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The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Professor Nicholas Awortwe, has encouraged women to take advantage of the innovations in information and communications technology (ICT) to support particularly those in politics to navigate their political activities.
He said women could access social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook to reach millions of people with their messages, instead of face-to-face campaigns which often discouraged them from politics.
“Women could also avoid reading some of the unsavoury comments people write about those who participate in politics,” he advised.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic last Thursday in Accra, Prof. Awortwi said “You can get somebody to design publicity materials for you and, with a click of a button, it gets to many people.
“Women should take advantage of electronic platforms and reach out to the electorate, showing contrasting messages between themselves and men and why they should be voted for,” he said.
Prof. Awortwi was speaking on the low participation of women in politics, particularly local government elections.
Citing reasons for the low participation of women in politics, Prof. Awortwi said politics in the country had now become more of insults and since no woman would want to be subjected to insults, they stay away.
He added that the whole problem of the country’s social structure, where politics was looked at as not being for women, was another reason for the low participation.
Proffering solutions to the problem, Prof. Awortwi said the country could decide that in every district a number of assembly seats could be earmarked to be contested for by only women.
He said the quota system where political parties decided to field women for particular places could also help. However, for local government elections, that is not workable because it is non-partisan.
Touching on women’s participation in local government elections, he said the numbers were not good, stressing the need for them to build their capacity.
“We have a country where women constitute 50 per cent or sometimes more than 50 per cent of the population.
Water, sanitation, education and solid waste are local government services.
These are also services that women feel particularly attached to than men.
“Why is it that budget for services that are for local government and of particular interest to women should be decided by men?
You go to the assemblies, they are deciding on water and sanitation and they are all men.
I don’t think men need to decide what women need when women themselves can determine them,” he said.
The country would be going to the polls on December 19, 2023 to elect Assembly and Unit Committee members for the various Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies in the District Level Elections.
