It’s time for a woman to represent Lower Manya – Lawyer Lasi

NDC Parliamentary hopeful, Lawyer Benedicta Lasi Koryo has rubbished mounting propaganda that women are not allowed to lead on Kroboland.

Miss Lasi who is confident of breaking the propaganda is undaunted with what she says are attempts by her detractors to use her gender as a woman “to play propaganda” against her cause.

The country has evolved beyond gender politics as no culture bars women from becoming leaders, argued the lawyer and youth empowerment activist. To her, her constituents of Lower Manya Krobo believe women can equally serve the people.

With a lot of advocacy that it's time Ghanaian women had their fair share of representation in parliament, the former Deputy Eastern Regional Youth Organizer of the NDC and one of the frontrunners in the upcoming National Democratic Congress’ parliamentary primaries, couldn’t agree more.

The time is ripe for a woman to represent the people of Lower Manya Krobo, said the lawyer and youth empowerment activist, Lawyer Lasi, the only female parliamentary aspirant among three men.

As she battles it out with three male contestants to court the favour of delegates to represent their party, the astute lawyer turned politician derives her confidence from the reliable assurances from several delegates she says are solidly behind her.

“Delegates have confirmed to me that I am the person that is going to change the face of politics in Lower Manya,” she said adding that “come 24th August, I am going to be victorious in this fight.”

The Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) who avers that politics in Ghana has been seen as a means for not just development but inspiring people, however, believes more needs to be done.

While acknowledging the contributions made by previous Members of Parliament for the area, Lawyer Lasi, however, averred that her major intention remains to salvage the fast dwindling fortunes of the party in the constituency.

The NDC with Michael Nyaunu Teye as parliamentary candidate in 1996 polled 24,763 representing some 59.50% with Kodjiku Lawrence Kpabitey of the NPP placing a distant second with some 5,718 votes representing 13.70% and Robert Kwesi Nartey of the PNC garnering 482 or 1.20%.

But the New Patriotic Party appears to have bridged the gap over the years as the party, led by its parliamentary candidate, Samuel Nuertey Ayertey in the 2016 parliamentary polls lost out to the NDC with just 327 votes.

Mr. Ayertey garnered 19,383, representing 48.91% with incumbent MP, Terlabi then seeking a second term on the ticket of the NDC, securing 19,710 which represented 49.74% and Foster Emmanuel Okley of the CPP polling 536 or 1.35%.

According to her, her major objective remains ending the downward trend of the party in a constituency once considered the fortress of the party.

“As a political party, our votes are fast dwindling and we need to rescue that from degenerating [further] in 2020...our margins should move from 327 back to the days when we used to have margins of 15000, I want to ensure that,” she observed.

Expressing her desire to lead the people in parliament, the former Head of Corporate Affairs and Legal and Business Development Officer at Woodfields Energy Resources Limited explained that her motivation is borne out of becoming a good representative of her people, facilitating the necessary development for them while restoring the party to its ‘glory days.’

“I want to be a better representative for them in parliament, to use my network to pull the necessary development into the constituency, but also to ensure that NDC in Lower Manya becomes the party that we have known it to be,” she said.

She successfully sailed through the NDC’s rigorous vetting process at the party’s Eastern regional office in Koforidua on Thursday, 25th July 2019.

More and more voters are gradually warming to the idea of quotas for female representation in parliament as it's hard to argue against the benefits that would flow from equal representation.