Mrs Rawlings Cries Foul

Ghana’s ex-First Lady and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has accused the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) of taking the DWM out of its programme for Ghana. According to Mrs Agyeman Rawlings, the action of the UN agency is “due to vicious partisan politics”. The Crusading Guide newspaper says a letter which emanated from Konadu’s office dated May 3, 2002 to Ms Thoraya Obaid, the Executive Director, UNFPA, New York, USA and intercepted by its Editor-in-Chief during his recent overseas trip stated that “members of the Movement cut across all political lines in Ghana and therefore our success cannot be attributed to any political party in Ghana but rather to the ability, commitment and the tenacity with which women who worked directly on this project put into their work”. It continued “I am writing today to intervene on behalf of the Movement to be added to the UNFPA’s country programme for Ghana. Our proposal is already with Mr Mukasa but we are reliably informed that the new Finance Minister and Population Council Executive Secretary have decided to throw the movement out of this programme even though we were the most effective NGO operating within the country’s UNFPA programme”. Nana Konadu indicated that “politics in Africa, more often than not, is a hindrance to development – the viciousness that goes along with it each time one is perceived to be in an opposite political party, can be used against that person, or his business or organization in a way that also damages the country”. She believed that the UN Agency had decided to penalize the DWM by sidelining it from the country programme because she, being the President is the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings who belongs to a party different from the one in office today. The President of the DWM disclosed that the country representative of the UNFPA in Ghana, Mr Fadludeen, in 1989, invited the Movement to present a project proposal and the Movement has ever since then, been part of the problem solving of the high rate of population growth. Konadu in a frantic effort to win the sympathy of the of the UNFPA Executive Director, recounted how her (Director’s) predecessor, Dr Nafis Sadik, came to Ghana and after the Movement had taken her round to see its economic, social and cultural reproductive health services gave her recommendation for the good work it (DWM) was doing. In conclusion, the letter indicated “I trust you will look into these issues for us in order for Ghana to continue in the downward trend of population growth, the 31st December Women’s Movement must be added to the UNFPA Country programme.