of the DCE nominee.
At the time of her nomination, Ms. Haruna was the NDC Women’s Organiser for the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency and a teacher at the St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary in Wa.
GNA
CAE/BM