In the dusty village of Tuori, Dafiama-Bussie-Issa District, 13-year-old Mary Kupere dreamed of school and a future free from hardship. Orphaned young, her mother gone too soon, with her father’s whereabouts not known, she bounced between relatives. Now, she’s vanished too, whisked away by a much older man into a life of farm labor and forced marriage. Her story exposes a heartbreaking betrayal: relatives who sold her out for mobile money handouts. It started a year ago.
Yaw, an elderly farmer from nearby Yibile in Jirapa Municipality, showed up at Mary’s family home. Married with five children, his frail wife unable to manage chores or fields, he demanded the girl’s hand. “She’s too young,” they told him firmly, slamming the door on child marriage. But Yaw didn’t give up.
Unbeknownst to most, he transferred cash via mobile money to Mary’s aunt Monica, who pushed him to try again. “Mary’s hardworking,” Monica urged, pocketing the bribes. Another aunt, Grace, joined in, egged on by the cash.
Market day sealed her fate. Yaw’s middleman, Taafaale, rolled into Tuori buying drinks like pito during the day time for the family members as tradition demands, then akpeteshi (local gin) under cover of night. While the village slept off the haze, Taafaale sneaked back, grabbed Mary, and vanished with her into the darkness. No consent. No goodbye.
Now, Mary’s expected to be slaving on Yaw’s farm in distant Mampong, hundreds of kilometers away in the Southern part of Ghana. In a phone call to a relative, Yaw boasted she’d handle the household grind his wife couldn’t.
Aunt Anastasia, speaking exclusively to Yiri News, unraveled the plot with fury and fear. “Monica and Grace encouraged it all they got money from him,” she said. “They even fear arrest now, like me, Taafaale, and Grace. Police call it child trafficking.” The family scrambles, pooling cash for a rescuer to drag Mary home. “I’m not deep in it like them,” Anastasia insists, “but pressure mounts.”
Mary’s vulnerability stings deepest. Raised by an uncle before landing with Tuori relatives, she’s prime prey in a region where poverty and custom blur into crime. Ghana’s laws ban child marriage and trafficking.
This isn’t just one girl’s nightmare. It’s a wake-up call: How many Marys are lured by traitorous kin, traded for quick cash? Authorities must act—raid Mampong, prosecute the enablers, protect the orphans. Communities, break the silence. Mary deserves her childhood back.
Yiri News calls on Ghana Police and child protection agencies to intervene urgently
Sad reality or such situations needs more attention and action