CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The deliberation on the role of women in societies and their participation

in economic, social and political activities has generated a lot of argument for a

considerable time. As a result of this, different groups of people – women groups,

government, development partners, and civil society groups - have come up with

many arguments to support their positions. Some are against the increased

participation of women in all spheres of economic, social and political activities.

They argue that gender inequality belief stipulates that women are restricted to the

home, to take care of the children; they can only play a subordinate role in the

economy, public affairs and even in the home. Others argue that, since gender

inequality belief that restricts women to the home and limits their role in the

society to that of subordinate has been steady throughout, it cannot be accepted as

a yard stick to measure changes in societies and therefore cannot be used to

explain the status of women in societies (Deckard, 1983).

Leavitt (1971) stressed that woman’s control over property and products

she produces, her level of involvement in economic, social, religious and political

activities show a woman’s status anywhere in the world. To improve competence

and support survival, every known society divides and specialises labour tasks to

some extent and this division of labour has knowingly or unknowingly been done

along sex lines where men carry out tasks that take them outside the home and

women are largely restricted to homecare, childbearing and childrearing. Deckard

(1983) stressed that women are generally perceived to be patient, dependent,

1
passive and their work is considered as unexciting and repetitive. In fact, women

are naturally mothers, their greatest pleasure and true fulfillment lies in maternity,

the one out of a few things that women are good at. These negative perceptions

about women have tended to marginalize women and have belittled women’s

work in the home, outside the home, therefore women’s contribution to the

economic well being of the home and society. To correct this imbalance and to

reverse the marginalization of women it is necessary for both men and women to

realize that women are supposed to be treated equally as men. Furthermore,

women’s voices need to be heard and included. It is very sad to note that not all

women have equal access to avenues that made their voices to be heard. Voices

heard are generally from one part of the world, the West and these voices

purported to speak for all women irrespective of location. While the west women

tried to help other women from the limited perspective of their own experiences, a

lot of misrepresentation came up due to their lack of knowledge of those they

purported to represent. As to be expected, Africa and other locations outside their

immediate environment became esoteric laboratories for the study of `quaint’,

`barbaric’ and `repressive’ traditional practices. According to Ufomata (2000) not

much was made of the unique strengths and institutionalized powers of women in

other places, particularly in many parts of Africa, especially prior to colonialism.

2
1.1BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH

Changing dynamics of relations of power within families and societies are

often ignored. Ample evidence points to the fact that traditional roles have been

altered for many men and women and even traditional professional roles that were

gender specific have become gender neutral. Women head several families and

others still are equal breadwinners with the men. In times gone by, it used to be

the case that only women were to be midwives. However, in contemporary times,

gynecologists are more likely to be men than women. Gynecologist and a

midwife are two separate professionals. Furthermore, in several traditional

African societies, men would not be caught dead selling produce that were

considered women’s, but now everybody sells whatever would give them money.

Women are now in all kinds of professions all over the world Ufomata (2000)

thus, sex-ascribed roles are giving way to a more open environment in terms of

economic and social opportunities. Whiles women’s roles and participation in

economic activity in the traditional sense has to a large extent been defined and

restricted along gender inequality belief, few decades, a number of programmes

and policies have been designed along cultural lines, women’s role in the

Ghanaian economy, politics and religious have not been limited to the home alone

but has spanned all sectors of the economy, politics, religious with its impact felt.

Women’s participation in the labour force has contributed to household incomes

and the education and health of their children. However, there are marked

disparities in women’s access to economic resources that will enable them to

achieve their economic and social goals when compared to their male

3
counterparts. Women generally lack access to credit, land and education, which

make their progress in economy, political development relatively difficult.

Furthermore, the economic growth process in Ghana with its attendant turbulence

of decay and reforms has tended to worsen the plight of vulnerable groups in the

society, including women. To address these problems facing women and to

improve women’s participation in economic, political and social activities,

policies have been implemented by government and international agencies and

non-governmental organizations. Particularly in developing countries there have

been a proliferation of policies, programmes and projects designed to assist

women, especially low-income women in their bid to achieve economic

independence in all spheres of their lives and to improve their participation in

public life and the decision- making process. The 2000 census put the population

of Ghana at 18.9 million out of which women make up about 50.52%. With an

economically active population of 8.2 million (15 years +), women account for

approximately 50% of the labour force and are found in almost all kinds of

economic activities in the economy, for example: agriculture (including fishing

and forestry), industry (manufacturing) and services (especially wholesale and

retail trade). The majority of women, however, are found in farming (agriculture,

fish processing, animal husbandry and forestry) and other informal sector

activities such as wholesale and retail trading, but few women are found in

administrative and managerial jobs.

4
Rationale for the Study

Axim women face significant challenges in their day-today lives.

Increasingly, women are getting out of their home jobs as home makers and are

forced to combine their work at home as mothers, wives and homemakers and

their jobs outside the home. As if this is not challenging, women’s work is

buffeted by the existence and /or non-existence of policies that aims to improve

the lot of women in Axim. This research therefore aims to shed light on how

women affect and are affected by the economy and how best to design appropriate

programmes and policies that will help women to achieve the best first for

themselves and for the town.

