Dr Afriyie, we salute you for being brutally frank

Today’s editorial is dedicated to the Minister designate for the Western Region, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, for his forthrightness in stating that when children help their parents on the farm, it does not amount to child labour.

He could not have explained better the cultural dynamics of the Ghanaian situation, which he described as being grossly exaggerated by the international community which holds that child labour is rife in Ghana’s cocoa sector.

We agree with him that the stigmatisation of the country as flagrantly abusing the rights of children on cocoa farms is giving the country a bad image.

We may have signed onto international conventions on the rights of the child, but there must be a distinction between offering assistance to parents and guardians on the farms, according to the dictates of our culture, and being forced to work as labourers.

The Daily Graphic believes that instead of allowing ourselves to be bogged down by the standards of other countries, we must work on the cultural disconnect, which is to blame for that perception held by others belonging to foreign cultures.

Indeed, as Dr Afriyie said during his vetting yesterday, we “have to segregate the cultural dimensions of our social set-up from what people label as child labour”.

Most of us grew up helping our parents and guardians in whatever trade they were engaged in that put food on the table and no one complained because we all learnt the ropes and grew into responsible adults.

We agree that children must not be made to lose their childhood or suffer their proper development by working for their own sustenance.

Indeed, we believe that parents should be more responsible for the upkeep of their children and the ultimate responsibility of children’s upbringing lies with the parents, since the children did not ask to be born.

In view of this, we ask the government to, through the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, see to the enforcement of the laws on child protection, while bringing out policies that will have the welfare of the child as their focus.

We believe that children must not be made to undertake chores to the detriment of their education and so they must not be taken to the farm or be asked to help out at home when it is time to go to school or do their homework.

The Daily Graphic also believes that the safety of children is paramount and they must not be exposed to unnecessary danger under the guise of helping out their parents or guardians.

However, we urge the government and other leaders who may have the opportunity to sign any international convention on behalf of the country not to do so in haste without considering the cultural and social implications on the country.

We must be able to make our voices heard whenever any portion of an international treaty threatens our socio-cultural development or a phrase is steeped in so much ambiguity that it may be misconstrued.

The Daily Graphic believes that although we are in a global village, we also have our identity which we must guard jealously and not swallow everything that the world offers hook, line and sinker.

Once again, we doff our hat to Dr Afriyie for being candid about the perception of child labour on our cocoa farms.

Dr Afriyie, you were brutally frank on what constitutes child labour and we expect you to be forthright about the dangers posed by galamsey.