By Catherine Apolot
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has called for equal representation of women in leadership.
Kadaga made the request last week while in Ghana at a Public Lecture in commemoration of 25 years of a democratically elected Parliament in the country.
She told fellow legislators and key leaders in Ghana that states can increase participation of women in leadership and power through legislation and organized state systems.
“For states to increase women participation, they are required to put into place legislative, judicial and other administrative systems,” she said while making a reference to Uganda and Rwanda’s laws that have systematically ensured an increase in women in Parliament.
“Article 78 of the Uganda Constitution has a provision that ensures as long as there is a district, there must be a woman representative elected through universal suffrage, it is really important that you amend your laws,”
Kadaga urged the Parliament of Ghana to advocate for funding of women to contest in elections as provided in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
“You are supposed to support women funding; a lot of women actually cannot afford to contest in an election because of the associated costs,” she said.
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