First of all, I want to say a big thank you to all you for making the Legon Sexual Violence Petition a success. We got over 400 readers add their voice to the outcry. In response, we have sent a letter to the Vice Chancellor of the Univeristy of Ghana, The Dean of Students, The President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), and the Presidents of the Legon Student Representative Council (SRC) and Sarbah Hall. Below is the letter we sent on your behalf. (Only 20 signatories were added to the letter for the sake of space and time)
Until the University responds, the petition is still open, and so if you could not sign last week, please take the opportunity to sign the Petition NOW.
Once again, thank you for your participation. KAM
Open Letter to The University of Ghana Petitioning a Response to Recent Sexual Violence on Campus
The Vice Chancellor
University of Ghana
Legon, Accra
cc. The Dean of Students, UG, Legon
The President, NUGS
The President of the SRC, Legon
The President of John Mensah Sarbah Hall, Legon
Dear Sir/Madam,
We the undersigned write to petition the University of Ghana, Legon, to
- Speed up investigation into the sexual violence carried out by some residents of Sarbah Hall against a suspected campus thief, Amina
- Report on the findings to the public as soon as possible
- Announce appropriate punishment for the responsible students.
- Institute measures that will prevent such incidence from happening on such a respected academic environment. We believe that unless the definitional and substantive aspects of the rape law and associated set of laws which deal with sexual harassment, molestation, unnatural offences, are clearly spelt out with appropriate potential punitive measures, any response given to this incident will remain historically a hollow gesture.
We believe that because the students smartly video-taped their crime, it should not take months for the University Authorities and the Law enforcement personnel to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
An online petition that was launched on the website talkafrique.com has so far generated nearly 500 signatures from concerned Ghanaians home and abroad and the list continues to grow. Much as some signatories have insisted on sending this petition to some of the national media here in the US to give a global perspective to the pervasiveness of sexual violence in our society, we believe that if the University authorities and the law enforcement can handle this locally, it will help to minimize the damage that will be done to the reputation of the University which has already suffered a huge blow.
We trust that your prompt response to this petition would convince us to end our reaction at this level and prevent further damage to Legon’s reputation.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned (representative signatories for the online petition for the sake of space. To request the complete list of signatories, please contact legon.sexual.violence@talkafrique.com
It was very heart wrenching when I watched this video yesterday. I questioned my intelligence to find answers to how this contemporary world define civilization. A university which is valued as a platform for civilization has now become a stage of pantomime where people who value immorality more than human dignity amuse themselves. I now understood why students are not able to perform their statutory function when they are out of school. Oh gosh Legon this is a shame. I don’t even think this incidence worth talking about, for it really bring damnation upon the country as a whole. What if Amina did not steal anything. This is a synonymous epithet of MURDER.
ANOTHER MARY MAGDALENE SCENE AT LEGON
The scene was disgusting to my spirit,
My soul detests it;
I shuddered in fears
And scrunched myself in tears –
Oh, Mother, dear Mothers, I apologize!
Dignified sons cover their mother’s nakedness
But these came after you like hungry cocks.
“What is her crime, I asked?”
And one gallantly answered:
“A cockroach has come out of her hiding place
And we are having fun.”
And on a civilized ground under the sun
Where future leaders are trained –
No moralist stood up to defend, but all in one accord
Striped her naked to please their eyes –
Oh, leaders of ancient Israelites,
You who are quick in stoning the weak for their sins,
Have your wardrobes piled up with stinky skeletons.