Alban Bagbin Bemoans Low Women Representation In Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has expressed disappointment over the continuous low representation of women in the House for three decades of its existence.

Even though statistics show a marginal increase from 8% in the 1st Parliament to 14.5% in the 8th Parliament, stakeholders are not satisfied with the figure.

The figures put Ghana among the poor-performing countries in Africa in terms of meeting the United Nations’ recommended threshold of 30% of women representation at either the local or the national level.

Speaking at a public forum in Tamale as part of activities to mark 30 years of the Fourth Republican Constitution, the Speaker of Parliament bemoaned the low numbers of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in Parliament.

He has thus called for more participatory democracy by ensuring inclusive governance.

“The number of colleagues has surpassed the 30 percent that we all signed to achieve by 2020, and we are lagging behind and so with 40 women MPs in the House of 275 MPs is a foul cry in the new emerging democracies in the world.”

Speaker Bagbin also bemoaned the low number of people with disabilities and young people in Parliament.

“The representation of persons with disabilities is even worse. The highest of 5.5 percent being in the Sixth Parliament is what this country has achieved so far.

“The representation of the youth in Parliament is also still very low and one can confidently say the response to the call for participatory governance is encouraging, but the response to inclusive governance is poor.”