Ghana’s election system keeps women out of parliament. How to change that

Voters in Ghana elected the country’s first woman vice president, Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, in early December 2024. Voters also elected John Mahama as president, a man who had served as president before, from 2013 to 2017.

In that first term as president, Mahama had also appointed the most women cabinet ministers ever in Ghana – six out of 19. But in the December parliamentary elections, women candidates barely improved upon the 2020 election result. Whereas 40 women – 20 from each of the two major parties – had been elected in 2020, only 43 women were elected in 2024 – 33 from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and 10 from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) according to provisional results. There are 276 seats in the country’s parliament.

This won’t change much until the west African nation addresses certain stumbling blocks, notably Ghana’s single member district or “first past the post” electoral system and its lack of a gender quota for parliament.

Gender parity in national legislatures is a global challenge. Reasons to seek gender parity in parliaments include the following: it is fairer and more democratic; it represents women’s interests better; and it provides role models for girls and young women.

Gender parity also means a more qualified talent pool from which to draw candidates. That improves the quality of representation for everyone. Through its strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, the African Union has set a goal of full gender equality in all spheres of life across the continent.

Rwanda is the world leader in women’s representation in parliament. More than 60% of the representatives in its Chamber of Deputies are women. In about a dozen other African countries, women make up 30% or more of the national legislature. Worldwide, 65 countries have national legislatures where women make up 30% or more.

The factors that have contributed to women’s increased presence in African countries’ parliaments and across the world are well documented. Two of these factors are key: the type of electoral system; and the use of an electoral gender quota. These matter more than gender role socialisation, religion, type of government, or even the gender of the national executive.

Ghana’s electoral system – the single member district or “first past the post” system – is also known by scholars as “woman unfriendly” (and gender quota unfriendly). It is a significant stumbling block to gender parity.

The more “woman friendly” electoral system, widely used around the world, is the proportional representation electoral system. While the single member district system centres on candidates, the proportional representation system focuses on parties. The latter is more open to an electoral gender quota, simply by alternating women’s names with men’s on party lists. Candidate centred electoral systems are more challenging for women candidates.

Within Ghana’s electoral system, the most effective gender quota is some kind of reserved seat. This was practised in the country for six years until President Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966. That quota – legislated through the 1960 Representation of the People (Women Members) Act – was one of the first gender quotas for parliament in Africa and the world.

As a political scientist and a sociologist, we have conducted and published extensive research on what, along with the factors already discussed, keeps women out of parliament in Ghana.

In Ghana, as in other countries, candidate recruitment and selection begin with party primaries. While party primaries have evolved over the last 30 years in Ghana, they are not open to most voters. They are also often subject to manipulation, putting some candidates at a disadvantage.

Moreover, there are documented barriers to women choosing to stand. These include the high financial cost (women generally have fewer resources and less access to resources than men), and a pervasive “politics of insult” (which also affects men but is even more vicious towards women). There is also an understanding by many potential women candidates that Ghana’s weak “hybrid” legislature may not be the best place to accomplish one’s goals (whether for a sector, profession, organisation or constituency).

Electoral violence is also a concern in Ghana. Of the candidates we surveyed in a 2024 study, 95% said they had experienced degrading talk and false rumours, among other types of political violence. However, both male and female candidates also told us this would not keep them from standing for office.

In 2024, according to Ghana’s Electoral Commission, 118 out of 918 candidates for parliament (about 12.8%) are women. This suggests there will be about the same number of women parliamentarians in the upcoming parliament as in the outgoing one. This is because when women stand for office (in Ghana and elsewhere), they win in proportion to their candidacies. In other words, if they are 10% of candidates, they will win 10% of positions (meaning voters do not discriminate against women candidates).

What can be done to increase women’s representation in Ghana’s parliament? The country could change its electoral system to a proportional representation system and adopt an electoral gender quota. Neither of these provisions is part of the recently adopted Affirmative Action Bill, and neither seems likely in Ghana.

Nearby Sierra Leone changed its electoral system in 2023 from a single member district system to a proportional representation system in addition to a 30% gender quota. This was done with the goal of electing 30% women. Following the election, women’s representation in Sierra Leone’s parliament increased from 12.5% to about 29.5%. And, elsewhere in the west Africa region, Senegal has had a gender parity law for parliament since 2010.

In Ghana, as in other countries, the primary responsibility for candidate recruitment and selection lies with political parties. Research has shown that more open party primary processes, such as the one held in 2016 by the then governing National Democratic Congress, will bring in more women candidates.

The new Affirmative Action Bill barely mentions parliament. Rather, political parties are exhorted to meet the general equity targets set out in the bill. For example, with regard to “the sponsorship of candidates for election” and “the appointment or election of party officials”, though there is no guidance on how this is to be achieved or what happens (“sanctions for non-compliance”) if general goals (30%, 35% or 50% women) are not met.

A “safe seats strategy” (making sure women are nominated for those constituencies that a party knows it will win) could help. Such a strategy has been mooted in the past in Ghana, but not accepted by political parties. Assuming no changes to the electoral system or the adoption of an electoral gender quota, political parties in Ghana will have to take the initiative in improving women’s representation in parliament.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Gretchen Bauer, University of Delaware and Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, University of Ghana

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.