Ghana

Parliament

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Presidential system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Unicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
See historical data for this field. Compare data of this field.

Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin (Male)
Year of birth
1957
Additional information
Elected on 7 Jan. 2021.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Cyril Oteng Nsiah (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 7 May 2020.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
235
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
40
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
14.55% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
49.00
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Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
27
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Youngest member
Francisca Oteng-Mensah (Female)
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
72
Oldest member
Benson Tongo Baba (Male)
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
77 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
198 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
235 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
40 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0 See historical data for this field.
21-30
2 See historical data for this field.
31-40
32 See historical data for this field.
41-45
43 See historical data for this field.
46-50
69 See historical data for this field.
51-60
96 See historical data for this field.
61-70
31 See historical data for this field.
71-80
2 See historical data for this field.
81-90
0 See historical data for this field.
91 and over
0 See historical data for this field.
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 2 32 43 69 96 31 2 0 0
Total <= 45: 77 Total >= 46: 198
Male 0 1 27 37 59 80 29 2 0 0 235
Female 0 1 5 6 10 16 2 0 0 0 40
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0.73%0.36%0.36%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger12.36%10.18%2.18%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger28%23.64%4.36%

Reserved seats and quotas

Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
No
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Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Date of independence For countries that become independent after 1940
1957
Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1954
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Prior to independence, under British administration women were granted the right to vote in 1954, under British administration. This right was confirmed at independence.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1954
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1960
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
2009

Specialized body - Women's caucus

Parliamentarian Women's Caucus
(January 1993)
The caucus is open to male MPs
Yes
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
The Caucus was established with the objective of demonstrating women’s presence in the Legislature in the context of descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation of the Ghanaian woman.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
Yes

Activities

Issues dealt with by the caucus
Advocates for girl-child education and promotes initiatives against domestic violence and gender-biased cultural practices, such as widowhood rites and female genital mutilation, besides promoting affirmative action at all levels of government and society.

The Caucus has been successful in establishing vocational schools for training women, in offering short-term loans to women, and in encouraging the Government of Ghana to sign on to the United Nation’s Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2003. The Caucus provides sound research on gender concerns, it monitors and evaluates government action with respect to gender issues and carries out analysis of the gender implications of the bills passed by Parliament.