Features
Continuous sensitisation needed to end mob justice in Ghana
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Mob justice remains a serious problem in Ghana, and there is an urgent need for sustained sensitisation to curb the menace. In many communities, when someone is suspected of wrongdoing, a crowd can quickly form and take the law into its own hands. Within minutes, the situation can turn violent, and in some cases, the person accused does not survive. This is why public education must be intensified and sustained if the country is to bring an end to these acts.
Mob justice is dangerous and unacceptable. No one should lose their life based on suspicion alone. People must be encouraged not to take the law into their own hands but rather to trust the justice system and allow the appropriate authorities to handle such matters.
The recent lynching of two scrap dealers at Ntensere in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region shows how serious the issue has become. The two men were accused of attempting to abduct a three-year-old child, after which they were attacked and killed by a mob, and their motorbikes were set ablaze. The level of destruction shows how quickly anger can escalate when there is no control.
Painful incidents that reflect a national problem
Ghana has seen similar incidents in the past. In 2017, Major Maxwell Mahama was lynched after he was wrongly suspected to be an armed robber. His death shocked the nation, yet it did not completely stop mob justice.
In 2024, Wilberforce Appiah, a musician popularly known as Wylbee, was lynched at Tanoso in the Ashanti Region after he was accused of theft. Reports indicated he had stepped out at dawn when he was attacked.
More recently, on February 27, a 26-year-old Liberian national, Austin Tengeeh, was also lynched at Lashibi. The incident sparked outrage on social media, but like many others before it, it raises concerns about how such cases can be prevented.
The role of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE)
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) must play a leading role in ending mob justice through continuous sensitisation.
The Commission needs to intensify its public education campaigns and make them consistent. Education should not be occasional; it must be ongoing and visible across communities.
The NCCE can organise regular engagements in markets, transport terminals, schools, and communities, using simple language to explain why mob justice is wrong and illegal. It should also make better use of community-based radio stations by introducing discussions, short dramas, and call-in programmes that address real-life situations.
Using local languages is critical to ensuring that the message reaches everyone, especially those in rural areas. The focus should be clear, any suspected offender must be handed over to the police, not attacked.
Influence of religious, traditional leaders and school authorities
Religious leaders, traditional rulers, and enlightened individuals have a strong influence on community behaviour and must be part of the solution.
Religious leaders should consistently speak against mob justice during sermons and emphasise the value of human life. Their messages can help shape attitudes and discourage violence.
Traditional rulers can support the effort by setting clear community rules that discourage mob action and promote peaceful reporting of suspected crimes to the authorities.
Educated and influential individuals must also take responsibility by speaking up when tensions rise. In many cases, mob attacks occur because no one intervenes early. Calm and informed voices can help prevent escalation.
The role of schools in shaping attitudes
Schools also have a critical role in addressing mob justice by shaping the mindset of young people. From the basic level to tertiary institutions, pupils and students should be taught the importance of respecting the rule of law and the dangers of taking matters into their own hands. Civic education lessons can include practical examples that show why mob justice is harmful and why due process must always be followed.
Teachers can also encourage discussions around real-life situations, helping students understand how to respond when they witness suspected wrongdoing in their communities. Through debates, role play, and guidance, young people can be groomed to value patience, fairness, and lawful behaviour. When children grow up with this understanding, they are less likely to participate in mob action and more likely to influence others to do the right thing.
What the police must do consistently
The Ghana Police Service has a central role in addressing mob justice, and its approach must be practical and consistent.
One key step is to strengthen community policing. When the police are visible and approachable, people are more likely to report suspected crimes instead of taking action themselves.
The police must also increase patrols in areas where mob justice is common and ensure a rapid response to distress calls. Delays often create room for mobs to act.
Public education should be part of regular police work. Officers should engage communities frequently, explaining the legal consequences of mob justice and assuring the public that due process will be followed.
Enforcement is equally important. Individuals involved in mob justice must be arrested and prosecuted consistently. This will serve as a deterrent and reinforce the rule of law.
Sustained sensitisation is the way forward
While arrests are sometimes made after such incidents, the focus must shift from reaction to prevention. Continuous sensitisation, strong community involvement, and effective policing are key to ending this problem.
Mob justice should not be accepted as normal in Ghana. Every individual deserves the right to a fair hearing, and the law must be allowed to work.
If sensitisation efforts are sustained and not relaxed, Ghana can gradually reduce and eventually eliminate mob justice. The goal is clear: to build a society where no one loses their life because of suspicion, and where justice is handled through the proper legal system.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
“A woman who abandons her baby in a dustbin at Kasoa Lorry Station is not always a wicked woman. Sometimes, she is a wounded woman whose mind has broken, whose family has rejected her, and whose society has left her with only one terrible option: disappear or be disgraced.”
