Gender Activist and Executive Director of Life Again, Saudatu Mohammed has described the outcome of the vetting process for the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executive (MMDCE) positions in the Upper West Regions as disappointing and unfortunate.
Following the call for applications for the positions of MMDCEs across the country, 168 applicants filed for the positions across the eleven Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Upper West Region.
Only 8 of those applicants were women, a figure that already raised concerns among gender activists. After the vetting process to select the top three candidates for submission to the President of the Republic for consideration, not a single woman made it to the final list.
Madam Saudatu who is also a member of the Affirmative Action Law Coalition in the Upper West Region, expressed disappointment about the development, stating, "I don't even know where to start from; I am that disappointed."
She lamented that, despite the passing of the Affirmative Action Law, the expected progress in women’s representation has not materialized.
She added that, after having eleven Members of Parliament representing the eleven Constituencies of which none is a woman, the expectation was that the appointments at the grassroots level to the MMDCE positions would give priority to women which is, however, not the case.
“We were so hopeful that when we come to the grassroots level, that is the MMDCEs, we will have at least 30% of women in there, and these women are not just a representation but these women are going to put forward, they're going to support the dreams, the aspirations of the women and the girls in the Upper West Region.
“So it's not only an issue of occupied position. And so you can imagine our disappointment. When you see an all-male list, 33 names for consideration as MMDCEs in the region, no single women, this is the reason of we are disappointed,” explained.
Madam Saudatu further lamented that, despite women making up the larger demographic of the region’s population, their representation and participation in leadership roles have been reduced to nothingness.
“Imagine a region that is female-dominated. Women makes up 51.6% of the region's population. We are majority and according to the principles of majority carrying the vote, we should actually be leading in every sector of the region … but the reverse is the case.
“We are the majority, yet we are sidelined in decision making; we are the majority, yet we don't have any potential to represent us; we are the majority, yet we don't have a single woman who is going to put in the issues or put forward the issues that women are facing in the region, and there are so many issues that women are facing in the region, yet, we don't have single a single woman and you want us to see this with smiles on our faces? We are extremely disappointed, we are disappointed,” she explained.
Madam Saudatu explained that the Affirmative Action Law is a positive bias for women to correct historical biases and discrimination that has been meted out to women and that, the law be enforced.
She, therefore, called on President John Dramani Mahama and the first-ever female Vice President Jane Naana Opoku Aygemang to reject the all-male list and ensure that at least 30% of positions are held by women in the final appointments.