Mrs Cynthia Anima Boadu, the Bono Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has called on the media to remain at the forefront of promoting and implementing the Affirmative Action Act 2024.
The Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act represents a landmark legislative effort in Ghana’s ongoing journey towards achieving gender parity across all sectors of society.
Passed by parliament last year, the Act seeks to address the historical and systemic gender imbalances that have long permeated the nation’s political, social, economic, and cultural landscapes.
Mrs Boadu said the Act remained a crucial step towards achieving gender equality in the country, saying it provided a framework for tackling the historical and systemic inequalities that had prevented women from fully participating in the nation’s development process.
She urged the media and stakeholders to work together to ensure the effective implementation of the Act for the achievement of gender equality in the political, social, economic, educational and cultural spheres of society.
Mrs Boadu made the call when speaking at a day’s sensitization meeting on the Act in Sunyani jointly organized by the commission and ActionAid Ghana, a Non-governmental organization.
It was mostly attended by queen mothers and women groups drawn from Ahafo and Bono Regions and aimed at tackling key barriers and promoting women rights and leadership.

Mrs Boadu noted that a key provision of the Act required a balanced representation on the Executive Board of the Trade Union, adding that the provision was designed to ensure that women equally had the voice in the decision-making processes of trade unions.
She said: “Trade unions that fail to comply with this requirement without reasonable justification shall not be registered by the Chief Labour Officer, or if previously registered, shall have their registration revoked”.
Mrs Boadu said offences outlined in the Act included victimizing, obstructing or exerting undue influence on a person in “an attempt to defeat the object of the Act”.
Other offences include subjecting an employee to gender-specific verbal attack, stereotyping, hate speech, discriminating against or intimidating a candidate on grounds of gender, failing to provide required information and knowingly providing false information.
Mrs Boadu emphasized that “individuals who commit such offences are liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than five hundred penalty units and not more than one thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than six months and not more than twelve months or to both”.
She indicated that the Act “is not just a women’s issue, but a national issue that requires the collective action of all stakeholders, including government, civil society, private sector, and individuals”.
Mrs Boadu called for collective responsibility towards the effective implementation of the Act, saying the execution of the Act “is a long-term process that needs persistence and collective action”’