Advertisement
A
report
by
Missing
Ghana
suggests
that,
between
2021
and
2023,
610
persons
got
missing
and
most
of
them
are
children.
However,
the
state
intuitions
responsible
for
matters
of
security
are
challenged
in
providing
data
on
the
situation
in
the
country.
This
concerns
follows
recent
killing
of
some
two
children
who
went
missing
in
Kpakpayili
a
suburb
of
Tamale
in
the
Northern
Region,
which
is
the
latest
of
many
such
cases.
The
bodies
of
the
deceased
children
who
reportedly
got
missing
on
June
22,
2024,
have
since
been
deposited
at
the
Tamale
Teaching
Hospital
morgue
for
autopsy
while
the
suspect
Mallam
Madahi
who
was
arrested
and
released
on
bail
barely
24hrs
later,
has
been
re-arrested
and
currently
in
police
custody.
Discussing
the
issues
of
child
security
and
the
role
of
communities
on
TV3’s
NewDay
show,
on
July
3,
the
former
Minister
for
Gender
Children
and
Social
Protection
expressed
worry
that
the
gaps
in
interventions
protecting
children
are
enormous.
“Looking
at
security,
the
security
agencies
do
not
seem
like
we
have
the
unit
that
addresses
the
issue
of
missing
children
or
specifically
child
protection
in
terms
of
missing
children
and
also,
we
don’t
have
a
strategic
framework
that
will
also
address
the
issue.
So
for
instance,
I
don’t
know
whether
there
is
a
specific
unit,
we
know
we
have
the
trafficking
unit,
but
we
don’t
even
have
data.
Go
to
UK
and
US
websites.
There
is
an
organization
or
so
called
Missing
Ghana
website.
That
is
where
I
was
able
to
get
some
data
that
between
2021
and
2023,
610
persons
got
missing
and
most
of
them
are
children.
So
in
terms
of
data
we
don’t
know
and
even
the
dynamics.
How
did
the
children
get
missing?
Is
it
on
their
way
to
school,
or
what?
So,
we
are
not
even
able
to
know
exactly
how
the
children
get
missing
to
even
know
the
programs
to
put
in
place.
Has
Ghana
Education
Service
come
up
with
policies
that
will
be
implemented
in
all
schools
that
will
take
care
of
child
safety?
These
are
the
Gaps.”
She
explained.
For
security
Analyst
Richard
Kumadoe,
there
have
been
a
disjointed
approach
to
addressing
the
issue
of
missing
children
in
the
country
which
has
become
a
public
safety
concern.
He
also
entreated
the
Police
to
be
more
proactive.
‘‘The
community
helps
the
Police
to
be
able
to
address
some
of
these
issues.
There
have
been
a
disjointed
approach
to
finding
out
the
solution
to
why
children
are
getting
missing,
to
the
extent
that
the
numbers
keep
going
up.
Then
we
can
confidently
say
it
has
a
public
safety
concerns.
And
I
think
that,
over
the
years
when
the
human
trafficking
unit
was
on
top
and
they
were
doing
the
job
properly
as
they
should,
the
collaborative
nature
helps
whether
they
are
women
that
women
or
children
that
got
missing
or
men.
We
could
have
some
standardization
in
terms
of
data,
the
locations
and
it
terms
of
what
really
happened.
As
it
is
today,
it
might
be
a
conjecture
and
where
I
sit
and
having
done
this
job
for
many
years,
I
could
say
that
the
Police
will
have
to
be
a
bit
more
progressive
within
the
space,”
he
said.