Mawusi To Unite NPP Women For Victoria 2016

A leading contender for the National Women�s Organiser position of the New Patriotic Party, Mawusi Nudekor Awity, has urged delegates of the party to support her to win the position, to enable her get the opportunity to unite the women�s wing for a more effective campaign towards a resounding victory in the 2016 general elections. According to the aspirant, the women�s wing will have to do more than it had done in the past to get more women to vote for the party in the next elections, �and before we can do that we will need absolute unity to ensure that no one is left on the fence, feeling aggrieved or hurt by another person�s behaviour or utterances, but that our collective efforts and energy are harnessed towards the mobilization of women support across the country.� Speaking in an exclusive interview with the New Statesman, Mrs Awity, who expressed optimism about her chances of winning the position, said she was best positioned to unite all elements in the women�s wing, with her experience of working with various women�s groups as a development practitioner. �The NPP cannot afford to disappoint Ghanaians again by losing the 2016 elections, in view of the harsh economic challenges they are painfully enduring under the NDC government. We therefore need absolute unity on the front of the women�s wing to campaign effectively to win the hearts and minds of the suffering masses, especially the women, and for us to achieve this, we will need a unifier in the person of Mawusi,� she stated. Mrs Awity said her campaign tour across the country had afforded her the opportunity to interact with all kinds of women groups and what was common among all of them was that they only see hope into the future with the return of the NPP to the corridors of power. �They are looking up to the NPP to win the 2016 elections to rescue them from the economic hardships unleashed on them by the incompetent NDC government,� she stated, adding that any strenuous efforts by the NPP to cash in on the current economic situation would yield a lot of dividends in 2016. �This government must go! The hardship is just unbearable. All the social interventions that were supporting the people, especially the poor, are in disarray,� she added. She emphasized that election 2016 should not be taken by the rank and file of the party as being far away, and therefore urged all party faithful to start working hard, stressing that women should be at the forefront of the NPP campaign. �The campaign has to start now. We should not wait until 2016. Women and children in Ghana are really suffering, and the NPP has to step in and stem the tide,� she urged. Mrs Awity, who is women�s management and rights advocate, said she would lead the effort to mobilize Ghanaian women to support the NPP�s cause when given the nod as Women�s Organizer. She has promised to help create jobs for all women organisers of the NPP through training and provision of support in the requisite vocational and entrepreneurial skills. �All constituency women wings would be supported to have an income generating venture from where they can raise resources to support their programmes and the same tool would be used to win votes in the various areas,� she assured at the launch of her campaign for the position. Mrs Awity intends to operate the women�s wing of the party as a social enterprise, by establishing a resource centre in Accra for the benefit all Ghanaian women. �As a development expert, I will bring my expertise to bear by periodically organising various capacity building programmes on resource mobilisation, proposal and report writing, communication skills, community mobilisation, leadership skills and campaign strategies to encourage more women to be able to explain the policies of the party,� she said. Mrs Awity assures the delegates that as a unifier, a trainer, field person and a builder, she will work hard with others in the executive to win more votes from women, adding �and through the spirit of volunteerism, commitment, and endless effort, I will together with my team work hard to bring our great NPP back to power.� The aspirant is the Founder and Executive Director of Network for Women in Growth, a development NGO committed to the economic empowerment of women, founded in 2002, and through this effort she has assisted in the training of more than 6,000 women, mostly in the rural areas, and offered them start-up capitals to start their own businesses to earn a decent living. �Through NEWIG, we have been able to empower women with entrepreneurial skills and I intend to extend it to the party and ensure that it becomes part of our activities. We have to continue to work hard to get more women into active politics; but we have to also empower them economically and I would strive to make NPP women�s wing the mouthpiece of Ghanaian women,� the aspirant stated.