That is the hard truth Ghana must hear.
In the last 10 days alone, our nation has been confronted with the same painful headline, twice.
Case 1 – Kasoa Main Lorry Station, Central Region: A newborn baby girl was found abandoned inside a dustbin at the public toilet of the Kasoa Main Station. A woman who went to use the facility discovered the infant and raised an alarm. Commercial drivers and bystanders quickly retrieved the baby and rushed her to the Kasoa Polyclinic for emergency medical care.
Case 2 – Asante Bekwai, Ashanti Region: On Thursday morning, August 20, 2026, a two-week-old neonate was reportedly abandoned by an unknown nursing mother at Bekwai in the Ashanti Region. Residents who came across the child raised the alarm. The baby was admitted to the Bekwai Government Hospital as police commenced investigations.
Let me be clear from the start: Newborn abandonment is wrong. It is dangerous. It is criminal. And it can kill. This article does not excuse it. But if we only arrest and shame, we will never stop it. We must treat the root, not just punish the fruit.
What exactly is newborn abandonment? – The two definitions
The Legal Definition: Under Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), Section 96, and the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), abandonment of a child under 12 years is a criminal offence. It is classified as exposure and abandonment, punishable as a misdemeanor or felony. The law sees the mother as a perpetrator.
The Psychological definition: In clinical textbooks, newborn abandonment is defined as the intentional, permanent relinquishment of all parental rights, care, and responsibilities over an infant within the first 28 days of life without making formal, legal arrangements for care.
To understand this crisis properly, we must not confuse it with child abandonment. Newborn abandonment happens within 0-28 days of life, often driven by acute panic, denial of pregnancy, or postpartum psychosis where the attachment bond never formed. Child abandonment, on the other hand, involves toddlers to teenagers where a bond existed but collapsed over time due to chronic poverty, family breakdown, or parental burnout. One is an acute crisis of the first month; the other is a chronic breakdown over years. Both are harmful, but they need different interventions.
Psychologically, newborn abandonment is the ultimate rupture of the primary attachment bond. Think of a 19-year-old university student who secretly gives birth alone in her hostel room, wraps the crying baby in a polythene bag, and drops it at a refuse dump at midnight. That is not just a crime scene; it is a scene of extreme panic and psychological dissociation.
Why would a mother carry a baby for 9 months and then abandon it?
This is the question every Ghanaian asks. If you wanted to abandon it, why not abort? The answer is deeply psychological:
1. The psychodynamics of denial of pregnancy: This is a profound defense mechanism, not a lie. The mother’s subconscious mind completely rejects the reality of the pregnancy. She does not gain weight normally, feels no kicks, does not seek antenatal care, and genuinely convinces herself she is not pregnant until sudden, shocking labour pains take her by surprise in a toilet or bedroom.
2. Fantasy of a dissolving problem: This is called cognitive avoidance. She believes “my boyfriend will come back,” “my mother will forgive me,” or “something miraculous will happen before birth.” So she waits, paralyzed, until the baby is here.
3. Barriers to safe abortion: Deep religious guilt, moral anxiety, fear of dying from a back-alley abortion, lack of money for a safe procedure, and family laws force her to carry to term even when she feels incapable.
4. The shock of reality and acute panic: Upon delivery, the physical presence and crying of the newborn shatters all denial. Confronted with immediate exposure, shame, and reality, her brain enters a trauma response — “fight, flight, or freeze.” For many, it becomes “flight” — physically escape the threat of exposure to survive socially. That is why babies are left in places where others will find them -lorry stations, churches, hospitals.
Source:
Counselor Prince Offei, CPAC’s founder, is a leading Mental Health Professional, Marriage Counsellor, Author, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, and Spectator Newspaper Columnist. He writes on relationships, marriage, parenting, special needs support, and their connection to mental health. For therapy, counselling, or enquiries, contact Counselor Prince & Associates Consult (CPAC) in Accra on 0559850604 / 0551428486.
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Features
Environmental stewardship is an act of worship: The Islamic response to climate change, environmental degradation (Part 4)
The environmental consequences of illegal mining have reached alarming levels in Ghana. Several major rivers, including the Pra, Ankobra, Offin, Birim and Tano, have experienced significant pollution from illegal mining activities, increasing the cost and complexity of water treatment while threatening the availability of potable water for millions of citizens (Water Resources Commission, 2024; Ghana Water Limited, 2024). These developments underscore the urgent need for stronger environmental governance and collective action.
