Voices of Beggars on the Streets of Ghana
The Accra Police Command had warned that it would commence a series of operations to clear child beggars off the streets of the capital, Accra.
Streets in the major parts of Accra like Madina, Osu, Ridge, Achimota and Lapaz, among others, have been flooded with child beggars, most of whom are believed to be nationals of other African countries.
The Police Command alleged that these children are brought into Ghana from neighboring countries by some Ghanaians to be used for “commercial begging.”
Meanwhile, some of these beggars are Ghanaians who left their homes as kids to beg for a living.
Some of the beggars who have been on the streets for quite a while shared their stories prior to their street lives.
“As for me, I’m educated. I stopped school at SHS 2 and I came to the street to suffer because home is not good. The fees were too much, and there was lack of parental care so I decided to drop out. I’ve been in the street for week now, and I’ve lost my parent”, one said.
Some of them stated that they are on the street due to financial difficulty, not that they have no family. They have grown fond of living on the streets.
“When I came to the street, I was only 10. Back then, I used to return home after begging because my parents were worried. But now, I don’t anymore.”
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According to a kid between the ages of 9 and 12, “My mother was sent to the hospital, and died a day after. My father also died after that. My grandma then brought my brothers and myself to Accra to come and beg for a living. Currently, we live in someone’s store in the night, and beg during the day. I also had to drop out of school because I was unable to afford my fees.”
On the other hand, some of these beggars have resorted to selling things like water, shoe polish, toffees, etc. on the street.
Regardless of their stories, the MMDA still have no choice but to rid the street of these beggars as it has become a major issue in the country.
HOME FOR THE HOMELESS ?
However, the lack of resources and homes for the upkeep of homeless and vulnerable children who have been picked from the streets is a major obstruction undermining the capacity of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Accra to rid the capital of child beggars.
Currently, the various offices of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) at the assemblies lack vehicles to enable officials to move round to pick child beggars from the streets.
SOLUTION
On the way forward, the AMA boss said the various assemblies were collaborating with some foreign embassies on the best way to repatriate foreigners and their children back to their countries of origin.
“We need to intensify this collaboration because we do not want to be seen to be breaching ECOWAS protocols on the free movement of people,” he said and called for education to discourage the public from giving alms to street children.