Minister Directs Social Welfare To Register Orphanages

Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection has directed the care reforms and orphanages division of the Department of Social Welfare (DSWF) to register all orphanage homes with the department and police stations near them. She also directed that the orphanages to register with the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure proper monitoring and documentation of their activities and that orphanages that do not comply with the directives should be close down after a circular has being sent to the various homes in a time. Nana Oye Lithur gave the directive when she paid a working visit to the Light House Orphanage Home at Aburi in the Akwapim South District of the Eastern Region. The home was attacked by an unidentified armed men who robbed and raped one of the caretakers in the homes and brutalize some of the children in the home. She said this will give the social welfare department and the police the opportunity to conduct security risk assessment at the various orphanage homes in order to ensure that the children were protected and sleeping under safety environment. Nana Oye Lithur has also directed the department to organize and make available a clinical psychologist to take the children through counselling. She said it was traumatic to hear and read the news in the media and that the Ministry of Gender will offer the home with some assistance in order to keep it running. Nana Oye Lithur also paid a courtesy call on Otoobour Djan Kwasi II, Paramount chief of the Aburi Traditional Area and also inspected some market project undertaking by the District Assembly. She assured the chief and the market women of Government's commitment to protect the citizenry and to ensure economic development. District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agyenim Boateng, District Police Commander of the Area said the police were prepared to rescue the natives upon having quick information of any attack in the district and that his outfit were carrying out investigations. He said two suspects in respect of the incident had been pick up by his outfit for further investigations. The Light House Orphanage Home has 20 inmates comprising of 11 males and 9 females; ages between two and half to 16 years.