SHIFT FROM PRACTICES THAT SUPPRESS WOMEN (PAGE 14, NOV 21)

THE Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Mr Duogo Yakubu, has called for a paradigm shift in the traditional and cultural practices which suppress women.
He made the call at a two-day consultative forum on the Property Rights of Spouses’ Bill and the Intestate Succession Bill in Wa.
It was organised by the LAWA-Ghana Alumea Incorporated and the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), with support from the German Development Corporation (GTZ).
The MCE said if perpetrators of violence against women were not handed severe punishments which would serve as a deterrent, divorce rates, female genital mutilation, among other vices, would continue to be high.
He, therefore, urged members of LAWA Ghana and AWLA to go beyond advocacy and come up with motivational packages and other incentives for females who pursued courses in law.
Mr Yakubu also appealed to participants at the forum to lead the crusade in making people to appreciate the current legal regime governing the property rights of women and the challenges associated with intestate succession.
The Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Women of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Kate Bob Milliar, called for support for the property rights of spouses and the intestate succession bills to be passed into law.
For her part, a representative of LAWA-Ghana, Mrs Barbara Ayesu, attributed the problems associated with the Intestate Succession Bill to the plural legal system in the country.
She said when the bill was passed into law and enforced, it would ease the suffering of many spouses, particularly women in nuclear families who usually suffered the brunt from external family members.
She said LAWA-Ghana and AWLA were holding similar forums across the country, after which they would remove the anomalies in the bills and the inputs forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office to be given the needed attention.