Objective of the Study

This work sets out to investigate the role of women in Axim and to

identify factors that hinder their development. The work also investigate how

women affect and are affected by policies, programs and projects that are

instituted by the government, domestic and otherwise, how best to take advantage

of some of these programs and policies, and how best to minimize their negative

impact on women

Methodology and Data Sources

The study uses primary and secondary data to discuss and analyze

women’s roles in the three main developmental sectors of Axim, both public and

private. The paper, which is basically, a qualitative analysis, employs interviews

to illustrate issues discussed. The data sources are:

5
• Census data sources

• Ministry of Women and Children

• Ministry of Agriculture

• National Commission for Women and Development

• Other relevant data sources.

Organization of Study

The paper is divided into four sections. Section one gives an introductory

note and background to the paper. Section two discusses the political

characteristics of women in Axim. Section three takes a look at women’s work in

three sectors of the economy, the challenges they face and how these can be

turned into opportunities. Section four talks about the religious development and

concludes the study and goes on to give some recommendations for improving

women’s work in Axim.

6
 CHAPTER TWO

BRIEF BACKGROUND OF AXIM.

Axim is the capital of the Nzema East District, an area encompassing 2194

square kilometers. This relatively poor town has recently grown to become a

municipality. The population of Axim includes nearby villages which sum up to

500,000. There is modest government hospital; the economy is based on fishing,

subsistence farming and government services. Axim is near Ivory Coast to the

west and the nearest substantial city, Takoradi. Recently oil was discovered some

50 miles off the coast of Axim. Axim people are mostly Nzema, Fante, English

and other Ghanaian languages. Schools in Axim teach French or Arabic.

The Fort Antonio is the centre of the town. The Dutch captured it in 1642.

It was ceded to Britain in 1872. For some 300 years, it was a center for trading

gold, slaves, timber, cotton and other products. Today, the Fort houses some

offices and has some areas historically preserved to demonstrate how it was used

as a slave trading center. Every September, Axim host the Kundum festival. It

coincides with the fish season. Families return to their family homes. Deceased

ancestors are remembered and mourned. Family problems are sorted out in

peaceful ways, helped by the traditional elders if necessary. There is much

dancing, drumming and feasting. Traditional leaders and honored guests are

ceremoniously carried in palanquins, shaped like their fishing canoes and

decorated with flowers. The paramount chief of Axim is called Awulae

7
Attribrukusu III. The symbol of the royal house is a chicken nesting on a pole,

signifying the need of the king and the royal family to nurture the people.

ROLE OF AXIM WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Active involvement of women in steering and directing public affairs

including development activities especially at the local level is critical to the

successful implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy. The work

valuates the extent t which this is happening at the districts, municipalities,

metropolitan assembly levels in Ghana with a focus on western region. General

data and analysis of women’s involvement in local governance in Ghana are

presented as background to a more detailed study of a selected municipal in

western region. Results of regional level analysis indicate that broad-based

participation of women in community development and governance are still

lacking in comparison with the size of their members.

Ghana’s decentralization process provides a framework for a system of

locally-controlled development and planning. By this process, democratically

elected municipal assemblies established and charged as the local planning

authorities with responsibilities for the overall development and governance of the

municipalities. Furthermore, the GPRS commits to the transfer of roles,

responsibilities and resources to lower tiers of government. Decentralization is

again central o the overall strategy in terms of the provision of local governance,

transparency and the greater involvement of the communities. There is therefore,

a justification for women to be massively and actively engaged in the process of

8
local communities; secondly, because of the share size of their members relative

to that of men and thirdly, as a result of their development perspective or

orientation which in most cases is insightful.

In Africa, the struggle for women’s empowerment and rights in decision-

making process has been an uphill battle against patriarchy, poverty and

autocracy. The marginalization of women in governance has been blamed not

only on aspects of culture of African societies but on colonial administrators and

religions. Women however played important roles in top decision-making process

in African societies. Example is Yaa asantewaa, the queen mother of asante. It can

therefore be stated that women had access to governance in their traditional areas

before colonialisation.

In 2000, out of 110 districts chef Executives in Axm had only 10 women.

Women also constituted 24 percent of those in local governance. In 2001, there

were only three women among the 110 districts and three out of the 110 presiding

members were women. Information on women in local governance in 2004, just

before the local level elections were as follows; out of 7700 members of the 110

district assemblies, 385 were women. Seven out of 103 district chief executives

were women. Majority of the appointed assembly members were men. The

figures mentioned above, indicate that there is still a long way to go in achieving a

good participation of women in the decision making process at local level.

9
 In an effort to address this issue, the government then as a matter of policy

aimed at increasing appreciably the numbers of women in decision making at the

level of the district assemblies by directing that all metropolitan, municipal and

district assemblies reserve 50 percent of the membership of the 30 percent quota

of governance appointees for women. The total number of female government

appointees in 2002 to 2006 district assemblies was therefore1, 231 against 2,181

males. The number of women who filed for nomination in 2000 was 580 as

compared to 981 who filed in 2004. The western region which has Axim as one of

its districts has a population of five hundred thousand. As a predominant Akan

society, the matrilineal system, which accords women high status and significant

social and political influences, is practiced. This system therefore raises the status

of women. In traditional system of governance, the Nzemas[Axim] have a

monarchy whose king is chosen by a queen mother. The queen mothers play

important roles in local governance despite the fact that they are not supposed to

meddle in politics. They occupy remarkable positions in the courts of the chiefs

and are generally important in the of Axim.

