Raping Children and Teenage Girls:

Mr. President and Fellow Ghanaians, What Should We Do To Stop It?

Can we keep on jeopardizing the fate of our youngsters? We Ghanaians must know that we are obligated to serve and raise our children to our internal and the external societies’ expected manners and standards before they attain adulthood, lest we have questions to answer before the international community and the Almighty God, our Savior, and the all-powerful Father of the youngsters. Last month I was in the print media, highlighting, with tears, on a teenage issue – the death of Miss Victoria Ampofo. Whilst this case is not dead yet and will be revisited, another critical issue is growing faster than anyone will ever dream of: the issue is the spontaneous rape of children and young women in Ghana.

Today I present the topic, “Raping Children and Teenage Girls in Ghana: What Should We Do to Stop It?” I start with particular reference to two sisters who were in police custody at Vakpo Police Station in the Volta Region and were taken away at night by two iniquitous and reprehensible policemen, only to rape them and return them into custody later in the night; the most hideous crime ever to be heard of in the history of Ghanaian community policing. The rationale behind the policemen’s macabre actions cannot be determined at this time, but certainly what are determinable is that the safety of our children and youth is in jeopardy. As responsible adults we are obligated to safeguard the future generation of our fatherland and not to perform otherwise to look dim-witted and inhumane before the adolescents; and particularly to refrain from annihilating our own roots. Democratic nation-states today have a high priority of protecting the youngsters because they are the prospective builders of their respective nations. We in Ghana cannot have a different view of the forthcoming architects of our nation, for if we have a different view of the youngsters, then we have constructed a path for the eventual takeover again of our land by the unknown; and let us just image for ourselves the consequences that can follow suit.

The public has been aware of the case in question since February 18th, 2009. Although the incident is indeed poignant, it has only elicited silence from our country’s leadership, and at its expense, arguments in justification of ‘ex-gratia and other leadership benefits intentionally inserted in our Constitution to seek the selfish interest of the architects of the Constitution, something unheard of in the history of contemporary democratic nation-states, have taken precedence. This is an opportunity for me to state categorically to the Ghanaian leadership of all circles and to all citizens of Ghana that our children are looked down upon, and, if this apathetic attitude does continue, the alternative will be to inform the international society and seek partial redress for our children and youth, and leave the remaining redress to the Almighty, the Maker of all things, to accomplish. To avoid this kind redress, we must all submit ourselves as children and youth advocates, helping to promote the optimal development and protection of children and youth in Ghana. Performing as advocates, we are seeking protection of children’s rights which are abridged, abused, and disenfranchised in a number of areas. But before I begin listing for the record, some of the abridgements, the disenfranchisements, the exploitations, heaped upon our own children and youth, may I sadly remind us all that since the inception of the year two thousand and nine after the death of Christ, the Savior of us all, I have jotted down in my dairy a record number of 30 rapes of children and teenagers, using just the “Ghanaweb.com” news section as my source of compilation. This is an alarming number. The age range of the victims is from zero years old to nineteen years old, excluding female adult victims. This is alarming indeed and we have to do something about it. The youngsters are God’s given assets and as such their retention and protection on earth is our obligatory duty. We cannot abbreviate our mandated service to the youngsters. It is time we develop a comprehensive accounting system capable of keeping track of the children and youth of our fatherland, Ghana, for the purpose of safeguarding these children. Forming a tremendous proportion of the human stock in this undisputed land of ours, our God ordained fixed assets are not perishable but rather durable. If we tarnish this privilege given to us by our Father Who Art in Heaven, we the indigenes must remember that we have orchestrated the permanent destruction in our ancestral lineage and we will be questioned in His kingdom, if we can even journey that far to answer.

We must change our behaviors and discontinue bringing harm to our people. This will suit the circumstances and needs of our children and youth. If we fail to do this, not only will the children of God not remember us when we are gone for good, but neither will they possess sound minds and sound bodies to conduct their earthly assignment before their own accounting period is due before our omnipotent God.

We can help ourselves to reduce our sins by examining our diverse behaviors and change them accordingly. We know that we do not come from a holy land but we the people of Ghana can all agree and count on the fact that we all come from a gifted and respected land of cultures. That this background we inherited from our forefathers, not found in most places around the globe, does not permit us to abuse or neglect the children and youth He has bestowed unto us, for He provided us with this humble background for a wise purpose and for best use.

Let us all join forces using due process, brotherhood, fairness, honesty, kindness, love, national interest, patience, patriotism, unity, and above all, the love of the Supreme God to open our hearts and advocate to represent and give voice to the children and youth whose concerns and interests are not being heard. By collectively serving as advocates, we will prevent children and youth from being harmed and will, as well obtain justice for those who have already been injured in some way. Additionally, we are commissioning ourselves to ensure that children have access to constructive influences or services which will benefit their lives, such as education, childcare, and proper parenting. Malnutrition is another form of harm to the underage - in Ghana many children go to bed without eating and it is looked over by the government, church, community and the police. (I must here give credit to ADOM RADIO for its kind gesture, soliciting food and all kinds of material needs to orphans and other children of need in Tema Metropolis.)

