Joy Fm news and Ghanaweb carried a story on July 31, 2009, that highlighted the gory detail of a 19-year old Ghanaian girl who was raped by a nincompoop, Eric Adjei Bawuah in the full glare of the public at Kumasi-Asafo.
I was not only horrified but also traumatized that sexual crime can now be committed today on our streets in Ghana in the full glare of the public. This is nothing but an indication of how far our society has sank in recent years to the extent that crimes such as rape and armed robbery are on the rise in our cities in such vile manner.
As a matter of fact, rapists in Ghana are freer than any goat thief. He-goats like Eric Adjei Bawuah can now commit their despicable acts not only in secret but also in full glare of the public. What is worse, he threatens people with his so-called “Macho” size thinking he is on top of the world. Much as I do not have any empirical data to measure rape cases in Ghana, I bet that incidences of rape and crimes against women are much higher and increasing by the day both in urban and rural communities just as the level of armed robbery cases in our cities and rural communities. It is in this light that I commend the new Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye and the police for their recent war on armed robbers. This is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party and President John Evans Atta Mills’ message to armed robber community: “There is a new sheriff in town. If you rob, we will kill you”. I would like to urge the police to treat both rape and armed robbery cases equally.
I think it’s high time we acted against such brutal and senseless acts of nincompoops like Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah. We need to expose these so-called Machomen who go around committing crimes in our communities. During the elections in December 2008, these same nincompoops calling themselves Machoman were going around snatching ballot boxes. Today they are raping women on our streets in public. Who knows what next?
The story must be told that in today’s Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, nobody would be allowed to go around using his “bofloat”-like body intimidating and deceiving people in any community with impunity. Some of the most silly statements I have heard in the past and present even by normal and respected people in society is that: “if girls dressed moderately and did not expose too much of their nice bodies, the incidence of rape would be reduced”. What utter Rubbish I say! Who the hell has the authority to define what moderate dressing for girls in a free world should be? Every woman has the right to dress the way she wants and nobody can do “foko” about that.
I listened to the 19 year old victim on Joy Fm. She was seeking a 30 year jail sentence for Eric Adjei Bawuah, the he-goat who put her through this street rape. But my question is what next after having the idiot served a 30 year time in jail? I know for fact that, in Ghana this idiot would be left scot-free to move about in communities just like any other normal person after serving time in jail. But in every normal society like where I live, crimes like this committed by a he-goat like Eric Adjei Bawuah deserve that, he after serving his 30 year sentence, he must be made to observe certain strict rules in society including staying miles away from women, alcohol and children. More often than not in our society due to poverty, rapists are normal people who suddenly feel the urge to expend their lust on unwilling females. But whatever the motivating factors are for rape, it is nothing but a heinous offence against the dignity of women like the dignity of this 19 year old lady. It deserves a suitable punishment. Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah must be treated as a psychopath who needs a medical treatment.
I propose a radical change in the way we punish for crimes against women in Ghana. Let us not be fooled by our laws which punish such crimes with just imprisonment and sometimes sheep, goats and Schnapps/Gin fines. Neither of these is deterrent enough to prevent Machomen from raping 19 year women on our streets with the audacity that this nincompoop, Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah grossly displayed.
We should introduce the exposure of rapists and armed robbers to public disgrace before suitably punishing them. The courts in Ghana should be empowered by our laws to order rapists like Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah to be taken to the communities where they live to be stripped naked and publicly flogged by equally Macho men who use their senses properly. There is nothing that can knock the Macho out of nincompoops like Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah than to be humiliated in front of his friends and neighbors.
Lastly but not the least, the most appropriate punishment for a rapist like Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah is not to be sent to jail for 30 years but be deprived of his manhood. I demand the sentence of castration for Eric “He-goat” Adjei Bawuah. In fact I propose castration be made mandatory in Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana for despicable crimes like this.
Charles N. Nkansah (nkansahc@yahoo.com)
