Charlotte Osei: Stop discriminating against female appointees – Group

The Coalition of National Women Organizers of Ghana (CONWOG) has slammed political leadership in the country for discriminating against female appointees saddled with alleged scandals.

This comes after President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday, June 28, 2018, sacked the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei and her two deputies – Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwah – from office.

Their dismissal was after the Committee set up by the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, pursuant to Article 146(4) of the Constitution, to investigate separate complaints brought against the three persons by Ghanaian citizens, recommended their removal from office.

The Committee recommended their removal on the basis of stated misbehavior and incompetence, pursuant to Article 146(1) of the Constitution.

Commenting on the development, CONWOG bemoaned in a statement Friday that: “It is heart wrenching to note that Ghana has become a nation where women are only appointed by political leaders into offices as a cosmetic display to achieve cheap political point and are quickly booted out at their convenience. These male appointing political leaders behave as if women are expected to give an above hundred percent performance in their respective roles before they can be deemed fit to continue occupying their offices.”

“The above is evidenced on the fact that we have had men in political office who have engaged in epic scandalous activities and their competence, moral and ethical worth had been called to question but such individuals have either been exonerated by one committee or another even when the writings on the wall were as clear as daylight. In other instances, such scandals were only swept under carpet by their appointing authorities.

“Same cannot be said of our female colleagues in political offices. Cases that readily come to mind include those of Hon. Dzifa Ativor, former Minister of Transport under the John Mahama administration, Former Deputy Minister of Communications, Hon. Victoria Hamah, Mrs. Betty Maud Iddrisu, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice and later, Minister of Education who were either forced to resign or dismissed from office for one reason or another and quite recently Dr. Louise Carol Serwaa Donkor, a Presidential staffer at the Flagstaff House who was suspended for 30 days by the Presidency for being honest,” asserted CONWOG.

It is therefore demanding that the “nation political leaders should put an end to the discriminatory treatment against female appointees when it comes to alleged scandals involving them” warning “women should not only be seen as puppets that should be put in positions to do the bidding of men and when that is not done, kicked out of office at the pleasure of men.”