In spite of the position of women in Nzema culture, and their roles in the

development of the society, women are underrepresented in the modern system of

governance. In 2000, there was no woman for Member of Parliament, and then in

2004, there were 2 out of the 15 members of parliament. Given the fact that the

matrilineal system of inheritance practiced in Nzema Favours the position of

women and also the fact that women are very influential in the appointment of

10
 chiefs, one would have expected a higher representation of women in local

governance. One therefore wonders what the underlining factors are. The

underlining factors are discussed in the following section in Axim.

THE DEPTH OF WOMENS’ PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL

GOVERNANCE IN AXIM

The extent of womens’participation was assessed in the following aspects;

1. The frequency of their attendance to meetings,

2. Their participation in deliberations at assembly meetings,

3. Participation of women in general community project.

The survey revealed that the women were punctual and regular at assembly

meetings. They also contributed or actively participated in deliberations. The

women respondents were motivated by the need to get involved in the leadership

of their communities to correct inefficiencies and lack of accountability.

OBSTACLES TO WOMENS’ PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL

GOVERNANCE IN AXIM.

On the issue of obstacles, the main ones identified were financial, cultural

and the multiple roles of women. Seventy-five percent of all the respondents

identified financial constraints as the major obstacle that has contributed to the

low participation of women in local governance. In order to win elections, one

needs substantial amount of money to carry out extensive campaigns through the

printing of posters and other campaigning logistics as well s paying for

11
individuals in the campaign team. It also involves time, which means foregoing

time spent on income generating activities in order to embark on effective

campaigns. Some of the cultural obstacles mentioned in the course of the survey

were religious, the process of socialization in the various communities, the

perceptions of the society, about the role of a woman and education. Sixty-five

percent of the respondents identified the socialization process which is basically

biased in favor of men as the main obstacle. Low self-esteem, shyness and lack of

confidence were also associated with the nature of socialization in the district.

This together with gender stereotyping of roles have contributed to the lack of

interest and general apathy of women in the process of local governance. Multiple

roles of women were identified as the main cultural obstacle that has given rise to

their low participation in local governance in Axim. The assembly indicated that,

it was collaborating with the women organizations such as FIDA and NCWD, to

sensitive women to take up the challenge of being involved in the governance of

their locality.

12
 CHAPTER THREE

THE ROLE OF AXIM WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY OF AXIM.

The debate on the role of women in societies and their participation in

economic activity has sparked a lot of controversy for a considerable time. To this

effect, different groups of people like women groups, government, development

partners and civil societal groups have forwarded many arguments to support their

stand. Those who are against the increased participation of women in all spheres

of economic and political activities have argued that women are limited to the

home and children and must play a subordinate role in the economic public affairs

and even in the home. To correct this imbalance and to reverse the

marginalization of women, it was necessary for both men and women to realize

that women are not treated as equals of men. Furthermore, women’s’ voices

needed to be heard and included.

In general, employment in Ghana has not kept pace with growth in the

economically active population as result of the high population growth rate, slow

economic rate and adverse effects of globalization.

AXIM WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMIC SECTORS

The micro-economic objective of the government is to create sustained

wealth to improve the worth and welfare of the citizenry and to reduce poverty.

To achieve this objective, there is a need for an accelerated growth, which will be

predicated on a strong socio-economic foundation. In order to achieve micro-

13
economic stability and growth the main sectors of the economy; agriculture,

industry and services have important roles to play.

Agriculture has been and continues to be the largest contributor to GDP in

Ghana, followed by services and industry. According to Awulae Attibrukusu, who

is enlightened in agriculture, it is estimated that some eighty percent of women in

Axim are engaged in various economic activities and they predominate in the

informal micro-small to medium scale agriculture, manufacturing and services

sectors of the economy. However their contribution to economic growth and

development is not adequately represented because the majority of their activities

is in the informal low-growth-low return areas and are basically subsistent. It

must be noted that the micro and small-scale enterprise sector is the backbone of

the Ghanaian economy in terms of its potential for economic growth, employment

and wealth creation. Given the role women play in this sector and their

contribution to the communal economy, it is imperative that women

entrepreneurship is promoted because it is fundamental to their economic

empowerment as well as necessary for the economic growth and development of

the economy.

14
AXIM WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

In Axim, there is division of roles in agriculture. To a large extent, men

are responsible for clearing and preparing of the land, while women are

responsible for planting, weeding, fertilizer application, harvesting, transportation

to market centre and marketing the produce. According to the 1984 census data in

Axim, women who are 15 years and above made up approximately forty-seven

percent of the labour force in agriculture. This increased marginally to forty-nine

percent by 2000. Thus the role of women in agriculture cannot be

overemphasized. Women are involved in almost all the sub-sectors of agriculture;

farming, processing and distribution.

In times past, Axim women in agriculture were largely considered as

farmers’ wives and therefore their contribution to the sector were to a

considerable extent neglected. However, women are now recognized as more than

just wives of farmers but also farmers, farm labourers, food processors and

distributors. Thus, women play a multi-faceted role in agriculture. However,

agricultural productivity is low as a result of a multiplicity of factors, some of

which include limited application of science and technology, dependency on the

weather and inadequate governmental support in terms of subsides and access to

credit. Women are twice as much affected by these challenges that confront the

agricultural sector, especially because of their responsibility for food security in

the home and the implication this has for the nutritional health of the household

and to children in particular.

15
AXIM WOMEN IN SERVICES

Services sector is the fastest growing, outpacing bother industry and

agriculture. The sector is made up of tertiary activities such as economic service;

wholesale trade, retail trade and tourism, infrastructural services such as transport,

storage and communications and others. The services sector contributes the

second largest share of GDP that comes to about thirty-three percent in 2000.

