The Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has addressed misconceptions concerning the Affirmative Action Bill before the House.
In an interview, the Madina Member of Parliament(MP) clarified that the bill’s passage into law will not displace men in the decision-making process.
“It will be an erroneous conception to think that the Affirmative Action Bill seeks to displace men. You know, we have a historical wrong, and when laws are going to be made, you first want to identify the mischiefs the law seeks to cure,” he said.
Highlighting the existing gender disparities, Mr Sosu acknowledged that despite women outnumbering men in Ghana, they still lack equal representation and decision-making power.
He attributed this imbalance to cultural, historical, and social factors, emphasizing that legislation is the key to rectifying this long-standing issue.
“As we speak today, women are more than men in Ghana, yet they don’t have an equal stake when it comes to decisions that concern them and things that border on women. So how do we solve that problem?
“This problem is cultural, historical, and social. And the only way we can resolve this problem is by legislation,” he explained on Joy News’ The Probe.
The Affirmative Action Bill in Ghana aims to address historical gender inequalities by promoting the active participation of women in decision-making roles across various sectors.
It will be recalled that the Forum for African Women Educationalists Ghana (FAWE Ghana), a Non-Governmental organization, recently called on other bodies and the public to support the passage and full implementation of the Affirmative Action Bill.
It said the passage of the bill would ensure equitable representation for women in various spheres of life to enable them to develop their full potential and contribute meaningfully to national development.
Mr. Emmanuel Gazari, a Senior Field Officer at FAWE-Ghana, made the call when he addressed Queen mothers and some selected students of St. John’s Integrated Senior High Technical School (SHTS) at Navrongo to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on the theme: “Invest in women, Accelerate Progress”.