Assembly inaugurates Child Panel Committee

Lydia Ezit Jun - 20 - 2014 , 01:02

A seven-member Child Panel Committee has been inaugurated by the Ga Central Municipal Assembly (GCMA) to handle minor criminal and civil cases involving children in the municipality.

The committee will operate in accordance with Section 27 of the Children’s Act, 1998, Act 560, that gives charge to district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies for children’s rights and protection.

Child Panel

It is a judicial reconciliation body set up by the assemblies to adjudicate cases involving children of school age without referring them to the court.

This is meant to protect children and prevent them from the unpleasant experiences they encounter in court.

It is also intended to serve as a body that will intercede in matters concerning children’s rights, parental duties and minor criminal issues such as petty stealing and other offences.

Inauguration

Inaugurating the committee in Accra on Wednesday, the Municipal Chief Executive of GCMA, Mr Aristo Aryee, charged the members to refer cases that were above their mandate to the security agencies or the court.

He said the assembly had the Justice and Security sub-Committee and Public Complainant Committee which handled petitions from the public, and urged members of the panel to collaborate with both committees to seek the welfare of children.

Department of Social Welfare

Explaining the reason for the appointment of the panel, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), Mr Benjamin Otoo, said in the past, families and communities had acceptable ways of correcting children who committed offences in the society.

Such children, he said, were put before the family head for questioning and were sometimes given out for foster care as a way of minimising the negative environmental influence on the said child.

Training

Members of the panel also attended a day’s training workshop organised by the DSW to equip them with skills required to mediate on matters affecting children.

They were taken through topics such as parental duty and responsibility, right to education, welfare principles and the definition of a child.

The panel is chaired by Mrs Elizabeth Naa Lamiley Quarcoopome. Others are Mrs Victoria Korang, a Representative of the Anyaa Carewomen; Naa Dawa, Queenmother of New Gbawe Awoshie; and Mr Eric Oyortey, a representative of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

The rest are Mrs Doris Badu, a Representative of the Municipal Social Welfare Office; Mr Christopher Hanson, a Representative of the Sowutoum Electoral Area; and Mrs Christiana Boakye Boateng, a Special Peer Educator at GCMA.