Member of Parliament for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, is advocating for the government and other stakeholders to help rebuild the lives of drug addicts by providing more rehabilitation centres.

He said a different approach is required to deal with drug addicts instead of continuous imprisonment, which according to him, is not yielding the expected results.

“There must be rehabilitation centres so that people are not continued to be piled up at the prisons”, he said, adding that “even at the cells or prisons, they still abuse the drugs”.

The legislator relished the opportunity such centres offer drug addicts to rebuild their lives and be meaningful members of society.

“If there are rehabilitation centres, it can help to transform and reform the people and bring them back into the society”, he said.

Mr Ibrahim made the remarks at the commissioning of Kairos Ladies and Children Center, a rehabilitation centre for women at Banda Ahenkro in the Bono Region.

The centre, on a 5-acre land, was built and managed by Kairos Global Mission, a Non-Governmental Organization in the United States of America.

According to the Founder and President of the Mission, Rev Prof Anna Droll, the involvement of the youth, especially women, in drug abuse worsens their vulnerability, and further exposes them to social vices such as prostitution and other unethical behaviours, hence the need for a place where women can come out of their suffering.

She observed that most of the rehabilitation centers are devoted to men, but the Mission opted for a serene location at Banda to offer home care to women drug addicts.

“The addiction is too strong, and in this place, women can recover their identity and learn new skills with the ability to work and raise their families”, she said.

The centre, which aims at taking in over 20 women in future, currently has 5 women undergoing a life transformation process in line with the mission's goal - to rescue, restore, reform and reintegrate addicts into society. 

These women, one of them pregnant, were addicted to narcotics and alcohol for years. But their personality is refreshing than they were some months ago, according to their testimonies aimed at encouraging others and a show of gratitude to God and the Mission. 

“Receive them back with trust, stand with them as they re-adjust into society”, Rev Droll said, and further called for care and love towards addicts to help change them from their negative lifestyles.

To collectively fight against the social canker in society, she said there is a need for stakeholders to complement the efforts of the Mission to secure a better life for women.

The MP, Ahmed Ibrahim, who shared his transformation from a truck pusher to a legislator, urged the women not to be ashamed of their past but to strive to become better. 

He appealed to stakeholders, including churches and philanthropists, to support ventures that seek to reform and transform the lives of drug addicts. “It’s not everything that government can do”, he said.

He expressed worry over the new trend of sports betting addicts, and suggested the outlaw of betting advertisements in the media space and called on stakeholders to help safeguard the future generation.

Board member of Kairos rehab home, Supt Jeremiah Ahale, while urging the youth to avoid drugs, appealed for support in cash or kind to sustain the home.