A young man (name withheld) has urged parents to stay with their children under the same roof irrespective of how stranded they are financially.
According to him, he was sold by his mother for GHC15 to a woman at age 8.
He said he was sold to a woman who lived in their area at Dansoman and the woman also sold him to another family at a village close to Yeji, Sabojida, the capital of Pru District of the Bono East Region in the southern part of Ghana.
He recounted the maltreatment he went through after being sold to slave masters on Atinka FM’s ‘Obi Adi M’awu.’
He said, his mother gave him out to a woman in their area at Dansoman with a promise that she will help him learn a fitting job or driving but he was later sent to Yeji.
Unfortunately, he said he did not notice when the woman left after leaving him with another person.
He said four days later, his new family asked him to get ready to go on the river for fishing.
On his first day , he said he made a mistake with the canoe and he was given strokes with rope by his new father after which he bled on his whole body.
He also said there were times he was denied food and maltreated by the family of his slave master when he lived with them.
For water, he said they drunk water from the river they fished in, same water they eased themselves when they were pressed.
At some point, he said his slave master threatened to push him into the water if he made a mistake with their work, knowing very well he could not swim.
One day, he said he mistakenly fell into the water and his slave master ignored him for sometime before rescuing him.
Despite all the maltreatment and hardship they went through, he said his mother only showed up 10 years after he was sold again by a woman who pretended to rescue him from his slave master.
He urged Government and parents to take cues from his story.
“When you give birth, make sure you stay with your children no matter what you have. Even if it is a stone,” he said.
Below is the full interview.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: porcia933@gmail.com