Of Gender Politics

All of a sudden we are being fed with the untruth about a political novelty that is not. Of course, the annals of local politics have entries of women partnering their male counterparts during elections, with all of them expecting to reap from the important feminine base.

Unfortunately, those in charge of preparing the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) presentation about Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang did not get their facts about the history right.

When such a choice is exploitation-driven, it loses its integrity value which is our worry, with the litany of tweets about the goodness of the Prof and the untruth.

Women are special a fact nobody can joke with. What is at stake now is about an individual woman whose track record as minister is what Ghanaians are confronted with as they try to make sense from what the former President is seeking to impress upon them.

Getting carried away when faced with a project which lacks sincerity can lead to such integrity mishaps.

The whole project about a Prof, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, of the feminine gender could have been a wonderful idea but for the verifiable shortcomings of the individual which is rarely present in women.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has not hidden its love for showcasing what women can do, having achieved an unparalleled and verifiable record of this feat.

In the polemics of records which the NDC has triggered, sincerity and therefore truth should be paramount. The absence of this virtue reduces the debate to a game of lies that tends to add to the list of shortcomings which give politics a bad name.

In our local ambience, politics has already earned a bad name because of the poor records of some personalities who would not stop at anything in their quest for power.

The NPP's choice of the first female Chief of Staff stands it in a special class among the comity of political parties. The party has passed the test of veracity about its love for the feminine gender, with its acknowledgment of this unsurpassed.

It is not about a willingness to have a woman partner a flagbearer. It should be recognition for their time-tested sterling abilities in doing as much as their male counterparts.

Making it look like a kind of favour being extended to the feminine gender cannot be right. Giving them the nod as partners because of the possibility of an electoral impetus is exploitative and does not deserve plaudits.

It is unfortunate that the presentation of a woman, an important gender requiring deference bereft of an iota of insincerity has generated the kind of reaction we have observed since Prof Opoku-Agyemang was presented to the citizens of this great country.

We wish she could join the long list of those already serving the cause of Ghana in other departments of state, with their names evoking respect and memories of their contributions towards national development.

When memories are about shortages of chalks and the cancellation of allowances and others, we can only raise our eyebrows in befuddlement, especially since women are noted for empathy.

Before her retirement from public service, we recall Georgina Theodora Woode's exemplary quality in lifting high the banner of feminism as equals of men in terms of service on the Ghanaian space.

Threatening women with rape and subjecting them to ridicule as a gang did a few years was frowned upon by the women of this country because some of their kind had been scathed. One woman did not join the long list of those who stood up against the gang. She even supported a petition to honour the gang with a pardon and that came to pass.

Such rare blemish on the scorecard of a woman delists her from the roll call of her colleagues whose outstanding contributions cannot be overlooked.