Parliament Committed to Pass Affirmative Action Bill - Minority Leader

By Yakubu Abdul-Majeed

Tamale — Parliament is committed to pass the Affirmative Action Bill because there is a collective commitment from both Majority and Minority sides of Parliament, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has assured.

He mentioned that the Speaker of Parliament has already referred the bill to the leadership for assessment before it will be passed into law.

Mr Iddrisu gave the assurance when he addressed members of a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) after a health walk under the auspices of Star-Ghana in Tamale in the Northern Region as part of efforts to get the Affirmative Action Bill passed into law as soon as possible.

Mr Iddrisu explained that parliament was not only interested in passing the bill into law, but was working to ensure that it would stand the test of time, insisting that "the Affirmative Action Law should be able to help address socio-economic and political inequities in the delivery of services in the country.

"The passage of the bill will assist and support accelerated growth and development of the country as it offers women opportunities to take part in decision making at all levels of governance," he noted, and blamed successive parliaments for the delay in passing the bill into law.

"There is collective resolve from both sides of the house to passage of the bill into law and I commend the various groups for their continuous efforts put up so far, and I hope you will not relent in your efforts until the bill is passed into law," Mr Iddrisu said.

The Programmes Manager of the Northern Sector Awareness Creation (NORSAAC), Mohammed Awal, hinted that the CSOs would never relent in their efforts to push for the passage of the bill into law, and would sustain their walk until Parliament passed the bill into law.

"The Affirmative Action Bill, when passed, will among other things, increase the participation of women in key decision-making roles, it will also provide at least 40 per cent representation and participation of women in governance, public positions of power and decision making," Mr Awal observed.

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