Too Many Children Begging On Our Streets

Something is not right with the increasing number of children of that have become professional beggars on our streets, even in Accra, the capital city.

All of these children are of school going age yet they are seen during school hours risking their young lives between moving vehicles begging for alms.

It is a situation that does not speak well about us as a country and makes one wonder whether we are walking the talk of child rights and social protection for children.

One would have thought that since there is already in place a policy of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), that would mean that education at the basic level shall be free and compulsory.

The ‘free’ aspect is in place and has become the chorus of the lips of politicians but we are not sure whether as a people we bother about the ‘Compulsory’ component of FCUBE.

Another failure on us all as a people.

Meanwhile there is a whole Ministry set up with the tax payer’s money to focus on issues of children and social protection. THE PUBLISHER cannot say in all honesty that the Ministry has lived up to expectation when it comes to the issue of the growing number of children that have become professional beggars at the expense of their basic education.

As has become our attitude, we are waiting for tragedy to befall those hapless innocent children that endanger their lives in our busy roads before we take some action to take them off the streets.

The Opeibia House Traffic Light, just opposite of the Silver Star Towers, the Sunny FM Traffic Lights at Kanda, the National Theater Traffic Lights, the Legon Presec Traffic Lights all in Accra are just a few examples of where these begging children ply their illegal trade and even sometimes pass the night even when it rains.

We have no cause to doubt the situation is no different in the other places across the country.

The unfortunate illegality should not continue. Someone in a position of authority paid to work ought to stop slumbering and get his or her thinking caps on. The fellow should start thinking outside the box on how to get the children off the streets.

This is 2018 and we cannot continue to behave as though we are in the stone age.

It is ridiculous that we have clearly written laws on children protection yet as a society, we have watched unconcerned as this collective child abuse becomes trendy and almost normal.

Let us not forget the type of children we groom today has a direct impact on the type of society we would have tomorrow.

We feel too ashamed to continue. Sad.