Sarah Adwoa Safo, the Dome-Kwabenya MP, has voiced concerns about the representation of mothers and women in Ghana’s National Pledge.
The National Pledge’s inclusion of the phrase “through the toils of our fathers” without mentioning mothers, according to Adwoa Safo, minimizes the contribution that women made to Ghana’s struggle for independence.
She calls the omission “gender insensitive” and asks Parliament and pertinent parties to review it and, if necessary, make the appropriate changes.
“I believe the National Pledge is gender insensitive because it mentions “through the blood and toils of our fathers” without mentioning mothers, even though mothers also gave their lives in service of this nation.
I want to bring this to your attention so that we look at it as a nation and become more gender-sensitive when it comes to our national pledge. Even though we refer to the country as our motherland when we speak of it, we leave out our mothers when we discuss the struggles and labor involved.
The legislator from Dome-Kwabenya expressed concern due to the recent introduction of a new rule requiring lawmakers to recite the National Pledge before the start of each session.
The heads of state of institutions must also personally appear before Parliament on February 6 to answer questions about their agencies in light of the new standing orders that go into effect on that date.
