Child Labour In The Cocoa Industry Is Real.

Children are being exploited everyday, every hour, every minute. Even as i write this article, there are children being trafficked and forced into hazardous labour across the world. This is reprehensible at best and inhumane at worse.

To understand what child labour means, The International Labour Organisation defines child labour as ”work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development”.

Work here refers to activities that are ”mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful to children; interferes with their schooling; depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;obliging them to leave school prematurely or requiring them to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work”.

In the cocoa industry for instance children work for long unrelenting hours, using heavy equipments and receiving just a penny, or at times nothing at all. In Ivory Coast, a country that produces 40% of the world’s cocoa; more than half a million children work in extreme exploitative situations in cocoa farms.

To give you an idea, any time you stick a piece of chocolate in your mouth, remember that you are not only enjoying sweet chocolate. You are actually enjoying the bitter sweat and toil of 1.8 million vulnerable children engaged in various hash working conditions; children whose right to education has being truncated, children whose hope for a better future are being worked away in circumstances synonymous to slavery. Some of the children are involved in applying chemicals such as pesticide and fungicides and do this without the necessary protective gears.

Again statistical figures show that 64% of children working in these cocoa farms are younger than 14 years with 40% of these children being girls. These children grow with emotional, physical and psychological scars that may be beyond remedy during their adult lives.

Many attempts have being made by several NGO’s, some institutions and governments; but much of the onus lies with the chocolate producing companies and their suppliers to curtail these modern-day slavery being perpetuated on innocent children. These companies need to master the moral courage and implement drastic changes that will have far-reaching consequences in the use of children labour in the industry. Commitment and will must be augmented by unflinching actions

Perhaps establishing effective community watchdog and task forces to monitor and report farmers who indulge in child labour may be just one way to annihilate this disturbing situation.Otherwise, simply issuing white papers and protocols may not be a panacea.

As the 35th President of the U.S.A John Fitzgerald Kennedy puts it ”children are the world’s most valuable resource and it’s best hope for future”. It is therefore imperative that we all contribute to protecting them and giving them the development necessary to live better and fulfilling lives. The children working in these cocoa farms could have being any of us, it could have being you or me; it could even be your son or daughter. Lest spread the message and create awareness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Africa Is Not A Country!!

Africa is not a country, it is a continent. If Africa was a country it would have been wiped out by now. For centuries some western media and pseudo-African experts have sort to create the impression that Africa is a country.The continent has perpetually being associated with diseases, hunger, poverty,famine, aids,   slavery, genocide, corruption, etc. It is not just this negative connotations which is synonymous to Africa, it is also common to hear questions like: are you from Africa? What kind of food do you eat in Africa? Is it true that you live on trees in Africa?………..Even at a point someone asked me if there were windows in African houses.

In a heated debate, a friend made an attempt to explain a point to buttress a certain argument but ended up explaining that India, China and Africa are developing countries. I told him his argument could not have being true because Africa is not a country like China and India.

This phenomenon is not just with ordinary people. Sarah Palin, the 2008 running mate to John McCain also thought Africa was a country. And former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, one of the candidates for the republican presidential slot said during a debate that Africa was ”a country on the brink”. If people at this level of their political careers still see Africa as a country, then there is something fundamentally wrong.

All the myths, tales, and fictitious negative associations are perpetuated mostly on the premise of ignorance. If people slept on trees where did Obama, Clinton, Tony Blair, and many European leaders sleep when they visit countries in Africa?

Why Africa is not a country!. The continent Africa has 54 sovereign states/countries with over 1 billion people and growing; it is the second largest populated continent in the world after Asia. Africa is also the second largest continent in the world with over 2,000 languages and dialects. In fact, Nigeria alone is more than twice the size of American, hence Africa can not be a country.

There are different cultures in different African countries with unique traditions and value systems. Just as there is West, East, and Central Europe. Africa is also divided into North, South, East, West and even Central regions. There is more than 100 ethnic groups in Africa numbering about 10 million people spread across the continent.

Yes, some countries in Africa have experienced tumultuous changes both past and present, yet, that is not a yardstick to cluster all African countries into the same category and used that as a benchmark to evaluate all African countries . There are colossal economic, social and political changes taking place in most countries in Africa. Certainly, there have being challenges just as there are everywhere in the world. And not recognising these is tantamount to saying the past does not matter. It does. What countries in Africa ought to do now is undertake serious nation branding efforts to distinguish and position themselves strategical, and stress the strengths and opportunities that exist in each of these countries.

