Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase Constituency, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has commended female legislators for getting into Parliament on their own merits after having to keenly contest their male counterparts.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament in acknowledging women on International Women's Day, on Tuesday, the MP said the current number of female MPs in Parliament is a great achievement for women since it’s the highest since independence.

The MP noted that he is looking forward to the day Parliament would have females as both Majority and Minority leaders.

"This is the first time in the history of our Parliament that we have forty strong women sitting in the chamber since independence. We have never had this and it is a very big achievement, we need to commend them.

“Yes, we need to do more to be able to get to parity, but to have forty women each of them fought on their own strength. You cannot discount them in any way except for the hard work that they put in to get here,” he said.

While admitting the hard work by female MPs so far, the Minority Chief Whip encouraged them to take the business of the house seriously to “justify whichever position that you get to occupy".

He noted that the House cannot give leadership positions to females without the needed hard work.

He said some female MPs have been given positions in the various committees in the House to give them the opportunity to learn and match up with their male counterparts.

Addressing some issues facing female MPs, he stated that the non-existence of kindergarten in Parliament is long overdue since women are faced with an elusive work-life balance.

“This Parliament needs to have a Kindergarten or a nursery that helps working mothers who work within this environment to be able to give out their best. Look at the health system that we have, the clinic that we have…So should any of our colleagues be pregnant, shuffling between here and probably Ridge and Korle-bu and other things…these are some of the things that inhibit their progress, we need to wake up,” the MP suggested.