BABIES WITH DISABILITIES KILLED IN UPPER EAST.

Babies in the Kasina-Nankana district of the Upper East Region with disabilities till this day suffer at the hands of clansmen who deprive these children of their lives with the belief that the children are spirits sent by the gods to harm them.

In the Kasina-Nankana district indigenes hold the belief that children born with physical deformities or with complex medical conditions are ‘kinkirogo’ or ‘spirit children’ who have been sent to bring calamity on the family to which the child is born.

These revelations were contained in a report submitted to the Ghana Federation for the Disabled (GFD) by the Network of Journalists for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa-Ghana chapter (PROMOAFRICA) yesterday in Accra.

The report contains findings of research on abuses against persons with disabilities in Upper East and Volta regions.

The report continued that when such a child is born the family of the child sends that child to a fetish priest who gives the child a concoction to drink. If the child dies it confirms that the child is a ‘spirit child’.

Mrs. Miriam Nyarkoa Amponsah, executive secretary of ROMOAFRICA said although awareness creation has reduced prevalence of the activity, many people still do it secretly since the belief is a long term tradition which the people will not trade for anything.

“Some babies have been killed simply because they were born with physical deformities or with complex medical conditions contrary to article 13 (1) of the 1992 constitution of Ghana” she added.

Mrs. Amponsah said another category of persons that the research focused on are persons with short stature.

She explained that persons with short stature are people who have a medical condition that results in the underdevelopment of their bodies caused by a developmental anomaly or hormonal deficiency.

The Executive secretary continued that a person with a short stature in adulthood may be small as two and half feet tall. According to her 98% of persons with short stature have never attended school because of their deformity.

Receiving the report, Vice president of GFD Joseph Boampong expressed shock at the revelations.

He remarked that in this day and age people still commit atrocities against other people simply because they have disabilities.

Mr Boampong said it showed that there is still more work to be done to change the mind set of people about persons with disabilities.

The Vice president assured that the federation will not sit idle on the report but work hard to implement the recommendations it made.

He called on the partners to help the federation deal with the challenges that confront persons with disabilities. “The media is our biggest partner in this crusade we therefore call on you to help us change the minds and hearts of the people” he concluded.

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