Madam Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, the Member of Parliament for La-Dadekotopon in the Greater Accra Region, says more women need to be voted into Parliament to push for a balance in governance, leadership and development.
She has, therefore, called on her constituents to vote massively for her come December 7, to retain her seat and continue with the initiatives she had started, aimed at improving their standards of living, particularly for women’s empowerment.
Madam Sowah, a member of the Gender Committee in Parliament and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for election 2024, says she represents hard work and women’s achievement in leadership.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency’s Gender-Desk, the MP noted that 11 out of the 40 women in parliament lost their bids during the primaries of the two major political parties.
This leaves only 29 women candidates seeking reelection to represent their constituents from 2025 and hoped that the electorate would give her another resounding victory in December.
“We are hoping that at least 75 out of the 275 seats would be won by women come the next parliament because we need the women’s perspective in that high level of decision-making and all levels of governance and leadership because the female perspective matters”.
Naa Odoley Sowah, the first Municipal Chief Executive of the La-Dadekotopon Assembly, carved out from the Accra Metro Assembly (AMA), started her political career as an appointee on a committee at the AMA sub-metro and subsequently became the first MCE for the area in 2013.
In 2020, she contested the NDC parliamentary primary and won the bid, subsequently reclaimed the seat in the 2020 general election from the NPP.
That was after her predecessor Nii Amasa Namoale lost in 2016.
As the first MCE she was at the helm of development from building the infrastructure and systems for the smooth take-off and running of the newly created municipality.
She endeared herself to the people through her tireless efforts and hard work to satisfy her constituents.
The Assembly’s office structures, the tared road of Tse-Addo, a community near La in the constituency, construction of school infrastructure, as well as fencing of many public schools in the area were initiated during her tenure as MCE.
“Before leaving office as the MCE, I initiated the construction of the La market and played a pivotal role in its completion,” she said.
On the demolition of the La General Hospital for reconstruction works to begin, she assured the residents that the hospital would be completed to serve them, despite the delays.
The MP started an initiative dubbed: “The Nye Awo Kpapka” Vocational Skills Project to provide young women and girls with vocational skills, free of charge, to establish their own businesses to improve their livelihoods and contribute to the growth of the local economy.
Ms Sowah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Ghana and formerly worked with the National Lotteries Authority, before venturing into politics.
She expressed gratitude to Former President John Mahama for the confidence reposed in her by nominating her as the first MCE of the area and to Nii Amasa Namoale, a former MP of the area, for mentoring her as his administrator in the constituency.
