{"id":15477,"date":"2023-07-31T12:29:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2023-07-31T12:29:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:29:20","slug":"weahs-cdc-fails-to-uphold-40-quota-promise-for-women-in-party-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/weahs-cdc-fails-to-uphold-40-quota-promise-for-women-in-party-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Weah\u2019s CDC fails to uphold 40% quota promise for women in party elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President George Weah&#8217;s three-party-led government 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberianobserver.com\/liberia-weahs-cdc-adopts-40-women-quota\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">adopte<\/a>d a 40% women quota resolution to give women a voice to contest the parliamentary seats on the party\u2019s ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new policy was made for the party to push at least 40% of women into leadership positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">According to the CDC, the new policy was binding on the party. The policy came when the party failed to produce a single female candidate in mid-term senatorial elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The party\u2019s political leader and self-proclaimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheroesforum.com\/details.cfm?Pres.%20Weah%20Declares%20Himself%20%27Liberia%27s%20Feminist-In-Chief%27;%20Recommits%20To%20Women%27s%20Cause&amp;corpnews_scatid=38&amp;corpnews_catid=5&amp;corpnews_scatlinkid=982\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018Fe<\/a>minist-in-Chief\u2019 President Weah, has continuously lauded the idea of promoting women in politics. But has his ideas translated into reality, using the 40% women quota resolution as a benchmark?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">DUBAWA looks deeper into the quota system announced by the CDC government to promote women in governance and assess whether the Weah-led government is walking the talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-outlook-of-women-in-politics-before-weah-s-liberia\"><strong>Outlook of women in politics before Weah\u2019s Liberia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">In 2005, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/conf\/migration\/assets\/pdf\/Ellen-Sirleaf-Bio.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">West African nation becam<\/a>e the first country in Africa to produce a female as President amidst the patriarchal outlook of the society. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia\u2019s first female president, earned herself global recognition by winning a Nobel Prize for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">Her ascendency to the president&#8217;s seat allowed women and girls across Liberia and the rest of Africa to find their voices by enhancing their representation in public office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">Madam Sirleaf 2017 democratically ushered in George Weah as President after serving her term. There was, therefore, the need to maintain gender representation in governance even after the tenure of Sirleaf Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, President Weah proclaimed himself as \u2018Feminist-in-Chief\u2019 with the promise to give women a louder voice in the democratic governance of Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The CDC Chairman Mulbah Morlu no sooner called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberianobserver.com\/liberia-weahs-cdc-adopts-40-women-quota\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">President to appoint more women to top positions.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter 17 years, the National Executive Committee of the CDC has unanimously adopted a resolution requiring 40 per cent political participation for women throughout its leadership structures and parliamentary seats in pending general elections,\u201d said party Chairman Mulbah Morlu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAdditionally, the party NEC is calling on the president to appoint more qualified women to significant positions in government as a necessary step to close the gender gap,\u201d Morlu added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">During the party\u2019s 17th anniversary in 2022, he made the call, thus cementing a Gender quota measure for all of its internal and external democratic processes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">So did the \u2018Feminist-in-chief\u2019 and his party appoint more women into the party\u2019s top hierarchy and cabinet, as prayed for by the party\u2019s chairman and demanded by the party\u2019s resolution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">To answer this question objectively, it is important to understand the quota resolution passed by the CDC government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The general idea of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idea.int\/data-tools\/data\/gender-quotas\/quotas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Qu<\/a>ota system is to recruit women into political positions and ensure that women sit in the corridors of power and participate in the country&#8217;s decision-making.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The ruling party, therefore, agreed that its 40% women quota adopted in 2022 was binding to have women in leadership on its ticket ahead of the pending elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to the 40% women quota in its internal party election, the governing party also promised <a href=\"https:\/\/thenewdawnliberia.com\/parties-re-affirm-30-quota-for-female-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a 30% women participation<\/a> to ensure women are fairly represented in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DUBAWA\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.ipu.org\/wmn-e\/classif.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">research showed <\/a>that since 2019 women\u2019s representation in the legislature has been at 12.3%, ranked 151 among 192 countries in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/africa\/20200812-liberia-s-self-proclaimed-feminist-president-weah-fails-to-nominate-woman-candidate-politics-africa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">During the mid-term Senatorial elections in December 2020, women accounted for just 20 out of 118 eligible candidates in the Special Senatorial Elections, with the ruling CDC nominating all men.