Politics

CHAPTER FOUR

Shifting the Goal Poles: Why Women Stay Out Of Politics in Ghana

Background

I first wrote this article a week ago. But, as sensitive as gender issues are in my estimation, I decided not to publish it, even on my blog.

A week into my self-imposed-censorship, a Daily Graphic account in its Wednesday April 1, 2015 edition titled; ?Ensuring gender balance in Politics: What should parties do  has compelled me to reconsider and compromise on my earlier decision not to make public my view on the proposed Affirmative Action by one of the leading political parties in the country.

The account which saw four illustrious professionals share their views on what parties should do to rope in a lot of women into politics, was in deed revealing and informative. I learnt that out of the 257 Parliamentarians only 30 are women.

I do not intend by this piece to rehash the views that the interviewees have espoused as doing same will be counterproductive to the purpose for my writing.

While I accept that I am not an authority in Gender and how it plays out in politics, I think I have a right to share an opinion and may be contribute a worth of knowledge to the discussion that the NPP’s proposal has provoked.

I am also certain that the views I would express in this piece will go a long way to widening the frontiers of the conversation that the Daily Graphic’s report has stimulated. 

Let me at this juncture proceed by capturing my views with these subtopics below:

Why I Don’t Believe In Affirmative Action

The  view that women can do better what men can, is not only accepted universally ,but history demonstrate in extensio the ability of women to rise to the occasion anything that were required to do same .Women have and continue to prove   their resilience, emotional, physical and intellectual mettle against their male counterparts.

In fact there is no denying the fact that women, in time past and in our time, have indeed lived up to or even exceeded the expectations that such a universally accepted statement poses to them.

We have seen Women lawyers, Judges, Speaker of Parliament, and Political Activist, Engineers, Drivers and every facet of human endeavor. While as leaders in men dominated-careers, most women discharge their duties creditably. On some occasions their resilience and sense of perfection is misconstrued as arrogance, earning them derogatory accolades in some instances.

In Ghana, the likes of Mrs. Georgina Wood, Madam Bamfo Addo, Hajia Mahama, Lawyer Adwoa Sarfo, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Doreen Andoh, many but for lack of space, have proven demonstrably that women are naturally endowed to lead and remain relevant in men dominated careers.

Indeed, their tales and stories are not usually rosy. The Socio-cultural expectations of women have equally pitted these icons against society on some occasions. But through determination, hard work and resilience, they have braced the challenge to achieve the milestone and force that they command. 

I don’t want to go into the history of Affirmative Action. But whatever it sought to serve I firmly believe that there is absolutely no justification for man to institute another form of artificial discrimination with the view to mitigating or compensating for natural differences. For the purposes of emphasis I want to state that Affirmative Action is the subtle attempt by society to compensate or mitigate natural differences among human species.

These differences may be on account of gender, color, tribalism, and physical status.

What intrigues me about this concept is that the society that create the Sense of deprivation and Crave for equity among these group of people is the same society that turns to provide a compensation through Affirmative Actions.  

Why will there be attempts to compensate or mitigate the state of people just because we have some negative and prejudicial associations with the group?

Is it out of guilt or it is a subtle attempt to reinforce our prejudicial views of them?

The debate that has been generated since the NPP’s announcement of its affirmative action is not merely political. To me, the issue should be looked within the broader scope of Culture and Society.

Over the years, the world has held some prejudicial views of certain group of people. The black race has been associated with hunger, poverty, penury and negative imageries.

In view of this, nowhere in the world has more NGOs than what we have here in Africa. The same people who think we are bound to be poor are the same people who seek to compensate our poverty. How preposterous a thinking!

Here in Ghana, some aspects of our society, customs and practices have turned to discriminate against women. We have been comfortable to maintain a male chauvinist society which relegates women to the background. If these status quo is not changed, how are we sure that we can reverse the tendency through politics?

May be I will write my PHD on the subject of Affirmative Action. But until then let me zero in on the issue at stake.

Meritocracy

For a society that is seeking to develop its human capital to compete globally and to rub shudders with their contemporaries in other jurisdictions, the least we can do is to defy the tenets of meritocracy.  Sacrificing merit on any other prejudicial considerations will only serve to deepen mediocrity and entrench an aspect of discrimination as imported by the spirit of Affirmative Action.

In a society of opportunities, people (Male or Female) must be allow to compete. Not only will it help to promote synergy and productivity, more so, doing that will be critical in helping us to appreciate the value of diversity.

In a job interview, should the conversation be on Gender or on Competence? I beg to challenge a society which will discriminate against me merely because my space must be filled by a woman.

Shifting the Goal Poles (Why Women Are Not In Political Leadership)

Come to think of it, why will people even think that Affirmative Action will be the panacea to the seemingly dodgy and nonchalant attitude of Ghanaian women in politics? The Ghanaian Society has once again failed to provide the needed meteoric state and rather than to look at the issue from a broader perspective we appear to be shifting the poles.

I will not mince words in dismissing the claim that the measures the New Patriotic party had outlined was not the panacea to getting women into politics. I do not know the political rational behind their decision in this regard, but whatever it is I do not think the idea is holistic. If they are truly committed to this principle then they should as well prevent their Parliamentary aspirants from contesting sitting female MPs from the NDC, their arch-political rivals. 

The real issues that have kept women numerically out of politics in my opinion are as follows:

·          Lack of Mentorship:

The lack of mentorship in my estimation is a major impediments to efforts at encouraging women participation in politics.  Because of the lack of it, only few women are able to overcome the self-imposed gender wedge and hence maintaining a status quo of male dominance. Admittedly, it is naturally easier for a man prospecting a career in politics to have one political leader to understudy than a female mentor. Until we remedy this situation, no amount of Affirmative Action will make any meaningful efforts in this regard.

·         The Nature of Political Climate

Our political system has assumed a brawny posture over the years. It has not only been characterized by needless physical violence, more so the verbal abuse and the impunity with which the political game is played makes it difficult for most women to enroll. For many who cannot endure the emotional and physical obligations, which comes with such a political temperature, they opt out to pursue other careers. How then can an Affirmative Action solve the challenge if this impediment of political decency is not restored into our body politics?

·         Societal Expectation of Women:

At this point let me admit that the Ghanaian society is male chauvinist essentially. Societies make certain demands on women by virtue of their gender. Those who try to challenge the status are usually tagged as arrogant and pompous. Society’s expectations of women are self-evident and no need to be rehashed. Until we disabuse our minds of the menial roles expected of women, we cannot make any meaningful inroads in efforts at reversing the trend.

·         Our Own Enemy syndrome:

When the news of the NPP’s Affirmative Action reached the public domain, I was not only shocked by the hostility that greeted it but also the fact that many women were at the forefront of this protest was highly intriguing to me.

I was shocked to the marrow that; I thought most women were going to endorse this pro-feminine initiative. Sometimes, I get intrigued at how women find it difficult to accept the rise of their counterparts. On many occasions I have found reasons to believe that indeed Women were their own enemies. If some women do not believe in their capabilities and the fact that they can be viable in politics, who else should do? 

The issue of male dominance in politics and the quest for women participation should be approached in a more holistic way than the usually cosmetic approach.