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Is Maame Dokono a victim of political
vendetta?
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, Feb 17, Ghanadot - In recent times, the Ghanaian
media landscape has been saturated with a sodomy saga which
led to the closure of an orphanage known as Peace and Love
Orphanage by the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DoVVSU)
of the Ghana Police Service.
The orphanage was owned by ace actress, gender activist and
politician, Maame Dokono. Consequently she was arrested and
charged for exposing children to harm as stipulated by the
Children's Act.
This was because under the Act, a person under 12 years
could not be charged with a criminal offence but rather the
parent or guardian of the child.
The reason given for Maami Dorkun's arrest was that an eight
year old boy allegedly sodomised a six month old baby and
secondly they claimed that the orphanage has been operating
illegally since its license has not been renewed since 2006.
This has obviously created a lot of agitations in the
country amid protests by some supporters of the main
opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the DoVVSU office in
Accra.
Maame Dokono, who campaigned vehemently against the ruling
National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in the 2008
elections said a lot of unprintable words about that party
when it was the opposition party.
Many therefore think that the current arrest of Maami
Dorkuno was a political vandetta and that NDC is using its
powers to deal drastically with the actress cum politician,
Obviously, others in the NDC think otherwise.
However, the big question left unaswerred by the DoVVSU was
why Maame Dokono's orphanage been operating since 2006
if it was unlicensed and therefore illegal outfit? Did the
authorities not know that her license had expired? And why
did the authorities wait for almost three years to act?
An important outfit of the nature that
deals with emotionally disturbed and highly vulnerable
children that operates illegally should be closed down
immediately. The reality of Maami Dorkunno's situation
was that that the closure was delayed for over two years and
this is what has created skepticism in many minds about the
political intentions behind the scene.
There central concern now is why the people
in charge of DoVVSU, who caused a two years delay in their
supervisory duties, should not be arrested for negligence?
The sad part is also the possibility that If the Peace and
Love Orphanage has been operating for two years without
license then there many more institutions of similar nature
in the country doing the same. This point is a
reasonable conclusion to make. It is
also absurd to observe that way the police went down to
Maami Dorkunoo's orphanage and the rude arrest and
interrogations that followed. It all smacks of
political vindictiveness and an opportunity by the police to
curry favor with the current government.
A procedure that deals with the nature of the case should
have been created long ago rather than to resort to impulse
and brutal force to accomplish something that delicate.
For the good of the country the the followinf questions need
to be answered: - Was the management
of the orphanage notified that they were operating illegally
and how many warnings were given?
- Do our child protection agencies really
carry out proper periodical checks on these institutions?
As to the 8-year old boy who committed the despicable act of
sodomising a 6-year old baby, I would say though it can't be
thoroughly prevented, if the right checks and procedures are
put in place, some of these acts could be avoided.
Again, I blame the authorities as well as staff and owner of
the Peace and Love Orphanage for not putting effective and
efficient monitoring systems in place to deter the boy(s)
from this ungodly act.
Legally, if Maame Dokono did not abet to the crime, she
could not be charged with it. But she should cooperate with
the Department of Social Welfare and the police to carry out
the necessary investigations.
Let us hope the whole exercise has no political undertone.
The unfortunate part, however, is that eventually the losers
are going to be the same children we are seeking to protect.
What, for instance, is the fate of the majority of the
children who have been removed from the orphanage because of
the closure? Unless we prevent the hahazard nature of
these events, it may not auger well for our country which
has won some global recognition in democracy and governance.
Ghanadot |