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The worryingly low figures for women&#8217;s participation in politics and governance made the CDC promise very crucial. Yet, after the CDC primary results for the October 10 elections, the data does not show a party walking the talk on women&#8217;s participation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">Our findings showed that the ruling CDC has 9.5% of women for parliamentary seats in the pending elections, not 40% as demanded by the resolution. The party primary produced only 11 female candidates out of 87 winners on October 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">For example, out of the 87&nbsp; winners emerging from the CDC\u2019s recent primaries across the 15 counties, only 12 were females constituting far below the documented and reaffirmation resolutions that call for 30 or 40%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attached is the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/103_wRAzsLdgOcpszcJoPYHGP7HhrA8wT\/edit?usp=drive_link&amp;ouid=118308741413556111351&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">link<\/a> officially from the CDC&#8217;s recent primaries for the upcoming elections<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">The party chairman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mulbahmorlu\/photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mulbah Morlu, <\/a>failed to honour an interview with DUBAWA for clarity or to state why the party picked more men than women for the upcoming Presidential and Legislative elections amidst a standing resolution for 40% quota women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify wp-block-paragraph\">Below are WhatsApp exchanges with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"584.661971830986\" height=\"850.1684945164513\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/IjkjNP0mq8PDgh8Z_9is52rnSEjZlGod0NTdsLxwQwQbDu8IP5YlmLUIQ-2OeGgurb327VLBjT5RqcqQdZ5psIylbJd5mPqZwuHyX73q6W7xgFrWLV30GZt_VhqZiJSPat1xTMqujxNrk-KwtgMNN70\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/Ex8zkpCVjiH2sCdQhjOJkELKzWBFJUqQ6ayqNCKTXZu2tA56Nfjn58qnzaCOpyUc8YYrP8DtEK1DbGgPgjbS4wlpM4Vy1WQ1S3ahOfA6MnuBOhuCPjoSGfXBZCKG78p5woIBsQkVfWHPp1lBueeJnpQ\" width=\"610.7049559981473\" height=\"831.0543933054394\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even though the 40% women quota is only a year into implementation, DUBAWA can state, using the CDC&#8217;s recent primaries as a benchmark, that the party has failed to honour its promise to promote 40% women into its leadership.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President George Weah&#8217;s three-party-led government 2022 adopted a 40% women quota resolution to give women a voice to contest the parliamentary seats on the party\u2019s ticket. The new policy was made for the party to push at least 40% of women into leadership positions. According to the CDC, the new policy was binding on the party. The policy came when the party failed to produce a single female candidate in mid-term senatorial elections. The party\u2019s political leader and self-proclaimed \u2018Feminist-in-Chief\u2019 President Weah, has continuously lauded the idea of promoting women in politics. But has his ideas translated into reality, using the 40% women quota resolution as a benchmark?&nbsp; DUBAWA looks deeper into the quota system announced by the CDC government to promote women in governance and assess whether the Weah-led government is walking the talk. Outlook of women in politics before Weah\u2019s Liberia In 2005, the West African nation became the first country in Africa to produce a female as President amidst the patriarchal outlook of the society. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia\u2019s first female president, earned herself global recognition by winning a Nobel Prize for peace. Her ascendency to the president&#8217;s seat allowed women and girls across Liberia and the rest of Africa to find their voices by enhancing their representation in public office. Madam Sirleaf 2017 democratically ushered in George Weah as President after serving her term. There was, therefore, the need to maintain gender representation in governance even after the tenure of Sirleaf Johnson. As a result, President Weah proclaimed himself as \u2018Feminist-in-Chief\u2019 with the promise to give women a louder voice in the democratic governance of Liberia. The CDC Chairman Mulbah Morlu no sooner called the President to appoint more women to top positions. \u201cAfter 17 years, the National Executive Committee of the CDC has unanimously adopted a resolution requiring 40 per cent political participation for women throughout its leadership structures and parliamentary seats in pending general elections,\u201d said party Chairman Mulbah Morlu. \u201cAdditionally, the party NEC is calling on the president to appoint more qualified women to significant positions in government as a necessary step to close the gender gap,\u201d Morlu added. During the party\u2019s 17th anniversary in 2022, he made the call, thus cementing a Gender quota measure for all of its internal and external democratic processes.&nbsp; So did the \u2018Feminist-in-chief\u2019 and his party appoint more women into the party\u2019s top hierarchy and cabinet, as prayed for by the party\u2019s chairman and demanded by the party\u2019s resolution? To answer this question objectively, it is important to understand the quota resolution passed by the CDC government. The general idea of the Quota system is to recruit women into political positions and ensure that women sit in the corridors of power and participate in the country&#8217;s decision-making.&nbsp; The ruling party, therefore, agreed that its 40% women quota adopted in 2022 was binding to have women in leadership on its ticket ahead of the pending elections. In addition to the 40% women quota in its internal party election, the governing party also promised a 30% women participation to ensure women are fairly represented in government. DUBAWA\u2019s research showed that since 2019 women\u2019s representation in the legislature has been at 12.3%, ranked 151 among 192 countries in the world. During the mid-term Senatorial elections in December 2020, women accounted for just 20 out of 118 eligible candidates in the Special Senatorial Elections, with the ruling CDC nominating all men. The worryingly low figures for women&#8217;s participation in politics and governance made the CDC promise very crucial. Yet, after the CDC primary results for the October 10 elections, the data does not show a party walking the talk on women&#8217;s participation.&nbsp; Our findings showed that the ruling CDC has 9.5% of women for parliamentary seats in the pending elections, not 40% as demanded by the resolution. The party primary produced only 11 female candidates out of 87 winners on October 10. For example, out of the 87&nbsp; winners emerging from the CDC\u2019s recent primaries across the 15 counties, only 12 were females constituting far below the documented and reaffirmation resolutions that call for 30 or 40%. Attached is the link officially from the CDC&#8217;s recent primaries for the upcoming elections The party chairman, Mulbah Morlu, failed to honour an interview with DUBAWA for clarity or to state why the party picked more men than women for the upcoming Presidential and Legislative elections amidst a standing resolution for 40% quota women. Below are WhatsApp exchanges with him. Conclusion Even though the 40% women quota is only a year into implementation, DUBAWA can state, using the CDC&#8217;s recent primaries as a benchmark, that the party has failed to honour its promise to promote 40% women into its leadership.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1572,1960,1574,16],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3777],"class_list":["post-15477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explainers","category-liberia","category-media-literacy","category-politics"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-41D","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3777,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"varney-dukuly","display_name":"Varney Dukuly","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/WEAH-sirrea.jpg?fit=828%2C1104&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15477"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15483,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15477\/revisions\/15483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15477"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=15477"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=15477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}