Government services are the dominant sub-sector, followed by wholesale. The

services sector also contributes significantly to foreign earnings. This source is

from Mr. Ambrose kanga, an economist who has lived in Axim for the past 15

years.

The participation of women in Axim in the services is highly skewed

towards the whole and retail sub-sector. The distribution of women in this sector

tends to follow the traditional conception of women’s work. Traditionally, these

sub-sectors have been the business activities of women; adding, cooking and

taking care of the home and the community in general. Very few women in Axim

are found in the relatively more specialized sub-sectors of services. The low level

of women’s education that inadequately inhabits their participation in sectors that

requires more than the level of education for the average woman in Axim. It is

important to note that, while some women are generally un-ambitious, there are

number of them who as a result of their cultural background and their

specialization processes have been made to believe that they cannot aspire for

bigger things in life. In services sector, women are also faced with problems

concerning credit, information technology and technical.

16
ROBLEMS FACING AXIM WOMEN IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Women in Axim are faced with many challenges in economic activities

and they come in many forms but two main areas stand out; social and economic

impediments. As noted earlier, the socialization process for both sexes one way or

the other influences the kind of economic activities that women in Axim find

themselves in. for instance, these women are perceived to be homemakers and

therefore they are reared to care for the home and children. This contributes to

low self-esteem for these women who are made to believe that they are inferior to

men and can therefore not stand up for themselves. There are some common

sayings that tend to perpetuate this low self-esteem of women. These sayings

include the following;

‘The woman’s place is in the kitchen’.

‘When there is trouble in the home they call the men’.

For socio-cultural and other reasons women in Axim have little or no access to

education those who were fortunate to have had access have had little compared

to their male counterparts. These lacks of access to or inadequate education and

low literacy levels have hampered their ability to;

Acquire vocational skills for self-employment,

Access information on support services for improving their business,

Earn an income and thereby, engage in capital accumulation.

17
ACCESS TO TRAINING

In an interview with the Municipal Chief Executive of Axim honorable

Edward Yankah, women in Axim lack business and marketing skills that may

allow them to put together a viable business proposal. These women have less

access to formal channels that provide comprehensive skills training because they

are mostly unaware of the existence of such programmers and even when they are

aware, their time constraints may limit their access to such programmes.

Moreover, some of them may lack the needed basic educational qualification for

such skill training and are therefore cut off from benefitting from such

programmes, where these programmes exist. Honorable continued that,

irrespective of the constraints that face them, women’s access to training and

retraining is an important tool, which can enhance their economic activities to

improve their earning power. It is paramount therefore that efforts be enhanced by

all stakeholders, government and governmental agencies, women advocacy

groups and others to promote training for women at all levels and in all spheres of

endeavour.

ACCESS TO LABOUR

Whether their business in agriculture or services, women need extra labour

beside their own to carry out effectively their economic activities. The immediate

labour supply for women comes from that of their family; her husband, children

and other relatives. However, there have been short falls in family labour as a

result of migration into urban centres of older sons and daughters. Sometimes

18
husbands also migrate leaving the women and children whose capacity to supply

labour is very limited.

Thus, women have to increasingly resort to hired labour, which have

become expensive as a result of the supply shortages especially in the rural areas.

This problem is especially serious for those women in the rural areas of Axim

who have to support their husbands in planting and harvesting of their crops

before attending to their own work on their individual farms, which have serious

implications for their health and well-being of the children. For this problem,

most women in the rural areas of Axim join mutual labour supply associations

where the group work together to help clear, crop and harvest each member’s

farm one after the other. Otherwise they will have to part with money to hire

labour, which puts more financial constraints on the women.

WOMEN’S TIME CONSTRAINTS

Women’s time constraints phenomenon is in no way limited to the Axim

woman but also almost all women in the face of the globe. Time budget studies

have shown that women generally have hours of labour and therefore far less

hours for leisure than men in their households. Despite their longer hours of work,

they receive much smaller incomes than their male counterparts probably because

women’s work are not specialized and may require no skill training or because it

is traditionally considered as part of women’s chores and thus, it is not considered

as paid work.

19
 The customary use of women’s time on men’s fields without appropriate

remuneration restricts the availability of women’s labour on their own fields,

which inadvertently leads to the recording of a higher productivity for men than

women. Furthermore, women and girls in Axim are responsible for water and fuel

provision in the home and this impose significant physical and time burdens on

them. Women also take time off work for reproductive purposes as well as caring

for the children and the home. This hampers their participation in business and

social activities and this comes about as a result of the unequal distribution of

labour in the home. Their role, which is subordinate to that of their men, reduces

their self-confidence and assertiveness, which often produces a hostile

environment for ambitious women. Women’s time burdens reduce their time

available to them for working on their own farms and businesses as well as their

mobility to search for information necessary to improve their productivity or to

explore alternative markets for their produce.

EXISTING PROGRAMMES TO ENHANCE WOMEN IN AXIM’S

PARTICIPATION IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES.

