Nineteen females have filed their nominations with the Electoral Commission to contest the upcoming Assembly Member Elections in the Upper West
Region, out of a total of 968 persons.
Only one female filed to contest in the Wa Municipality, two in Wa West Constituency, two in
Nadowli/Kaleo Constituency, one in Daffiama/Bussie/Issa, four in Jirapa, two in Lambussie, four in Lawra, one in Nandom, and two in Sissala East.
No female filed
nomination to contest in the Sissala West and Wa East districts.
Mr Ali Osman, the Upper West Regional Director of the EC revealed this to the Ghana News Agency
(GNA) in Wa. Also, 75 females out
of a total of 1,994 people filed to contest in the Unit Committee elections in
the region.
Only three Persons with Disability (PWDs) also filed to contest the Assembly Member positions,
while two PWDs filed to contest the Unit Committee positions.
In all, there were
293 Electoral Areas (EA) in the region, out of which 267 were contested, while
207 Unit Committees were being contested.
Madam Charity
Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director, Department of Gender, told the GNA
that women’s participation in politics was low over the years due to factors
including; financial constraints and fear of insults from some members of the public.
She said some religious teachings also discouraged women from participating in politics and
seeking leadership positions as some of those teaching regarded women as
followers rather than leaders. Madam Batuure also
explained that domestic chores such as; cooking and caring for the family as well as women’s low confidence level impeded their efforts to participate and hold political positions.
She added that poor communication skills of some women also affected their ability to communicate
their campaign messages effectively to the electorate to win elections.
The Gender Director
said the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) organised
training for women seeking political power in 2015 and 2016 to coach them on how to carve their campaign messages to win the confidence of the electorate.
She said the Ministry, this year, planned to provide financial support and coaching to women
contesting in the upcoming Assembly and Unit Committee Elections to carry out
their campaign on the media.
Madam Batuure encouraged women to play active roles in politics and to assume leadership
roles to help break the gender gap in leadership and politics.
By: GNA