CHILDREN IN STREET HAWKING

Street hawking over the years in its nature is the most risky kind of trading not only in Ghana but the world at large. The streets are made for vehicles and the sidewalks or pavements are not wide enough r pedestrians, let alone hawkers. Street hawking has posed lots   of problems to individuals and governments. Some countries have made policies to eradicate hawking along the streets especially in the African continent but have failed. The mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuye tried to rid the streets of Accra of these hawkers but failed   on so many occasions. Markets have been built for hawkers to sell their wares. They however sneak their way onto the streets with the reasons that they record low sales due to the location of the market. The Odawna market is an example. The most serious phenomenon about the whole issue is when children are involved.

Children engaging in street hawking have become a canker Ghana has been dealing with over the years and still does.  It is very evident these days to notice children roaming the streets with wares such as ‘ice water’, groundnuts, biscuits, and other petty things. It is very appalling to see Metropolitan officers driving adult street hawkers away from the streets and not bothered about the children. At some times, they sell tickets to some of these children to give them permits to sell along the streets. The lives of children and more so their education are not thought of.  It seems that the laws of the country which states clearly the rights of the children have been downplayed by most of the Metropolitan officers.

Article 28, clause 2 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana states that “a child has the right to be protected from engaging in work that constitutes a threat to his health, education or development.” Clause 4 of the same article also states that “No child shall be deprived by any other person of medical treatment, education or any other social or economic benefits by reasons only of religious or other benefits.” This project provides insight into the underlying reasons why children engage in street hawking the effect it has on them and the society as a whole.

However, the major reason why children engage in street hawking is Poverty. This is due to the fact that most parents in Ghana do not have the means to secure or rent authorized places to sell their items and are also not able to fend for their numerous children. Therefore, children have literally taken to the streets of Accra selling everything from fresh fruits to toilet rolls in order to help their parents who are mostly single to finance their education or provide basic necessities.

Also, migration of children from rural to urban areas have increased due to economic hardships. Children were driven to the streets to engage in economic activities as a result of parental irresponsibility and other factors. Most of these children find themselves street hawking in order to fend for themselves.  This has increased both the occurrence of child labour and school dropout rate. During the year 2005, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs estimated that 40,000 children of whom many are girls lived on the streets in major cities including Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi. These children, in order to fend for themselves had to sell for their employers.

Most of these children end up in prostitution, pick-pocketing and graduate to armed robbery, and most of all are knocked down by cars even though the drivers may not be reckless and this may sometimes result in disabilities. When this occurs, they are left to fend for themselves which even ends up in worse conditions.

The future of these children who engage in this risky business is at stake and since they are the future generation even if they are on the minority can we imagine what Ghana would be like in the long term?

 It would be prudent for the United Nations Organization, African Union, International Monetary Fund, Human rights NGOs, International Women and Children Institutions, Parliament, Media and other institutions which have the interest of human rights to help in the fight against street hawking. 

Although it may be difficult to eradicate it completely because of the state of the economy and the financial status of some families, I believe something can be done about the situation to help curb this phenomenon. 

If the free basic education for all children stated in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana would be implemented, most parents would allow their children to attend school and hope for the best.

BEGGARS ON OUR STREETS

I am a resident of Abossey Okai in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana in an area close to a Muslim community popularly known as Sabon Zongo. Whiles growing in this neighbourhood, I have come across numerous beggars some sitting by the streets and others who follow pedestrians to seek aid and initially I thought it was okay for a person to be doing that. It was and still is a common phenomenon.

It is factual that some religions subscribe to this act and I have heard people say they give to these people because it is by compulsion in their religion. Due to this, some beggars mostly sit at the gates of churches, mosques and temples of some religious organisations hoping that compassion would be had on them and their daily bread catered for.

Now, some 'smart' beggars roam the streets telling false tales to passersby in order to get them to give them some money. Mostly, gullible people fall for their 'traps'. I remember a time I alighted from a public transport and was approached by a nice looking lady who told me a long story about how she had travelled from Kumasi to Accra to see her aunt and was robbed when she got to Accra so she needed help to locate her aunt.

I guess it is rational for the physically disabled to roam the streets seeking aid although it is not the best of practices because there are various free vocational training programmes being organised by the government and some non-governmental organisations to help them acquire skills they can work with to earn a living. But currently, individuals who are in their right senses and have no disabilities have also resorted to street begging and this is absurd.

This is a short video on some street beggars sitting along the street  waiting for pedestrians to give them some money.

Recently, in an article published on standard's website written by Mark Blunden it has been stated that "Police are warning City workers not to give street beggars money as a report revealed the number of homeless people sleeping rough in the Square Mile has risen".

More interestingly it was noted that one woman in her eighties earns "in excess of £200 per day” from begging".

Many people have resorted to street begging because they earn a lot of money that those who work hard to spare them some do not get.

I think it is time the Metropolitan Assemblies took the issue up and if possible cleared them from the streets especially those who are able and can work.

In spite of this, I am sure most of them are on the streets because of unemployment, so to help control street begging, job avenues should be created to keep them busy. Those who beg due to laziness should be prosecuted. Better still to cut down on the numbers of street beggars on the streets, pedestrians should be advised to stop giving money to them especially those who are fit to work.

HOME STREET HOME

In my earlier article I  elicited the fact that some critical areas in our society - Ghana, especially Accra are being overlooked by the authorities concerned, principally the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

This time I took a stroll through town very early in the morning and although I was not that much surprised I came across some people who have turned pavements, front of stores and in some places the streets into their 'bedrooms'. It was an appalling sight since some of these places are in the center of Accra. 

A typical place is James town.

some head porters who sleep by the street

 These people depicted in the picture have migrated from their town of birth in the Northern part of Ghana to seek greener pastures. Ironically, this is where they find themselves. There are so many of these who due to poverty, sickness, child neglect, unemployment and other factors find themselves in this condition which is popularly termed as destitution.

Sidney and Beatrice Webb in their book "The prevention of destitution" define destitution as a condition of being without one or other of the necessaries of life, in such a way that health and strength, and even vitality is so impaired as to eventually imperil life itself."

The question to ponder over is that 'Can we as a nation ever meet the millennium city goal if after three years of the launch of the Millennium city project nothing is being done to rid those who are destitute off the streets? In fact we have a long way to go.

Interestingly, destitutes are all over the globe and they have become a great force to reckon with but how they are managed is what makes the difference. The headline of an article published by dailymail on July 17 2013 reads "Miami considers jailing homeless people for sleeping and eating in public places".

I believe that sometimes drastic measures must be taken if we would meet our goal of transforming Accra into a millennium city. In the article it is noted that the government provided shelter for the homeless people to keep them away from sleeping around the streets and I believe that the AMA can consider this option and after a period if people refuse to be accommodated in these homes are arrested and jailed, maybe that is the kind of home they want.

During the 2012 election campaigns in Ghana, one of the presidential aspirants promised to provide free hostels to accommodate some head porters popularly called "kayayei". This idea may be very laudable but as to whether it can be done is another thing.

I would only suggest that the government includes people who are destitute in its plan when formulating policies and come up with measures that would curb the causes of destitution although at all cost some of them cannot be prevented.

This video is about a woman who lives by the street with her children in Accra, the capital of Ghana. They live close to the Ministry of Roads and highway and by a very busy street just around MovenPick Ambassadors Hotel.
You can notice that she is talking to herself or soliloquizing which means that she may be mentally ill.
Does it mean that the authorities have not noticed her?