A majority of the women in Axim are mostly engaged in mainly

subsistence farming activities, and low-income generating activities in the rural

areas of Axim, while those in the township operate marginal enterprises in the

informal sector. These activities yield little or negative returns on investment

because the enterprises experience little or no growth during the lifetime of their

owners. Thus, these women form the bulk of the poor in Axim. Programmes to

empower women economically must therefore target productive poor women

20
specifically, which has the potential to effectively fight poverty and improve on

the welfare of women in Axim. Programmes to suppor women in economic

activities have covered financial assistance in micro credit as well as skills

training and retraining through workshops, seminars, and others.

CREDIT FACILITIES TARGETING WOMEN.

In some programmes that target both men and women, the average loan

size for women’s businesses is smaller than that of men. In the rural areas,

relatively few financial institutions are lending to women entrepreneurs. Unless

any of these institutions develop policy measures that set aside a significant

proportion of loan funds to women, the volume of loans lent to men is always

going to be higher than those made to women. However, in many instances loans

repayment among women borrowers ids often higher than for men. This was

made known by Mr. Mason.

Women have received financial support from informal suppliers such as

susu collectors and from community based organizations, savings and loans, rural

and community banks, and credit unions, have been the formal sources of

financial support to women in Axim. To ensure sustainability and responsiveness

to the needs of their clients, some of these micro-financial institutions have used a

number of approaches to service delivery. These approaches include group

methodology, peer pressure, responsive disbursement mechanisms, and savings as

cash collateral. These strategies have helped to ensure high loan repayments from

clients and have ecured the quality of the micro-financial institutions credit

21
portfolios. However, the majority of the MFIs in Axim face operational

constraints, which affect their ability to scale up their level of financial service

provision. These constraints include a weak capital base lending to small and

insignificant credit outlays, poor credit portfolios management systems,

inadequate management information systems, limited loan funds and a lack of

logistical support for effective monitoring and follow-up.

SKILLS TRAINING AND RETRAIINING

Women in Axim are at a disadvantage when it comes to education and

training. In the last two decades, as part of efforts to integrate women into

mainstream economic activities, government, the international communities and

some NGOs have and continued to organize training and retraining programmes

for women in both rural and township of Axim. Other training programmes in

leadership, awareness raising and human and legal rights have been also been

provided. Common among these programmes are skills training for unskilled

women, school dropouts and street girls aimed at increasing self-employment in

the informal sector. In the formal sector, women in Axim have lower access to

management training and thus have fewer opportunities to rise to higher

management positions. They also do not take care of the specific needs of women

thus affect the effectiveness of these progammes. The impact of socialization and

social pressures on women’s performance in the work place are also not taken

into account. Some other training programmes have sought to improve women’s

participation in economic work through information dissemination and improved

22
 access technology. However these programmes have been largely inadequate. The

providers of these training programmes especially the NGOs also face financial

and other logistical constraints thus making their programmes unsustainable.

Challenges facing curren training programmes for women include;

1. Relative illiteracy of the target group

2. Time constraints of women

3. Lack of financial resources to invest in training specific needs.

It is therefore important that something be done not only to improve access to

training and retraining for women in economic activity but also to improve quality

of such programmes to meet the needs of women in various sectors and to sustain

them.

23
 CHAPTER FOUR

Overview

In order to get this chapter well, the place of study is considered.

Therefore, I will look at the church of Pentecost in general, touching on the

history of the church, the beliefs, and then to the roles of women in the church.

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

The church of Pentecost was established in 1937 by an Irish missionary

sent by the Apostolic church, Bradford Uk. This missionary was called Pastor

James McKeon. According to primary sources, Pastor McKeon broke away from

the Apostolic church because of spiritual differences which made some of the

worshippers in the Apostolic church join the new church of Pastor McKeon. In

1953, there was a constitutional crisis that saw that the followers of Pastor

McKeon expanding rapidly and it led to the changing of the name to Gold Coast

Apostolic church. After this, the spilt in 1953 did not end and the new conflicts

compelled the then president Dr. Nkrumah to advice the leader to change the

name in order to bring peace. In august 1, 1962, Gold Coast Apostolic church was

renamed The Church of Pentecost.

Also an elder of the church narrated the history of the church. He added

that the church of Pentecost was first established in Asamankese by Pastor James

McKeon. This man was sent to Gold Coast as a missionary and he came to meet

the Faith Terminacle church which was headed by Pastor Peter Annin in 1937. He

said the Pastor got ill and the church refused to take him to the clinic for proper

24
medication instead they believed that God could heal him through the Holy

Ghost. It was at this point that Pastor Mckeon disagreed and with time he parted

away with them

BELIEFS

According to one elder of the church said that, the mission of the church

of Pentecost is to bring all people everywhere together and preach to them about

the knowledge of Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the gospel. The church

is mandated to create new churches and equipping believers for God’s glorifying

service. He added that the church’s mission is to demonstrate the love of God

through the provision of social amenities in partnership with government,

community and other like-minded organizations.

A member of the church of Pentecost in Axim helped with the beliefs of

the church. He said that every member of the church should and must know the

beliefs of the church by heart or it should be on the fingertips. He said new

converts are taught the beliefs of the church which include the Bible, that is, it

gives divine inspiration and they believe the bible is the ultimate and its true in its

declaration, final in its authority and all sufficient in its provision. He further said

that the church believed in the one true God. This, he said that they believe in the

existence of God as one, Elohim, maker of the universe. They also believe in the

holy trinity thus, the father son and the Holy Spirit.

25
 Another member also added that the church believed in man’s depraved

nature, thus all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and have

been subjected eternal penalty. The rest include the saviour, repentance,

justification, the sacraments of baptism and the Lords supper, baptism, gift and

fruit of the Holy Spirit, next life, tithes and offering and last being divine healing.

