The pasture, on the other side, could indeed be greener.
As green as a four-leaf clover.
So green and gorgeous are Stanley Park, UK, and the Parc de la Villette, France, that one would wonder whether the brown patches at the Accra Sports Stadium or the Bole National Park should be classified as grass or something from Mars.
It is no surprise that 75% of Ghanaians said they were likely to ditch the country in a 2018 Pew Research Center survey.
Between the supposed ‘milk and honey’ and ‘hades’ lies predators ready to pounce on and lure desperate abroad seekers.
The goal is to entice, dismember, and harvest the human organs of the unsuspecting victims and sell them for exorbitant prices on well-fashioned black markets, enriching the pockets of the greedy, cruel syndicates.
The dark, secretive global business of illegal human organ trafficking goes on every day, every time, and every moment, maybe at a place near you.
Ghana is no exception, as a supposed organ harvester exposes the operations of the syndicate.
In the quest to unravel some mysteries behind organ harvesting, The Ghana Report uncovered the story of 25-year-old Patrick (not his real name), who is an organ harvester.
The young man, who describes himself as a medical laboratory scientist who completed Accra Technical University (ATU) in 2021 and was introduced to organ harvesting by his roommate, took to the anonymous platform, Jodel, to share how his desire to make wealth turned him into a barbaric executioner.
According to Patrick, it was the beginning of a new semester, and he was on the lookout for a hostel somewhere in 2019.
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The above images are the confessions of an organ harvester on how they scout for their victims and eventually harvest their organs.
Kidneys are reportedly the most sought-after human organs.
The UN Agency for Health (WHO) says approximately 7,000 kidneys are illegally harvested annually by traffickers worldwide, and the prices vary by country.
In the United States, 103,984 individuals are waiting for organ donors to undergo transplantation, and out of these numbers, 89,439 individuals are on the waiting list for kidneys, 835 for Pancreas, 2,115 for kidneys, 9,678 for liver, 199 for intestines, 3,433 for hearts and 922 for lungs.
The reports state that of this number, about half will die before they receive one.
The above images are the confessions of an organ harvester on how they scout for their victims and eventually harvest their organs.
Kidneys are reportedly the most sought-after human organs.
The UN Agency for Health (WHO) says approximately 7,000 kidneys are illegally harvested annually by traffickers worldwide, and the prices vary by country.
In the United States, 103,984 individuals are waiting for organ donors to undergo transplantation, and out of these numbers, 89,439 individuals are on the waiting list for kidneys, 835 for Pancreas, 2,115 for kidneys, 9,678 for liver, 199 for intestines, 3,433 for hearts and 922 for lungs.
The reports state that of this number, about half will die before they receive one.
A few years back, an audio went viral on social media confirming the existence of such activities in Africa, especially in Ghana and Nigeria.
The originator of the audio, a Nigerian, alleged that there were some Nigerians who had fled that country to neighbouring Ghana to continue what he called the ‘kidney business.’
“Some of them are there to start their kidney business if they’re able to dribble your young girls.”
“They send them to Indonesia and other parts of the world to harvest their organs.”
He gave the Ghanaian authorities a heads-up, asking them to be wary of his countrymen.
“Chase them out; they’re criminals; send them back home,” the man said.
According to the man, some agencies and individuals were luring young Ghanaians, mostly women, to go to the Arabian world and China with the promise of finding them well-paid jobs that never existed.
“Most of them got trapped, raped, starved and killed. I repeat, the harvest is real, so choose your friends carefully,” he added.
Confirming to The Ghana Report, an Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (A.S.I) Justice Kudzo Normeshie, Officer-In-Charge of Anti Human Smuggling and Trafficking-In-Person Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service, Aflao, disclosed that cases of organ harvesting exist in Ghana but most times the victims who could assist in investigations are found dead, which makes it very complicated in the search for culprits to prosecute them.
“We hear about organ harvesting cases, but it’s rather unfortunate that the victims do not live to tell their stories and assist with investigations. People are often lured with juicy job offers in other countries and eventually fall prey to organ harvesters. Cases that are often encountered on the Aflao border, are human trafficking for criminal activities, like scamming, Qnet, and prostitution. For such cases, most times ,these criminal activities could be detected at the borders, and the law is allowed to take its course other times the victims can escape and report to authorities, and subsequently, investigations are conducted. The culprits are made to face the law.”
A.S.I Normeshie added that most times, organ harvesters and people with criminal intentions, after entering the borders of the country, tend to familiarise themselves with indigenes and, after gaining their trust, lure them and eventually take advantage of them by either kidnapping them or eventually killing them.
The officer admonished that to curb the menace of organ harvesting and human trafficking, all stakeholders of the security agencies are to be in constant operation, and the citizens must comply with the National Security’s campaign, “See Something, Say Something”.
A.S.I Normeshie added that landlords should always go for routine checks in the houses they’ve rented out, especially to foreigners to assess what goes on in the house and report any sketchy feelings or actions.
There are black markets for hearts, livers, intestines and lungs, and even skins but the kidney is the most sought-after.
According to a professor of medical anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, Scherper-Hughes, “There’s a huge scramble to find organs, legitimate or otherwise. The demand for organ transplants, especially kidney transplants, is on the rise.”
However, the Chairman of the Board of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. David Nkansah, has called on the Parliament of Ghana to expedite processes to legalize organ donation, harvesting, and transplanting in the country.
He said that doing so would save thousands of Ghanaians who need organs.
“We are therefore calling on parliament and other agencies to support the preparation and passage of the law on tissue donation, harvesting, and storage of various organs that will save the lives of thousands of Ghanaians who are sick and in need of them,” he stated.
Story By Edinam Sablah
