I will liaise with traditional authorities to end Child labour – Kweku Afriyie

The Western Regional minister-designate, Dr Kweku Afriyie has said he will mobilize all efforts and policies towards addressing child labour, which is a hindrance to the progress of Children and a liability to socio-economic development as well.

“I believe that we have all the tools to make sure that existing laws are enforced, he noted adding “As a Regional Minister I will be liaising with the MMDAs, especially in the coastal belt and find out the nature of the problem. We’ll adopt a carrot and stick approach. We’ll enforce the law, but we will make sure we go through the traditional authorities,” he told the Appointments Committee of Parliament when he took turn to appear before the committee for vetting today.

In Ghana the Western and Eastern regions of the country including the three regions of the North, has the most reported cases of child labor. Majority of these children engaged in hazardous forms of labor.

This trend of poverty persists because of the denial of education, which blocks the escape route of poverty for the next generation or the household.

Attempt to eliminate child labor have most of the time hit a snag because of the high rate of illiteracy and the high cost of schooling or inaccessibility.

But Dr. Kwaku Afriyie said he will curtail the incidence of high rate of the canker[Child labour] in the region dominated by fisher folks.

Responding to questions posed by the vetting Committee on the subject, the former Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration said: “We’ll make sure that we use the various fisher folks organizations to make education which in all it forms is mandatory especially for children under sixteen years are enforced so that we have the children in school.”