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15.05.2016 Editorial

You Lack That Authority

By Daily Guide
You Lack That Authority
15.05.2016 LISTEN

The chief of Sefwi Aboduam in the Western Region, Nana Kwao Awuah II, has issued a diktat that any primary school girl who gets pregnant in his town would be banished from his traditional area of jurisdiction.

His diktat reflects his frustration over the inability of many of the girls in his traditional area to go beyond the primary school level because they get pregnant.

These are girls who upon getting pregnant are virtually abandoned by the boys who get them into such irreversible and terrible conditions – a situation worsened by the high level of poverty in such areas.

Such a phenomenon, we have no doubt in our minds, is as much a  reality in that part of the Western Region as it is in other parts of the country where poverty is endemic. Parents in these areas have lost total control over their children who, in some instances, fend for themselves at such teen ages.

In this day and age when the importance of education cannot be marginalised, it is preposterous to imagine girls in primary schools getting pregnant.

It also symbolises the moral decadence that has visited some parts of the country. Parents in these areas, without doubt, have failed in their parental duties of shepherding their wards to go to school and be equipped adequately for the future through no fault of theirs.

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The church in these areas could be cited for not doing enough to fight this anomaly which is costing not only the parents and the young ones but the nation as a whole.

While we share in the anguish of the traditional ruler, we disagree with him on the action which he intends to take. This certainly cannot be an answer to the rising incidence of teenage pregnancy and so he should ignore it before he incurs the wrath of the law.

As a chief, he has no such powers to banish anybody from his area of traditional jurisdiction. The powers his ancestors wielded in the pre-colonial days are no longer tenable and so he should explore alternative means of addressing this menace which must be addressed though, by all means.

The community should join hands with other stakeholders such as the church, opinion leaders and civil society organisations in fighting teenage pregnancies. The poor girls who fall victims to the overtures of bad boys in their towns and villages are vulnerable and need support to resist temptation which can only lead them to future pain.

The chief should rather be seen to be leading a crusade against teenage pregnancies than attempting to banish poor girls whose lives would be destroyed totally, should they be subjected to the kind of action the chief is contemplating.

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