Politics as Service: Pathways of District Assembly Women in Ghana

In 2006, women constituted only 5 per cent of elected members and about 35 per cent of appointed members in 97 out of 110 district assemblies.  In this chapter, which is based on life history interviews with 32 elected and appointed District Assembly Women held by the Ghana Hub in 2007, Professor Manuh explores the personal biographies and factors that have enhanced opportunities for them to gain access to political power, including their backers and mentors at local level, and how this influences their agendas as assembly women as well as their experience of politics, how they perceive their roles and the kind of power they claim, and what they can do with it once they are in office.

The findings of the chapter seriously challenge the assumptions about where the sites of empowerment and oppression are for women who wish to engage in politics and what practical support is needed on the part of civil society organisations and the women's movement in order to provide them with the necessary backing.