Effutu Ghahadze (CR), June 13, GNA - The management of Centre for Rural Enterprise Development (CRED) an NGO operating in the Central Region and Effutu Municipal Assembly have withdrawn 200 children engaged in child labour and enrolled them in educational institutions within the past 17 months.

Mr Anthony Nkrumah, Executive Director of the NGO disclosed this in an interview with Ghana News Agency during the World Day Against Child Labour celebration in the Effutu Municipality at Effutu Ghahadze on Thursday.

He said some of the children aged between five and 17 years were withdrawn from fishing activities at Yeji, Akosua village, Sankro, Walabeba and Ayepe.

Mr Nkrumah said 142 of them were enrolled in basic schools and 58 were learning carpentry, tailoring, electronics, hairdressing and electrical technology.

Addressing a durbar to mark the occasion, Mr Robert Andrew Ghunney, Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, expressed concern about future leaders in the area engaging in child labour at the expense of their education. He warned parents against engaging their children in hawking at Winneba Junction and being knocked down by vehicles. Mr Ghunney appealed to parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and school feeding programme to send their children to school to become useful citizens.

Mr Godwil Acquah, Effutu Municipal Social Welfare Officer, said it was unlawful for parents to mortgage their children to be engaged in child labour.

He appealed to parents to invest in their children's education to enable them acquire knowledge and skills to contribute meaningfully to the country's development. Nana Hertey III, Chief of Ghahadze, appealed to parents to stop allowing their children to be engaged in fishing in Yeji. He called for punitive punishment against parents engaged in child labour.

Nana Hertey appealed to Government to rehabilitate the Winneba-Osebopanyin-Ghahadze road that was in a deplorable condition. 13 June 08