Nine to probe abuse at Osu Children's Home

Nine to probe abuse at Osu Children's Home

Last Updated: Tuesday, 7 September 2010, 9:16 GMT

The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr E.T Mensah, Monday inaugurated a nine-member committee to investigate the issues of neglect, abuse and corruption at the Osu Children's Home as alleged in a documentary by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, a journalist.

It is chaired by Mr Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare.

Other members are Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Elizabeth Dassah, National Co-ordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU); Ms Valerie Amatey, Attorney General's Department; Ms Mariama Yahaya, a representative of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, and Mr Kofi Kumah, Ghana Coalition on the Rights of the Child.

The rest are Mr Alex Derry Danikuu, Ghana Association of Social Workers; Ms Elizabeth Hagan, acting Chief Labour Officer, and Ms Eva O. Tandoh, Management and Productivity Training Institute.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was expected to nominate and present one person to sit on the committee but it is yet to do so.

The committee has been charged to review the full text of the video footage, examine the structure of the Osu Children's Home, examine the modus operandi of the institution including how the place generally operates, general administration, financial administration, and source of income and resources for the institution.

It is also to identify any act of omission or commission resulting in the alleged abuses at the home and examine general conditions prevailing there and the staffing situation.

Mr E. T. Mensah, addressing the committee, said the government was extremely concerned about the issues captured by the documentary and wanted to get to the bottom of them.

“We also believe that there may be issues deeper than the specific cases of alleged misconduct and abuse and this should offer us an opportunity to investigate the whole management processes, mandates and resources available to the home and department as a whole," he said.

He said he expected the committee to go beyond the specific cases of abuse, neglect and pilfering in the video and also take a holistic view of the child protection system in Ghana.

He said child protection laws existed in Ghana, which included the Human Trafficking Act, Domestic Violence Act, the National Programme for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, among others, adding that the legal framework, therefore, existed.

The problem, perhaps, according to the minister, was the supporting administrative and budgetary support for the implementation of the laws.

Mr Mensah said in view of the challenges of implementation, the Department of Social Welfare initiated the Care Reform Initiative (CRI) which was launched in 2007, which sought to de-emphasise the over-reliance on institutions for the care of vulnerable children and place more emphasis on family based care, fosterage and adoption.

That, he said was because of the problems associated with some of the institutions such as violence, abuse of children, lack of a social network of friends and relatives for the children and poor staff-to-child ratio which led to neglect, bad parenting, corporal punishment and child labour.

"It is evident that these are the same problems that are alleged in the video footage and, therefore, no one can sweep them under the carpet," he said.

Mr Mensah said there were 127 orphanages and homes in Ghana, most of which did not provide the right conditions for the children to grow up and live in.

He added that moves had been initiated to amend the adoption laws in Ghana to make it easier for people who wished to adopt children from the orphanages to do so.

Mr Sekyere, for his part, expressed gratitude to the ministry for selecting the members to ascertain the facts about the living conditions in the home.

He said considering the experience, knowledge and skills of the members, it was clear that they would be equal to the task.