Queen mothers from the four paramounts of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Traditional Area of the Central Region have made an earnest commitment to play their roles more fervently to protect children and women in their communities.
They have vowed to assert their influence and power more firmly to combat menacing cultural practices and social vices including child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, drug abuse, defilement, and child labour affecting the wellbeing of their children and women.
The queen mothers renewed their commitment in a stakeholder engagement with the Central Regional Department of Gender.
Last year, the Department, headed by Madam Richlove Amamoo, trained the traditional leaders on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, harmful cultural practices, adolescence reproductive health, human rights and the Children’s Act.
Revisiting the issues, this year’s engagement, supported by UNFPA, sought to assess the execution of the training, gauge the impact made so far and address the challenges to remove all impediments.
The queen mothers were utterly alarmed by figures presented by the regional office of the National Population Council which indicated that KEEA recorded the highest prevalence of HIV as well as basic school pregnancies in the Region and ranked third in child marriage.
Some of them expressed disquiet over the rising incidence of drug abuse especially by young girls, theft, domestic violence, child marriage, truancy, child labour, prostitution among other vices and acknowledged the need for urgent action.
Madam Richlove Amamoo, the Head of the Department of Gender, reminded the queen mothers of their sacred role in society and how much power they possessed to mitigate the evil in their communities, urging them to act proactively.
She said it was their duty to protect children and women through various ways including mobilisation, sensitisation, education, and exerting their power to influence policies.
While denouncing child marriage and drug abuse by young girls, she expressed strong disapproval for sexual abuse including marital rape.
Citing the Domestic Violence Act, she noted that every sexual encounter must come with consent, including those between married couples and thus, sleeping with one’s wife by force amounted to marital rape and was punishable by law.
Madam Amamoo challenged the queen mothers to initiate the enactment of stringent by-laws to make some crimes and abhorrent practices unattractive.
“For instance, you can introduce a by-law against dating schoolgirls in your community and anybody who violates it will be severely punished,” she suggested.
The Head of the Gender Department expressed frustration over the dormancy of some queen mothers and appealed to them to get to work immediately.
“Some of you are not active on the field which is making the job difficult for the department. We are putting in many efforts to be able to control Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the region but we cannot do that alone.
“We can only achieve our mandate if traditional leaders are ready to support the Department,” she appealed.
Pledging their full commitment to the protection of their subjects, some of the queen mothers shared their experiences, challenges and plans, promising to step up their efforts.
Nana Efua Badu II from Komenda-Kissi narrated how she mobilised parents in her community to address some issues concerning their children, a move she said had mitigated teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and truancy.
Nana Ama Fawomusu I from Elmina pledged to lead an action against child labour, particularly engaging children in hazardous fishing expeditions.
While Nana Abena Asankomaa of Komenda Sefwi called for stiffer punishments for recalcitrant residents, Nana Akua Mansa I of Edina Esuekyir drew attention to trusted persons like pastors and teachers to be good role models, stressing that some of them were the worse culprits and must be punished.
Nana Ama Anowiah II, the President of the KEEA Queen Mothers Association, shared a demoralising experience of how an action plan they developed to tackle the high incidence of HIV in the municipality hit a snag for lack of funding.
She said after petitioning the Municipal Chief Executive, Member of Parliament, Directorates of Education, Health, and the four paramountcies in KEEA, they could not get the needed funds and were forced shelve it.
“The action plan is still very valid and relevant and so we are appealing to all stakeholders to come to our aid to execute the plan to tackle the high cases of HIV in our municipality,” she said.
Mr Francis Obeng Takyi, Regional Head, National Population Council, after presenting the state of HIV, child marriage, and teenage pregnancies in the municipality, called on the assembly to get involved to stem the tide.
According to him, the welfare of the people was reflected in the development of the community.
ASP Augustina Quainoo, Shift Commander for Elmina District and In Charge of DOVVSU, painted a gloomy picture about the incidence of rape and defilement in the municipality, indicating that at least two people were dragged to court every week.
She called for the collaboration of the traditional authorities to deal decisively with all forms of domestic violence, insisting that “the police cannot do it alone and so we need your help.”
GNA
