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Let’s educate public on infertility issues — GJA vice president urges media
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Over the years Infertility has been a sensitive and complex issue that affects couples worldwide and the media must be actively involved in educating the public to change that perception.
Vice President of the Ghana Jour¬nalists Association (GJA), Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei has advised.
According to her infertility issues have the tendency to make a person behave in unacceptable ways that may cause inconvenience to the per¬son trying to conceive.
She expressed these concerns at a community awareness online video conference programme organised by the Merck Foundation on health for the Media.
It was in partnership with Mrs Re¬becca Akufo-Addo, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More than a moth¬er “ campaign and the GJA.
Mrs Asante-Agyei was speaking on the topic, “the role of the media in reaching out to communities at the grassroot levels raising awareness on health and social issues.”
She observed that this was large¬ly due to the importance attached to the role of motherhood, and the inability of a woman to meet this expectation which incurs the displea¬sure and unfavourable attitudes from society.
Mrs Asante Agyei noted that the development sadly, affected childless couples noting that the ultimate pur¬pose of marriage was procreation-to produce children who will continue the heritage and name of the family.
She said sometimes the pressure compelled childless women to even isolate themselves to avoid any con¬frontation from others thus maintain their mental health.
“Women who are battling infertil¬ity usually suffer serious stigmatisa¬tion.
“However, those with high edu¬cation living in urban cities feel less stigmatised while women in rural communities feel more stigmatised, Mrs Asante-Agyei noted.
To address this challenge of in¬fertility stig¬matisation, she called on the media to extend educa¬tion to rural communities for more people to be educated.
She was of the view that the more infertile women were exposed to knowledge about the subject, the more likely they would be to live a lifestyle that would increase their chances of becoming fertile.
Mrs Asante-Agyei reminded soci¬ety that although motherhood was considered a major role of women there were other roles they played in building society which should be re¬spected, therefore, their roles should not only be limited to child-bearing.
The Vice President also advised men to seek medical care since of infertility could also be from the men.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Tema
The Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, has questioned who will bear the cost of conducting presidential and parliamentary primaries following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the party’s delegate system.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Nimako Marfo said he would not immediately comment on the ruling, adding that he wanted to wait for the full details before sharing his views.
“I don’t want to comment on it now. Let’s wait,” he said.
When asked about the Supreme Court’s decision that all members in good standing should vote in party elections, he shifted attention to the financial implications of implementing the ruling.
According to him, allowing all members in good standing to vote would increase the cost of organising internal party elections.
He questioned who would pay for the expanded electoral process.
“Who is going to pay for the cost of the elections?” he asked.
When a journalist suggested that political parties would bear the cost, Mr. Nimako Marfo replied, “Let’s wait and see.”
The comments come after the Supreme Court ruled that political parties should allow all members in good standing to vote in their internal elections, a decision that is expected to expand participation but also increase the financial and logistical demands of organising presidential and parliamentary primaries.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Supreme Court of Ghana has declared the delegate system used by political parties to elect presidential and parliamentary candidates unconstitutional.
In a 5-2 majority decision delivered, the Court ruled that the long-standing system violates democratic principles and ordered all political parties to ensure every registered, card-bearing member participates in presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The ruling brings to an end decades of internal party elections conducted by a limited number of delegates.
The suit was filed by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng; veteran politician Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe; and former Minister for Lands and Forestry, Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah.
The plaintiffs argued that the delegate system created inequality among party members by granting voting rights to a privileged minority while excluding ordinary members in good standing.
They told the Court that restricting voting rights to delegates was inconsistent with the democratic principles enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
The Attorney-General’s Department supported the suit and urged the Court to adopt a “one member, one vote” approach.
In its submission, the State argued that political parties perform an important public function in Ghana’s democratic framework and that their internal electoral processes must reflect constitutional values of equality, participation and universal suffrage.
The Attorney-General further submitted that expanding voting rights to all registered members would strengthen accountability and deepen internal democracy within political parties.
The judgment means that going forward, presidential and parliamentary candidates will be selected by all registered members of a political party, instead of by delegates alone.
Political parties are expected to review their constitutions and structures to comply with the Court’s directive ahead of the 2028 general elections.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
