By King Amoah.
In a striking display of political skepticism, women from Kumasi Krofuom in the Ashanti region have openly criticized Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recently announced Women’s Trade Empowerment policy.
Termed by the women as “outright lies” and a mere electoral ploy, their disdain illustrates a growing discontent with what they perceive as disingenuous political maneuvering aimed at garnering votes ahead of the upcoming elections.
During a recent mini rally in Kumasi Krofuom, Bawumia proposed a policy aimed at financially empowering women traders by facilitating access to loans from banks using only their National Identification Cards as collateral.
He described the initiative as a transformative step intended to alleviate the arduous requirements often faced by women in the banking sector.
However, the response from the women was far from enthusiastic.
Afia Serwaa and Ama Ampong, a prominent voices among the Krofuom women, articulated their collective doubts regarding the sincerity and feasibility of the proposal.
They questioned Bawumia’s understanding of the challenges women encounter in the trading sector and challenged him to justify why such a policy was not introduced earlier, during the tenure of President Akufo-Addo.
“If he truly cares about women and their welfare, why didn’t he advise his master Akuffo Addo to roll out such a beneficial policy before now?” she asked, highlighting the perceived inconsistency in the Vice President’s rhetoric.
The critiques did not stop at mere skepticism. The women asserted that Bawumia’s attempts to appeal to them were nothing short of “sugar-coated political talks,” designed to mislead and manipulate their sentiments in pursuit of electoral advantage.
They expressed concern that these manipulative tactics were an insult to their intelligence and that they could see through the facade of political promises that have often remained unfulfilled.
The overarching sentiment among the women is one of empowerment and resilience.
They emphasized the need for genuine policies that prioritize the challenges faced by women traders in their daily operations.
In their view, hollow promises and political grandstanding offer no real solutions to the obstacles they encounter.
“We the women charge you (other women in Ghana) to treat Bawumia with contempt because he is a liar who just wants our votes to enable them to torture us after winning power,” was a sentiment echoed by many.
