- "I am going to take a deep breath and I am going to say no, because the men don't think there is anything in it for them. They think that passing an affirmative action bill into an act means they have to give up something."
Elizabeth Akua Ohene, the former minister of state in the John Kufuor government, has said it will be extremely difficult to pass the Affirmative Action Bill into law in its current shape.
The Affirmative Action Bill seeks equal representation and participation of women and men in governance, in public positions of power, and in all decision-making spaces of the country.
It also requires all sectors of the economy to reserve a percentage of the employment they offer for women.
The former minister of state argues that the bill appears to be a threat to the position of men.
Ohene said the bill can be passed into law only if men are educated not to see it as a threat to their positions. She was talking to Nana Yaa Mensah on International Women’s Day (Tuesday 8 March) for a special Asaase Breakfast Show, curated by the caretaker minister with responsibility for gender and children, Cecilia Dapaah.
“I am going to take a deep breath, and I am going to say no [to the idea that passing affirmative action legislation will right the gender imbalance in public life in Ghana], because the men don’t think there is anything in it for them.
“They think that passing an Affirmative Action Bill into an act means they have to give up something.
“I think that is how it is looked at, that men give up something so that women gain something.
“I have been thinking about it, and I think we have to find a way to convince everybody that it is not a question of women gaining something and men losing out,” said the leading journalist, “but it is a question of society getting more balance and that is for everyone’s gain.”
According to Ohene, more should be done to educate the Ghanaian public about the draft legislation in order to get buy-in from men that will help pass the bill into law.
Fred Dzakpata
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