Young Peoples and Human Rights Ghana

The plight of the deprived rural child especially, those in the remotest part of the country cannot be matched with that in the city. It is sad to note that in these modern times where every school going age child is exposed to fast technological practices, most of such children are far from reaching such target. Taking into account their state, the village child is disadvantaged in all aspects; compared to the city child. While the city child attends school and at his leisure time plays games on computer or stays at home for further studies, that of the village has to work hard alongside the elderly either on the farm or other households activities. The children in the above photograph were captured when they were returning from a stream where, according to them, they had been hired by an elderly person to fetch water for money. A practice according to them they do occasionally at the expense of school hours at their disadvantage. The children, aged between five and 12 years were spot...

Mrs. Georgina Mensah of the Osu Correctional Home, has advised parents to educate their children on sex-related issues so as to broaden their knowledge, on the subject. She said failure by parents in educating their children on such aspect paved way for them to get information from their peers and other sources which did not augur well for their development. “As parents, there is the need to protect the rights of our children to help them become good citizens of our beloved country,” she added. Mrs. Mensah gave the advice at the Ga Presbytery Minister’s Spouse’s Conference in Accra. The symposium, which was on the theme, ‘The neglected child dysfunctional families and the effect on the child, “seeks to educate parents on the rights of children in the country. “It is the duty of every parent to teach its children about sexual behaviour to know what is permitted of them,” she added. She urged parents to use dialogue to address deviant behaviour among children. ASP Freeman Tettey, Public ...

It may sound shocking but it really happened. The speech read by Vice President John Dramani Mahama at this year’s May Day Parade was sold to journalists at the Independence Square yesterday. Daily Graphic’s Timothy Gobah, who reports from the Presidency, is the journalist who kept copies of the Vice President’s speech, claiming he personally made photocopies of the speech from a nearby hotel at the cost of GH¢30 and would therefore charge journalists GH¢5 for a copy. As if joking, Mr. Gobah denied all reporters at the parade grounds copies of the Vice President’s speech apart from two female reporters from TV 3 and Informer newspaper to whom he sold the speech at GH¢5 and GH¢1 respectively. He then left the grounds with the rest of the copies of the speech. By William Yaw Owusu source: Daily Guide

US president Barack Obama said bin Laden, the most-wanted fugitive on the US list, has been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 150km north of Islamabad. "Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," Obama said in a statement. "Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body. "The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against Al Qaeda. "We must also reaffirm that United states is not and will never be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, in fact, he slaughtered many Muslims," Obama said. US celebrations As the news of bin Laden's death spread, crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington to celebrate. Former ...

HUNDREDS OF placard-carrying workers in the Western Region took part in a workers’ rally at the Takoradi Jubilee Park to mark May Day, with messages calling on government and captains of industries to improve on their working conditions. As early as 8am on Sunday, bus loads of workers from all over the region arrived at the Jubilee Park and took their positions, with workers clad in T-shirts marching with their organizations’ colours. Not even the early morning heat could dampen the enthusiasm of the workers as some of them danced to brass band music. The brigade band of the Freeman Methodist Church in Kwesimintsim near Takoradi was on hand to provide music for the march past. The high point of the day was the march past, in which the workers’ groups, which included the Public Services Workers Union, Public Utility Workers Union, Communications Workers Union, Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, Civil Servants Association, among others, filed past the dais with the Regional Ministe...

A 75-YEAR-OLD farmer, Kweku Adjei, who resides at Humakyem, a village near Obuasi in the Ashanti region, yesterday broke down in tears after an Obuasi Circuit Court sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment for defiling a six-year-old girl in the farming community. Harbouring the intention to engage in the unlawfully lewd act, the convict reportedly called the girl into his house and treated her with a good meal, after which he had sexual intercourse with the youngster. “My lord, I’ve committed a great sin; please forgive me,” the paedophile pleaded with the court presided over by Gilbert Ayisi Addo to deal leniently with him, amidst tears. He pleaded guilty to the charge of defilement, contrary to section 101 of the Criminal Act of 29/60, and was sentenced accordingly after the judge had taken into consideration his age. Before passing the sentence, Judge Ayisi Addo asked the accused, “But you why, can’t this girl pass for your great granddaughter?” as he shook his head in disbelief. Th...

The Executive Secretary of the Constitution Review Commission, Dr. Raymond Atuguba, has asserted that corruption in the judiciary was not a perception but a reality, adding that no one can convince him that some judges were not corrupt. “I have two personal experiences; I stayed in a house close to a judge’s house and I saw what went on. There were instances where people mistakenly brought packages to our house ostensibly to give to the judge. We will listen to the whole story until they mention the case number, then we will tell them please you are in the wrong house. “I stayed also with an upright judge and I saw how people attempted to bribe him but he always turned them down,” he explained. Dr Raymond Atuguba was sharing a personal experience of judicial corruption at a roundtable discussion on the judiciary and Ghana’s justice system in Accra, organized by the National Commission for Civic Education as part of its annual constitution week. It was on the theme: "The State of G...