The streets of Accra are flooded with a lot of beggars who on the greater part of them are children. People always criticise the appropriate authorities on neglecting their responsibilities of sending these children to the orphanage homes.
The Department of Social Welfare has stated that the Medina Social Welfare Shelter in Accra is not in a position to take in child beggars from the streets.
Earlier, the police indicated their intention to embark on a major exercise to rid the streets off child beggars. However, speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Director of the Department of Social Welfare Mrs. Comfort Asare explained that such an exercise will prove futile as funds allocation, security and psycho social support to provide counselling to these children are some basic needs most homes lack including the Medina unit.
“It is not easy to round up child beggars from the streets and dump them somewhere when the place is not ready for them. That will not work. We have our facility so before you bring in this vulnerable children, the assembly must tell us how they are going to help us take care of them” she stated.
Mrs Asare explained that not all the child beggars on the streets actually needed to be rescued although some have genuine reasons pushing them unto the streets for survival. She recounted that, for others especially the foreigners, they find begging as a “vacation job” where they visit Ghana to beg for alms and leave for their various countries later.
“Having had the freedom to do what they like on the streets is the challenge. So just rounding child beggars up the streets and dumping them somewhere does not amount to anything because you have to inform those at the receiving end of your plans”.
Source: www.graphiconline.com
