Editorial
Let’s address streetism together
Streetism in Ghana is becoming a serious problem that requires immediate attention to prevent it from getting worse.
These days, it is common to see mothers relaxing in the shade as their children as young as two years stroll along the streets begging for alms from oncoming vehicles and onlookers.
This typically occurs around busy intersections and thoroughfares, like the ring road, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area, the Atomic Junction roundabout, and the airport area, among others.
Every day, more and more children are discovered living on the streets. This is unsafe and starting to become an annoyance, therefore action needs to be taken to stop the situation from getting worse.
The United Nations estimates that around 61,492 people under the age of 18 are on the streets in the Greater Accra region of Ghana alone.
Even though there has been progress in offering assistance and services to homeless children, there is still much work to be done to completely eradicate the issue.
In fact, a number of reasons have contributed to this threat, including the challenging socioe-economic conditions that families are facing, rising urbanisation, poverty, a lack of family support, divorce, family violence, low levels of education, and single parenting.
These children are more vulnerable to malnourishment, illness, and injury since they often do not have access to basic needs such as clothing, food, shelter, and healthcare. They are exposed to harsh weather, which frequently results in a range of ailments and health issues.
According to research, children who grow up on the streets are often the ones who take up social vices including drug addiction, prostitution, armed robbery, and other similar behaviours.
The Spectator believes that public education should be used to raise awareness of streetism’s detrimental effects on children’s development in order to combat it.
Furthermore, in order to effectively combat streetism, we implore the government, churches, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the community, and philanthropists, among others, to grant access to social services.
In light of this, The Spectator praises the government for recently cutting the sod to allow for the development of a two-storey facility that will offer comprehensive care for street children in the nation’s capital.
The “Mother Teresa Soup Kitchen” (MTSK) is intended to provide the impoverished and homeless children living on Accra’s streets with at least one healthy meal per day in addition to counselling and skill development.
“This project hopes to take children off the street starting from this very community and propel it nationwide,” Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stated when he cut the sod for the project,
He continued, “When this project takes off, Mother Teresa Soup Kitchen will be the biggest action by a private individual and an NGO against the menace of street children in Ghana.”
Let us work together to combat streetism throughout the nation.
Dear Editor,
I wish to use this esteemed platform to urge the traditional councils of Osu and La to call for independent investigation into the recent demolition exercise at Kaajaano.
The exercise rendered hundreds homeless.
Information about the reason for the demolition has been scanty with those desiring to know feeding heavily on social media posts.
One particular name –Jato, has been associated with it but under whose instruction the exercise was carried is also not known.
Sadly, instead of getting to know who ordered the demolition and for what reasons, traditional authorities of Osu and La have been embroiled in a tug-of-war over ownership of the said land.
This is premature. At this moment, they should call for investigation into the exercise to know the people behind it.
When that is done, then discussions about the owners of the site can begin. That would end the posture of the two neighbouring town which has the potential to turn into something else.
Ataa Osa Mensah,
Osu
Dear Editor,
I wish to use your respected platform to draw the attention of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to the behaviour of traders and some drivers about the use of lower denomination coins, specifically the 20 and 10 pesewas.
About two weeks ago, I read in your sister newspaper, The Ghanaian Times about this problem and the caution that followed from the BoG and some economic analysts.
The warning they gave was that the continuous rejection of the notes could create pricing problems which can eventually affect inflation.
I thought that would put to bed that practice or refusal to accept the coins when given out as change or use to pay for particular service.
Unfortunately, the problem still persist among traders, drivers, customers and passengers alike. Only last week, there was as altercation in the Accra Central area where a woman refused to accept five 20 pesewas note totaling one cedi.
As the argument continued, the trader decided not to sell to the customer again after by-standers explained to her that it was still a legal tender and those that refused it could become offenders.
This is an issue the BoG and other regulatory agencies must go and explain to the people and let them know that it is unlawful not to accept a currency that is still in use.
It nothing was done, it could create a much more serious problems.
Mary Osei Badu,
Swedru
