From Secretary To King

From CNN:

When Peggielene Bartels went to bed on a summer night in 2008, she was an ordinary administrative assistant living in a modest one-bedroom condo just outside Washington D.C.

But a few hours later, when a persistent ringing phone woke her up in the dead of the August night, the 55-year-old found out she was much more than simply a secretary.

At the other end of the line was Bartels's cousin, from Otuam, a small fishing village on the coast of Ghana. Excited and humble, he congratulated her on being the new king of Otuam.

After the initial shock, Bartels decided to accept the kingship. Over the course of a few days, she went from being plain old Peggielene Bartels, who had worked for nearly three decades at the Ghanaian Embassy in the United States, to becoming King Peggy -- the first female king of Otuam, reigning over approximately 7,000 people.

Nana Konadu Agyeman- Rawlings - Mother of the Revolution

From Ghana Web:

Many are those Ghanaians who are completely oblivious of the seminal role women played in the success of the great revolutions of 1979-1981 in Ghana. The heroes have been counted severally and openly. The heroines have been largely ignored in the proper context of our history as a nation. Yes, there were women in Ghana who had ‘balls’ to stand up and support the efforts of those courageous and determined young men of Ghana who sought to bring back this nation unto a highway of progress and, indeed succeeded in doing so starting from in 1979 and later regaining momentum in 1981- and this was at a time many men in Ghana meekly put their tales between their legs an either hid away in foreign lands or just simply and endured the social and political disorder of the time without the courage to stand up to it.

John De Lisa - Looking At Ancient Cultures

From SILIve:

John De Lisa can combine modern technology with primitive artifacts.

A teacher at St. Joseph Hill Academy, he recently gave a PowerPoint presentation on what he learned last summer as the recipient of a Fulbright-Hayes Summer Seminar Abroad Scholarship.

One photograph was of a helmet mask from the Mende people of Sierra Leone, which De Lisa explained represented the queen and was worn during the initiation of young girls into the status of womanhood.

"It is believed that the spirit of the queen possesses the wearer of the mask and speaks through her, giving instruction to the initiates in the lore of the tribe and the knowledge she will need as a wife, mother, and adult member of the community," De Lisa said.

Another artifact was an Akua-Ba from the Asante people of Ghana. A woman who wants to become pregnant straps the carved, wooden fertility statuette to her back and carries it as she would a real baby. The Akua-Ba is thought to ensure not only conception but a healthy infant.

Ghana: Child-Bride Protests

From Modern Ghana:

Women in the senate and a coalition of Nigerian women's groups, including the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Women Rights Advancement and Pro-tection Alternative (WRAPA) and the Global Association of Women Attorneys (GAFA), are protesting the marriage of former Zamfara State governor and Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima to a 13-year old Egyptian girl.

They took their protest to the Senate, urging the Senate President, David Mark leadership of the Upper House to suspend him for marrying an underaged girl. They are also asking his constituents in Zamafara Central Senatorial District to recall him from the Senate.

The women argued that Mr. Yerima's action is both medically unsafe for the child-bride and legally wrong. They also asked that the senator return the Child to her Egyptian parents or face more protests and possible court action.

“Section 22 prohibits betrothal of a child under the age of 13. Today one of our senators, Senator Yerima, who is a member of the highest law making body in the country, is committing the same offence that attracts the penalty of five years imprisonment or N500,000 fine or both."

He married a fifteen year old girl two years ago who has a child for him. Now a 13 year old girl?

Ghana: Women Trade Off Seats

From Ghana Newsagency:

Some female assembly members in the Northern Region have declared their intentions not to contest the upcoming district level elections, and are supposedly negotiating with men to take up their seats when their tenure of office ends.

The assembly women are said to have taken this decision because of the frustrations they face in the discharge of their duties, as well as the over politilisation of the assembly system and other socio-cultural factors, and the excessive demands made on them by people in their electoral areas.

Mr. Awal expressed the concern that if the trend of females declining to contest for the district level elections continues, then the Northern Region which is already disadvantaged would witness a drastic reduction of female participation in politics and in matters of gender that affect them.

Ghana: Plight of Women

From Ghana Web:

IN Ghana today, most women are discriminated against in jobs, pay, education and welfare. Most women are financially dependent on a man, and without assistance, carry the burden of looking after children and caring for the sick and old. Society's perception formers’- ranging from judges to journalists, cabinet ministers to advertising copywriters, take it for granted that women are inferior. In hindsight, they reduce all women, whatever their occupation, experience, Politics or interests to one dimension, sex, and judge them by whether they measure up to what men desire.

In our society, women don't have equality, they don't have freedom, and they don't even have respect in any meaningful sense. What can be done about it? Women have to be able to fight back, for themselves and for the future of all women. This doesn't mean an out-and-out conflict with all men all of the time. Separatism--the view that women can fight for liberation only on their own and against men--is a counsel of despair and a way of dividing women and men still further. Women have a right to organise with men to fight against the society that keeps us all down, to make men see that the world has to be changed. This doesn't mean that women can't organise their own meetings, demonstrations, pickets or whatever, when appropriate-- we have that right, too--but we should be trying to reunite women and men in the struggle for socialism.

Ghana: Women & the Church

From the Ghana Newsagency:

An educationist has appealed to the leadership of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) to make conscious efforts to re-orient women in the church to believe in the church's doctrine and turn to it when in need and at all times.

Mrs Victoria Priscilla Darkwa, who made the appeal, said "this way, the exploitation of women in the church by spiritualists as a result of their vulnerability would be reduced drastically if not eliminated completely".

She made the appeal in her acceptance address when being inducted into office as National President of the Committee on Women's Ministry (CWM) of the church for the next three years at the Zimmermann congregation at Abokobi in the Greater Accra Region on Sunday.

