Sam George disputes Police tag of Ningo Prampram as trafficking hotspot

The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Samuel Nartey George has challenged reports by the Police that his constituency has become a hotspot for child trafficking.

He is demanding further answers as to whether the Police conducted any research nationwide before arriving at that conclusion.

According to him, from what he has gathered, some of the children who are being described as children being used for child labour, are rather helping their parents after school.

“Does children who go to school and work with their parents after school amount to child labour? Is working with a family member other than your parents trafficking? These are the fundamentals questions we need to address and answer.

I am against depriving a child education and putting them to work but I see absolutely nothing wrong with children working to support their parents after school. Is the Police going after Doctors of Lawyers whose kids help out in their offices after school or during holidays? So long as these kids work in a safe & conducive environment, I challenge the claim of child trafficking.”

The Ningo-Prampram district has been identified by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service as a hotspot for child trafficking in the country.

Detective Chief Inspector Raymond Mwinsori, an officer of the unit disclosed that several children in the community have been trafficked into the fishing trade, forced marriages, sexual exploitation, etc.

According to the Police, poverty and economic hardships have largely been used by parents as an excuse to traffick their wards.

He also posited the victims are mostly targeted through online platforms.

But the MP wants the Police to come again with their details in the matter.

Read his full statement on the matter below:

On the claim by the Ghana Police Service of ‘increased trafficking’ in my Constituency, there are a number of issues we need to question. Did the Police have a comprehensive stats on trafficked children across the country?

The report focuses on children in fishing expeditions along the Volta Lake. What of kids engaged in cocoa-producing areas? What of kids who also work after school or on weekends for parents who own ‘white collar’ jobs?

Does children who go to school and work with their parents after school amount to child labour? Is working with a family member other than your parents trafficking? These are the fundamentals questions we need to address and answer.

I am against depriving a child education and putting them to work but I see absolutely nothing wrong with children working to support their parents after school. Is the Police going after Doctors of Lawyers whose kids help out in their offices after school or during holidays? So long as these kids work in a safe & conducive environment, I challenge the claim of child trafficking.

A number of the cases I have been aware off in the Jemeni area are of kids in school working with family members during weekends and holidays. I worked for my parents as a growing kid and that was not child labour or trafficking and so have many of you.

Facts are sacred. Cheers.