610 persons, mostly children got missing between 2021-2023 – Report

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.

The post 610 persons, mostly children got missing between 2021-2023 – Report first appeared on 3News.

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