ENHANCING THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ACTIVE POLITICS THE RELEVANCE OF COMMENTARY ON HON. KOFI JUMAHS MISCONDUCT.

.and this government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Will you be surprised to know that when this reverred statement was made on the 1st of January 1863, by the great American leader Abraham Lincoln, women in the USA and elsewhere were not participating directly in this form of government? Yes, women had no vote. In England, it took decades of struggle and civil disobedience by suffragettes led by Emmeline Pankhurst before women over 30 got the right to vote in June 1918. An additional two decades of struggle attained voting right for all women over 20 in July 1928. Clearly women participation in governance was not handed down to them on a silver platter. It was the product of a struggle. Those brave women suffered. They were manhandled, victimized and eventually some were imprisoned. As a nation we must be very cautious of any attempt, no matter how subtly, to kill the interest of women to participate in active politics. This is because marginalization of women in active politics and governance in general manifest in several forms. This is the main reason why the vituperations of Hon. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, MP for Asokwa, against Mad. Patricia Appiagyei must be condemned outrightly. I had the most unpleasant encounter to hear this senseless denigration in a playback on radio whilst riding on a taxi. I dare say that no amount of public apology rendered by the Hon. Kofi Jumah should necessitate a discontinuation of further commentary on such a significant faux pas. The most bewildering aspect of all this is that he (Hon. Kofi Jumah) was not pressured the least. And one cannot also say that it could be due to tension of talking on radio since that was not his first time. So what could have made a man of Hon. Kofi Jumahs stature to do such an unthinkable thing? Does he even consider it so? The Bible says that what is full in the heart of man he speaks. Surely, it can be argued that this is not the first time that a contestant for an election is abused verbally. Whilst this may be true the nature of this denigration defeats such an argument. This verbal attack is directed at the sexuality of a woman and a mother. It certainly extends beyond her person to touch her partner, family and faith. It exposes her to all manner of wicked conjectures. He deemed it fit to sexualize her public service achievement simply because she is a woman. This is a manifestation of arrant chauvinism.

Clearly if Hon. Kofi Jumah cannot respect a woman of Mad. Pats stature then he really does not respect any woman at all. And if he could be such a downright ingrate as to publicly disrespect and ridicule the very man who ushered him (Hon. Kofi Jumah) into public prominence by nominating him as MCE in 2001, then Hon. Kofi Jumah is not deserving of his constituents vote. By an extension of his despicable outburst, Hon. Kofi Jumah cast an ugly slur upon the morality of Former President J. A. Kuffour. Yet it was this same President Kuffour whom Kofi Jumah now denigrates publicly in such a wicked manner, who made him Hon. Kofi Jumah. This act of ingratitude is unpardonable indeed! The New Patriotic Party must show publicly if it has any regard for the dignity of all women and the former president. The Party must manifest that such inconsiderate and highly destructive misbehaviour by senior party functionaries has no place in the party. If the NPP is disciplined as a political tradition of repute, then surely it must discipline Hon. Kofi Jumah. The hierarchy of the New Patriotic Party must invoke every relevant provision of the Partys constitution and instructions from a sense of decency to ban him (Hon. Kofi Jumah) from contesting on the partys ticket. In so doing, the NPP would be issuing a strong statement to all keen political observers that it upholds discipline and candour as the basis for a strong leadership. However if the NPP as represented by its present leadership is not alive to the pressing need for discipline and decency, and as such refuse to discipline Hon. Kofi Jumah; then the voting members of the Party in the Asokwa constituency should vote him out. Such an action would not present any difficulty to the party as it would merely be good riddance of bad rubbish. Certainly, this country has reached the stage where it must to do the talk about enhancing women participation in politics and governance. And our resolve to succeed in such a noble endeavour must serve as our motivation to cut to size anyone who dares to set the clock back no matter which political party that person may belong to. If what J. K. Aggrey once said still holds true, then we stand to gain a lot as a nation if we encourage more women to vie for and take leadership roles.

AKWASI OSSEI NKRUMAH KUMASI.