Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the symbolic sod cutting ceremony
The government has started putting measures in place to bring an end to the incidence of streetism in the country.
This came to light when Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cut the sod for the construction of a two-storey block to serve as the centre for training street children at the Sempe Cluster of Schools in Mamprobi in the Greater Accra Region.
The Centre will also provide skills training for street children and marginalised teenagers in and around the Mamprobi enclave.
The project is being facilitated by Reverend Andrew Campbell, the Founder of Mother Theresa Soup Kitchen Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II Foundation, which would provide skills training for the teenagers.
The future plan is to build a training centre at Adenta, where residential facilities will also be provided for the teenagers.
Speaking at the ceremony at the Sempe Cluster of Schools, Dr. Bawumia said the project hoped to take children off the street and provide them with employable skills.
“This is in line with the government’s policy on children and social protection where major interventions have been made under our administration.
“We hope to do even more come next year when I form a new government,” the Vice President stated.
Dr. Bawumia who is also the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) encouraged all well-meaning Ghanaians to support a worthy cause to help develop the country.
“We can help everyone out of poverty and other challenging situations by taking up a project like what Father Campbell did when he arrived in Ghana in 1971.
Dr. Bawumia was delighted for being a patron of the Father Campbell Foundation, to enhance advocacy and improve interventions for leprosy, street children, rural development, and child health.
He, therefore, expressed government’s commitment to facilitate the provisions of the Foundation and, thus, lauded Father Campbell for representing the downtrodden in society.
“We, therefore, cannot let him down on this mission,” Dr. Bawumia added.
“We can also notably mention Christ the King Soup Kitchen as a bold move to end “streetism” in Ghana. When this project takes off, Mother Theresa Soup Kitchen will be the biggest action by a private individual and an NGO against the menace of street children in Ghana,” the Vice President stated.
“I am not surprised that the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has the same vision as Father Campbell and myself.
“We saw the need to help the less privileged and with our collaborative effort this is what we are producing by the grace of God and the support of Nii Ga,” Dr. Bawumia said.
The Vice President said it was a worthy cause and dovetailed into the government’s programme for the re-development of the enclave.
“I assure you that the ongoing GetFund Projects will be expedited and completed. The security concerns bordering on access to the school and Project site will be dealt with by the construction of a fence wall around the entire enclave.
Dr. Bawumia said the hospitality school with Austrian funding would also be situated right in the enclave to complement the efforts of Father Campbell.
On his part, Rev. Father Campbell, the Founder of Mother Theresa Soup Kitchen, highlighted the activities of the Foundation including feeding more than 800 street children during the COVID-19 pandemic, and bring hope and dignity to the teenagers.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent