I’m sorry Affirmative Action Bill was not passed – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has rendered his apology to Ghanaians for his government’s inability to pass into law the Affirmative Action Bill in last year.

President Akufo-Addo had promised in his previous State of the Nation Address to Parliament in 2017 that he would work with the 7th Parliament to ensure the passage of the “Affirmative Action Bill” which would guarantee the equality of women participation at all levels.

He’d assured that the initiative would ensure the fulfillment of the objective of 30 per cent women involvement in governance.

But addressing the House Thursday, February,08 during his second SoNA, Mr. Akufo-Addo expressed his regret about the situation.

“Mr. Speaker I have an apology to make to the House. I promised last year that we’ll endeavour to pass into law the Affirmative action Bill; this did not happen.”

Nonetheless he said:” My commitment to the promotion of the advancement of women is without question. Women constitute the majority of the population and our success otherwise as a nation will be measured by how well women are doing. The Bill will definitely come to parliament this meeting.” he assured.

The passage of the Affirmative Action Bill (AAB) into law will help promote women’s leadership,their participation in political process and enhance the effectiveness of gender equality as stimuli for national development.

Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye last year said it was crucial for all to support the passage of the bill because the United Nations Women’s report ranked Ghana 140th out of 160 countries in Africa with as low as 35 women parliamentarians out of 275 constituencies which was not a positive political representation of the country.