In the so-called “advanced democracies” child advocates exist in everywhere - schools, churches, communities, home environments, and at work, on an individual, group and governmental level(s) to protect and nurture children. In most circumstances, parents, families, teachers, police officers, and clergy all advocate on behalf of children, although it can be conceded that all the citizenry have the ability and responsibility to advocate on behalf of children and youth. The developed countries have an official child advocate whose job it is to protect the interests and welfare of all the children in the country. Within these parts of the world’s criminal justice system too, child advocates have to do with developmental needs of children and young people, and participate in an important role of ensuring due process rights for children and youth in conflict with the law. They assist in providing a voice for children and adolescents, guaranteeing just and humane conditions of custody, and guard the privacy rights surrounding record provisions. They also assume the responsibility that the special legal protections assigned to young people are provided with dignity and fairness. We Ghanaians should not and must not fail to do the same to God’s ordained children and youth living with us at this democratic hour of ours. We can no longer keep on jeopardizing the fate of our young people.

Now, Mr. President and my dear Ghanaians, let us briefly examine the case of the two sisters and see what considerations we can offer in helping to seek justice for them. Details of the case, according to the “Ghanaweb.com” news release, are: 1. Samson Asare was the police officer on duty and he allegedly “looked the other way” when the two officers who were not on duty opened the cells and escorted the children away. 2. The children were detained for three days in the cells after they were defiled. (We do not know for how long they were in custody before they were defiled). 3. ASP Mr. Joseph Ellis Agbevade, Kpando District Crime Officer has confirmed the incident and identified the two policemen involved in the case as friends of Samson Asare, the officer on duty. Mr. Asamoah the father of the children alleged that when he drew the attention of the Inspector Agbenyegah, officer-in-charge of Vakpo Police Station to the incident, the Inspector retorted that “the children were disrespectful so anything can happen”.

Based on the details of the case as stated-above and my experience and knowledge on the subject, our duties fall as follows: we should not leave the entire burden seeking justice to the victims’ family alone because we live in a community of a nation, as one people, and the family does not even know their rights or how to seek justice for their daughters. As a global or national community, our voice is one and it is strong. Also, always having one voice will weaken the efforts of criminals in the Ghanaian system. JUSTICE PROVISION PROCESS: 1. The case should be handled by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI)

2. The suspects’ family members who contacted the victims’ parents and offered them money to drop the case must be arrested and prosecuted for obstruction of justice.

3. The victims’ parents must be released because they followed through the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice’s (CHRA) misleading directions.

4. The two suspected officers must face charges of: • Unlawful entry – they were not supposed to enter the cells since they were not on duty and they did not seek the permission of the officer on duty • Rape

• Attempted murder – the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can remain in the human body for 20 years before it turns into Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and during this period of time, the disease is undetectable and can be contracted by others. Since the suspects are rapists, they may have already contracted HIV and are now passing what may amount to a death sentence on to their victims. • Abuse of power

5. The officer on duty, officer Samson, must be charged with • aiding and abetting

•negligence

•child neglect

6. Inspector Agbenyegah, the officer-in-charge of Vakpo Police Station, must be fired for making the statement, “The children were disrespectful so anything can happen”.

7. BNI must investigate to find out if the children were kept in adult cells. If it is determined that the children were kept in adult cells, the District Commanding Officer of the Ghana Police Service at the City of Kpando must be fired. Additionally and mostly importantly, children must not be kept in police cells (juvenile cells at police stations) for more than six hours without being released. After six hours, if the police are unable to release the children, they must send the children to a juvenile facility; they cannot keep the children in cells anymore. Here again the Inspector Agbenyegah and the District Commander must be fired for keeping the children in their cells for more than three days. On top of these violations, they overreached these abuses and violated these children’s their rights, their dignity, and their humanity. Again, Inspector Agbenyegah is solely responsible since he was the supervisor of the station. The Kpando District Commander of the Ghana Police Service must be held accountable for lack of proper supervision of police stations in his/her outfit.

8. Finally, reparations must be paid to the children and families who suffered and are suffering so heinously at the hands of those sworn to protect them. The employer of the suspects, The Government of Ghana, must be held accountable for payment of reparations to the victims and their families through the courts of law. This is the part I request CHRA to assist the family with an attorney to effectively sue the Government.

Please, let us all help in seeking justice for the children to announce to the Ghanaians and the world at large that those who infringe upon the rights of children in Ghana will be dealt with justly; that there is no room in Ghana for people who prey on our children; that the police must be in the forefront in safeguarding our children. The children’s misbehavior at the police station is not an excuse for the police to abuse them. The children had their rights to eat, talk, speak their minds, and refuse to answer police interrogations until an adult member of their family was present or an attorney was with them. I do not offer legal advice – I am reminding the citizens of my country that every member of the human race has rights that should unquestionably be there with or without their asking; we must offer these rights to all regardless of age, sex, national origin, political affiliation, race, or tribe, and never offer tyranny and humiliation in its place. I do not compare California laws to Ghanaian laws, but I remind you of international laws that are in place to safeguard children and youth. Ghana is a party to the United Nations.

By Mr. A. P. Gyimah, education expert, based in The State of California, U.S.A. Interest areas: education administration – secondary and post secondary, comparative education –Ghana and the U.S., human rights education, public safety education, and adult education. This author does not take children’s issues for granted at all. Contact address:Email: [email protected]