On the floor of Parliament Monday, June 24, 2024, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansa, was not given the air to breathe when she suggested that the only way the Affirmative Action Bill will work, when passed, is for every man to be married to one woman.
According to the Ada Member of Parliament, every man in the country should not take more than one wife to ensure the law is respected in its implementation.
She explained that the law was not meant for women to take the position of men, giving the assurance that the female gender will compete for positions with men where possible.
The surest way means of ensuring the enforcement of the law, per the MP’s projection, is to follow the advice the Apostle Paul gave to the leaders of the church, to take for themselves one wife each if they cannot stay single.
“I want to assure the men that they shouldn’t panic, they shouldn’t fear. We are not here to pass this bill to take their seats. Not at all. Every woman will contest if they have to. We’ll encourage women to contest. If they win, they come in. But nobody is going to take over from a man.
“Mr. Speaker, the only thing that we’ll achieve this equality is marriage. One-man, one-woman,” the leader continued when she was interrupted by the men, who didn’t allow her to even finish her point.
The male MPs found her comments unwarranted, and asked her to withdraw.
According to Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, there are more women in Ghana than men, and instituting a culture of one-man one-woman will not inure to the benefit of women.
“Mr. Speaker, I’m volunteering an information to find out from Hon. Doyoe, whether she is aware, that there are more women in Ghana than men. In the light of the statement that she is making that the only thing that can solve the problem is one man, one woman, what happens to the rest of the women?” the Chairman quizzed.
On his part, former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, drew the attention of his colleague to the fact that there are Muslims in the country whose religion permits them to marry more than one wife. Enacting such a law, according to the MP, would not sit well with that faith.
“For the record of the hansards, I find her comments, –one-man one-wife, with the emphasis that this is the only solution to achieving affirmative action… Mr. Speaker, there are Muslims in Ghana, there are Muslims in Parliament, our religious practices does not sit in tandem with her thoughts,” the Tamale South lawmaker averred.
Following the discourse, the Ada MP withdrew her comments, and asked that if the men can marry more than one woman, they should ensure more than one woman get an opportunity a man gets.
“Mr. Speaker, the men are saying I should withdraw, I will withdraw. The way they want to pull the women along when it gets to any other position, they should pull us along the same way. One man, two women, if they are recruiting in the security services, they should know that the men cannot even marry one women so if they pull one, they should pull two here then we move,” she stated.
The Affirmative Action bill, which has been in Parliament for over a decade, is likely to be passed at least before the dissolution of the 8th Parliament.
The much-awaited bill is supposed to ensure gender equality in all spheres of life, particularly in leadership and decision-making.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, thus achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls by 2030, appears even more remote given the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic according to a 2022 UN Women report.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index indicates that Ghana is doing worse than most countries in advancing toward gender equality, ranking the country 117th out of 156 countries, 23rd in Sub-Saharan Africa.
While women outnumber men in the service sector, according to the Ghana Statistical Service’s 2021 Census report, they are underrepresented at management levels.
Among 275 parliamentarians, only 40, representing 14.6% are women, and among 6,000 assembly members across the country, only 216 representing 3.6% are women.
But the long-awaited Affirmative Action Bill, which calls for a progressive increase in women’s active participation in the public bureaucracy to achieve parity by 2030, is yet to be passed.
The bill, when passed into law, is expected to promote democracy, inclusion and good governance at all levels of governance and decision-making in the country.
Gender Minister makes passionate appeal for passage of Affirmative Action Bill