THE GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IN THE CHURCH

Just like all institutions, the church has two governing bodies. There is the

general council which is the highest decision-making body of the church which

heads a five administrative mechanism. It consists of ministers of the church,

regional/area executive, committee members, national deacons, and trustees,

chairman of boards and committees and movement directors. It then moves to the

executive council which is headed by the chairman of the church who sees to the

day to day administration of the church the next body is the area administrative

structure. It is headed by the area head who is either an apostle or an experienced

senior Pastor and he is assisted by an area executive. This followed by the district

administrative structure and is headed by the district Pastor. Finally, the district

has a number of local congregations headed by presiding elder who implement

decision of the district presbytery and assisted by the local presbytery

26
HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY REVIVAL CHURCH IN AXIM

Due to the fact that the church’s mission is to reach out to people all over

the world in order to spread the gospel of the Lord and to create awareness, lots of

branches have been established across the country and the community revival in

Axim one of such branches before a church is established, it should have the

consent of the mother church because the church has its own rules and regulations

that should be followed by all the branches established in its name.

The community revival assembly is a branch of the church of Pentecost.

According to an elder, the church started in a school community called action

school till there was a decree that no church should be held in schools again.

Following that then the church went to join another community. It was during the

reign of Pastor Cudjoe now an Apostle who bought a land in order to build a

church for the community revival. But they were denied, they then moved to look

for a new land and that is d land the church building is located now. It was a

drinking spot for a white man but he left for his country and a woman in the

church got the permit. After they had the permit, they started the building.

Fortunately for them the contractor was a member of the church. A committee

was set to manage the affairs of the construction. The church was constructed in

October 1995 and completed in june 1996. The first presiding elder who is

currently a judge in the high court,the church was spirit filled. One day, through

prayers the Holy Spirit spoke with an elder to name the church, Revival

Assembly. The church started with very few people but gradually people joined

27
and the church kept increasing in population. Some of the presiding elders of the

church included elder Adja, elder kaku elder otto and currently elder Annor

ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE REVIVAL ASSEMBLY.

Women’s fellowship

This consists of women in the local church. It is managed y an executive

body, appointed by members through election. The executive ody is made up of

women’s leader, secretary and treasurer. As part of its functions, they study the

Bible, learn new songs, and help women n the managing of the home and

children. Meetings are once every week at the church premises.

Men’s fellowship

This consists of all men in the local church. It is also managed by an

executive body consisting of men’s leader, secretary and treasurer. Meetings are

on Thursdays at the church premises.

Youth Ministry

This consists of all young men and women in the church. The age range is

from 10 years to 40 years. It is also managed by a youth leader, secretary and the

treasurer. The youth ministry is divided into two thus the junior youth with the

ages ranging from 10-17 years and the adult youth ranging from 18-40 years.

28
Revival Choir

This consists of singers. It is also managed by an executive body. They

include the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and welfare. This group

plays a vital role during church activities. They also sing praises and back the

worship leaders during prayers. They learn new songs and rehearse for the next

service or programmes outside the church. They meet twice every week.

Children’s Movement

This consists of children from 3 months to 9 years. They are seen as the

future of the church. This group is also managed by an executive body thus

children’s leader,, secretary and treasurer. They meet once in a week at the church

premises.

ROLES OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH.

The role of women started in the church when Sophia McKeon, the wife

of Pastor James McKeon saw that women in Ghana did not know how influential

their lives are to the home, church and the society at large. He therefore created

the women’s movement in the church in order to teach women their roles in the

home, church and the society in general. Sophia taught women how to take care

of the home, how to evangelize better since people have soft spot for women as

against men, how to be better Christians, homemakers, respectable wives, useful

citizens in both the church and the society, and how to be prayerful. And this was

according to Deaconess Portia Annor. She also said that women stood as the

backbone of the church, they serve as deaconesses which mean a woman who

29
renders service, a helper, or a person who gives support. She added that every

Christian should be a servant to another for the Lord’s sake. Women also serve as

women leaders in the church. This position is very broad; this leader is in charge

of all women in the church. They teach how to dress properly, cook, and decorate

their homes and church, service to their husbands and taking care of their

children. According to another woman in the church, women are empowered to be

holy in all their doings, to know the scriptures and carry the good news to the

unsaved, to influence their families and homes with the good news, to

demonstrate love to their husbands, to emulate the character of the faithful holy

women in the bible, to take responsibilities in the church and render benevolent

services to the needy in the society.

Deaconess Jane, a member of the church also said that with prayers of the

woman, the church spirituality is very high. She further said that, it is believed

that the prayers of the women are heard faster than that of the men. This is

because; women know how to be submissive in prayers or during prayers and

whatever they ask are heard by God. Also women in the church serve as great

hospitality. They clean the church, accept and serve visitors especially pastors,

apostles, and even more members of the church when they come to visit.

Women help in the preparation of the Lord’s super. They lay tables; wash

the cups before and after use. Whenever it is communion service, these women

see to it that all the necessary things needed are provided before the service

begins. The communion table is always laid before the beginning of the church

service. Women encourage and teach the new converts that are won into the

30
church. Here the new converts are being thought the basic tenets or beliefs of the

church, the word of God, in order to strengthen their faith as well as addressing

various problems and questions bothering them. In view of this, they are

encouraged to join the various groups in the church to enable them to contribute

and participate in various activities in the church.

