Women in Politics

Gender, Power and Development

Mariz Tadros, Mariz Tadros

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781783600557
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Women the world over are being prevented from engaging in politics. Women's political leadership of any sort is a rarity and a career in politics rarer still. We have, however, begun to understand what it takes to create an enabling environment for women's political participation. In this exciting and pioneering collection, writers from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are brought together for the first time to talk explicitly about women's participation in the political scene across the global South. Answering such questions as how women can get political apprenticeship opportunities, how these opportunities translate into the pursuit of a political career, and how these pursuits then influence the kind of political platform women advocate once in power, Women in Politics is essential reading for anyone interested in what it means to engage politically.

1

Politics as Service

Pathways of District Assembly Women in Ghana

Takyiwaa Manuh

My political career has been very empowering. I have learnt to selflessly commit myself to the welfare of people. For instance, because of the training I had in the legal process in the 1990s, I sat on a jury at the Sekondi High Court in 2000, and got a rapist sent to jail for 23 years for raping a schoolgirl. I am still strong, and I feel my political experiences over the years have placed me in a better position now to champion the cause of people’s welfare. (former assembly woman, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA), Ghana)

Women’s equitable and full participation in politics and decision-making structures at all levels of power in their communities is now regarded as an indicator of good governance and the consolidation of democracy (UN 1979, 2011; Phillips 1998; Cornwall and Goetz 2005). The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action affirm these rights and urge governments, political parties and civil society organizations to work towards them. In particular they are urged to promote public debate on the new roles of women and men in society and in the family, review recruitment criteria for public office, and use training and mentoring schemes to build a critical mass of women leaders in strategic decision-making positions, while encouraging women to participate in the electoral process and in political activities and leadership. On the African continent, these conventions have been strengthened by the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality passed by the African Union in 2004 (AU 2004), and the 2003 Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (part of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights) (AU 2003).

The case for women’s full participation in governance structures posits that a government that is predominantly male cannot claim to be of the people and for the people when women constitute more than 50 per cent of the population in many countries (Phillips 1998). Others argue that women’s political participation is critical to advance women in all spheres, as democratic governance will not be fully achieved if women are not participating equally in decision making, and policies and laws are made without their voices. An increase in women’s participation could also facilitate positive changes in women’s lives, allow effective exercise of their citizenship, and make transformation possible (Cornwall and Goetz 2005; Costa 2010). The assumption is that women’s participation will lead to fairer and more responsive governments. Gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive governments are also likely to reflect women’s main concerns in decision making at all levels. For many of these advocates, women’s participation in national governance is therefore not only an issue of equity and gender justice, but also a measure of good governance and accountability (Mensah-Kutin 2010). But while there is a strong case for increasing women’s representation in national governance, many argue that it is not enough just to have women represented in these structures: in addition, their representation should produce positive outcomes and lead to transformation in the lives of poor and hitherto excluded women (Yoon 2011).

Decentralization has emerged in recent years as part of the package of good governance and political reform, particularly in countries that have implemented programmes of structural adjustment, such as Ghana, which passed the District Assemblies Law in 1988 (Provisional National Development Council Law, PNDCL 207). Decentralization is based on assumptions that granting more power to local governments will improve their performance, reduce central government expenditure, and make local government more accountable to its constituents, with citizen voice and accountability kept as essential components. As noted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, improving service delivery is a key motive, based on the principle of subsidiarity, which specifies that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority, and that decisions should be taken by the people and at the places most affected. According to Musso et al. (2000), political reforms accompanying decentralization have two components: the entrepreneurial and the participatory. The entrepreneurial component is focused on improvements in service delivery such as water and sanitation services, while the participatory component focuses on civic engagement, both in terms of the participation of otherwise disadvantaged groups in decision making, and in the delivery of pro-poor policies.

