| |
| |
 |
|
The woes of Enoch Nii Lamptey-Mills, proprietor of Great Lamptey Mills International School, following his sex saga with a minor and pupil of his school, is far from over, DAILY GUIDE can say.
While the Ghana Education Service (GES) has indicated it would blacklist the school if investigations find him culpable of illicit affairs with his students, some parents of his students are linking him to other serious allegations bordering on criminality.
Apart from that, human rights activists are not pleased with a court decision to set him free simply because the parents of the teenager ‘wife’ say so.
Lamptey Mills was released from police custody after the father of one of his students, whom he put in the family way, decided not to pursue the matter in court any longer, but the Public Relations officer (PRO) of GES, Charles Parker-Allotey, hinted that results of independent investigations by the service would be made public soon.
This could lead to the blacklisting of the school by the GES.
“Being in charge of private schools, it is our responsibility to check the conduct of even those who manage the schools. If investigations say those things are rampant in the school, we may be forced to withdraw our recognition,” he told Joy FM.
According to him, the outcome of the investigation will inform what action the GES would take.
But Regional Coordinator of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Nana Oye Lithur, said Mr. Lamptey-Mills was unfit to head any institution in the country.
According to her, the out-of-court settlement between him and the girl’s parents sets a bad precedent for Ghana, which she described as ‘pregnant with illicit affairs between teachers and students’.
In a related development, the parent of a student who participated in the school’s 2008 beauty pageant told DAILY GUIDE his daughter had told him of how the embattled school proprietor allegedly tried to have carnal knowledge of her while she and others were camped ahead of the pageant.
According to Philip Agbezudor, who said he regretted sending his child to the school, the 43-year-old proprietor camps contestants of the pageant in his residence, during which he allegedly asks some of them for sexual favours.
Expressing his opinion, Agbezudor advised that the school be closed down completely, claiming many of the girls who are supposed to be boarders, frequently spend the nights outside the school.
It would be recalled that when Daily Graphic broke the story of how he impregnated a 16-year-old pupil of his school a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Lamptey Mills did not only come out to vehemently deny the report; he also went ahead to accuse the newspaper of embarking on a mission to destroy him.
The issue however provoked public outcry, until it ended in court.
The Public Relations Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Inspector Irene Oppong, told DAILY GUIDE that her outfit received a complaint from the victim somewhere in July 2009, that while she was a 16-year-old and an SSS 2 student of the Great Lamptey Mills Senior High School, she got pregnant for the proprietor who later married her when the pregnancy was just about two months, with the promise of building her a house.
He also promised to send her back to school and give her a seed capital for business.
Enoch Lamptey Mills, after the marriage however, reneged on his promises and abandoned his teenage wife. He was arrested on September 9, 2009 and granted a GH¢5000 bail the next day.
In the latest twist to the matter, the court freed him because the girl’s father failed to pursue the matter any further.
Section 14 of the Children’s Act (sub-section 2) provides that “the minimum age of marriage of whatever kind shall be 18 years.”
Section 15 provides that “Any person who contravenes a provision of this sub-part commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding GH¢500 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year or to both.”
The Accra Circuit, presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah Datsa, finally struck out the charges of compulsion of marriage and abetment of crime leveled against Mills, as well as the mother and grandmother of the victim involved.
Mills, Georgina Sarbah, mother of the victim and Evelyn Engman, were dragged to court by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) for contravening section 14 of the Children’s Act 560, 1998.
However, father of the victim, the complainant in the case, informed the court that the matter had already been resolved and therefore asked the judge to accept their out-of-court settlement.
Following this development, the court held a closed-door meeting with the victim and information gathered revealed that the victim agreed to the decision of the family.
In her ruling, Mrs. Datsa disclosed that after interrogating the victim, she found out that the out-of-court settlement would be in the best interest of the victim’s baby.
The judge, who noted that without a complainant the accused persons could not be prosecuted, also disclosed that the prosecution did not object to the issue of settlement and in view of this discharged the accused persons.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| Source: Bennett Akuaku |
| |
|
| |
| |
Comments ( ): Post Your Comments >> |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
