14 female candidates win Assembly seats in UWR

Wa, Jan. 16, GNA - Fourteen (14) out of the forty-eight (48) women which contested the recent District Assembly Elections in the Upper West Region won their seats All the nine districts in the Region had elected female candidates wit= h the Lawra District taking the lead with three elected Assembly women. Two teachers; Karbo Gertrude 45, Belane Maciana 54, and Virginia K. Saaliboh, a 61-year-old Public Servant, won the Lawra-Nayiri, Nabugangn and Basebelle Electoral Areas (E/As) in that order, to become the only flagbearers of womanhood in the Lawra District.

Thirty eight year-old Banongkore Nelly-Vivien, a teacher and a 50-year-old midwife, Hellen Asuliwono won Gyang and Piiyiri E/As respectively, to become the only women to serve in the new Jirapa Assembly for the next four years. Esther Kupah 25, Kwala E/A and Bukari Priscilla 26, Bulu E/A are the only women that would be contributing to debates on the floor of the Sissal= a West District Assembly. A 56-year-old Nurse, Kavaarpuo Fabiana, Poyentanga E/A and Dery Stella= , a 28-year-old House Wife for the Buka E/A are the two women to lock horns with their male counterparts the Wa West Assembly. Mary Stella Porekuu 58, representing Kanguol/Gbingbale E/A, Tabie Gangau Gabriella 53, representing Kulpieni E/A, and Benin Abiba 27, also representing Yala number one E/A were elected to the membership of Lambussie-Karni, Nadowli, and Wa East District Assemblies in that order. The three are all teachers by profession.

Margaret Vera B. Saan, a 52-year old Nurse at the Wa Regional hospital who is representing Kunta Electoral Area was the only victor among the thre= e female contestants in the Wa Municipality. Apart from Zaato Hayen Florence, a 54-year-old Public Servant who has retained her seat, the rest were first time contestants. She represents the Stadium residential E/A in the Sissala East District.

Commenting on the performance of the female contestants in the region, Mr. Alexander Poku-Akubia, Deputy Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, said the performance was bad as compared to the last election. He said 17 women candidates won their seats in the 2006 Assembly Elections as against 14 in 2010 and hoped the situation would improve in th= e next elections.