Husbands must also do household chores – Otiko Djaba

Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba has urged young Ghanaian women especially those in the working class, to share household chores with their husbands.

Speaking to a group of young women at the launch of an internship and mentoring program under the auspices of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) in Accra, the former Women organizer of the ruling party said parents must encourage their children to share jobs at home.

“For you to have time to pursue your ambitions and dreams and get to the next level just like the boy child you must have time for your studies and that means household chores must be shared. The time has come for parents to educate their children to share household chores,” she said.

She added that in homes where women work in similar professional jobs as their husbands, it is not fair for women to return home late in the evening and still be expected to cook while the husband does nothing.

Otiko Djaba citing an instance stated, “My daughter is a student of Oil and Gas and I don’t expect her to come back from work late and be cooking while her husband is in the hall watching television. I have invested a lot of money in her education and so in terms of equity, we must share the household chores. We are equal stakeholders.”

The subject of household chores and who should perform them is a controversial issue in Ghana. In a typical Ghanaian home, children are socialized to believe that females should be in charge of domestic chores such as cooking, washing dishes, and clothes, sweeping, cleaning etc. Thus they grow up with this idea, resulting in marital homes where it is obligatory for women to do the household chores even though they work in similar corporate jobs with their husbands.

The practice has been condemned by most gender activists, although others are of the view that it is part of Ghanaian culture.