La-Dadekotopon is one of the unique constituencies in the Greater Accra Region. And this uniqueness isn’t based on how diverse its constituents are, but as one of the electoral areas in the capital where a woman has never been a Member of Parliament (MP).
Since the inception of the 4th Republic, the participation of women in the legislative process has been on the increase. Though only 36 women currently serve as Members of Parliament, over the years many constituencies have opened to their idea of strong female participation and subsequent elections of them.
This, however, cannot be said of the La-Dadekotopon Constituency but one person is poised to change this narrative; and she is Hon Rita Odoley Sowah.
As the former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly (LADMA), she is aspiring to represent the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a parliamentary candidate in the 2020 general elections.
For a seat that has seen five (5) men from both the NDC and NPP occupy at different times, Pulse Ghana in an exclusive interview asked Madam Odoley Sowah why she had decided to step up and contest on the ticket of the NDC.
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“The reason is simple; you know in 2016 we lost to our opponents the NPP and this is an NDC seat and I believe I can win it back for my party. I believe I have the temperament to bring all the supporters in the NDC together to take back the seat and also work with the grassroots”, she said.
And in her effort to get the nod from NDC delegates, she won’t be relying only on her ability to be a unifier. Hon Rita Odoley Sowah said she will be running on the successes she chalked as the MCE of LADMA.
Enumerating her achievements as MCE, she said: “l provided a police post to the Tse-Addo community, as well as the construction of the main road linking the community. I had to go to Urban Roads to lobby for it because the project was bigger than the Assembly.”
“I also made sure that we started the ‘walkway to school’ project which provided walkways for kids before and after school in order to protect from speeding vehicles. I also started the La Market project which is near completion”, she added.
For a seat that has been dominated by the NDC since 1992, the La-Dadekotopon constituency seat is currently held by the New Patriotic Party(NPP).
However, Hon Rita Odoley Sowah is optimistic that if there is unity among the NDC in La, they can win in next year’s general elections.
“We have to come together and work very hard towards the next elections. We have to put 2016 behind us and unite for victory in 2020”, she emphasized.
The NDC lost the 2016 general elections to the NPP. On what her party can do to reverse this humiliating loss in 2020, Hon Odoley Sowah said: “We need to trumpet our achievements. We allowed our opponents to tell the electorates more lies about us and they belittle our projects and performance, therefore we need to go out there and expose this government to Ghanaians.
” What she will do differently if given the mandate by NDC delegates and constituents of La-Dadekotopon as a whole, she told Pulse Ghana that: “I will continue some of the projects I started as MCE by organizing empowerment programmes for the constituents, especially women.”
“I will also come up with schemes that will get the youth of La gainfully employed and also continue with development projects that have stalled since this government took power”.
The NDC primaries to determine its parliamentary candidate will come off on August 24th and Hon Rita Odoley Sowah is confident that she will lead the party and consequently be. first female MP for La-Dadekotopon.