It is important to point out even further economic reasons that exposes people who think that just because the economic indicators of a certain African country is toxic, it is the same with the rest of the continent. That can not be true. Many countries in Africa has undergone tremendous transformations and this successes need to be touted to the outside world.

At a time the world is experiencing volatile economic crisis and credit squeeze, most African countries are actually growing. Economy Watch projected that Ghana was the fastest growing economy in the first half of 2011 with other African countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Angola. This economic growth coupled with an upsurge of infrastructural development in the telecommunication sector are but a few positives. In Countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa giant strides have being made in this sector. Though people maybe invariably poor in some African countries, yet the telecommunication industry is a huge investment opportunity in most African countries because there is a demand for it. Therefore, for people willing to invest, there are many opportunities. Africa is not a COUNTRY! The investment opportunities are in the 54 different African countries.

Most African countries have also received credit ratings which shows their ability and willingness to pay back debts. This ratings are used as tools by investors to evaluate the credit worthiness of a country. There are about 16 African countries with these credit ratings. The only country that has not got a credit rating is the COUNTRY AFRICA, because it does not exist.

It is time to change the paradigm and tell our own stories. The stories of some African countries are uniquely painful, and not synonymous with the rest of Africa. The time to act is now; there are so many good things about many African countries, yet there seem to be no voice to tell them. We must stand up for our interests, we must shake-off the upheavals and portray Africa as a continent surging with opportunities, great energy and a strategic partner in world affairs. The time is now!

Kamara2002gh@yahoo.com

 

”They Have To Come Back Home and Register”?

The Electoral Commission of Ghana for the first time is compiling a biometric register to be used for the 2012 december polls. The exercise which begun on Saturday, March 24, 2012 will see people registering in 7,000 polling stations. The EC has so far deployed 45,000 officers to undertake this exercise.

Fundamentally, this biometric registration exercise is being undertaken to curb multiple registration and voting, as well as compile a credible voters register to replace the old one which many have argued was over-bloated.

One would have thought that the Electoral Commission will ensure that each Ghanaian get registered so that they can participate in making electoral decisions in Ghana.But obviously, the Commission has decided to disenfranchise well-meaning Ghanaians living abroad to partake in the democratic processes in Ghana.

The acting director of the Electoral Commission,Christian Owusu Parry has said that Ghanaians living abroad can only get themselves registered by travelling down to Ghana.This means they have to also go back to vote. It is most unfortunate and utterly shocking, that the Electoral Commission did not take into considering Ghanaians abroad while budgeting for this exercise. In fact, the world Bank estimates that there are 900,000 Ghanaians abroad; meanwhile data from Ghanaian embassies even put the figure around 1.5 million. This is astronomical a number to ignore at a time the country is consolidating its democratic credentials, and therefore need the human capital to push the developmental agenda of the country forward.The economic and political gains Ghana has achieved is partly due to the contribution and participation of her children abroad, why should they be disenfranchised?. This action would only serve to demoralise people.

I am not sure the electoral Commission expect Ghanaian students and professionals who are on government scholarships just for short periods of time to come back and register; they can barely survive, they have just enough to survive. How do these people pay plane tickets to come only for registration? Isn’t this matured absurdity?

The Constitutional Review Commission recognised the views and inputs of Ghanaians in the diaspora, why can’t the Electoral Commission do same?

Passport holding Ghanaians Abroad could easily get themselves registered at the various embassies and consulates across the globe. When the provision had being made and people fail to register, it would have been clear that efforts were made to get Diaspora Ghanaians registered. Otherwise, as it stands now, the Electoral Commission and Government have failed to live up to their mandate of ensuring all Ghanaians 18 years and above cast their votes come december 2012 no matter where you live or reside.

It is not too late, If it is the matter of not being able to provide the machines and logistics at the same time to register Ghanaians abroad. There is a way out!. The Electoral Commission should set a new date and transfer for registration to be carried out abroad after the 30 days deadline in Ghana. The equipments being used in Ghana can be used again to register people!!!

As it stands now, the rights of Ghanaian citizens abroad to vote and take part in our electoral democracy has being sidelined and intentionally ignored.

 

Something to Make You Smile

Nigeria Govt recently announced   to pay men with 5 children   1million Naira monthly salary. A   man heard the news and said to   his wife, Eunice! I have a kid with my girlfriend, I am going to bring him so we add him to our 4 kids to make 5. When he came back, he saw only one of his kids remaining. He asked where are the others? His wife replied, u are not the only one who heard the news! THEIR FATHERS HAD COME FOR THEM!!!