from RUSSELL ADADEVOH in Accra, Ghana
Ghana Bureau
ACCRA, (CAJ News) – GHANA’S new president, John Mahama, and his government have been urged to prioritise human rights including gender equality and women’s rights as well as the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Amnesty International made the appeal ahead of his inauguration on Tuesday, today.
Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s interim director for West and Central Africa, added that priorities must include the persistent barriers to gender equality and the protection of women from witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks.
“The repression of peaceful protests last year over the environmental impact of so-called ‘galamsey’ mining shows how important it is both to amend the Public Order Act to protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and put an end to illegal mining,” Sivieude said.
The organisation believes it is time to increase women’s participation in political and public life.
In 2024, less than 15 percent of the 275 members of Ghana’s parliament were women.
The Affirmative Action Act, passed in July 2024 and signed into law in September 2024, aims at increasing women’s participation in political, economic and societal spheres to at least 30 percent by 2026 and 50 percent by 2030.
A female Vice-President, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has been appointed for the first time.
Amnesty believes the new government should pass a new legislation specifically criminalizing witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks, including protective measures for potential victims.
Right to freedom of peaceful assembly must also be protected, the rights group advised.
Several violations of the right to peaceful assembly were documented in 2024, under outgoing president, Nana Akufo-Addo.
– CAJ News