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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?