13-year-old Emelia Abeka from Ekumpoano in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region has shared her harrowing experience of escaping from her slave masters.
She is one of many girls who were sold into slavery by their parents. The trend is high in the Central Region, particularly along the coast.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 talks about the immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour.
However, in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region that is not the case, as children are sold into slavery by their parents and in some instances their caretakers
Reflecting on the harrowing tale of survival and resilience, Emelia Abeka recounts her struggles in the hands of her slave masters indicating that her quest to become free pushed her to the limit.
“I was sold into a life of bondage by my mother since my father was not taking care of me and my other siblings. I was taken to Half Assini in the Western Region. Forced to work long hours in bad conditions, and was stripped of my childhood and freedom,” Emelia Abeka recounts.
However, Channel One News sought to find out the factors that drive parents into selling their children into slavery and one of the key factors that can be attributed to this drive is poverty.
Data from the Multidimensional Poverty Index from the Ghana Statistical Service shows that 31.5% of the population live in the Multidimensional Poverty range and the average intensity of poverty is 44.6%.
Ekumfi is also 173rd out of 226 districts in terms of the percentage of the population living in Multidimensional poor households. For nine out of 13 indicators such as health, education and standard of living among others Ekumfi had a higher deprivation than the national average.
Emelia’s case reflects the situation in the Ekumfi enclave as most parents are driven away by these indicators often giving their children out as slaves to work and support their families.
Emelia narrates her ordeal in the hands of her slave masters in half-assin working as an attendant in a chop bar(Local Restaurant).
According to Emelia, her slave master promised to take care of her and ensure she gets a formal education, but that was not the case, as she worked long hours at the chop bar [local restaurant] and the proceeds used by her madam to take care of herself and her children who are in school.
“I work long hours at the chop bar and feed from the same bar. When the month is due my salary is paid to my madam. She takes all the money and never gives me a penny. I asked why she is not taking me to school just like she does for her children and she told me that I came there to work and not to school. Anytime I have the chance to talk to my mother when she calls her, she tells me to tell her I am at school whereas that was not the case,” Emelia Abeka told Channel One News.
Not enthused with the treatment she was subjected to by her madam, she had to work extra weeks at the chop bar without her madam’s knowledge to save money to run away from captivity.
“Since my madam took all the money I have I had no money to come back to Ekumpoanu. I was not happy with the treatment being meted out to me by my master and wanted to be free. I had to tell the owner of the chop bar to give me back my job since my slave master asked her to sack me because I was not ready to do as she wanted again.
“The chopbar owner had to keep the little money I worked for for some weeks, so I was able to save enough to bring me back to Ekumpoanu. My quest for freedom pushed me to take this risk,” Emelia Said
Back in Ekumpoanu in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region, Emelia is struggling to settle in Ekumpoanu as her mother is also working at Yeji to make ends meet.
She lives on the benevolence of residents to survive and wants to go back to school.
“I am back home but a lot has happened since I left and I now have to start all over again. I now depend on the benevolence of people in the community to survive. I have no formal education since I dropped out of school but I am ready to go back to school with a little help,” she pleaded.
Residents are worried about Emelia’s abandonment in the community and fear she might get pregnant if help does not come early for her to enter school.
One of the brave advocates fighting to end this modern-day slavery is Challenging Heights a non-governmental organisation based in Winneba in the Central Region.
Enock Derry Puffer Programmes Director of Challenging Heights shared with Channel One News the impact of child slavery and the need for government attention in that direction.
“The fight against this menace is a difficult one. As an organisation, we are dedicated to winning this fight. But what these traffickers do is they use strategies of indoctrination such that they don’t want the children to even understand money and how to use it.
“These are things that are negative in terms of the development of children and they deprive them in so many ways. In the case of Emelia, we understand her situation and we are committed to helping her,” the Programmes Director of Challenging Heights stated.
Director of the Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service William Ayariga called for proper collaboration to ensure that traffickers are dealt with.
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