The female running mate debate

04/12/08
The female running mate debate
What are the plans of other parties?
Asks Salome Donkor
The dream of most gender activists and women groups is to see a woman occupy the seat of Vice-President and even become President of Ghana in the near future. After all, next door, Liberia has shown the way by electing Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first female President for that country.
This might have generated the most prominent debate in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the last few weeks, in support of a female running mate for the country’s general election in December.
The names of Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London; Mr John Dramani Mahama, Member of Parliament for Bole/Bamboi; Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, running mate for the NDC flag bearer, Professor John Evans Atta-Mills in the 2004 general election, and Mr Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader and MP for Nadowli, cropped up among the list of people who were tipped to be selected.
Gender advocates, women groups and the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman, lent their support to this idea and pushed for Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, wife of Mahama Iddrisu, who is currently based in the Commonwealth Office in the United Kingdom.
To demonstrate their support for Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, a number of NDC women marched to the campaign office of Prof. Atta-Mills in Accra to present a statement in support of Mrs Mould-Iddrisu.
A Daily Graphic publication on Tuesday, April 1, 2008, indicating that after months of speculation, the lot had finally settled on Mr Mahama as the running mate of Prof. Mills sparked intense debate and controversy.
The heat surrounding these speculations were put to rest on Wednesday, April 9 when Prof. Atta-Mills announced at a press conference in Accra that Mr Mahama had been selected for the position. That announcement also permanently settled the issue of the choice of a woman to partner him for the forthcoming elections.
In the ensuing debate, people looked at the major criteria for the selection of a running mate and whether Ghana was ready to have a woman as vice-president.
While some political analysts argued that the selection of a vice-president should be based on outspokenness, unique qualities, and the person’s ability to draw votes, in addition to going by a political party's procedures for the selection of a running mate, they also added that it was equally important to look at the person’s commitment to the party and ability to win votes for the party, in addition to ethnic and religious considerations.
A writer in the February 23, 2008 edition of the Spectator, said after much searching, she was proposing two names: Mrs Gifty Affenyi Dadzie, a Member of the Council of State and former President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), and Madam Joyce Aryee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines.
The writer said the two women had proved by their respective track records in public and private endeavours that they are endowed with managerial and technical competence, spiritual wisdom, charisma and eloquence and, therefore, should be considered as running mates by political parties.
The Vice-President of Ghana is the second highest executive official in the Ghanaian Government.
Article 60 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states, “There shall be a Vice-President of Ghana who shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by this Constitution or by the President”. Clause (6) of the same article also states that “Whenever the President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the Vice-President shall assume office as President for the unexpired term of office of the President with effect from the date of the death, resignation or removal of the President”.
Furthermore, Article 60 (8) states that “Whenever the President is absent from Ghana or is for any other reason unable to perform the functions of his office, the Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President until the President returns or is able to perform his functions”.
These functions of the Vice-President spelt out in the constitution definitely places an onerous responsibility on him/her, since at a point in time, he/she can act as the President and must be a good and supportive complement to the President and be prepared to assume the Presidency if the President should become incapacitated.
Although in the USA the Vice-President is not necessarily the second most powerful person in his/her government and neither is the Deputy Prime Minister in Britain, Ghana’s vice-presidency is a very powerful office since the Vice-President performs the role of the President in his absence.
Never in the history of Ghana’s democratic development has the issue of the consideration of a woman as a running mate attracted so much attention from gender activists and women advocacy groups.
This new development follows the twist to Ghanaian women’s support to the campaign to mount pressure on political parties to select a woman as their running mate for the forthcoming elections.
The contribution of women to Ghanaian politics after independence became more prominent and resulted in the introduction of the Representation of the People (Women Members) Bill in 1960, which was passed and received the Governor-General’s assent on June 16, 1960.
It was, therefore, not surprising that the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) gave credit to women by electing 10 female MPs that same year.
Other people, however, contend that the country is not ready to have a woman as a Vice-President and that the selection of a woman for that position will not favour any party because of the patriarchal nature of the Ghanaian society, which has relegated women to the background.
Some are of the view that contrary to what gender activists are saying, Ghanaian women are not perturbed about one of them becoming Vice-President.
When asked to react to the perception that Ghana was not ready to have a woman as a Vice-President since the country’s traditional and cultural norms have downplayed the role of women in decision making, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said women were equally qualified and capable to serve in the highest office of the land, adding that “It is time we break away from this perception and move beyond what society says”.
Speaking in a telephone interview, she described the fact that her name came up for consideration during the NDC’s search for a running mate for the flag bearer as a fantastic opportunity and indicated that she was encouraged by her family, the NDC and gender activists who believed in her capability to champion the cause of women.
She agreed that women were constrained financially and were at a disadvantaged position when it came to the issue of funds since they contributed immensely to support the family.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, who has been Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat since November 2003, has a vast experience from the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice in administering various facets of intellectual property law, international law, human rights and gender in Ghana and Africa.
She said the country had to move a step further and support women to come up and urged women’s groups and gender advocates to support more women to participate in competitive elections and also occupy decision-making positions, stressing that “The fact that somebody belongs to party ‘A’ or ‘B’, should not be an issue”.
According to Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, although she was not selected as a running mate to the NDC flag bearer, the current situation had strengthened her and she would not relent in her effort to aspire to such positions in future.
She offered her support and encouragement to Mr Mahama on his selection and pledged her unflinching support to Prof. Mills and the party in the contest to win this year’s presidential and general election.
Prof. Mills has given the indication that even if he does not select a women as his running mate he intends to reserve 40 per cent of his cabinet for women, in case he wins the December polls, because he agrees that some women are also competent.
The manifestoes of the, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) also contain elaborate provisions on the vision for women and commitment to ensure equitable representation of both men and women in all areas of national endeavours.
Are these parties going to go the extra mile in make the fight in support of women empowerment more practical and realistic? The fight is definitely not easy, especially in political circles, but Ghanaian women must always muster courage and surge forward.