Mother's Day celebration gift - honour moms in a special way by stopping 'dumsor'

Otiko Djaba's opinion: Mother's Day celebration gift - honour moms in a special way by stopping 'dumsor'

On this Mother's Day, 10th May 2015, on behalf of all mothers of Ghana, I am appealing to President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister for Power to show some love to Ghanaian women by STOPPING DUMSOR NOW and not a day later. I would like to use this occasion to highlight some of the predicaments women in this country find themselves in because of the dumsor crisis. By the end of 2015 too many homes would be broken, more children would be starving, more jobs would be lost, our health bills would increase from eating rotten food, maternal and infant mortality would be on the increase, more students would have failed their WASSCE and other examinations, more businesses would have collapsed, and there would be very little left worth celebrating because we would have lost too much. Lives have already been lost from generator fumes. Mr President, the rippling effects of the dumsor is crippling Ghana and so we cannot wait a day longer.

This Day belongs to all mothers and I congratulate all mums worldwide especially Ghanaian mothers. The Ghanaian mother is special and unique. She is so awesome in her commitment to her chidren that one cannot help but admire and respect her. She sits in the scorching sun daily in the markets of Ghana, faces road accidents travelling to and fro to buy and sell, is beaten by rain on the farms and bitten by scorpions and snakes as she tries to eke out a living for the bread and butter issues of her sons and daughters across Ghana. She is often the backbone of families, involved in small, medium enterprises and increasingly the main breadwinner or a partner in maintaining the welfare of the family. Across the length and breadth of Ghana I have travelled and witnessed the courageous deeds of our women, whether they are mothers or not, under very harsh and difficult circumstances and I salute you all. What better way to honour the amazing women of Ghana than with a gift that helps empower women and girls around our country, by ENDING DUMSOR NOW.

As we celebrate this years Mother's Day, I implore us all, that as a country, we must appreciate and respect all women. The woman is a mother or a potential mother who is the vessel of creation and the nurturer of all sons and daughters of this great nation. Every Tom, Dick and Harry was born by a woman, so why should insults and abuse be rained on mothers of this land. Most of these insults are unprintable. The gross disrespect for especially women in leadership, politics and recently the arts is despicable, unacceptable and a taboo to our traditions and culture. It is to say the least, haram to insult ones mother. The use of social media to defame and slander people, is often sexist and malicious. It is a pure abuse of information technology and the heavy arm of the law should be visited on the perpetrators. Wife battery and assault cases reported in 2014 were 5,212. DOVVSU also recorded 544 cases of sexual abuse of women in northern region on 17th March 2014. In 2014 nationwide, DOVVSU reported 290 rapes and 1111 defilement cases. The sexual abuse of women and defilement of young girls is an abomination. Stories of women beaten and killed still abound in the media. 7 year old Ruth Ankomah was recently kidnapped, raped and murdered in Ashiaman. What is happening to our moral obligations to our mother's, children and our collective conscience and responsibility as a people? The offenders must be held accountable for their actions and the Ministry for Gender and Social Protection must hasten in addressing these abuses. What has the ministry done about the abuse unearthed in our Orphanages recently by Anas Aremeyaw Anas?

How do you celebrate mothers when the MP for Daboya is still at post after condemning his wife and other women, to the fearful sharia law if they commit adultery? How can women like Yvonne Nelson, Lydia Forson and others over 30 years who are unmarried celebrate Mothers Day when they are described as prostitutes by Alhaji Halidu Haruna of Ghana Hajj Board, and Dela Coffie an NDC commentator said the stars were in their menopause are also still at post? The ridicule, shame, stigma, dishonour and mental anguish these men have inflicted on women is unacceptable and they should resign or be removed from office as a deterrent to other men from abusing women of this country. Mr President be courageous on behalf of mother Ghana by making an example of these men, as a show of respect to our country women, so that we can indeed take pride in our femininity and have o ur dignity to celebrate as mothers. If a woman in leadership or politics is described in derogatory terms about her lipstick and high heels as if she is just a piece of decoration with no sensitivity for her intellect, or seen as a whore, how many women will put themselves out for this contempt? We must work together to ensure that women and girls feel confident to have a voice in creating and securing strong futures for their communities and our nation Ghana without fear.

How do we address the immediate needs of our women who are farmed out as servants and slaves in foreign countries? Recently there was the case of a young girl found insane in Libya. To alleviate poverty in girls and women, we must make Ghana attractive and liveable so that we all feel that the Ghanaian dream is possible for all, especially the vulnerable in Ghana.

The deplorable sanitary conditions in markets like Somanya and Nkrakan in the Eastern Region are cholera death traps. It appears the National Sanitation Day is a hoax to paint a picture of Governments concern, but the reality speaks for itself as our mothers are forced to sell next to heaps of foul smelling rubbish and raw sewage.

To connect the voices of ordinary women and actresses like Yzone Nelson, stop dumsor now. To build the capacity of ordinary women like pure water sellers, ice block sellers, fishmongers, hairdressers, seamstresses, food vendors, housewives, working mothers, please stop dumsor now. To champion the rights of women at various levels of development, kindly STOP DUMSOR NOW. To promote learning of our daughters and sons, for Gods sake, STOP DUMSOR NOW. To reduce hunger, address bread and butter issues and to empower women economically, STOP DUMSOR NOW with a lasting solution.

So President John Dramani Mahama end dumsor now to truly celebrate mothers in Ghana.

Thank you.

Jerry Tsatro Mordy

JAM Media Consult

Head of News, ATINKA 104.7 FM & www.atinkaonline.com

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