The Fiaga of the Tongor Traditional Area in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region, Torgbui Asuo Kwasi V, has exposed Dzemeni, near the Volta Lake, as one of the major transit points for child trafficking in the country. He said because of its privileged location as a commercial hub and the largest lakeside market in the country, the town had become one of the factories where the manufacturing and distribution of trafficked children were carried out with impunity. "I feel disillusioned when I see parents smuggling their children to Tongor-Dzemeni in exchange for peanuts and more so at the expense of the children's formal education," he lamented. Torgbui Asuo disclosed this at a national durbar held to commemorate the African Union Day of the Child at Dzemeni last Saturday. The celebration, on the theme: "Combating Child Trafficking", was climaxed with the hoisting of a red flag against child trafficking by Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister of Women and Children's Affairs. The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) and the Ghana NGO Coalition for the Rights of the Child, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF as partners. Torgbui Asuo said because of the lack of clear-cut control and elimination measures, it was no longer considered a taboo to sell one's child, adding that there was so much negligence and parental irresponsibility now than before. He called for concerted action to address the problem, which was becoming precarious in communities along the Volta Lake. The Deputy Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Mr Patrick Timbilia, said until 2005, there was no law in the country that elaborated on child trafficking and, for that reason, the police were handicapped in dealing with the crime. He, however, said Act 964 of Parliament, which had come into effect, clearly outlawed child trafficking, adding, "The police are going all out to enforce it". Mr Timbilla said the Ghana Police Service had started a re-engineering process by creating new units to handle the trafficked and traffickers, stressing that while the trafficked needed care and support, the traffickers were treated as suspects. In a keynote address, Hajia Mahama said children were precious gifts and so should not be abused but must be encouraged to grow into responsible citizens. He said those who gave out their children for a token should re-examine their conscience concerning the harm they did to such children. The minister urged the chiefs and people of lakeside communities to form watchdog committees to mount vigilance on child traffickers and ensure that all children were enrolled in school. She also advised couples to adopt sound family practices to reduce the incidence of large families and the temptation of getting some of the children into child labour. The Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Kwaku Nayan, said child trafficking must be condemned by all and sundry, since it robbed the nation of its human capital. He said poverty could not be an excuse for sacrificing the well-being and education of children and added that the practice must stop if the nation wanted uniform socio-economic growth. The South-Dayi District Chief Executive, Mrs Woyram Boachie-Danquah, disclosed that a child panel had been inaugurated, with the view to combating the menace, which was on the ascendancy in the district. There were fraternal messages read by representatives of the ILO, UNICEF and the Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child. Source: Daily Graphic