The Political Parties’ Bill should incorporate components that will include programmes designed to help raise money for women in politics to prevent instances where they would need barter sex to advance their political ambition, National Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Otiko Afisa Djaba has said.
She held a strong view that such projects were important “so that a woman does not have to be a harlot to go to parliament. You do not have to be a prostitute or sleep with a man you do not like to get T-shirts”.
Gender activists are calling for funding for women who are aspiring to be political leaders including MPs in order to champion the cause of affirmative action.
The activists believe the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill will improve women’s participation in politics and other sectors of governance but they say finance is a critical area which must be addressed.
At an affirmative action stakeholders’ conference organised by NGO Abantu for Development at the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra, Ms Djaba, in her contribution, argued that without government support, as the situation is currently, women aspirants need to go and look for their own resources.
“Some men are unscrupulous and they would want you to sleep with them before they give you that money,” she added.
She, therefore, appealed for a Legislative Instrument (LI) in addition to the Affirmative Action Bill to help women obtain financial backing for their political programmes.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
