I was told women shouldn’t stand for elections – Yamba

I was persuaded not to contest in the upcoming Districts Assembly elections simply because I am a woman, says Fuseini Balchis affectionately called Yamba.

Fuseini Balchis is poised to fill in the gap of the low participation of women at all levels though politics in the Ghanaian setting is patriarchy or male-dominated.

Yamba is a very determined teacher and has filed her nomination to contest in the upcoming District Assembly elections for the Jisonaayili Norris Electoral Area to lead her people in the development of the community.

According to her, she has with the support of some NGOs in Tamale reconnected some of the communities to have access to potable water and she is also constructing a 14-seater toilet facility in Jisonaayili to promote good sanitation practices.

She mentioned bad road networks and poor bridges which she says pose a threat to the lives of students commute to and from school as major challenges she wants to bring to bare for redress when she is voted to lead the community.

Yamba is a member of Junior Parliament Platform in the Northern region formed by Rural and Urban Women’s Association that seeks to enhance women’s participation in local elections and taking up leadership roles.

Asked how she funds her campaign, Yamba disclosed that the women in the community are heavily supporting her campaign as well as Camfed, Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor but is still appealing to women in leadership to come to her aid to become the next Assembly Woman of the area.

Currently, Ghana has only 36 of its 275 parliamentarians as women with less than 30% being Ministers of State and District Chief Executives even though women constitute more than half of Ghana’s population – 51%.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 also acknowledges the fact that women’s political voice and leadership has been recognised as a key driver in advancing gender equality and therefore has a target to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life.

The District Assembly and Unit Committee elections is scheduled to take place on December 17, 2019.