The Rise In Ritual Killing In Ghana And The Way Forward

The rate at which ritual killing is gaining ground these days in Ghana is a great source of worries to many discerning beings. As the hearing in relation to the Kasoa murder of the 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah by Felix Nyarko, 16 and Nicholas, 18, is ongoing in the law court, the general public were thrown into a state of shock when it was reported that a 34-year-old former footballer, Richard Appiah in Alaska near Abesim in the Bono Region have allegedly conspired with others killed and stored the flesh of teenagers aged 12 and 15 years in refrigerator.

As the new Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo-Dampare paid a visit to the bereaved family, another news broke out. A disturbing video involving a young man within the age of 16 and17 years went viral where for allegedly kidnapping at a 3-year-old child in Santasi in the Ashanti Region.

Just two days ago, residents of Mafi Dove were reported to have arrested a 25-year-old man for beheading a 12 years boy. A further 27-year-old man, Agya Asuo in Assin- Praso in the Central Region was also arrested with human skull. The common denominator and disturbing trend in all these countless killings have been attributed to ritual purposes.

One will wonder where we are heading in all these scenarios of ritual killings of innocent children. Strangely, both the victims and the suspect fall within the age of the youth. One will want to know what is the motivation for the youth to engage in these barbaric acts? How on earth will children supposedly less than 18 years will want to kill him for the purpose of making money? As the youth are seen as the future leaders of this country and all that we witness day-in-day-out is to make quick money, what will happen to the future of Ghana?

What has exactly gone wrong with our cultural setting that certain values like hard work, patience, perseverance among others have diminished into the thin air? Can the media escape from these blamable and unforgivable scenarios?

It is not surprising though that these ritual killings are gaining ground. Looking at our Media landscape, it is awash with people claiming to have the powers to make people rich within the shortest time without one sweating.

For the way forward, we need to interrogate how come we arrived at this mess. Is it because some people the politicians are turning into rich men and women when their political parties gain power? Or it is the case of opulence display of man show of riches that the youth are blindly copying?

We need to overhaul our cultural values once again. Our educational institutions should not be reduced to only knowledge acquisition for the industry demand but also imbibing such values that will ensure eradication of some of these ritual killings. The National Media Commission, National Commission for Civic Education and partners alike should sanitize the media landscape, especially with those money-making campaigners. Parents and Religious Bodies must be seen using their respective podium to preach on cherished societal values so that the congregation will distant themselves from killing to make money. As it stands now, the future for mother Ghana looks bleak.

Mohammed Rabiu Adam

Ag Principal

Spectrum international school

Spintex Road, Accra

[email protected]