Kpando MP Hon. Sebastian Deh’s full statement on International Windows’ day

On the floor of parliament, Hon. Sebastian Deh, MP for Kpando rose to support a profound statement delivered on International Widows’ Day, 23rd June 2026

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself fully with the statement ably delivered by my Hon. Colleague, the First Deputy Majority Whip, Hon. Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada.  

Mr. Speaker, she has spoken truth to power. International Widows’ Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is a mirror we must hold up to ourselves as a nation.”

“Mr. Speaker, this matter touches me deeply and personally. My own mother, Madam Remalia Akua Kudoadzi, has been a widow for 40 years.  I have seen her struggle as a single parent and seen her labour to keep my siblings and I in school after my father passed. I witnessed whispers, the ‘advice’ from people who thought she should be ‘confined’ and stripped of her rights including driving her out of her matrimonial home and many more injustices. But I have also witnessed her strength, her dignity, and her refusal to be broken by outdated rites practices”.

“Mr. Speaker, if not for her resilience, I would not be standing here today. So when we talk about widows’ rights, we are not talking about statistics. We are talking about our mothers, our aunts, our sisters.” 

“Mr. Speaker, my Hon. Colleague is right. The law is clear – the Intestate Succession Act, PNDCL 111 protects widows and children. But laws in books mean nothing if widows in Kpando, Ada, and every village in Ghana do not know them and abide by them”

“Mr Speaker, In my view, three things must be done urgently”:  

1. Public education – Use our Assembly Members, Chiefs, churches and radio programs to teach communities that evicting widows is illegal.  
2. Access to justice – Legal Aid must reach rural widows. A widow should not need money to claim what is rightfully hers.  
3. Economic empowerment – Under Feed Ghana and LEAP, and other social intervention programs we must deliberately target widows. Give them inputs, farming and cottage industry support, access credit and farm lands, and market linkage. When a widow can feed herself, no one can intimidate her.”

“Mr. Speaker, to every widow out there: You are not cursed. You are not alone. You deserve dignity, property, and peace; and to us in this House: Let our commemoration today translate into action tomorrow. Let us be the Parliament that ends widowhood rites in our lifetime.  

“Mr. Speaker, I thank you, and I thank my Hon. Colleague for this timely statement.” It is hereby dedicated to my mother,  Madam Re’ , the widow extraordinaire who’s kept faith as a widow for 40 long years. God bless you for being a faithful widow.  May the Lord remain your strength.