CHRAJ educates institutions and communities on human rights

Wa, Feb. 19, GNA - The Upper West Regional office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) undertook 177 educational programmes in some communities and institutions in the region last year.

Beneficiaries, which included basic and second cycle schools, tailors and dressmakers associations and apprentices, were sensitized among others on basic rights that related to maintenance of children and spouses, custody of children, property related cases such as tenancy/ ejection, destruction and seizure of property and inheritance. The participants were also taken through labour-related rights that dealt with dismissals/terminations, suspensions and SSNIT deductions/payments in their areas of employment.

Mr Adams Mumuni, acting Regional Director of the Commission, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Wa on Thursday, said the Commission carried out these programmes with the support of DANIDA. He said out of 283 cases received from complainants through out the region last year, 220 were resolved, seven were rejected, five were withdrawn, while 11 were referred with five transferred and 35 still pending.

Mr Mumuni stated that family related cases, namely, maintenance of children and spouses, maintenance of pregnancies and custody of children recorded the highest number of 121 cases, while property and labour-related cases were 55 and 53 respectively. Although he could not immediately provide figures for 2007, he noted that the number of cases that were reported to his outfit had been reducing over the years.

He attributed this development to either people becoming increasingly aware of basic human rights and therefore not infringing on them, or victims were being reluctant in reporting human rights violations for redress.

He however noted that most people tend to report human rights violations that were criminal in nature to the police instead of CHRAJ, and according to him it was very appropriate for them to do so. Mr Mumuni said lack of transport was a major obstacle in carrying out their mandate to the satisfaction of the populace and appealed to the Government to solve their logistics problems for them to work effectively, adding that only the Regional office had a Nissan pick-up vehicle.