Minority Leader Backs Social Intervention for Widows, Cites Plight of Young Widows

Minority Leader and Efutu MP, Hon. Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has called for a targeted social intervention program to support widows, especially those in rural areas and young women left to raise children alone.

Commenting on a statement by Second Deputy Majority Whip, Hon. Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe, to mark International Widows Day, Afenyo-Markin described the situation of widows as “dire” and said government must act.

“The case of our mothers is dire. The worst part is when their husbands leave them and they become widowed. They suffer a lot,” he told Parliament.

The Minority Leader said young widows in their thirties and early forties are hit hardest, often with no chance to remarry and the full burden of childcare.

“Sometimes opportunity to remarry is not there. And you live your whole life with kids and you have to find a way of making them survive. It doesn’t come easy,” he said.

Afenyo-Markin stressed that interventions must reach widows in remote communities who “have no helper at all.”

“I will support a call by this House to recommend a social intervention program to be introduced and implemented by government to support widows in Ghana,” he stated.

He commended Hon. Cudjoe for bringing the issue to Parliament’s attention, saying the House must move beyond statements to deliver practical help.

International Widows Day is observed globally on June 23 to highlight the challenges widows face.