The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has urged the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and delegates to the party's upcoming parliamentary primaries to prioritise female aspirants.

She expressed her surprise at the low participation of women in the party's elections scheduled for Saturday, January 27.

Her remarks followed a visit, alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and other prominent NPP female party leaders to the Oforikrom constituency in Kumasi to support Claudia Lumor, an aspirant in the party's primaries in their quest to strengthen female leadership in Parliament.

The Oforikrom NPP parliamentary primary is fiercely contested by five contenders, including Claudia. 

Only 12 of the 128 aspirants in the Ashanti region are women participating in the parliamentary primaries, representing just about 9% of total female participation in the political exercise.

In light of this, the incumbent MP for Ablekuma West emphasised the need to enhance the representation of women in Parliament. 

"We are nowhere near enough, and so when you identify a potential strong contender, you give them all the support that you can. We should do more to protect the women who have braved the odds and overcome so many challenges to vie for political office. 

“We must do more to strengthen them, build them up, and encourage them. And so I see in Claudia a potential strong female leader in this country. That's why I've left my contest to come and plead with the delegates in Oforikrom to help us by bringing her to Parliament and enabling us to also work with her," Ursula stressed.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful stressed that the governance structures, including the executive, do not reflect the country, asserting that there should be at a minimum, 30% representation of women in the seats of Parliament.

Claudia Lumor while speaking to JoyNews, expressed hope for victory on Saturday. 

"I'm just praying that the people of Oforikrom will see my good heart and see what I want to do and the kind of service I want to provide so they vote for me," she said.