Dr. Victoria Lakshmi Hamah, POWA Founder
The Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement (POWA) has called for an end to what it describes as gendered insults, personal attacks and mockery directed at First Lady Lordina Mahama and former Second Lady Samira Bawumia.
POWA says the attacks go beyond ordinary partisan political exchanges and risk undermining the dignity and political agency of women in public life.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, September 29, the organisation said women can belong to different political parties and hold opposing political views without being turned against one another.
It said both Lordina Mahama and Samira Bawumia have occupied highly visible positions within Ghana’s political leadership and have platforms that could be used to advance issues affecting women, girls and vulnerable communities.
“Those platforms should not become instruments of pitting women against one another,” POWA said.
The organisation, however, stressed that its position should not be interpreted as shielding either woman from public scrutiny.
It said women in political and public office must remain accountable for their words, actions and policies, but argued that accountability should be distinguished from humiliation, misogyny and personal attacks.
POWA said political experiences of women are shaped not only by party affiliation but also by gender, class and access to institutional power.
It argued that when women are encouraged to direct their political energy at one another, attention can shift away from structural inequalities that continue to limit women’s participation and influence.
“When women divide, unequal power systems benefit,” the organisation said.
It cited inadequate political representation, economic inequality, violence against women and girls, unequal access to opportunities, unpaid care responsibilities and barriers to decision-making among the challenges facing Ghanaian women.
POWA said these issues require collective action across political and ideological lines.
It therefore urged women’s rights organisations, women’s groups, civil society organisations and the wider public to reject what it described as the normalisation of gendered attacks against women in public life.
POWA said Ghana’s prominent women in politics should identify areas of common interest and work towards a collective women’s agenda, even where they disagree politically.
“Lordina Mahama need not agree with Samira Bawumia, and vice versa. Solidarity does not require political uniformity,” it said.
“It requires recognising that advancing women’s collective development is bigger than any political party.”
The organisation also called on women across Ghana to resist political divisions that, in its view, have historically weakened women’s collective bargaining power.
It urged men who support gender equality to reject gendered political attacks and called on political actors across the political divide to demonstrate that political competition can coexist with respect for women’s dignity.
POWA further appealed to Lordina Mahama and Samira Bawumia to consider leading a broader conversation on women’s political solidarity beyond party lines.
The organisation said Ghana needs greater representation of women in decision-making and women who can disagree politically without undermining one another.
“Ghana needs more women at the table. It needs women who can disagree without destroying one another,” POWA said.
The statement was signed by POWA Founder, Dr Victoria Lakshmi Hamah.
“Women’s power is people’s power,” the organisation said, urging Ghanaians not to allow partisan politics to prevent women from working together on issues affecting women and girls.
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