Importance of the role of women in the church.

Women are very important in the church because, they tend to support the

church and develop with their contributions with their activeness within and

outside the church. Based on their activities performed in the church, their faith is

being strengthened. Due to this, it becomes very easy whenever they are assigned

new roles or promoted or given the platform to share the word of God. Because

women who participate in the church activities do this with much enthusiasm, it

motivates other members in the church to also partake in church activities and

take up some new positions in the church without being shy.

31
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

Women in Axim usually conduct income-generating activities of one kind

or another during the slower periods in their lives. The large majority of these are

traditional, low-capital input and labor-intensive activities. They cover a fairly

typical range, including charcoal-selling, household-based food processing, crafts

such as basket-weaving and petty trading among others. Women switch from one

activity to another according to what is most likely to be profitable at a given

time. Women with childcare or other heavy domestic obligations (such as the care

of the sick or elderly) may select a less profitable off-farm productive activity in

order to combine domestic and productive responsibilities. The income women

generate from their operations may be small, but it plays a significant role in

meeting family food needs. This is particularly the case when a harvest is poor.

Women also buy clothing for babies and children and often pay for school fees

and health care. In carrying out these micro and small-scale activities, women are

hampered by lack of time, lack of literacy skills and poor marketing opportunities.

Shortage of working capital and (lack/) inadequate training are other constraints

that makes it difficult for women to buy and store raw materials, invest in labor-

saving or value-added devices and expand their enterprises. With no land as

collateral and restricted access to formal credit, they have primarily relied on

informal sources such as family, friends and traditional moneylenders. These

sources can have high interest rates, or they may not always have the funds

available for making loans. Care needs to be taken to ensure that income-

32
generating activities are profitable and loan products appropriate. Otherwise,

women may need to convert “savings goods” into cash for loan repayment, thus

impoverishing themselves further.

Recommendations

A central goal of this study was to produce data on the population of

women in economic, political and religious activities so that the government and

other stakeholders could be more comfortable in directing its investments and

other support programmes that aims to enhance the participation of women in

Axim. Having completed this task, the following recommendations have been

made to help in formulating and implementing policy for women. The

recommendations are organized

into five distinct components that are critical to promoting integration of women

into the town’s developmental opportunities and strategic objectives and in

reducing gender-based constraints on growth and development: Identifying and

defining the population of potential micro-finance users in all developmental

sectors, both male and female and prioritizing types of potential users to target in

the micro-finance and training programs;

• Addressing gender-based issues related to increased and expanded access to

credit, especially micro-finance as well as to broader processes of economic

growth;

• Addressing women’s access to and control over land

• Addressing women’s educational and training needs as well as access to

information and technology;

33
• Addressing women’s time constraints.

Identifying and Prioritizing Targets of Potential Women Borrowers

There are indications that many of the previous and existing lending and

enterprise support programs for women have not adequately represented the

existing population of women in economic activities especially those in micro,

small and medium enterprises. Some recommended steps for ensuring that loan

outreach extends to a diverse group of potential borrowers, including poor women

with little or no education and women in the informal sector, policymakers and

implementers and other stakeholders involved in this process should:

• Review the current loan portfolio to understand characteristics of the population

of women who are currently borrowers;

• Design general profiles of potential borrowers, based on data as a way to

establish guidelines;

• Ensure an adequate number of female loan officers. An adequate number of

female loan officers will be essential for meeting designated targets of numbers of

women borrowers. Female loan officers can more freely approach women to

discuss credit opportunities. They can also be indispensable in moving through

women’s informal networks and inquiring in neighborhoods to identify potential

borrowers.

• Understand and build upon the comparative advantage of extending loans to

businesses based inside versus outside women’s homes. The values of individual

loans extended to women’s businesses based outside the home are potentially

greater than the values of individual loans extended to home based businesses.

34
However, the population of women with home-based businesses may be greater

than the population of women with businesses outside the home. Even if we

assume the proportion of viable credit-worthy businesses among home-based

businesses is smaller than among businesses based outside the home, the potential

for the number of loans extended is still significantly higher among the former

group.

• In addition, the programs may want to consider devising strategies for

addressing women’s concerns about the high cost of credit, access to collateral,

and high interest rates, such as by increasing their access to information about

credit and lending processes. Expanding the sectoral scope of micro-finance

programs to incorporate women’s

Agricultural enterprises:

Agriculture accounts for a large proportion of Ghana’s economy and

labour force, and a greater percentage of economically active women participate

in the agriculture sector. Agricultural loans are generally characterized by higher

risk, in that they are long term; subject to seasonal unpredictability; and can carry

higher costs in service delivery to rural, dispersed networks. Furthermore, women

are also considered high risk since their business are largely unregistered and do

not necessarily keep good accounts. But some of these risks can be reduced,

particularly if agricultural loans are pursued in a targeted manner. This could be

done by focusing outreach for agricultural loans to women in the particular

regions where agricultural production is concentrated. Microfinance programs can

alleviate the higher costs of service delivery and also if the women are put into

35
cooperatives. Moreover, peer influence could be used to serve as a means of

extending loans to these women and to free them from moneylenders and traders

who tend to over exploit them. Some the recommendations are reproduced from

the Women's Manifesto for Ghana (2004), which was initiated by Abantu for

Development, Ghana. For detailed analysis of women's access to land see the

Women's Manifesto document Addressing Women’s Access to Land the problem

of women’s access to and control over land is central to their economic

empowerment and is essential that they are addressed as soon as possible to

enhance the total integration of women in economic growth and development.

