'Women empowerment is for equal opportunities'

The Deputy Minister-designate for the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry, Mrs Dela Sowah, has said the quest for women empowerment is to create equal opportunities for both sexes, and not to lord it over the other.

“Generally, no man would want to see his father beat up his mother or his sister being beaten by his brother in-law”, she said on Thursday when she appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

The Deputy minister-designate who is also the Member of Parliament for Kpando in the Volta Region, made a strong case for women empowerment, stressing the need for the integration of vulnerable groups of people, such as the aged, women and children, and the marginalized into society.

She condemned child trafficking, saying that she herself was nearly trafficked when she was three years old. Mrs Sowah, a communicator and marketer by profession, dwelt on her ability to work harmoniously with others, and praised her sector Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, as knowledgeable, intelligent and hardworking, from whom she would be willing to learn more.

She disagreed with the perception that the sector minister was difficult to work with, saying, “I deem it a great privilege and honour done me to work with her.” The Deputy Minister- designate condemned the creation of witches’ camps where a number of women are held under bondage for minor offences, explaining that both men and women could engage in sorcery.

“I wonder why there are always witch camps and no wizard camps” Asked whether she believed in witchcraft, she answered in the affirmative, explaining that witchcraft is in the Bible. “I believe in witchcraft. It is in the Bible, she said”.

Mrs Sowah told the Appointments Committee that she supported whole-heartedly government’s intent to supply sanitary pads to female pupils, arguing that it is not an insult to womanhood, but a strategy to keep girls in school, and make them concentrate on their studies.

According to her, many girls in rural areas during their monthly cycles, use unhygienic materials, making them dull and lack focus on their lessons, making such an intervention necessary. The Deputy Minister-designate, when quizzed on what ought to be done to stop the social problem of head porters, popularly called Kayaye, she advocated the need to empower communities where they originate from.

In her view, improving conditions of the areas where head porters migrate from with industries and other social interventions will make migration less attractive, because when the migrants return home they will find their compatriots have better lives than them. She promised to help the sector Minister succeeds in her assignment. “I see my role as to help the Minister succeed”, Mrs Sowah said.