National Workshop On Trokosi

A three-day national workshop on the Trokosi system in Ghana is underway in Accra. It is under the theme" Securing the inalieanable rights of Women and Children in Trokosi Bondage". The workshop which is the second of its kind, is being organised by international needs Ghana, an Ngo, with sponsorship from the British Council. Opening it, the Commissioner for Human Rights and administrative justice, Mr. Emile Short, said the denial of Trokosis and their children of their right to formal education, is illegal and a violation of the constitution which states that all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunitites and facilities.

He observed that the practice, in its present form constitutes an afront to a free society, because apart from its slave features, trokosi also presents a clear manifestation of discrimination against women. Mr. Short said the practice can neither be justified under any customary law. He regretted that the system is so rooted in tradition that even some highly educated and highly placed individuals from the localities, where trokosi is practised, have become helpless to discuss it, let alone call for its abolition.

The commissioner of CHRAJ observed that whatever angle one looks at the system, trokosi bears all the hallmarks of slavery. He, therefore, entreated the participants to find ways of dealing with the problem. The Executive Director of International needs Ghana, the Rev.Walter Pimpong, said efforts to get the system eradicated started in 1990 leading to the release of the first trokosi slaves from the Dada Shrine at Ada in the East Dagme District in 1996. Rev. Pimpong said his organisation is providing credit facilities to the freed women to enable them to be independent and self reliant. The paramount chief of the Klikor Traditional Area, Togbui Addo, who delivered a paper on the Trokosi system, said originally, Trokosi was meant to turn girls into what he termed "marriageable materials". He however, said the original aim of the cult has been lost.