Female MPs must champion the cause of the vulnerable

Accra, March 10,GNA - Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Member of Parliament for Bantama, on Thursday asked female Parliamentarians to champion the cause the vulnerable in society to give meaning to womanhood which was about life, liberty and happiness. "Female Members of Parliament form a good platform for advocacy and must help champion the cause of gender, children and the vulnerable in our society."

The Member, who was making a statement to commemorate the International Women's Day, which fell on March 8, said women must assert their humanity and womanhood and push for a better world. "As women MPs, we have assumed our rightful place as political leaders and as our own liberators from tyranny, fear, poverty, humiliation and dehumanisation."

She paid tribute to the forerunners of women empowerment and those who were building on earlier achievements.

"It is important for Ghana as a country and for Parliament to remember and recognise the achievements of women in all spheres of life and to encourage them to strive harder."

Mr Mahama Ayariga, Member for Bawku Central, called for the legal streamlining of property rights and issues relating to succession and inheritance since women suffered most in this area. He said: "Many women have helped to build and have been denied the fruits of their labour. Let's correct this historical injustice." Mrs Angelina Baiden Amissah, Member for Shama, scolded some traditional chiefs in the Volta Region, who were justifying "Trokosi". She said it was bestial and barbaric to keep women in perpetual servitude in the name of tradition.