Several provisions in the Affirmative Action Bill are unconstitutional – Haruna Iddrisu

On June 25, 2024, 4:03 AM

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, has cited multiple provisions in the Affirmative Action Bill that are unconstitutional and will be struck out by the Supreme Court if passed.

The bill, pending in Parliament for several years, aims to promote gender equality and address systemic discrimination against women and marginalised groups.

The bill also pushes for equitable election of males and females to Parliament and instructs the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure political parties comply.

READ ALSO: Pass Affirmative Action Bill Into Law Now – Advocates Demand

Speaking on the floor of parliament, ranking member on the Gender and Children’s Committee Hellen Adjoa Ntoso, emphasised the need for women to have equal representation in political leadership.

“They shouldn’t forget that females constitute 51.2% in this country so if we talking about equity in political positions likewise decision-making processes that women would have to have equal representation,” she said.

However, the former minority leader argued that passing the bill without amending some constitutional provisions would be unlawful.

“We are all elected by political parties to contest as members of parliament… how can the Electoral Commission regulate political parties that there should be parity of women?

“We should rather come and amend the constitution.…Political parties cannot say that in Ashanti, we want to dedicate more seats to women because we can likely project that they can be MPs. You can legislate. It is not a competitive election, Tamale South, Adaklu is opened whether male or female, go and run a competitive election and come to Parliament, that is what the constitution provides,” he said.

Background

Ghana began its quest for an Affirmative Action Law as far back as 1998 when guidelines on the law were passed by the cabinet.

The law recognised that women’s political participation was a critical component of democratic dialogue and social cohesion.

However, it was lost under the weight of the political upheavals which took place in the intervening years of the country.

The nation has since made various commitments by signing global declarations and protocols that advocate for increased women’s participation and representation in public life.

Ghana’s Parliament in 2011 re-initiated processes to have the Affirmative Action Bill passed into law, but the efforts have suffered setbacks and to date, the bill has failed to pass the basic parliamentary proceedings.

After nearly 60 years following the affirmative action move of the 1960s, Ghana has failed to meet the minimum UN recommended threshold of 30 per cent women representation in either the local or the national level decision-making process.

The bill seeks to encourage efforts towards addressing socio-cultural, political, economic, and educational gender imbalances in private and public sectors in accordance with Clause 4 of Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution.

This is despite various calls made by civil society groups, gender advocates and importantly female parliamentarians.