Ghana urged not to let child labour tarnish country’s democratic credentials
A member of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in-charge of programmes, Mr Samuel Akuamoah has urged Ghanaians not to let child labour to tarnish the country’s enviable record as a pace-setter in democracy in sub- Saharan Africa.
He said for the nation to progress, Ghanaians needed to refrain from all activities that constituted child labour.
Mr Akuamoah made the call at a Birim South Round Table meeting of stakeholders in cocoa production at Akim Swedru. The meeting was organised by the NCCE and sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the Cocoa Community Project (CCP).
Four cocoa growing districts in the country, namely Birim South, Twifu Hemang Lower Denkyira, Suhum and Wassa Amenfi West, participated in the programme which aimed at sensitising the communities on the dangers posed by using children below the age of 18 years in cocoa production.
The NCCE member said threats from the nation’s trading partners to boycott buying Ghana’s cocoa and fish because of engaging children in farming and fishing activities were sufficient to prompt Ghanaians about how serious the international community regarded child labour.
“Our trading partners are not selfish to see the future of the Ghanaian children destroyed by their parents who engage them in hazardous activities at the expense of their education,” Mr Akuamoah said.
He urged Ghanaians to help to make the upcoming general election incident-free and asked them not to regard holding free, fair and transparent election as the responsibility of the Electoral Commission (EC) alone, adding that it was everybody’s responsibility.
Mr Akuamoah recounted how children and women suffered in civil wars and prayed that the nation would never experience that calamity.
Mr Eric Bottey, Eastern Regional Director of the NCCE commended the EC for putting in place good policies to ensure free, fair and transparent elections and appealed to the electorate to abide by the policies to ensure a violent-free election.
Mr Justice Archer, Technical Director of Child Aid and Youth Development Network, a non-governmental organisation called for improvement of conditions in schools to make them conducive for children to stay and learn.
Mr Andrews Owusu Gyamfi, Quality Control Officer, commended the country’s trading partners on the decision to boycott Ghana’s cocoa if farmers did not stop engaging children in farming.
Mrs Rebecca Agyei-Ofori, a staff of NCCE said a child must not be made to work for more than two hours during school days and three hours during weekends and holidays.
Mr Stephen Agyei-Yeboah, Birim South District Director of NCCE called on Ghanaians to ponder over whether the children they were producing would be fit to become responsible future leaders if they did not put a stop to child labour .
Source: GNA