{"id":294268,"date":"2017-02-14T13:34:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=294268"},"modified":"2017-02-14T13:34:21","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:34:21","slug":"cocoa-sector-child-labour-concerns-grossly-exaggerated-minister-nominee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/cocoa-sector-child-labour-concerns-grossly-exaggerated-minister-nominee\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocoa sector child labour concerns ‘grossly exaggerated’ – Minister nominee"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Western Regional Minister-nominee, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, has bemoaned the growing perception of child labour in the cocoa sector which he described as \u201cgrossly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his vetting by Parliament\u2019s Appointments Committee, Dr.\u00a0Afriyie insisted the child labour was not a problem in the cocoa sector and blamed a cultural disconnect for the perception.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”w1g7jyWBI9lMW4fk6tvONFCvwwZ96AxQ”]\u201cYou will be\u00a0surprised that child labour per say is not a big issue in the cocoa industry in Ghana now. You have to segregate the cultural dimensions of our social setup from what people label as child labour,\u201d he explained to the vetting committee when the topic was raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat child labour thing especially in the cocoa industry, I am happy to report, is largely and grossly exaggerated in this country because it gives our country a bad image,\u201d the Minister-nominee added.<\/p>\n
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, during the vetting, interposed that there may be some legitimacy to the concerns with child labour given \u00a0US department of state has recently downgraded Ghana citing child labour in the agriculture sector, and in particular the cocoa sector.<\/p>\n