A 17-year-old boy has been banished from the Tutukpene community in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region for stealing.
Mr Prosper Amoah, father of the boy, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that his son, a primary six pupil of the Tutukpene Municipal Assembly Basic School, was on Friday, April 24, allegedly caught breaking into a room, and was ousted by the community leaders, forbidding him from returning to the area.
He said his son was taken to a nearby stream by the Chief and elders where he was ceremoniously banished - forced to cross the stream and had since not been seen.
Mr Amoah said the Chief had barred everyone from trailing him.
“They threatened to banish us also if we tried to follow him. I am very worried about the whereabouts of my son”, Mrs Afua Amoah, mother of the boy cried, appealing to relevant authorities to come to their aid.
Nana Poku Antoh III, Paramount Chief of Tutukpene, debunked the incident when contacted by the GNA, saying “nothing of the sort occurred in my area.”
Mr Innocent Komla Agbolosu, Head the Social Welfare Department in the Municipality said the purported banishment was unlawful, and promised to ensure that the incident was properly addressed.
Source: GNA
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I don't want yo hear "traditional" or "custom" in this. The parents should report to the police or better still the DCE of the area. Anyone found culpable must be arrested. The first step is to identify one or two of those individuals in and around the stream, who upon questioning, would give the necessary information. Nobody must be spared, especially the village chief.
You have banished him to where? He has no family, no known person to support him. You have banished him to become a big problem for another community? Tagborkuku towoo......
In the past, we will all hit social media and start accusing the Voltarians as bad people. Now we can tell that it is not everything bad that should be tagged to an ethnic group. It is not about Oti people or Volta people. Some traditions are just bad and need to be called such. The psychological effect this could have on the family is immeasurable. This boy just needs support and role models in the community to talk to him. In the worst scenario, he could be punished for his wrongs and tasked to sweep a public place to serve as a deterrent to other bad boys in the community. All he needs is reformation and not banishment
Nkorasesem sei!