A Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simon, is lamenting the difficulty in accessing a draft copy of the Affirmative Bill online.
He wondered what kind of consultation was being done on the bill when stakeholders struggled to access the document.
“There is supposed to be an ongoing public consultation on the “Affirmative Action Bill” in Ghana. When passed into law, quotas for women will be introduced in various spheres. But even finding a copy of the draft bill online is a nightmare. What kind of “consultation” is that?” he wrote on his X platform on Monday, February 26.
There is supposed to be an ongoing public consultation on the “Affirmative Action Bill” in Ghana. When passed into law, quotas for women will be introduced in various spheres. But even finding a copy of the draft bill online is a nightmare. What kind of “consultation” is that? 🤷🏾♂️
— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) February 25, 2024
Regarding this bill, it is recalled that last year the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin indicated that Ghana’s parliament would not be stampeded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the passage of bills such as the Affirmative Action Bill.
Speaking at the ‘Speaker’s Breakfast Forum’ in Accra on Monday, November 20, 2023 Mr. Bagbin indicated that Ghana‘s Parliament would not be dictated to by the IMF, especially regarding the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill.
He was against the introduction of the bill under a certificate of urgency, saying that there are several stakeholders to be consulted to get their buy-in before the passage.
“As I have indicated even in this budget, you can see the arm of the IMF in a lot of the provisions in the budget. A critical bill like the Affirmative Action, and Gender Equality Bill has come to Parliament under a certificate of urgency, please it won’t happen, we won’t pass it under a certificate of urgency.
“There are critical stakeholders we must consult and make sure we go together, we will not be dictated to by the IMF, that one, you can be sure. Not this bill. This is a very critical bill that the IMF itself should know that we need the buy-in of the stakeholders to be able to implement it,” he said.
He added “The IMF should know that the Inter-parliamentary Union has fixed 2040 for all parliaments in the world to reach gender parity, 50-50. Not only in Parliament, but outside Parliament and we need to deliberately focus on it.”
Affirmative action policies take many forms, including quotas, outreach programs, and targeted hiring preferences. The primary objective of these policies is to ensure that underrepresented groups have equal access to education and employment opportunities, thereby promoting social and economic equity.