The following recommendations4 are made to address the problem:

• As part of the land tenure reform, customary laws of access to land and

inheritance, which are discriminatory and unconstitutional, be reformed.

Furthermore, Customary and other tenancies are reformed to ensure that rents are

affordable and accessible to both men and women.

• The government should ensure that achieving equity in access to and control of

land becomes an integral component of the Land Administration Project (LAP).

• Measures should be put in place to ensure that land registration and titling

processes promote joint registration of conjugal family farmlands to enhance

women’s land tenure security.

• Women’s contribution to the development of farms be recognized and

compensated following a divorce and on the death of their spouses.

36
• The state takes steps, in conjunction with national house of chiefs and traditional

councils to address customary laws and practices of access to and control over

land that are discriminatory to women.

Addressing Access to Training Low levels of education generally

characterize women in micro-enterprise in Axim. It is important to note that credit

alone is often insufficient in ensuring growth and small business development,

particularly when proprietors lack basic knowledge and skills related to business

management. Extension of credit to proprietors with limited business knowledge

is inevitably a riskier proposition for lenders. Government and other stakeholders

must identify and carry out training programmes such as expansion of business

services related to management, marketing, and technology transfer as critical

components in support of its focus on micro-finance.

37
 REFERENCES

1. Abantu for Development (2004); Women’s Manifesto for Ghana.

2. Ambose Kangah, Municipal Chief Executive of Axim.

3. Awulae Attibrukusu, Omanhene of lower Axim traditional area.

a. Boserup, Ester (1970); Women’s Role in Economic Development. London:

George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

4. Deckard, Barbara S. (1983); The Women’s Movement: Political, Socio-economic

and Psychological Issues. Harper & Row Publishers, NY.

5. Duncan, Beatrice A. (2004); Women in Agriculture in Ghana. Published by

Friederich Ebert Foundation Ghana.

6. Flynn Donna K. and Linda Oldham (1999); Women’s Economic Activities in

Jordan: Research Findings on Women’s Participation in Micro enterprise,

Agriculture, and the Formal Sector. International Center for Re-search on Women

Development Alternatives, Inc. July 1999.

7. Ghana – Vision 2020 (the First Step: 1996 – 2000); Presidential Report to

Parliament on Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development

Policies (Policies for the Preparation of 1996-2000 Development Plan). January

1995.

8. Ghana (December 2002); The Coordinated Programme for Economic and Social

Development of Ghana (2003-2012).

9. Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2002-2004. An Agenda for Growth and

Prosperity Analysis and Policy Statement.

38
10. Ghana Statistical Service (1984); Population Census of Ghana: Demo-graphic and

Economic Characteristics, Total Country Report

11. Ghana Statistical Service (1997): Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ)

Survey.

12. Ghana Statistical Service (2000): Population and Housing Census. Summary

Report of Final Results.

13. Ghana Statistical Service (2003): Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ)

Survey.

14. Ghana Statistical Service (1999): Ghana Living Standards Survey: Report of the

Third Round (GLSS3).

15. Ghana Statistical Service (2000): Ghana Living Standards Survey: Report of the

Fourth Round (GLSS4).

16. Grieco, Margaret (1997) “Beyond the Policy Table: Gender, Agriculture and the

African Rural Household” In Women, Agricultural Intensification and Household

Food Security.Sasakawa Global 2000.Edited by Steven A. Breth.

17. ILO/JASPA (1989); “From Redeployment to Sustained Employment Generation:

Challenges for Ghana’s Programme of Economic Recovery and Development.

ILO Geneva.

18. Imam, A. (1988); “Households and the Crisis in Africa”. Paper presented to the

AAWORD seminar on The African Crisis and Women’s Vision of the Way Out,

Dakar, Senegal.

19. Manu, T. (1998); Women in Africa’s Development: Overcoming Obstacles,

Pushing for Progress. Africa Recovery Briefing Paper, Number 11, April 1998.

39
a. Ofei-Aboagye, Esther (2001); “Structural Adjustment and Women in Ghana” in

the Social Dimension of Structural Adjustment in Ghana (Anthony Yaw Baah

ed.). A Ghana Trades Union Congress and Inter-national Confederation of Free

Trade Unions – Africa Regional Organi-zation (ICFTU-AFRO) Research Project.

20. Ofei-Aboagye, Esther (1998); Women’s Groups and Associations as Partners in

Small Enterprises Development in Ghana. Friedrich Ebert Foundation/National

Board for Small-Scale Industries.

21. Ofei-Aboagye, Esther (1996); Women in Employment and Industry. Published

byFriederich Ebert Foundation, Ghana.

22. ISSER (2003); The State of the Ghanaian Economy in 2002. Institute of

Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon.

Sutherland, Alistair J. (1988); “The Gender Factor and Technology Options for

Zambia’s Subsistence Farming Systems” In Poats, Schmink and spring 1988. pp

389-406.

23. Tsikata, D & J. Kerr (2000); Gender and Economic Reforms in Africa (GERA)

Programme “Demanding Dignity: Women Confronting Economic Reforms in

Africa”. The North-South Institute and Third World Network-Africa.

24. Ufomata, T. (2000). Women in Africa: Their Socio-Political and Economic Roles.

West Africa Review. ISSN 1525-4488

40