Women groups under the auspices of Women Gather have declared that Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, represents their last hope for meaningful women inclusion and mainstreaming in the politics of the state.
Co-convener of the group, Ambassador Onyi Mamah, made the declaration while briefing journalists in Enugu during the week, where she outlined the group’s position on gender representation and the implementation of the 35 per cent affirmative action policy.
She noted that the women recently engaged Governor Mbah during discussions surrounding the Reserved Seat Bill and commended his disposition towards the cause.
According to her, out of the five governors in the South-East region, Mbah has shown the highest level of support for the advancement of women in politics.
She described the governor as “a very disciplined and encouraging person” who strongly supports women inclusion and the 35 per cent affirmative action.
The human rights activist, however, pointed out that as women, “nobody will wear the shoe more than them,” stressing that women understand poverty and pain more directly and are therefore better positioned to advocate inclusive policies.
She further described Mbah as a leader who understands gender advocacy, stressing that the governor remains their last option regarding the realization of the 35 per cent affirmative action in the state.
“Over the years, the governor has demonstrated a clearer understanding of the need for women mainstreaming, and we believe that he’s our last hope of getting women into elective positions,” Mamah stated.
Mamah expressed dissatisfaction that since 1999, the state has not recorded what she described as very prominent women positions in elective offices.
She lamented that only two women are currently occupying seats in the Enugu State House of Assembly, arguing that with proper alignment to the 35 per cent affirmative action policy, the number should be significantly higher.
“If we had proper alignment of the 35 per cent affirmative action, we should be talking about over seven women in the State House of Assembly,” she said.
She further noted that it was painful that since 1999 to date, Enugu State has never produced a female senator.
Mrs. Mamah, who is also the Executive Director of Heroin Women Foundation, used the opportunity to appeal to Governor Mbah to provide the necessary support to enable the emergence of a female senator from one of the three senatorial zones in the state.
