BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – In Grand Bassa, there have been heated public debates over the inclusion of women in local politics, as prominent leaders of the county have added their voices to the conversation.

The former Grand Bassa superintendent, Julia Duncan-Cassell, says women have largely been excluded from mainstream politics and in major decision-making of the county.

According to Duncan-Cassell, who also previously served as Minister of Gender in former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration, not many women are being considered for top and lower level positions in the country, with Grand Bassa being of no exception.

“There’s no woman appointed. Look at the local structure. We need to see more women,” Duncan-Cassell said. “I must say thank you to President George Weah for appointing few women to senior positions in government, but we need to see more women in top government positions.”

Duncan-Cassell further added that women are not fully involved in politics due to fear that their voices will not be heard by their male counterparts.

Although Liberia elected Africa’s first female president and the current vice president is a woman, the participation of women in the government remains low.

Fewer than 12 percent of President George Weah’s appointed cabinet ministers are women.

Although Weah has appointed women to serve in other positions, only 2 of the 17 individuals nominated to head ministries are women. They are Wilhelmina Jallah, the health minister, and Williametta Piso Saydee-Tarr, gender minister.

The results indicate that, if the trend continues, women representative at the upper echelon of the Executive Branch will see a drastic reduction following Weah’s predecessor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Of the 81 ministers appointed to serve in Sirleaf’s government, 22 percent were women, although the percentage varied at various times.

The gender disparity in government is not limited to the Executive Branch. Despite efforts by local and international feminist organizations to increase women participation in the legislature, there are currently 9 female representatives out of 73 while the number of female senators drops by one due to Jewel Howard-Taylor’s ascendancy to the vice presidency.

In Grand Bassa, the national trend is replicated. No woman holds any of the top county positions, such as superintendent, assistant superintendent for development, assistant superintendent for fiscal affairs, and county inspector.

At lower levels, there are only seven women in leadership positions, with the highest ranking being Nancy Greene, who serves as statutory superintendent of a district. She is the only woman heading one of the five statutory districts. The other six women are clan chiefs. To put the number in better perspective, Grand Bassa has 45 clans.

The numbers speak for themselves, says Martha Treh, regional coordinator for the National Civil Society Council. She said the number of women appointed reflects how political parties are run in Grand Bassa, where women are not given the chance to fully participate in politics.

“How many women you see are chairpersons of political parties?” she said.

Treh said women are restricted or managed at lower positions in those parties and not supported for top level positions by their male counterparts who see them as background actors.

She recommended that women be given more opportunities to play major roles in mainstream politics and at the same time called on the government and partners for more support.

Meanwhile, Grand Bassa’s superintendent, Janjay Baikpeh, has refuted the claims of both Cassell and Treh. He says women have been given opportunities to serve in top level positions in the county.

“They are involved. If it comes to electoral processes, I have no control over that,” he said.

Baikpeh added that many women are involved in the decision-making processes of the county.

“It is incumbent upon women to exert themselves and serve at their best when given the opportunity and do away with beliefs that they will be marginalized by men in positions,” he added.

Baikpeh said the seven women appointed speaks volume to the full participation of women in the politics of the county.

Duncan-Cassell, who unsuccessfully ran to represent Grand Bassa’s third district in the 2017 elections, is a senior member of the Unity Party, the immediate former ruling party. Her party was not among the top five of parties with the highest percentage of female candidates. In fact, only one of the major parties placed in the top five: the Alternative National Congress, which had 21.21 percent of its candidates as women – good enough for second place.

Jefferson Daryoue contributed to this article. Featured photo by Sampson David.