Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya constituency, Sara Adwoa Safo, has sparked debate over the wording of the National Pledge, saying it is gender-biased and excludes women’s role in Ghana’s history.
Safo raised the issue during a parliamentary session on Tuesday, February 6, as she questioned why the pledge, which is recited by every Ghanaian citizen, only mentions “our forefathers” and not “foremothers”.
She argued that the pledge should reflect the contributions of both men and women to the nation’s history and development. She suggested that the phrase “our forefathers and foremothers” be used instead.
“Mr. Speaker, the national pledge talks about through the blood and toil of our forefathers, it omits mothers. The mothers also toil for this country and I think it is gender insensitive. This country, when we were even making reference to it, we called it our motherland. But when it comes to the pledge and we are referring to the toil, the fight, the struggle, we omit that of our mothers,” she said.
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“Mr Speaker, I want to draw your attention to it and we have to look at it again as a country so that we become gender sensitive when it comes to our national pledge,” she added.
The speaker of parliament, Alban Bagbin, responded that the pledge is derived from the preamble of the constitution, which was adopted by a referendum in 1992. Therefore, any change to the pledge would require an amendment which is a lengthy and complex process.