By The Way, Was There A Gaffe?

Ghana is one country of a kind. It is fast becoming the land where ‘con men’ are celebrated while people who speak from the bottom of their hearts are rather ridiculed.

It is also a place where fake pastors and bogus spiritualists are given prime time on radio and television to swindle millions of the citizenry, without condemnation from the myriads of social commentators around, while there is massive hue and cry, if the issue at hand has the potential of yielding political capital.

Today, the Black Star of Africa is being perceived as a country that has little or no respect for Affirmative Action. Having led the African continent in the struggle for self-governance from the yoke of colonialism and dominating in sports, education, economic development, and now democratic take-off, it is worrying that President Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo’s recent comment on the inadequacies in women activism in Ghana is deliberately being taken out of context…..for political reasons.

At the Women Deliver Conference at Vancouver in Canada, the president said, inter alia:

“Not enough movement has been made by the 52% of the population that are women to be able to be in the position to make these decisions”

He went on: “We are not seeing enough dynamism and activism on the part of those who are seeking. I am talking about dynamism where it matters…electing people to Parliament, controlling political parties because they are the instruments by which our societies make decisions.

“We are talking about decisions, not wishes and hopes. We are talking about decisions that are going to make the difference,”

Strangely, the President was reportedly ‘booed’, leading to a virtual explosion on social media, with its attendant heated discussions, exchanges and headlines.

In fact, some feminists say they wonder if the president had actually seen all of the efforts they put into women activism on many platforms, including social media.

But the multi-million dollar question is: Where did the president go wrong? Is it not true that the level of dynamism and activism by Ghanaian women is below expectation?

THE NEW PUBLISHER is of the view that the critics of the President are only playing the ostrich here.

In our view, President Akufo-Addo was merely being honest with the situation in his country, just that he may appear ‘politically incorrect’ to some people.

Yes, we have a number of great women activists here doing the best they can, but it must also be stressed that their efforts are not yielding the desired results because tose activists, in our view, are quite too academic.

The paper will like to call on feminists in Ghana to accept the bitter pill and admit the fact that what they see as their best is not enough to get them where they deserve to be.

Our penchant for throwing honesty to the dogs is not helping the nation.