Former Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs says Ghana can only be ready for a female leader in some thirteen (13) years.
On his accord, females on some news portals have created a very bad perception about Ghanaian women, which has made it difficult for the society to accept them in key leadership positions such as the presidency.
“Ghana is not ripe for a woman leader. It’ll be somewhere in 2034 or something before the country will be ready to accept a female leader. Look at social media reportage on female celebrities. Look at what they churn out about our celebrities and you think that appeases people and motivates them to put women in positions of power?” he asked.
He shared that African women are sometimes their own enemies as compared to Europe and the Americas where democracy started.
Speaking in an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Sefah-Danquah on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show, Jacob Allotey shared he is now seeing the rise of unions, championing women emancipation which is commendable.
Ghana in its 2020 general elections saw two women, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and Brigitte Dzogbenuku vying for the presidency with one, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang running as a vice presidential candidate.
According to research, strengthening women’s participation in all spheres of life has become a major issue in the discourse of economic and social development in the last decade. Virtually every international and bilateral development agency has proclaimed policies to integrate women’s interest into economic and social processes.
This is perhaps in accordance with one of the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which among others states that, “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his or her country” (UN, 1945).
Improvement in women’s political status and representation at all levels of decision-making is also seen as fundamental for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and sustainable development in all areas of life (United Nation Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995).
By: Joel Sanco
