Chiefs advised not to interfere in rape cases
Mother of burnt child calls for assistance
Chiefs advised not to interfere in rape cases
Akwatia (Eastern Region) 13 Oct ’99
Traditional authorities have been advised not to handle rape cases in their communities but to allow the police and the law courts to deal with them, since they are criminal in nature.
Reverend Father George Arthur, Chaplain of the Police Training School in Accra gave the advice at Akwatia at the St. Anthony's Catholic Church to round off a one-week district rally by the Christian Mothers Association of the Church.
The occasion coincided with the initiation of 82 members of the association by the Rev. Fr. Alex Bobby Benson, parish priest, bringing the total in the district to 212.
Rev. Fr. Arthur, an assistant superintendent of Police, who talked on some aspects of the 1992 constitution, said although all are equal before the law, '' women are vulnerable and need to be protected.''
He said apart from the trauma that rape victims go through, they stand the danger of contracting the HIV/AIDS or having their reproductive organs affected, depending on their age.
Rev. Fr. Arthur called on the public not to interfere in the course of justice since "criminals should be swept off from the society.''
Miss Anna Nortey, district organiser of the association, and Mrs. Agnes Kondua, local president, said the association aims at training members to facilitate the proper upbringing of their children.
They said, the association has set up a number of income generating ventures like oil palm and palm kernel extraction, goat rearing and oil palm plantation, to enhance the living standards of members.
Miss Agatha Nyarko, Eastern Regional secretary and Mrs Faustina Quarm, Greater Accra vice president of the association, urged members to fulfil their tax obligations.
They called on the law enforcement agencies to intensify their efforts to halt the escalation of criminal activities in the country.
GRi../
Mother of burnt child calls for assistance
Mampong (Ashanti) 13 Oct. ’99
Miss Stella Agbavitor, a 31-year-old unemployed mother, whose six-month-old baby, Priscilla Tawiah, received burns when her bed caught fire at Anyinam-Asamang in the Eastern Region, has called for public assistance to save the child from permanent incapacitation.
She told the GNA that although Priscilla's wounds had healed, she cannot move her limbs.
Priscilla suffered from wounds caused by a match lit by her three-year-old sister, on their bed at a time when Miss Agbavitor was sweeping the compound early in the morning.
She said Priscilla's cries alerted her to rush to the room only to find her baby engulfed in flames. She was assisted by neighbours to put out the fire.
''I realised that the right fingers and the elbow had suffered severe burns''.
She said the child was treated at the Anyinam clinic and though the wounds had healed, Priscilla cannot move her limbs.
''The child needs urgent medical attention to prevent her becoming incapacitated for life. I cannot foot the huge medical bills and need financial assistance to save my child", Miss Agbavitor told the GNA in tears.
GRi../
Akwatia (Eastern Region) 13 Oct. ’99
Fifteen members of the zongo community in Akwatia have joined the New Patriotic Party (NPP) within the last two weeks.
They have either defected from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or were floating voters.
Mr S. Osumanu, assistant-secretary of the Akwatia constituency branch of the NPP, welcomed the defectors at Akwatia and assured them that they had taken ''a wise decision since the future belongs to the party''.
He said gone were the days when the NDC had massive support from Zongo communities and expressed the hope that the NPP would receive massive support from Zongo communities throughout the country in the next presidential and parliamentary elections.
Mr Ahmed Yusuf, Akwatia NPP organiser, said a team from Akwatia Zongo would be touring all the Zongo communities in the constituency to win their support.
''This will ensure that the NPP captures the constituency seat from the NDC next year,'' he said.
Opanyin Kwasi Owusu, a member of the Eastern Regional Executive of the party described as a ''blatant lie reports that the NPP will drive away aliens in the country when it assumes power.
He said the situation now is different as every West African can feel free in Ghana.
GRi../