Some Ghanaian female Members of Parliament are advocating for financial support from various civil society organizations and relevant stakeholders to be able to effectively carry out their constituency duties.
The lawmakers say that such a move would help to ensure that most of the female MPs retain their seats as part of efforts to ensure gender parity.
Ghana continues to have more females than males, according to the results of the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC). There are 400,000 more females in Ghana than males.
The female population is now 50.7 percent of the total population, with 49.3 percent being males.
However, within the 8th Parliament, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) both have 20 female members each, making a total of 40 out of the 275 being females, representing 22.8%.
During the recent primaries held by the NDC, 3 of these women lost their bid to contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting organized by the Parliamentary Network Africa, the Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagyei, Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North, Betty Krosbi Mensah, and Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North, Sheila Bartels, expressed concern about the development and called for financial support to enable them retain their seats.
Patricia Appiagyei said, “It is very important that if we are working with the CSOs, wherever you are getting your funding from, it is critical that you appreciate the challenges we have in ensuring that we are servicing our constituencies and support us especially even during our primaries. What do you do to support and ensure that we retain our numbers and be able to even appreciate the numbers that we have in Parliament?”
She added that without the financial support, female Members of Parliament will lose interest in contesting elections.
For the Afram Plains North MP, Betty Krosbi Mensah, her constituents often deem her as a development agent who always has to come to the constituency to provide some level of development.
She said, “As a sitting Member of Parliament, having had the experience and knowing the limited resources coming to me as a Member of Parliament, I find it very difficult to be vocal.”
“What it is about the women in Parliament will encourage more women to also be supported to get into these positions because you already see that the women that are there are not allowed to shine. So if the women in Parliament are not making that kind of impact, what will motivate other women to also come on board? When financiers want to finance only men, when women who are already in Parliament are not getting the support to be able to make an impact within their constituencies,” said Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North, Sheila Bartels.
