The Human Trafficking Secretariat (HTS) in the MoGCSP has praised the Accra Circuit Court for convicting Daniel Opare Asiedu, a lawyer, and Elizabeth Arthur Adjei, the owner of God's Kids Orphanage in Kasoa, of child trafficking.
In a statement, the acting Secretariat Head, Sena Owusu-Gibson, said human trafficking was a highly organized crime and one of the global scourges affecting all races. As a result, the court's action was both timely and well-judged.
An Accra Circuit Court found the two guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime, explicitly defrauding by pretenses, in violation of Sections 23 (1) and 131 of the Criminal Code 1960. (Act 29).
The Gender Ministry applauds the court for convicting two child traffickers
They were sentenced to three years imprisonment, a $1,000 penalty unit (GH12,000) fine, and two years in default.
The two offenders were apprehended and prosecuted by the Ghana Police Service's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, with assistance from the MoGCSP's HTS.
Complaint
According to the case facts, Ms. Adjei and Mr. Asiedu conspired to commit a crime, namely defrauding by pretense. Both offenders successfully collected money from a couple in exchange for transporting them and their one-and-a-half-year-old son to Canada for a job opportunity.
The complainants were asked to pay GH5,000 for passports and other travel documents, of which they paid GH4,000. Later, Ms. Adjei informed the complainant that the papers were complete.
Nonetheless, the complainant's wife could not travel because she was pregnant and could only travel after giving birth. They also informed the complainant that he would be unable to travel after three days due to a passport issue that needed to be resolved.
Furthermore, their son could travel because his document was valid, and the white man who was supposed to transport them to Canada would accompany the boy.
After months of persistence, the complainant was given a document, which he gave to a friend. After reading it, the complainant believed that his child had been adopted.
The complainant reported the incident to the Devtraco Police Station, and the perpetrators were arrested, prosecuted, and convicted.
Human exploitation.
Ms. Owusu-Gibson defines human trafficking as "the transportation, recruitment, transfer, harboring, or reception of people through the threat or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or the abuse of power or a position."
She claims that Ghana is well-known as a country of origin, transfer, and destination for human trafficking victims, particularly women and children.
