The Chiefs and people of Atebubu in the Atebubu/Amantin District of Brong-Ahafo have denied recent media reports of the banishment of an Albino from the Traditional Area.
The Chronicle’s Brong-Ahafo Regional Bureau Office received several calls from natives and chiefs from the Atebubu Traditional Area, expressing their anger about the publication by the Paper on Thursday, June 4, 2015, under the caption: “Atebubu Traditional Area Banishes Albino”.
According to them, The Chronicle’s publication was an indictment on the integrity of the Chiefs and people of Atebubu Traditional, which depicts them as “barbaric and uncivilized” people who do not respect the human rights of people. The family of the Ankobeahene of Atebubu Traditional Area, Nana Owusu Gyimah furiously called at The Chronicle’s Brong-Ahafo Regional Office to express how damaging the publication was to the family and demanded for an immediate redemption.
According to Nana Owusu Gyimah, he was misrepresented in the story, as it was reported in a quote that: “if the said Albino is not taken away from the town, there could be the possibility that one day the parents would meet an empty room.” Nana Owusu Gyimah described the report as untrue, a misrepresentation and misinterpretation, because he would never make such a callous comment about a fellow human being.
He said he was narrating that during the olden days, over hundred years ago, it was traditionally a taboo for an albino to exist in the Atebubu traditional area, and during those years anybody who dared or challenged the order of the authority could vanish. However, in these modern days such a tradition cannot be applicable because of the respect for human rights, which is highly honoured in the constitution of the country, and no traditional authority in the country would dare abuse that right for anything.
According to Nana Owusu Gyimah, the Atebubu Traditional Council has never sent a delegation to warn the Albino, Yussif Fatau, as reported by the Executives of the Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism (GAPA). However, it is gathered that some individuals have been pointing fingers at the boy and saying all sorts of discriminatory things against him.
“The chiefs and people of Atebubu respect the rights of every person regardless of colour, race, religion, gender, tribe or education background, so the claims by GAPA is totally false,” Nana Owusu Gyimah stressed. The Atebubu Traditional Authority claims the said albino is freely walking around and enjoying his educational rights without any impediment, assuring that nothing would happen to him as his safety is assured and guaranteed.
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