Women’s Participation in Local Government: An Assessment of Enhancers and Inhibitors in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality

Abstract

The participation of women in local government is one of the burning governance issues in the world today. Such participation is expected to serve as a springboard to propel women to participate at the national level. However, an analysis of women’s participation in local government reveals that women are grossly underrepresented. This study assessed the factors that enhance and inhibit women’s participation in local government as elected representatives in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana. The qualitative approach was used to conduct in-depth interviews using a census of all the elected past and present assembly members in the Municipality. The study revealed that women's participation at the household level, training and education by Non-Governmental Organizations, and cordial working relationship with male colleagues in local government were the main enhancers of women's participation in local government. The inhibiting factors revealed by the study included financial constraints, unreasonably high expectations, and the non-cooperative attitudes of community members. It is recommended that women and girls be made an integral part of household decision-making. Women who contest local elections should be supported financially. The NGOs that ran programs to empower women to participate in local government should be encouraged and supported.