Wa, March 28, GNA - The Ladies' Parliament of the Wa

Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) has

been inaugurated with a call on female students to maximise the

opportunities it presented to nurture their political ambitions. Mr. Alhaji Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, Deputy Majority Leader in

Parliament, who inaugurated the forum on Sunday, at Wa,

commended UDS for taking the lead to establish a Students'

Parliament that was solely constituted by ladies. Mr. Pelpuo, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for

the Wa Central Constituency, in the Upper West Region said

the forum had come at a time when issues about increasing

women's participation in governance and the entire democratic

processes had taken centre stage in most discussions on

national politics. He said the last decade had witnessed very remarkable

changes in the way and manner women were being treated in

the Ghanaian society, noting that, the number of women who

occupied key positions was on the ascendancy. The Deputy Majority Leader said for the first time in the

country's history the position of the Speaker of Parliament and

the Chief Justice were occupied by very capable women. Alhaji Pelpuo said this was a clear indication that Ghana

was on the path of having a female President and Vice

President very soon. The Wa Central MP, however, noted that despite the

immense contributions made by women to national

development their current situation in the decision-making

process was abysmally low. He said at present there were only four were females

Ministers of State with two being Cabinet ministers while only

19 out of the 230 parliamentarians were women. The situation is no better in the civil and public services

where women were generally clustered in lower managerial and

non-managerial positions. "I believe strongly that women, if given the opportunity

and the needed support through good legislative policies and

affirmative actions, could rise to the occasion and excel in their

various fields of endeavour," he said. Dr. Agnes Atia Apusigah, the Patron of the UDS Ladies'

Parliament, said it had come a long way in its struggle for

legitimacy and recognition within the student hierarchy, the

University system including regional and national structures. She said women formed a negligible minority in national

parliaments, public boards, committees and councils at the

regional, national and global levels. Dr. Apusigah, who is also a Lecturer at Wa Campus of the

UDS, said the Ladies' Parliament was, therefore, aimed at

preparing young ladies to become intellectually courageous to

take up leadership positions in future. This, she noted, would help in addressing the issue of the

under representation of women in decision making processes. Alhaji Issahaku Salia, the Upper West Regional Minister, in

a speech read on his behalf, said education was the key to

success and advised the ladies to take their studies seriously to

enable them to pursue their future political ambitions. The Ladies' Parliament, with a total membership of about

100, has Ms. Akpene Seraphim Gbemou as the Speaker, Ms.

Eunice Sarpong, Majority Leader and Ms. Lawrencia Ofori as

the Minority Leader.