Research has attempted to assess the extent to which decentralized governments around the world are able to fulfil their two-pronged mandate, with conflicting results. The same study by Musso et al. – based on a survey of 270 municipalities in the state of California – shows that service delivery in that setting takes precedence over civic engagement. But Conyers (2007) argues that in Africa the impact of decentralization on service delivery has been trifling. In her words, ‘The main impression gained from the limited data on the actual impact on service delivery is that decentralization has done little to improve the quantity, quality or equity of public services in the region’ (ibid.: 21). For Katsiaouni (2003), on the African continent the emphasis has been on civic engagement and not service delivery. Ghana’s decentralization experience has generated a number of studies on its general effectiveness (Ahwoi 2010; Asante and Ayee 2004; Ayee 1996, 2003a, 2003b, 2006; Alam and Koranteng 2011; Crook and Manor 1998; Manor 1999), while a limited literature also assesses its inclusiveness of women and traditionally neglected groups (Ofei-Aboagye 2000, 2004; Allah-Mensah 2005; Ohene-Konadu 2001).

Scholars like Evertzen (2001) have argued that local governance structures are much more female-friendly because of their lower eligibility criteria, particularly in service delivery. Local provision of services dovetails with gendered divisions of labour within the household and the domestic sphere – where women tend to be heavily involved as managers and caregivers. But Beall (2005), writing on South Africa, argues that obstacles to political participation are much greater at the local than at the national level. This is because, in her opinion, prejudices towards women are more strongly held at that level, since local-level governance structures are much more informalized than national-level governance structures, which are based on formal rules and regulations. Women’s participation in decentralized levels of governance in Ghana offers a pertinent space to assess progress towards equitable representation for women in decision making, as well as the extent to which such participation leads to positive outcomes.

This chapter explores the pathways to political power of a group of District Assembly (DA) women in Ghana, with a view to contributing a grounded account of the factors enhancing or hindering women’s political apprenticeship at the local level; the community, local and national dynamics supporting women’s access to political leadership; and women’s use of their power. Specifically, it examines the processes of women’s political apprenticeship and the spaces that provide opportunities for their political engagement. How do these influence women’s experience and practice of politics, their conceptions of their roles, and the kinds of power that they can claim? And what do they do with the power they capture, against the backdrop of continuing low participation rates for women in local and national governance in Ghana? It is hoped that the findings from the study will provide insight into micro-level factors influencing women’s political engagement, and help build the constituencies to support their greater political participation and effectiveness.

The chapter draws on data assembled in a fuller study conducted by Ghanaian researchers from the Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Programme Consortium (RPC) and ABANTU for Development, an African-oriented gender NGO, to explore the experiences of selected DA women who campaigned in the 2006 elections (Manuh et al., in preparation).¹ Organized in the form of a dialogue, a forum was held over three days to create space for reflection by and interaction with assembly members about their engagement in local-level politics, and to link these experiences to their life histories. Methods utilized in the dialogue included brief presentations, individual and group reflections, brainstorming, life history interviews, and plenary discussions.

The chapter structure is as follows. I start by discussing the historical evolution of decentralization in Ghana, including the limited roles played by women within this process. The main features of decentralization reforms in the 1980s and women’s participation in this new structure are then presented. The rest of the chapter focuses on the selected assembly women and their pathways to political power, together with their experiences and conceptions of politics.

Decentralization in Ghana

Decentralization in Ghana is not new. It can be traced to colonial rule and the introduction of the system of indirect rule by British colonial authorities in 1878 (Nkrumah 2000; Ayee and Amponsah 2003; Appiah et al. 2000; Ahwoi 2010). Later, nationalist agitation for democratic reforms and self-government led to local government reforms based on some measure of democratic representation, albeit with the retention of chiefs. The 1951 Local Government Ordinance ensured that two-thirds of local authority members were elected by universal adult suffrage, while one-third were chosen by traditional authorities. This system largely survived, with some tinkering, after independence, although the powers of traditional authorities were either truncated or restored, according to the leanings of the government in power and the recommendations of successive government commissions (Ayee and Amponsah 2003; Ahwoi 2010). Military seizures of power between 1966 and 1982, with only short periods of civilian rule, delayed the emergence of functioning local government structures with active citizen participation until the reforms of the late 1980s.

