The Executive Director of Child Rights International (CRI), Mr. Bright Appiah, has appealed to politicians seeking various positions in this year election to avoid using children or minors as their campaign tools in securing votes from the electorate.
He said it would very irresponsible and demeaning for any political party – be it presidential or parliamentary candidate – to involve children in their various campaign trails.
In a statement issued by CRI and signed by him, Mr. Appiah said although some people may argue that lots of policies are designed for children and using them would amount to no abuse, “it is not right”.
“The fact that policies are made for children does not mean they should be used as vehicles to win votes.”
Explaining further, he said the essence of child participation is for children to have a full understanding of the course and act with better appreciation of the content.
In most cases, Mr. Appiah said, children are coerced or staged in adverts for political purpose, even though politicians “are fully aware that in our electoral design children do not have the right to vote, and therefore not needed in the process.
“Political parties must always act in the best interest of children, and act more responsibly in order to lay a better foundation for children to appreciate the electoral processes of Ghana and uphold their tenets,” he added
Mr. Appiah said it is an obligation for every government or political party to include in their manifesto their designed policies for children should they get elected.
” That does not mean political parties can use children as their campaign tools to attract votes from the electorate,” he said.
Abuses
Mr. Appiah said there have been times in the past when politicians abused the rights of children by using them to campaign.
“We have seen this on television and campaign platforms, where children are made to come and attest to how good or bad a certain policy from a political party is. This is not right at all,” he said.
Mr. Appiah said most of the campaigns using children to attracts votes are done on the blind side of some parents.
” Most parents, especially the deprived ones, do not know and/or understand the implications of allowing their children to be used by political parties in campaigning, so they allow it to happen,” he said.
Apart from the stigma attached to campaigning for a political party, Mr. Appiah said children might be exposed to needless danger from politicians of the opposing side.
” In some cases the parents of these children also face attacks from whoever their children are campaigning against,” he added.
Mr. Appiah, therefore urged parents to refrain from giving their children to politicians as their campaign tools.
He said CRI believes that campaigns for votes ought to be done in a civil manner, devoid of any tactics which could make vulnerable groups even more vulnerable.
“Children are one of the vulnerable groups, and they must be protected at all costs,” he added.