Islam equally emphasises accountability in governance. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught that every leader is responsible for those under his or her authority (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7138; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1829). This principle extends to public officials entrusted with environmental regulation, traditional authorities responsible for communal lands, mining companies, local assemblies, and community leaders. Environmental protection cannot succeed
where accountability is absent.
At the same time, addressing galamsey requires more than law enforcement. Sustainable solutions must tackle the underlying socio-economic realities that drive individuals into illegal mining. Many young people are motivated by unemployment, poverty, and limited economic opportunities. Islamic principles of social justice therefore call for the creation of alternative livelihoods through sustainable agriculture, vocational training, responsible small-scale mining under strict environmental standards, entrepreneurship, and skills development. Environmental protection and economic empowerment should not be viewed as competing priorities but as complementary goals that promote human dignity and national development.
Faith communities also have an indispensable role to play. Mosques, churches, schools, traditional councils, and civil society organisations possess significant influence in shaping public attitudes and behaviours. Imams, in particular, should consistently remind congregations that wealth acquired through actions that destroy communities and Allah’s creation cannot be regarded as a blessing. Religious education should cultivate environmental ethics alongside spiritual devotion, reinforcing the understanding that protecting rivers, forests, and farmlands is an expression of gratitude to Allah and a fulfilment of the trust of Khalifah.
Ultimately, the struggle against galamsey is more than a campaign to protect natural resources; it is a struggle to uphold justice, preserve human dignity, and honour the trust that Allah has placed upon humanity. Lasting solutions will require strong governance, responsible citizenship, sustainable economic opportunities, and renewed moral leadership. Only when these elements
work together can Ghana safeguard its natural heritage for present and future generations.
Water conservation, waste management and sustainable development: Practical expressions of Islamic stewardship
Religious education should cultivate environmental ethics alongside spiritual devotion, reinforcing the understanding that protecting rivers, forests, and farmlands is an expression of gratitude to Allah and a fulfilment of the trust of Khalifah.
Ultimately, the struggle against galamsey is more than a campaign to protect natural resources; it is a struggle to uphold justice, preserve human dignity, and honour the trust that Allah has placed upon humanity. Lasting solutions will require strong governance, responsible citizenship, sustainable economic opportunities, and renewed moral leadership. Only when these elements
work together can Ghana safeguard its natural heritage for present and future generations.
Islam is not merely a religion that condemns environmental destruction; it also provides practical guidance for preserving and sustaining the natural world. Through its teachings on moderation, cleanliness, conservation, and responsible consumption, Islam cultivates an environmental ethic that remains remarkably relevant to contemporary challenges such as water scarcity, pollution, waste management, and climate change. These teachings encourage Muslims to become
responsible custodians of Allah’s creation in both private and public life.
Water conservation: A sacred responsibility
Water occupies a unique position in Islam as the source of life and an essential element of worship. Allah says, “And We made from water every living thing. Then will they not believe?” (Qur’an 21:30, Sahih International). This verse reminds believers that water is not merely an economic resource but a divine blessing upon which all living creatures depend. The importance of water is further reflected in Islamic acts of worship. Muslims perform ablution (wudu) before the five daily prayers and ritual bathing (ghusl) under prescribed circumstances.
Yet, despite its central role in purification, Islam strongly discourages wastefulness. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once advised one of his companions not to waste water while performing ablution, even when using water from a flowing river (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 425). This timeless guidance establishes the principle that abundance does not justify extravagance.
Conservation remains a religious obligation regardless of the apparent availability of natural resources.
This Prophetic teaching carries profound implications for contemporary Ghana. Illegal mining has severely polluted many rivers, increasing the cost of water treatment and limiting access to safe drinking water for numerous communities. Climate change has also intensified seasonal variability in rainfall, placing additional pressure on freshwater resources (IPCC, 2023). Against this
backdrop, conserving water is no longer simply an environmental preference—it is a moral imperative grounded in Islamic teaching.
Water conservation should therefore become a shared responsibility among households, educational institutions, industries, and places of worship. Simple practices such as repairing leaking pipes, harvesting rainwater, protecting riverbanks, avoiding contamination of water bodies, and promoting efficient irrigation contribute to safeguarding one of Allah’s greatest blessings. Every effort to preserve water is an investment in public health, food security, and the
wellbeing of future generations.
Unfortunately, indiscriminate disposal of refuse remains a significant challenge in many communities. Plastic waste clogs drainage systems, contributes to flooding during the rainy season, pollutes rivers and beaches, and threatens marine ecosystems. Open burning of waste further degrades air quality and poses serious health risks, particularly for children and the elderly (UNEP,2024).
The author is Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governnace Expert.
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