Gender: An intersectional analysis of women's involvement in politics in Local Government Administration in Northern Ghana, the prospects and the hindrances

Abstract

Women in Ghana suffer many deprivations, including marginalisation, repression, powerlessness and voicelessness. The extent to which women are excluded from participating in the politics of their communities in specific regions of the North has not received sufficient academic attention. This study seeks to deal with the lacuna. The study adopted a constructivist epistemological approach, using a semi-structured interview guide to collect primary data from respondents. This was supplemented with an analysis of archival and website documents and reports of some districts in the two regions. The results revealed low levels of women's participation in local politics with no women in the thirty per cent (30%t) appointment slots reserved at the district assemblies. The study also found that there is a lack of financial capacity, assertiveness, moral support and the heavy family burden of women were some problems that stood in the way of women's effective participation in politics in all areas. Other problems identified include an unfavourable political climate, a sense of inferiority of women in government and the patriarchal nature of the family system, which prevents women from assuming certain roles in the family and society. To increase women's participation in local politics, the study recommends that a quota system be introduced whereby a quota is filled by women (reserved positions). The study recommends that District Assemblies organise public sensitisation programmes to educate women about their rights and to remove some of the cultural barriers that prevent women from playing certain roles like political governance in society.