31st December Women’s Movement is Forever

The Leader of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM), Mrs. Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has confidently asserted that a change in government after the December elections will not affect the operations of her organisation. According to her, the DWN would continue to collaborate with any government that wins power because the work of her movement “really cuts across the political divide.” “I think it would continue because at lowest grassroots level the members collaborate with health workers not because I ask them to but because they see the need to.

We have day care centres and the attendants would go and ask the health care workers to come and immunise the children- the children are not children of members of the movement. They are not. If anybody takes a decision that because President Rawlings leaves office they (health workers) should not help immunise children in the day-care centres then you are just bringing down the levels of immunisation percentage. I don’t think that would happen,” she underscored.

Speaking on Radio France International (RFI) Tuesday, last week, Mrs. Rawlings described her organisation, which has been described by her political opponents as the women’s wing of the ruling NDC government, as a “Non Governmental Orgainsation (NGO) that gets nothing from the government except where things cross over.”

“For example, if we are doing a family planning programme, I would go and ask the Minister of Health to give us some public health nurses in the regions we are going to who speak the languages to come and explain to the women why they should use family planning methods,” she stressed.

She also spoke about the formation of the movement, her political ambitions, her role as First Lady and her marriage with President Rawlings. On the formation of her movement, she acknowledge that the initiative was taken by some few women who she said approached her and asked her to join them establish such an organisation to oversee and secure the interest of women affairs in the country. She said she jumped at the idea because she saw it as an opportunity for them to explore the advantages posed by the emerging participatory democracy system developed by the PNDC government.

“Well, I didn’t set out and plot it out if that is what you mean. I didn’t. However when the participatory democracy system started unfolding some of the ladies came to me and said let’s start a women’s movement. You’ve got to come and help us start it and they gave all the reasons. Yeah! I said that was correct.

So I joined them to start the women’s organisation. This organisation because it has a multi-sectoral approach then put me in the forefront of environmental issues, children issues, women health issues. Population and family planning issues, service for women issues, etc, and of course you get invited out for international conferences and all that. But I didn’t start out planning it. But as I worked within the movement and with my role as First Lady it sought of crystallised itself,” she stated.

Asked about her political ambitions she said she had not yet decided on what to do. In spite of this, she disclose that she had been campaigning on behalf of candidates of her husband’s party (NDC), especially if and when her help is sought and she is sure that the person has the potential to win.

“When I am told that they want me to come and campaign for this guy who I think has the potential to win I go and campaign for him. So there are different ways of doing politics and taking a responsibility and so on. But as you are saying that - yes I’m going to take this office - It’s not something that I’ve immediately decided on at all,” she underlined.

Asked about how she married her role as First Lady and as Leader of the 31st December women’s Movement and whether she wasn’t overstepping her function as First Lady, Konadu stoutly replied in the negative.

Waxing philosophical she said. Let me say, however, that as the years rolled on then I thought of the fact that you are in a place at a particular time only once in your life time. Sometimes twice, invariably once. And if you don’t take advantage of that situation and make positive use of it, that would impact on other people’s lives then I think posterity cannot forgive you.” She stated.

Asked to comment on how “an Ashanti Princess” as she was described by the interviewer got married to President Rawlings who the interviewer described as “somebody from your almost rival tribe” she said her parents were not very particular with the kind of tribe one comes from provided the person can provide for their daughter.

According to Mrs. Rawlings one important thing President Rawlings did for her after their marriage was when he moved in with her instead of she moving in with him. “Having married him, one big thing that I think he did for me was to come and live with me and not for me to go and live with him. It wasn’t normal in this country that you must move in and stay in the apartment of the woman you marry,” she said. .