Features
Continuous sensitisation needed to end mob justice in Ghana
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
Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
