Gender
Okortsoshishi celebrates puberty rites
Puberty rite for young girls and women was performed last Thursday, at Ngleshie Alata, at James Town, Accra, from the Okortsoshishi and Nii Okpe families.
The rites which dated from 1736 were performed to prepare the young girls into adulthood and marriage. The rite was performed for a total of five pubertants.
The young girls were taken through lessons of chastity, cooking good meals, respect for the elderly, husbands and their family relations.
The head of the Okortsoshishi and Nii Okpe families, Nii Ashittey Tetteh, and the Queen mother of Obeyeyie, Madam Elizabeth Abbam Okor, performed the rites after invoking prayers and sacrifices to their ancestors.
Nii Ashittey Tetteh later in an address said the practice originally started from Ada Foah, in 1736 and had since been practised by migrant families who first settled at Ngleshie Alata, at James Town.
He mentioned the migrant communities as Amamole, Okortsoshishi, Obeyeyie, Aplaku, Weija, Nsakina, Manhna, and Afuaman.
Present at the ceremony were families from Ada Tekperbiawoe at large, Rose Dede Okoyora Attram, family secretary, Lemoil Nii Ashittey Attram, and Linguist Emmanuel Amanor Attram.
Nii Ashittey Tetteh appealed to the chief fishermen of James Town, Nii Ayi Todzo and Nii Koye, to allow fish sellers to use the shed constructed for them at the James Town fishing harbour, instead of operating from outside.
That, he said was the standard practice in neighbouring countries. “I will go to court if they refuse to move into the sheds to sell their fish. Rule of law must prevail because government resources were used to construct the shed,” he warned.
By Francis Xah
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A training and capacity-building workshop was held on Thursday for the media to intensify coverage on gender-based issues to support women’s participation in leadership and governance in Accra.
The workshop, held under the theme ‘Strengthening Advocacy for the Implementation of Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Equity) Law, 2024 – The Case of the Media’, brought together journalists from selected media houses.
The Convener of the Affirmative Action (AA) Law Coalition, Ms Sheila Minka-Premo (Esq.), stressed that the media has a critical responsibility to educate the public on the importance of the Affirmative Action Act, noting that sustained and informed reporting would strengthen advocacy and support the effective implementation of the law.
While commending both the Legislature and the Executive for the passage and presidential assent of the Affirmative Action Bill into law, the AA Law Coalition Convener appealed to government to address existing gaps. These include the constitutional provision of 30 per cent women’s representation in politics, inadequate policy frameworks to advance affirmative action, and weak compliance by state institutions.
She charged the media to highlight and promote the role of women in leadership and to actively support a smooth and effective implementation process of the Act.
In her welcome address, Executive Director of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said the training sought to strengthen journalists’ advocacy skills to enable them to educate the public on the provisions and significance of the law.
Dr Mensah-Kutin commended ActionAid Ghana for supporting the advocacy efforts, urging the media to prioritise the law to ensure its sustainability.
The Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121) was passed by Parliament in July 2024 and received presidential assent in September 2024, following years of sustained advocacy by women’s rights organisations, gender activists, and other stakeholders.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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STEMINIST Foundation, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with support from Keta Ramsar Centre has trained about 25 women selected from the Keta Municipality on the rights of women and how to use them for their voices to be heard in their communities.
STEMinist Foundation, Ghana, is a network of women advocating equal opportunities through excellent representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The women, mostly fishmongers and other self-styled workers, were taken through topics such as Understanding Energy and Climate Justice, Fossil Gas Expansion, Livelihoods’ Care Work and Health, Women Leadership, and Power Building among others.
Mrs Nerissa Edem Anku, Gender Justice Transition Advisor of the Foundation, noted that the theme “Energy Justice: Empowering Women with Power, Rights and Dignity,” was chosen for the women to reconnect, reflect, and look ahead in shaping their rights as women.
She stated that women have been relegated to the background in the communities when it comes to decision making, stressing the need to correct that for them to know they have rights to fight for themselves.
Mrs Nerissa Edem Anku further noted that women in fishing communities wanted to see real and tangible improvements in their living conditions, spearheaded by government to prevent unhealthy confrontations with the local people.
She assured that the NGO would continue to strengthen its programmes to ensure that women were empowered to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of their families, communities, and the nation.
Miss Portia Adu-Mensah, Facilitator, Community Mobilisation Communicator, on her part added that all stakeholders have to adopt more innovative steps to build an environment in which women can thrive. That, she said, would win the confidence of the women and promote more inclusive partnerships.
The Assemblywoman for Dzelukope, Ruby Adukpoh, on behalf of the women thanked the NGO for the gesture and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their collective voices and influence in shaping policies that will affect them.
From Kafui Gati, Keta
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