Many expected President John Evans Atta Mills to give an account of how far the government had gone in increasing women's representation in decision making. According to the women's groups, even though women constitute about 51% of the Ghanaian population, women issues have been relegated to the background by government.
On assumption of office, the President re-echoed the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) position on women and promised that the government would go the extra mile to pass a bill that would ensure that women's representation was increased to about 40%.
Ms. Marian Atta Boahene of Ark Foundation noted in an interview with Public Agenda that they expected the President to tell Ghanaians the achievement so far made with regard to the increasing of women's representation and the interventions to rectify the gender imbalance.
She noted that government's reshuffling over the period had seen a drop in the women representation and pointed out that not many have also been appointed to higher positions. "This shows that the track record of the NDC on increasing women's representation is not credible."
Mr. Frank Bodza, Programmes Manager on Governance, WiLDAF, told Public Agenda that he was disappointed with the dwindling number of women in decision-making.
"I was sad when the President failed to mention anything about the promise made in his 2009 State of the Nations Address." In that address, he recalled, the President promised to put in place an affirmative action plan which would ultimately be translated into law to ensure increase in women's representation.
Mr. Bodza said the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs has conducted a consultative tour across the country and was in the process of drafting a policy on women issues. "We do not see any effort on the part of the government to ensure that the policy is put in place."
"It would have been better if he had mentioned something to assure the women that the government was on course to ensure that their grievances are being addressed," he said.
The Vice Chairperson of the Women Caucus in Parliament, Mrs. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, was reported in the Saturday, February 28, 2012 edition of the Daily Graphic to have said that the President rode on the promise of giving women 40 per cent of all his appointment in government, but unfortunately, nearly four years after assuming office, he was yet to fulfill his promise to Ghanaians.
She also noted that efforts aimed at empowering women to ensure that they became part and parcel of decision-making were gradually dying. This, she said, had impacted negatively on the process of affirmative action for women.
CSOs and women's rights activists have over the years complained about the manner political parties had consistently shown the desire of winning power, but none of them had put out any concrete measure to ensure that women were given high positions if they won power.
According to these organisations, enhancing the understanding of Ghanaian women on the need for them to make greater impact in decision-making to ensure that issues concerning women receive the necessary attention have not got the desired commitment from governments.
Women activists have urged political parties and governments to adhere to provisions made for women in their manifestos and they should be held accountable.
They have also called on chiefs and opinion leaders to ensure the abolition of cultural and traditional barriers that prevent women from participating in politics.
The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, observed at a forum organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in partnership with the European Union (EU) on the theme "Towards Greater Participation and Representation of Women in Parliament," in the latter part last year noted that women's participation in politics in Ghana has developed at a snail's pace and that the country's case was alarming.
"Ghana has fallen woefully behind globally in enhancing women's rights generally in politics and political participation; while other countries have improved dramatically, especially most African countries, Ghana is retrogressing," he said.