By Nathaniel Nartey.
Facebook: Nathaniel Nartey
Twitter: @Annertey_Nartey
A Gender Activist and Principal of the Agogo Presbyterian Women’s College of Education, Dr. Grace Adasi has called on the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection to intervene in the case of the alleged fake pregnancy involving a woman who was kidnapped only to return without her baby.
This is due to the inconsistencies in the accounts of different parties after the victim was found. She said the report released by the Police, which concluded that the victim was not pregnant within the period under review, intensified the stigmatization against women.
“I am very confused about what is going, am not very happy that the Western Regional Minister could come out and say something without waiting for the Security Experts to do their work and rather drawing a conclusion like this if the husbands know his wife was not pregnant and decides that they should do that then it brings in the gender dynamics. It takes us back to the issue that men suppress women. I pray the Gender Minister will intervene and bring her to Accra for more tests on her.”
Meanwhile, Security Analyst, David Agbee, has expressed displeasure at the manner in which the Western Regional Minister has handled the situation. Mr. Agbee also raised doubts about credibility of the Police report which made the victim a suspect in the investigation which has led to the arrest of three people.
Mr. Agbee alluded that the Regional Minister’s initial comments may have influenced the conclusions of the Police.
“The Western Regional Minister sounded too judgmental that the lady’s pregnancy is fake, and that is unacceptable. I am dissatisfied with the Ghana Police report; it is not a comprehensive report. They did not say in the report whether they visited the community and profiled the victim to determine whether she told a lie or the truth. The Ghana Police Service should not do a cover up, they should not say that because the Western Regional Minister has already said that it is a fake story then they rely on that,” he said.
On the issue of an emerging trend of fake kidnappings as contained in the Police report, Mr. Agbee said the performance of the Police in the Western Region on kidnappings in the past raises doubts on its ability to effectively tackle the menace.
“When the Takoradi girls’ saga started, look at how unprofessional the police acted and people lost their lives and now we cannot trace the identity of these 3 girls,” Mr. Agbee said.