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Introduction
Ghana’s affirmative action bill has been in and out of parliament since 2011. It was finally passed unanimously by parliament on July 30, 2024. It is awaiting presidential assent within the seven-day constitutional timeline.
The Act seeks to correct gender imbalances in various sectors of society and other related purposes. One of its objectives is to ensure that Ghana achieve gender equality in politics, education, culture, and socio-economic spheres. The government must also implement policies and programmes to promote and achieve the bill’s objectives.
Ghana’s effort to achieve gender parity in various sectors can be traced back to the 1960s. Affirmative action was categorised into eras. The first, spanning the 1960s to the 1970s, was the first period with almost 18.2 per cent of seats reserved for women at the National Assembly.
Since the 1980s, the second generation of affirmative action has improved in correcting gender imbalance in governance. A woman was appointed chief justice in 2008, and a woman was appointed speaker from 2009 to 2013. However, those were isolated glass-ceiling success stories. The struggle to have an Affirmative Action plan to address challenges and inequalities, especially against women, across multiple sectors of private and public life has been daunting.
The long struggle yielded fruits on July 30, 2024, with the passage into law of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill 2024.
With the law finally passed and awaiting presidential assent, DUBAWA finds it useful to chronicle the long journey leading to the passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act 2024. The piece will also highlight some critical takeaways from the new law.
What is Affirmative Action?
Dowuona and co-define affirmative action as “government-backed policies designed to address historical inequalities and improve opportunities for marginalised groups, particularly women.”
The Affirmative Action Bill Coalition is a loose network of individuals and CSOs with the sole objective of lobbying to get the Bill passed into law. For more than a decade, this coalition and several others have endured a hot and cold season in Parliament, with the bill getting the attention of the lawmakers but not their political will and votes. Even though the Bill went through several stages of consideration under different regimes and presidents, it was not until July 2024 that the bill was finally passed.
The introduction of the Affirmative Action Act 2024 will boost Ghana’s effort to ensure gender parity in numerous sectors.
Gender Equality Committee
The Act establishes a new committee to spearhead correcting imbalances in gender and other related purposes. The committee, which will ensure and monitor compliance with the bill, shall include the minister for gender, children, and social protection or a minister’s representative serving as the chairperson. The committee will also have one representative from:
- Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. The person should not be below the rank of a deputy director and must be “nominated” by the minister.
- Office of the Attorney General. The representative must be a principal state attorney and not below. The attorney general must nominate the person.
- Public Services Commission. The individual should be nominated by the commission’s chairperson and not below the rank of deputy director.
- Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
- National Council for Persons with Disability
- Trade Union Congress (TUC). The person should be nominated by the secretary general of TUC.
- Ghana Employers Association, nominated by the association.
- Civil society organisations and private sector organisations nominated by the minister.
In addition to the above-nominated individuals from various organisations, the director of the Department of Gender shall serve as the secretary of the Gender Equality Committee. The minister, as chairperson of the Gender Equality Committee, shall nominate as part of the committee one expert each on gender issues and policy, planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
It is critical to note that any individual nominated must have at least ten years of experience in law, social science, management, human rights, economics, public administration, gender, and social development. A member of the committee shall serve for four years. After the four-year term, a member is eligible for re-appointment for another term only.
Cumulatively, a member can hold office for eight years. During this period, a member can resign by writing to the minister.
“Minister’s vested power”
The various organisations will nominate their representatives on the committee. However, the Act gives the minister authority to appoint members. Section 5 (4) of the Act states that:
“members of the committee shall be appointed by the minister.”
The minister has the power to revoke the appointment of a committee member if they miss three consecutive meetings.
Again, sections 7(5) and (6) posit that the minister can declare and appoint a person to fill a vacancy, respectively.
Gender Equality Compliance Certificate
Companies and organisations that comply with the provisions of this act will be issued a gender equality compliance certificate annually. Private-sector employers with gender equality compliance certificates will be granted tax waivers and incentives.
Section 27(1) of the act states that:
“The minister responsible for Finance shall, in consultation with the minister and the Ghana Revenue Authority, develop guidelines for granting tax incentives to employers within the private sector who comply with the provisions of this Act.”
Also, private-sector employers with gender equality compliance certificates will be preferred in government procurement contracts.
Key Strategies
Media outlets must introduce and submit gender equality policies to the National Media Commission and the Gender Equality Committee for consideration. Media houses must ensure that content produced projects women positively devoid of stereotypes.
The Act will require political parties to reserve “safe seats” for women and establish mentoring programs for aspiring, successful, and unsuccessful female candidates. In collaboration with the Electoral Commission or other organisations, successful female candidates shall provide training by sharing their experiences with aspiring female candidates.
Regarding local governance, the Act will ensure that the president maintains gender equality when nominating chief executives for municipal and district assemblies. The government will also make separate budget allocations to run women’s affairs at the assembly level.
The Act will also ensure that the Ministry of Education includes courses on gender equality from basic schools to the tertiary level.
For public service, the Public Services Commission will ensure that a specific number of women are appointed to various branches of government. Gender equity must be ensured in “impracticable” instances where the number of appointees needed for managerial roles is below the approved quota.
Conclusion
The Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act 2024 promotes gender equality in public service, education, judicial, and other critical sectors. It will form the foundation for correcting existing gender imbalances in governance and decision-making roles in Ghana.
