President of the Past and Present Assembly Women Association in the Upper East Region Bride Apania has expressed disappointment with the number of women President John Dramani Mahama has nominated to be appointed Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region.
Out of the list of fifteen nominees announced as the President’s picks for MDCE positions in the region, only two are females.
This, Bride Apania said, is disappointing and an impediment to efforts aimed at achieving gender parity in governance in the country.
“Looking at the appointment, it is just too bad for us and it is not the first of its kind. In other places, it has been like that,” she said in an interview on Breakfast Today on Dreamz FM.
She noted that many women had applied for the positions and went through the vetting processes.
She, therefore, cannot fathom why only two made it to the list of nominees, suggesting that there may be a systemic criteria that disadvantage women in such appointments.
“Other people have applied but they were not given the nod. Have you ever heard job for the girls? It’s always jobs for the boys.”
About 150 applicants had applied for the positions in the various assemblies in the Upper East Region after President John Dramani Mahama fired MMDCEs appointed by former President Akufo-Addo.
The applicants were vetted and the number trimmed down by regional leadership of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Out of the about 46 shortlisted applicants, only two were females.
The list of shortlisted applicants was subsequently submitted to Accra for further screening.
The two women, who made it to the shortlist, are the only females among the list of 15 nominees the President has announced for appointment in the Upper East Region.