Mrs Darkwa said addressing women issues required collective effort and mutual responsibility and more importantly the need to recognise their role and place and assert themselves as equal partners in the socio-economic and spiritual development of the church and country.

Ghana: Women Police Officers

From Peace FM:

A two-day leadership training workshop aimed at encouraging female police personnel to play active role in all duties in the service opened on Thursday in Sunyani.

Fifty-five police women drawn from 17 districts of the Brong-Ahafo Region are attending the workshop.

Opening the workshop Deputy Commissioner of Police Seth Charles Oteng, Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, stressed the need for refresher courses, workshops, meetings and other programmes to update the knowledge and skills of the female police personnel to add value to services they rendered.

The Regional Commander urged the police women to make good use of the opportunity and to share the knowledge they would acquire with their colleagues.

Ghana: Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings

From Peace FM Online:

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, former First Lady at the weekend, observed that women are the only oppressed group in society that live in intimate association with their oppressors.

She explained that the struggle of women for equality has been a long and arduous task and asked African leaders not pay lip service to gender equity, but ensure its enforcement at all levels and spheres of society.

Nana Konadu Rawlings made the observation in an address on: “Mobilising African Women for Economic Development,” at the New York University, under the auspices of the Africa House Faculty and the Wagner School of Public Service.

The address made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said: “I am not here today (New York), to describe what women had to go through and continue to go through to obtain equality, but believe that some insight into the struggle of women yesterday, today and tomorrow forms part of the equation of women empowerment towards economic development of Africa,” she said.

“As President of the 31st December Women’s Movement in Ghana, I understand the problems women encounter first hand as my organisation has been at the forefront of women empowerment since 1982.”

Nana Konadu said poverty, trade and economic issues were very much related to women’s rights, due to the impact they could have in society.

She noted that gender equality and the well-being of children go hand in hand and to facilitate child survival and development.

Ghana: Girls Must Be Educated

From Modern Ghana:

This year's World Day Against Child Labour was celebrated last Friday, June 12 under the theme "Give Girls a Chance: End Child labour."

Sadly, studies have shown that the practice of parents using their children as child labourers is the single biggest cause of poor enrollment, especially of girls. This is affirmed by the sight of children hawking all kinds of goods, from ice water to dog chains on our streets.

Girls of school going age are engaged in all kinds of work including, porterage of heavy loads, traditional restaurants attendants, domestic servitude, street hawking and above all prostitution.

Making education attractive for girls requires a concerted effort and the state has a responsibility to create a learning environment conducive not only for boys but also girls.

Ghana: Sexual Abuse in Schools

Article in Ghana News:

Recent findings by the UN suggest that sexual abuse in schools is widespread but highly unrecognised. In Ghana, there is a recognised child sexual abuse problem in schools but there is limited information and documentation of the extent of the phenomenon.

The study reveals that both contact and non contact forms of child sexual abuse was prevalent in the areas where the study was conducted. ‘’About 14% of school children, mostly 15 and 14 year olds had been sexually abused.’’ The main perpetrators of child sexual abuse included: classmates (89%), teachers (21%) and relatives (13%). Majority (41%) of the victims of sexual abuse were living with both parents. Girls were found to be more vulnerable to child sexual abuse in a ratio of 11:9.

The study also indicated that only 30% of the victims told someone about the abuse. The response, in most cases is either nothing is done to the perpetrators or they are warned not to do that again.

Source: Plan Ghana

MOWAC committed to supporting women

From Ghana News:

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) has reiterated its commitment to ensure the enforcement of existing laws and policies on women and children to improve upon their welfare in the country.

Miss Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, said there was the need to effectively implement laws and policies covering women and children as they are constantly being abused and molested despite existing laws such as the Domestic Violence Law.

Miss Dansua made the statement on Friday when she delivered the Keynote address at the 27th anniversary celebration of the 31st December Women’s Movement, an organization aimed at empowering women economically and politically.

Mr President, Where Are the Women?

From Modern Ghana:

President Mills has responded to criticisms that he has reneged on his promise that 40 percent of his appointments will go to women.

The Tuesday, May 12, 2009 edition of The Statesman newspaper reported that only 11% of the president's appointments went to females.

Vice President of FIDA International and President of FIDA Ghana, Ursula Owusu, hinted that the association suspects the government is hatching a plan to hack off a few of the women officials appointed by the previous administration, including the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.

Ghana: Forced Marriages

From Muhammed Suraj Sulley Jawando in Modern Ghana:

Although great scholars have classified marriage in Africa as arranged marriage, it is predominantly forced marriage because the women are coerced or threatened into those marriages. Normally the objection of the bride or bridegroom is ignored. Such marriages are arranged not based on love, but for economic reason, bogus religious reason and reputation of the family.

Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that, “men and women of full age have the Rights to marry and found a family. It should be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses”. I wonder if the government of Ghana knows this declaration and has started implementing it to stop this modern form of slavery that parents force their children into.

In recent times parents have disrupted and crumbled the relationship and education that took years to build, for economic reasons, to send their children into forced marriages. They tend to accept the men their children bring hope until someone approaches them about another man who is interested in their children and he is from a wealthy home or from abroad. The former becomes the enemy of the family, except the girl who still loves him, and the latter becomes the toast of the family, but an enemy to the girl he intends to spend the rest of his life with.

Religious connotation has been infused into the issue of forced marriage and cannot be differentiated from tradition. Yes a girl has to marry at some point in her life, but I'm yet to be shown a verse in the Holy Quran or Holy bible that teaches about forced, unhappy marriage or throwing our daughters into hot water to get them to accept the men we choose for them.

I cannot express my disappointment at the past and present government and legislators of the 4th Republic for not doing enough, by enacting laws that will protect these innocent and powerless girls.