Amend Affirmative Action Bill to increase women’s representation — Kufuor

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has called for an amendment to the Affirmative Action Bill to increase the percentage of women’s representation and participation in public positions, governance and political decision making.

He said the proposal of 40 per cent representation of women in the bill should be increased to 50 per cent, considering the fact that women constituted the majority of the country’s population while those in leadership position had so far excelled tremendously.

"I personally believe that it should at least be 50-50, looking at the number of women in the country," he said. Mr Kufuor made the call when he launched a book titled: "Women of Distinction Ghana, Journey to the Top," in Accra on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

He also advised that women in the informal sector should be considered in subsequent editions of the book.

Women of Distinction Authored by Ms Cornelia Amoah, a retired journalist, the 388-page book captures the stories of 50 distinguished women in the country and celebrates them for their remarkable roles and achievements in their chosen fields.

It was produced within a period of four years, and covers women in politics, law, academia, health, geography, security, among other areas. The book features personalities such as the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings; the designer of the Ghana flag, Mrs Theodosia Okoh; and the first female Head of the Department of History at the University of Ghana, Professor Akosua Perbi.

Also notably captured are the first female President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mrs Gifty Afenyi Dadzie; the first female Maritime Educator in the World, Merchant Navy Captain Hannah Aggrey; and the first female Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Ms Eva Lokko.

Growing up in a family that had 10 children made up of five boys and five girls, Mr Kufuor asserted that women were capable of making smarter decisions and were more likely to compete effectively with their male counterparts.

Persistence

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, who chaired the event, remarked that one constant attribute of all the distinguished women featured in the book was their persistence to achieve greater heights.

He, therefore, encouraged young women to be determined and resolute in their struggle to achieve success. He said despite the achievement of those great women, much needed to be done to address inequality against women, adding that, “one of the ways to correct the disparity is by writing a book like this that will expose the nation and the world to the calibre of women that we have”.

Source of history

Ms Amoah in an interview, explained that her encounter with these women in the course of her career prompted her to put together their stories which would serve as motivation and history for the young ones.

She hinted that she was working on another volume of the book which would be much keener as a lot of people would now scrutinise the kind of personalities that would be featured in the book.

“The saying that if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book is long gone. People now read and are eager to know what you write,” she said.