Of Sexism, Northern Preference and Divorce of the Odd Couple

In the month of Janus in the year of our Lord 2010, President the Professor John Evans (formerly-Atta) Mills strolled down from the mountain top after consulting with the oracles of wisdom. The Prophetic gates opened up wide and edicts of reshuffle were released. Let’s explore three delicate matters arising out of the first reshuffle of the Mills administration. They are: the reverse regional preference in public appointments, sexism and the divorce of the odd couple.

As a backdrop – lay side-by-side the front pages of both the Daily Graphic and The Ghanaian Times editions of Tuesday, January 26. After only a cursory look at the mug shot photographs of the who-is-who of ministerial appointments and reshuffles, a phenomenon emerges. The Daily Graphic carried photographs of eight reshuffled ministerial appointees. Here is a break-down: One female and seven males; six northerners and two southerners.

Similarly, The Ghanaian Times featured ten photographs on its front page. They comprised of three females and seven males; six northerners and four southerners. Specifically – six from the north, two Ewes and two Ga-Adangbes.

So what? Striking! “It’s a man’s world”, they say. But is it also a northern world? Akan names appear visibly and loudly missing. What’s happening? Is ours a case of the minority ruling the majority both from ethnic and gender vantage points?

Here are some statistics of the ethnic make-up of Ghana from a 2000 Ghana Statistical Service Report. It is estimated that there are about 92 ethnic groups packed tightly within our fairly small 94 square mile finite-size land space. The major ones are: Akan (49.1%), Mole Dagbani (16.5%), Ewe (12.7%), Ga-Adangbe (8.0%), Guan (4.4%), Gurma (3.9%), Grunsi (2.8%) and Mande-Busanga, (1.1%).

During the Kufuor administration, it looked awkward that Akan names dominated the airwaves as public office holders. It smelled like nepotism, tribalism and small-mindedness. Now, it looks like the scales have simply been flipped and public office holders are more likely to have names which place them either in the three regions of the north and the Volta Region.

I love oranges but lemonade does a thing or two to my aging enamel-eroding teeth. Ghana is nothing but a collection of tribes that form a nation state. So therefore it looks odd when names like Bagbin, Amidu, Ayariga, Avoka, Tia, Pelpuo are overwhelmingly present in public appointments without the corresponding names from other ethnic groups.

The hidden agenda behind this phenomenon is obvious. It has nothing to do with national development but an effort to consolidate support for more votes in future elections in the ‘World Banks’.

Now, gender. Women constitute 50 plus percentage of Ghana’s population but remain on the fringes when it comes to public office. Assumption: women should be content with tokenism, cooking and cleaning, petty trading, and secretarial jobs and be the sources of hot amorous pleasure.

How does a country progress when the majority of its population is left giggling on the sidelines, smeared in make-up and dressed up for roles as side-kicks? The economic geography of the world says a lot about this phenomenon – the underdeveloped parts of the world leave women out of governance while the vice versa persists in the developed world. The message is obvious.

A major ticklish feature in the Mills reshuffle is the appointment of the first ever female Minister of Sports, a perfectly estrogen-filled creature, Akua Sena Dansua. A woman is to occupy this highly male-dominated testosterone-charged ministry? Undoubtedly, this has upset many sports enthusiasts. Some have experienced palpitations, tottering on the brink of heart attacks.

The distressed comments have been wild and varied and furious and at times, truly sexist. Giving vent to bottled-up sexist thoughts makes it obvious that there are many people (males and females) who need redemption about their idea of sex role stereotypes. Male chauvinism does not pay. Female sexism toward its own sex is pathetic and backward, to say the least.

The following is an internal dialogue I’ve had with sceptics who go on the loose saying sexist things which make the skin cringe. Some of these people talk ‘by hat’ (by heart) without realizing the full meaning of what drops out of their machismo mouths. The voices of the sceptics are in quotes while the voice of The WatchWoman is presented in free-range, without quotation marks.
“Oh, but Akua is a woman! How can she become the Minister of Sports?” Yes, she’s a woman all right but what has her gender got to do with the Sports Ministry portfolio? As a minister, her role will not include becoming a defence, mid-fielder, striker/attacker, centre-forward or a goal keeper for the Ghana Black stars. She will not have to pass a ball to Michael Essien. Her mandate does not include kicking balls.

“Ah, but what does she know about sports?” Does she have to know anything about sports to become a minister? Akua is definitely not one of the boys regardless of her lowly-cropped hair. But like all other ministers who might not know more than the basics of a ministry but learn to succeed in implementing government policy, so can a woman who has brains also succeed.

Then bizarre and ridiculous comments drop from perfectly intelligent folks. “Sports is so critical to national unity. It’s a game we enjoy. A woman will spoil it all for us. Akua cannot manage an active department filled with people who are engaged in physical activity. ” Can a woman be a Minister of Mines, Works and Housing? “Yes of course, mines, works and housing will be alright but not sports. A woman will be overwhelmed in the sports ministry.”

With the dialogue rolling, one skeptic moves the protestation and argument from the nonsensical to the profane. “But when she has to travel with the boys, will she have a male companion? After all, male ministers travel with concubines? Remember Muntakagate? Yiee! I would love to be her companion. Do you know her? Please propose me as a travel companion.”

Are you for real? So this concern about a female Minister of Sports is about who lays who? Who accompanies Akua on her sports travels is none of your freaking business. I can bet my last ugly bottom cedi that the first ever female Minister of Sports will be one of our best ministers of sports. Watch!

“The President should decouple Youth from Sports and turn it into two ministries. Akua will excel as a Minister of Youth Affairs.” Outlandish! So as a woman and a mother, she’s only good enough as a minister of youth but not sports? What has estrogen got to do with football? We might as well just find a pretty girl to sit at every door in Ghana.

Footnote. At long last, the Ayariga-Anyidoho Disparate Communications Company Limited has been disbanded without any ceremony. The divorce of the odd communications couple was the comic relief of the reshuffle. It’s no secret that they were no sweethearts. At best, they were bitter-lungs. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to perform a communications audit to figure out the grief the odd couple caused Ghana and the damage their union laid onto the Mills administration. Fare thee well, folks!

dorisdartey@yahoo.com