HIGHLIGHT PROBLEMS OF CHILD TRAFFICKING (PAGE 39)

THE General Manager of Diamond FM a private radio station in Tamale, Mr Edward Ameyibor, has urged media practitioners not to concentrate on political issues to the detriment of highlighting problems of rampant child trafficking and exploitative labour in rural communities.
“The media need to tell in vivid terms, the story of the poverty levels of the rural people; we must talk about teachers and assembly members who have become agents for child traffickers because of akpeteshie bills they owe women from the south,” he stated.
Mr Ameyibor made the call at a stakeholders meeting on child trafficking and exploitative labour in Tamale.
The meeting was aimed at promoting media advocacy on issues relating to child trafficking and exploitative labour as well as sensitising the public to avoid such dehumanising practices that were prevalent in the rural areas.
Diamond FM and the Chocolonely Foundation, a non-governmental organisation started by the Consumer Intelligence Agency, a media and research organisation in the Netherlands, jointly organised the meeting.
“The media must move away from the cities to the rural areas to concentrate on the new slave trade where poverty is encouraging people to give their children to unknown people to be taken to unknown places for exploitation”, Mr Ameyibor stressed.
He expressed regret that valuable livestock holdings had been depleted in exchange for alcohol while children were also being used to settle debts.
The media must create awareness of these problems and make politicians and security agencies answerable; the issue of child trafficking and exploitation is an issue of good governance, which must always remain on the front banner of public discourse,” the manager emphasised.
The Northern Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Sumani Nayina, called for a “strong political will” to tackle the issue of child trafficking and its attendant problems.
According to him, children were not supposed to do hazardous work, such as working in the mines, quarries and firms that produce chemicals.
“I have seen children breaking stones and engaging in other menial jobs that are hazardous and exploitative,” he stated.
The acting Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Mr Baba Salami, mentioned high levels of poverty, harmful cultural practices, low education levels, high school drop-out rates, unemployment and irresponsible parenthood as some of the causes of child trafficking and exploitative labour.
He, therefore, called on stakeholders to support efforts to address those issues.
The Project Partner, Mr Nelson Adanuti Nyadror, announced that the organisers and sponsors of the meeting would hold community durbars next month to formally launch activities of the organisers.
“We will also use testimonies, music and drama and capacity building to realise our goals,” he noted.