Some rural women in Gd. Bassa and Margibi Counties
Women in the rural parts of Liberia are seeking for their participation as the 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections draw nearer.
In an exclusive interview, some of the rural women including those in Margibi and Grand Bassa counties where our reporter visited, told the Women Voices that this is the time that they decide for themselves in the decision-making process of their country.
“We have been left behind for a very long time especially since Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf relinquished power as President of Liberia. We want to be given the chance to make decision for ourselves; to determine who we want in 2023 and not to be controlled this time around because we are the ones who bear most of the burdens during conflict,” Madam Mary Mansaray, Spokeswoman of t of Gbibi women told our reporter.
According to the women, all Liberians in spite of gender and associations, must be given the chance to decide for themselves rather than imposing on them. “We cannot be second-class citizens in our own country like in the ancient days.
According to the rural women, Liberian women have transcended from those days when they were left in the kitchen while their male counterparts who were the major decision makers for the country. “Ma Ellen opened our eyes to be part of the process and so, we must be given the chance to decide our own choice of leadership in 2023,” Madam Mansaray furthered.
Our reporter who have been touring several parts of the country especially Grand Bassa and Margibi counties met and spoke to several women in rural Liberia on the pending 2023 President and Legislative Elections and their standing in the electoral process.
Many of the women spoke about the hard economic situation in the country and said the best way to move the country forward is to engage in agricultural activities. They sand government and international partners must empowered rural dwellers to take the nation back to the old days when Liberians were living on farming to feel themselves and the entire population.
“We want the government to empower us maybe through giving us grant or loan to help us go back to farming, let us not give all our lands to concession companies and deplete our forests because farming is the surest way to move our nation forward,” said Mamie Morris, a prominent women in Number 1 District, Grand Bassa County.
Women in Liberia have said they constitute about 60 percent of the country and as such, they must be given the opportunity to decide for themselves. “This nation belongs to every one of us so let the men allow us to make our own decision in deciding the fate of the country,” said Madam Morris.
Liberians are gearing up for the pending 2023 Presidential and General Elections following the historic election of football star, George Manneh Weah in 2017. The pending election will determine whether the football legend will remain in power after 2023 as head of the nation.
But women in the country are pushing their case to make their presence felt in the pending election. Our reporter who returned from some of the counties on Monday said the women are in high gera to ensure that they are fully represented in the political process of the country in 2023.
“We will vote for our friends (women) in the Legislature in 2023 because we have been overlooked over the years by the men who have refused to give us the political space mostly in the Legislature; so we are going to fight back by ensuring that most women go in the Legislature to push our case,” said Oretha Davies, a resident of Buchanan City.
