Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, has urged government to adopt more feasible measures to accelerate female participation in governance.
According to him, this move is a sure way of ensuring that a more even representation is achieved in governance.
Out of the 260 nominees listed Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) positions in Ghana, only 38 are female while 222 are male.
If approved by their respective Assemblies, they will assist President Akufo-Addo at the local government level during his second term.
But this demography has reignited concerns among a section of the populace about the gender demography as far as governance is concerned.
For instance, no female was nominated in the Western and Ahafo regions according to the list. On the other hand, in the Greater Accra Region, eight females were nominated for the MMDCEs role compared to 21 males in the same area.
Experts say this is unfair and will affect the governance system, especially in the absence of an Affirmative action Law.
Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, IDEG Executive Director suggested that mechanisms such as the Mixed Member Proportional Representation can be adopted to help the process.
In a Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which voters get two votes: one to decide the representative for their single-seat constituency and one for a political party.
Making reference to New Zealand's method, Dr Akwetey explained that "It is mandatory that if you present a list as a party big or small, the percentage that ought to go to women and other groups - youth, people with disabilities, minorities in terms of communal identities and all that - will be reflected on that list."
"Once it is stamped and the parties are playing a certain formal role, think they can be held to account, and I think they are going to work harder to help the representation that should be there," he told JoyNews.
He believes the Affirmative Action Bill if passed by now, would have gone a long way to prevent this predicament.
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