A group of Muslim and Zongo media practitioners, Muslim Ghana, has expressed concern about the seeming invasion of Accra by beggars from neighbouring countries.
The beggars, according to the media persons in a statement, are not indigenes but foreigners mostly from Niger.
Some of them use wheelchairs even while they are not crippled, the group noted, adding that “most of the children spotted begging are not the biological children of the adults who hang around nearby as the kids do the begging. They are hired out for begging for fees.”
Begging is an industry which is exploited by some unscrupulous persons who facilitate the transportation of the kids and parents to the country to partake in the flourishing business, the group stated.
If action is not taken to reverse the trend, the group observed that Ghana will be turned into a major begging hub, with foreigners heading for the country.
Continuing, the group pointed out that it behooves on Muslims to condemn the development and to support government to get rid of the beggars from the streets, adding that their activities embarrass members of the Islamic faith.
The group has called on the Zongo youth, Islamic clerics and Zongo chiefs to come up with suggestions as to how to tackle the problem since as it observed “government cannot step in because of the diplomatic repercussions involved.”
The group threatened to descend upon political parties or individual politicians who thwart efforts at ridding the streets of the beggars for cheap political gains.
The National Coordinator of the group, AlhajiAbubakar Galaxy, in throwing more light on the issue, said the beggars put up at SabonZongo from which area they fan out to various locations in the city for begging.
“They are not refugees and should not be treated as such since there is no war in their countries of origin,” he said.
He called on the Greater Accra Regional Minister, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive and Municipal Assemblies to engage the association and other stakeholders such as Chiefs and Imams from the various Zongo communities to deliberate on how to repatriate these beggars to their countries.
By A.R. Gomda