The decentralization reforms of the 1980s

In 1983, the military government of the Provisional National Development Council (PNDC) announced its intention to institute comprehensive decentralization reforms, inspired ostensibly by its philosophy of ‘giving power to the people’, and aimed at reducing the gulf between rural and urban dwellers; ending the drift of people from the countryside to the towns; and increasing initiative and development at sub-national levels (Appiah et al. 2000; Ayee and Amponsah 2003; Ahwoi 2010). The result was the District Assemblies Law (PNDCL 207 of 1988) which aimed ‘to promote popular participation and ownership of the machinery of government … by devolving power, competence and resource/means to the district level’. Provisions were made in the law for the freedom to use local languages in assembly deliberations, and discretion was given to create additional sub-committees. Originally designed as part of a ‘no-party democracy’,² district assemblies now operate alongside a fully elected parliamentary system and have distinct responsibilities and powers that are enshrined in the articles of the 1992 constitution. Under Article 241, the DA is the highest political authority in the district, while Unit Committees (UCs) are the lowest units of governance. Each district is presided over by a political appointee, the District Chief Executive (DCE), who is the chief representative of government in the district. Assemblies have deliberative, legislative and executive functions, with power to make by-laws and regulations in their areas and to levy and collect local taxes and fees. They serve as the highest political and administrative authorities at the local level and act as planning, development and budgeting authorities. In particular they coordinate, integrate and harmonize the execution of programmes and projects under approved district development plans.

Initially, 110 districts were created, with members to be elected on a non-partisan basis, but this has risen over the years – in 2012, there were 230 district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies. Two-thirds of assembly members are elected on individual merit, on a non-partisan basis, although it is widely accepted that, increasingly, some candidates are sponsored by leading political parties. The remaining one-third, along with a district chief executive, are appointed by central government, in consultation with traditional authorities and other interest groups. This appointment is ostensibly to allow the assemblies to benefit from the expertise and skills of persons who may not ordinarily stand in elections.

The UC is made up of 15 people, 10 of whom are elected. DA and UC elections are supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Electoral Commission, independently of political parties.

Women and local government in Ghana

Women were largely absent in the structures of governance established as Britain gradually extended its power over the then Gold Coast from around 1830. Both official policy as well as women’s generally lower educational and occupational attainments, and relative lack of property, ensured that they continued to be absent in the different constitutional arrangements attempted after the formal extension of colonial rule; there were no women in the various Legislative and Executive Councils after membership was extended to Africans. Indeed it was not until the introduction of a new system of local government by the Nkrumah government in the period of self-government after 1951 that one woman, Mabel Dove, was elected in the general elections of 1954 (Gold Coast Gazette Extraordinary 1954).³ A few more women – like Stella Dorothy Lokko, Hesse Evans-Lutterodt and Charlotte Bart-Plage – were elected to wards in Accra and Cape Coast (Gold Coast Gazette 1954).

After independence, more women, many of whom were associated with the ruling Convention People’s Party (CPP), were elected to wards around Ghana. They included Lucy Kpakpa Quartey for the Accra City Council, Grace Abban for the Anhwiaso-Bekwai-Bibiani Local Council, Ernestina Anim for Bechem Urban Municipality, Nancy Phillipa Wood and Charlotte Bart-Plage for the Cape Coast Municipality, Nancy Tsiboe for Kumasi South Municipality, Fati Mahama for Nanumba Local Council, Mary Okyere for Nsawam Local Council, Grace Ayensu and Joana Cross-Cole for Sekondi-Takoradi Municipality and Anna Augustina Eshun for Tarkwa/Aboso Urban Council (Republic of Ghana 1961). Their occupations were listed as journalists, saleswomen and housewives, among others, demonstrating that women from different walks of life contested local elections. But the potential for increased involvement of women in local governance was truncated by the military coups that Ghana experienced over the period 1966–82.

As noted, the avowed aim of the decentralization policy initiated in 1988 is to devolve power to lower levels and to increase popular participation in decision making. To encourage women’s participation in politics, a directive in 1998 reserved a quota of the appointed membership of assemblies for women. Originally set at 30 per cent of appointed members, the quota was subsequently raised to 50 per cent, although this change has not been enforced vigorously, and women’s participation in local government has continued to be low. In 1994, women made up about...