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Who are The Women and Where are They?

Photo credit-World Bank

This is not supposed to be an essay. I’m just kind of talking to myself about some things that cheese me off.

Former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once said

“There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t support other women”

I mentioned in one of my earlier articles that the problems African women face are enormous and they begin on day 1, or before. This is why we’ve devoted so much time and space to discuss issues affecting women in Africa and around the world on this website.

But since this afternoon, I’ve being asking, “Who are the women and where are they”?

I wrote about a handful of occurrences of violence against women, mostly from Ghana, and a few from other regions. One involved the brutal murder of an elderly woman, Ama Hemmaa, (who was burnt to death) by a pastor and his staff on suspicion she was a witch.

The most recent was the unutterable invasion of a suspected woman thief on the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon. I wish I had the video here for you to watch, because describing the incident over and over again makes me feel like telling an ‘adult story’. You could imagine the worst guys can do to a girl or read some of the earlier post on this issue.

There have been a few comments here from those who think Amina deserved what she did because a laptop is difficult to come by in Ghana. You have a point, friend; individuals who engage in such behaviors need to pay for it, LAWFULLY. That is the job of the campus police and that’s what we pay them to do. To strip the young woman naked, finger her (did I say that?) and put it on video is just antediluvian.

Granted that Amina deserved what she got, what about Ama Hemmaa?

This post is not meant to rehash the episodes; I just wanted to raise a few questions and ask for opinions.

It irritates me that women groups and organizations on campus, in Accra and in Ghana as a whole, have been silent on these issues. The silence is deadening. Some of us have done, and will continue to do our best. We’ve sent petitions to the authorities and hope they respond, someday.

I would welcome demonstrations and strikes from women groups and organization demanding immediate response from both the University authorities and local law enforcement. Not heard of any yet.

You cannot ask for equality and justice while you will not articulate what you want and demand it. Equality is not about husbands changing diapers while wives wash dishes. There will not be true equality and justice when issues like these are seen as commonplace.

I do not assume this is a universal problem. Women in other places may be more assertive, aggressive and pro-active in fighting for their rights. Those in Legon, Accra and Ghana have not yet demonstrated such a spirit.

I’m not advocating for violence, but we would not have a black President of America if Martin Luther King and his colleagues were just pissed off and stayed indoor to watch cartoons.

My questions are:

  • Why do women not come out strong and advocate for each other and for their own rights?
  • Why would women just sit and watch, while an elderly woman who just needs to enjoy her latter years is burnt for being a witch?
  • Is this situation unique to Ghana or pervasive across the continent (referring to women not speaking out for their own)?

Have any ideas and suggestions? Please drop them here for me.

Thank you.

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Mob Justice: If It Happens at Legon, Imagine What Goes on at Mmaa Nse Hwee

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The urban dictionary defines mob justice as “When a large angry mob takes justice into their own hands. Usually ends with somebody getting hanged, torched or pitchfork’d. A common method of dispensing justice in the more rural areas of a country”

Mob justice is a social and public health quandary in several communities in some African countries. A survey in Tanzania showed that 1249 people suspected of various crimes were killed by mobs in Dar es Salaam during the period of 2000–2004 (Afr Health Sci. 2006 March; 6(1): 36–38). That is almost 250 people killed by mobs per year in one city.

As for the above definition from Urban Dictionary, forget about it. The dictionary definition may be true for Sweden or Norway where mob justice is a rural phenomenon, but not for Ghana or Tanzania.

In Ghana, mob justice is a campus fantasy. It is adored at the citadel of education and enlightenment.

On Thursday March 31, a mob of students offered justice to a suspected female thief caught in one of the dormitories of the University of Ghana. I watched the video and some of the stuff I saw are unprintable. I apologize, but I cannot describe them here, for fear Google may flag my website for hosting adult content.

Mob justice is not a new trend in Ghana. I witnessed a suspected thief stoned to death at Techiman Market in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. I was in Secondary School and had gone to market one Friday to buy some groceries and was unfortunate to encounter the mob in action.

What is new and disconcerting is the fact that such a practice is permeating academic environments and being condoned. I would not be writing about the Legon incident if it happened at Mmaa Nse Hwee, a fictional rural community somewhere not yet on the map. I would be irresponsible however to join the silence when such a despicable behavior is orchestrated in a place where people are being educated to become lawyers, doctors, presidents, and pastors.

An online petition that was launched on this website was signed by hundreds of readers home and abroad. A letter was sent to the University in which we asked the authorities 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 punishments 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.

It’s been over week. No response. And it’s been over two weeks since the students carried out their action. No actionable response yet from either the University authorities or the local law enforcement

Again, if this is accepted at Legon, imagine what goes on at Mmaa Nse Hwee.

Thanks for Reading 

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Molesters of Campus Woman Thief, Amina, to Be Dismissed, Vice Chancellor

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The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana has condemned last week’s sexual onslaught on a lady who allegedly stole a laptop and mobile phones from the Mensah Sarbah Hall annex B.

Some male students of the Hall molested and stripped the young lady entirely, exposing her private parts. Whilst she struggled to extricate herself from the over a dozen young men, others filmed her. The video was subsequently circulated and copies sent to some media houses.

The Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Ernest Ayeetey told Campus station, Radio Universe, that the act was disgraceful and the students involved will be punished.

“what we saw was a criminal behavior and that falls within the ambits of the law enforcement agencies of Ghana. One thing I can assure Ghanaians is that this University would not protect anybody who has broken the laws of Ghana. In the past students assumed that if they committed crimes their behavior could be excused on the grounds of being students and that the university would go and say they’re students so leave them: we will not do that” he stressed.

“If the law enforcement agencies want to pursue anybody, we will collaborate with them and cooperate as much as possible to ensure that justice is served. We will have our own mechanisms for sanctioning, we can dismiss and indeed we will dismiss”he noted.

Meanwhile the Legon Police command says it has identified some students who engaged in the act.

Crime Officer at the Legon Police Station, ASP Emmanuel Basin-Tale told Citi News “arresting the students is not necessarily a challenge but because they are students we just want to go through the school authorities before picking them”.

The young lady (Amina) now in police custody, is said to be responding to treatment. Professor Ernest Ayeetey noted that “there should be two aspects, the university sanctions as well as the criminal aspect being dealt with by the law enforcement agencies. This university would treat students the way the laws of Ghana require and the way our statutes demand”.

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