Osu Children's home must be closed down

Dr. Kwesi Aning

A security analyst at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Centre has called on Government to close down the Osu Children's home and abrogate its licence.

According to Dr. Kwesi Aning the government must commence investigations into Investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas' exposé with immediate effect and those found guilty arraigned before court and jailed.

“I am sad after watching that video and I think the Ghana Education Service should sack some of those teachers and the Osu Children's home as a matter of urgency must be closed down, the people there must be arraigned before court and its license abrogated, I think it is a disgrace to the nation”

Dr Kwesi Annin's comments come after the exposé by ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of the New Crusading Guide.

 The footage reveals the untold hardships of orphans of the nation's flagship orphanage which is supervised by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.

The Osu Childrens home has been heavily criticised by the public after the video exposed how inmates are regularly subjected to physical abuse and are also mostly denied the benefit of various donations handed the home by philanthropist groups, individuals, state institutions as well as Non Governmental Organisations (NGO).

The chilling revelations shows how caretakers of the orphanage share gifts and donations meant for inmates amongst themselves and haul some to their homes.

However speaking to host of the Citi Breakfast, Moro Awudu on Thursday September 2, Dr Kwesi Annin said the greatest resource of every nation is the Human Resource and therefore no person deserves to be treated the way the video exposes how the caretakers treat the inmates.

He said what happened is as a result of a systematic failure and urged that steps must be taken to ensure that such things do not continue.

“You see the greatest human resource of this country are its human beings, whether they are physically challenged or not and to see the way the children were physically abused and lives lost, the way school teachers could use abusive and aggressive language on camera on the school compound, the deliberate lying of the staff of Children's home makes me feel ashamed as a Ghanaian living in this country”.

“Even more painfully, we have not heard any statement from the institutions that ought to be concerned and ought to have played their oversight roles, hopefully the President will do something or a Minister would do something but this is a systematic failure that should not be continued”.  

Meanwhile the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare will on Monday September 6, inaugurate a five-member Committee to investigate the allegations against staff of the Osu Children's Home.

The Committee, to be headed by the Deputy Minister of the Employment and Social Welfare, Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, has one week to finish its work and present a report to the Minister.

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