The Assembly Member (AM) for the Atravenu Electoral Area and the out-going Presiding Member (PM) of the South Tongu District Assembly (STDA) in the Volta Region, Hon. Victoria Dzeklo, has stressed the need for women to venture into politics, especially in the local government level. According to her, this is the only way to voice the concerns of women and have them addressed.
Speaking to our news team in an interview at Sogakope after the dissolution of the current Assembly, Madam Dzeklo noted that women should rise to the occasion and defend their rights since it is only they who can speak for themselves.
The dissolution of the third (3rd) ordinary meeting of the fourth (4th) session of the eighth (8th) Assembly of the STDA was effected over the weekend to pave the way for the District Assembly elections which have been scheduled for Tuesday, 19th December 2023 across the country.
Apart from taking stock of the Assembly’s development and performance over the last four (4) year period, the session was also used to bid farewell to more than twenty (20) elected Assembly Members (AMs) who are not contesting in the upcoming District Assembly (DA) elections.
Financial challenges occasioned by the country’s economic difficulties in recent years have impacted negatively this ongoing assembly session. The situation has resulted in the Assembly’s inability to either provide adequate infrastructure or significantly improve the overall development agenda in all its thirty-eight (38) district electoral areas.
Madam Victoria Dzeklo is the outgoing PM of the Assembly. She is also the first female PM of the Assembly, having done about fourteen (14) months until the dissolution of the outgoing session. She is also the Assembly Member for the Atravenu Electoral area, where she is contesting the same seat unopposed for the second consecutive time.
After Tuesday’s elections, she is expected to return to the Assembly for the third (3rd) consecutive term, representing her people who have had so much confidence in her abilities to mobilize the needed resources for the development of the area.
Sharing her experiences as the outgoing PM, Madam Dzeklo called on women to be involved in politics, especially at the local government level. According to her, even though she sees herself as a female, she is also a man among the men. She lauded the outgoing AMs for their hard work, commitment, and dedication to the ideals, goals, and vision of the district. She hoped the next session would see further improvement in the quality of discussions and contributions on the floor of the Assembly.
Asked whether she does not feel intimidated by the men, she replied in the negative, adding that she has had the needed co-operation and support from her honourable male counterparts with no hard feelings. ‘We work together, iron out our differences with no hard feelings and we move on’, Hon. Dzeklo explained.
She described the ongoing Assembly Session as a challenging one because the Assembly has had no funds to deliver on its mandate to the people as expected due to the country’s economic challenges. According to her, the last four (4) years have not been easy for AMs and their constituents because of a lack of resources on the part of government and the Assembly for that matter to provide development to these areas. She was hopeful that the coming years would see an improvement in the development agenda of the district.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Wisdom Kobena Mensah Woyome, was grateful to all Ghanaians, including corporate Ghana, individuals, and institutions as well as Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) for the support so far given to the Akosombo flood disaster victims following the recent spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams. He described the government’s approach and response to the disaster as insensitive and commended Ghanaians for filling that vacuum with their support and love, a responsibility which the government, according to Hon. Woyome, has failed to discharge to the affected people and communities.
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