Accra, Aug. 19, GNA - An NPP aspiring candidate for La Dadekotopon, Dr Francis Nii Anang Sowah has promised to work to empower women in the area economically and politically when he is given the mandate to contest the 2004 elections.

"The inability of women to go into governance has led to serious political and developmental gaps in the nation's economy," he said. He was addressing the constituency delegates to ask them for their mandate in the primaries, which comes off at the Trade Fair Centre on Sunday, August 25 2004.

Dr Sowah said that the minimal number of women in politics even though they constituted slightly over 51 per cent of the population indicated that most of them were not participating in decision-making, which must be addressed.

He said this could be addressed by helping women to take leadership positions in all spheres of life.

The aspiring candidate said he would also direct his efforts towards the expansion and provision of educational infrastructure and materials to meet the growing demand and to facilitate teaching and learning. He called on the electorate to vote massively for President John Agyekum Kufuor in the elections to enable him to continue with his good work, which had brought improvement in the economic development of the country.

Dr Sowah, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), commended the incumbent MP, Mr Godfried Ako-Nai, for trying to improve the lot of the electorate but said he could have done better with the resources available to him. He promised to throw his support behind any of the contestants, who would win the primaries and asked them to do the same, adding; "we should all abide by the rules and regulations of the contest to ensure fair play".

Others contesting the primaries are Mr Godfried Ako-Nai and Mr Abednego Torto Laryea, an Advertiser.