Train your children to be responsible citizens -Togbi James-Ocloo

Togbi James-Ocloo V, Dufia of Keta, has called on parents and guardians to train their children and wards in ways that they would grow to become responsible and law-abiding adults in society.

He said the increasing number of social deviants responsible for all sorts of vices in Keta Township and its surrounding communities could largely be blamed on the adult folks’ failure to give the right training to the youngsters and/or set good examples for them to follow.

In a closing remark at an Inter-Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) meeting organized by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) which he chaired, Togbi James-Ocloo observed that always pardoning wrong-doing and shielding children from receiving punishment for same could mislead the young ones into believing the wrong as the norm, which he said explained activities like armed robbery, killing and selling of human bodies by the youth in recent times.

He also asked the citizenry to outgrow the fear of being ostracised and isolated and rather identify and report wrongdoers to law enforcement agencies for the common good of all hinting, “before a country or a society can move forward, we need to adhere to the laws of the country.”

“There have been so many criminal issues now in Keta and its environs these days that have never happened before. As a parent, it is your duty to punish your child for wrongdoings. We shouldn’t be covering up for crimes committed by our children and community people. It worries me as one person how for example, the selling of hard drugs in our societies has become this serious. All these are threats to our society.

Out of greed for money, people are killing others. When you know of someone committing a crime, let’s report them to the right authorities. Let’s all be each other’s keepers to protect the peace and security of the country. Let’s all send the lesson learnt here today to our people in the various communities, churches, and everywhere.”

Presentations at the meeting, which had participants from political parties, youth groups, Persons with Disability (PWDs) groups, market women, religious groups, security agencies, and local Assembly officials centred on community surveillance as an active process of community participation in detecting, reporting and responding to early warning signals.

Agartha Fiakofi, the acting Keta Municipal Director, NCCE, said the IPDC meeting formed part of the NCCE/National Security Ministry project on the theme “National Cohesion and Inclusive Participation”, which aimed to educate the citizenry on their rights and responsibilities and for them to stand for peace and national cohesion.

She urged participants to put Ghana first at all times noting, before we can move forward as a community, we must love and tolerate each other’s views for the sake of maintaining peace and unity.

Ms. Fiakofi advised landlords and landladies to be security conscious by investigating their prospective tenants before renting out their rooms/apartments to them, asking that they should not “concentrate on money alone.”

Torgbui Hatsu III of Dzita, Anloga District NCCE Director, advocated for the peaceful and harmonious living among the people saying, “peace is a valuable commodity that we cannot go and buy from any market or supermarket.”