The Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has disclosed that 60% of child beggars are infected with dangerous diseases.
Samuel Pyne disclosed on a radio station that 10 out of 15 foreign child-beggars rescued from the streets of the metropolis tested positive for HIV, Tuberculosis and Covid during a routine medical screening.
He disclosed that shelters are reluctant to accept the child-beggars because of their health condition.
He told a radio station in Kumasi that the children were picked from the streets of Kumasi as part of a swoop aimed at resettling them at orphanages and ridding the streets of growing child beggars.
“We needed to deal with them by taking them to a private home, but do you think they will be glad to take such children having these conditions? They do not have any isolation or holding centres to deal with these cases,” he was questioned when he spoke on Abusua FM.
He revealed that the child-beggars are brought to Ghana mainly from Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger.
They are usually seen begging for alms along major streets in Accra, Kumasi and other regional capitals. The Kumasi Mayor said he is working on getting a state-owned shelter to keep the rescued children since the Kumasi Children’s Home no more falls under his jurisdiction.
“We don’t even have a shelter in Kumasi now. What we used to have in the Kumasi Children’s Home has been taken over by Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly because of the demarcation in the creation of that municipality,” Mr Pyne explained.
He also disclosed that because ECOWAS protocols disallowed Ghana from repatriating the children, he is compelled to only refer them to hospitals for treatment.
The beggars, who arrived in Ghana without proper documents, were often seen in large numbers on the streets of Accra. Their presence has for many years been a matter of public concern. BBC Hausa reported that the first batch of deportees arrived safely in the country’s capital on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Source: Pak MediaGH
