The group that recently organised and assisted in removing several migrant beggars from Accra's streets has requested assistance to continue their efforts.
In order to continue the campaign against street beggars, they want their efforts to be publicly acknowledged and institutionalised by the Ablekuma Central Municipal Assembly.
Following the detention and deportation of over 1,600 migrant beggars to Niger, where they are primarily from, community leaders in the Ablekuma municipality, many of whom are taskforce members, have called for a coordinated effort to continue the battle against street begging.
Alhaji Hussein Mahama Waziri, a prominent figure and the Chief of the Adarawa Clan in the municipality, stated in an interview that the creation of a taskforce might support the battle against street begging in the city.
Early this month, the authorities worked with the Niger Embassy in Accra to deport over 1,600 beggars back to Niamey, Niger, with more illegal immigrants to follow.
Alhaji Mahama stated in an interview that "they are a street nuisance and they ought to be taken home immediately."
public anxiety
The beggars, who enter Ghana without the required documentation, are frequently spotted in huge numbers on Accra's streets. The public has been alarmed by their presence for a long time.
They are primarily from Niger and have recently occupied medians and traffic crossings on certain main Accra streets to harass drivers and pedestrians for money.
Some opinion and community leaders are outraged by the presence of migrant beggars on the streets and have started a persistent campaign to get them sent back to their country of origin.
The Graphic Road, Lapaz, Achimota, Kasoa Old Barrier traffic signals, University of Professional Studies (UPSA) junction, Accra Mall, Adjiringano, Shiashie near Emmanuel Eye Clinic, and several ceremonial streets are the locations where children are most frequently spotted.
Chief Amadu Maga, a different community leader in Sabon Zongo, an Accra area where the majority of the beggars are active, said they were working with the appropriate agencies to make sure a team to get rid of beggars in the neighbourhood was permanently in place.
Abdallah Mohamed Hassan, a spokesman for the Nigerien Embassy in Accra, said on June 8, 2022, on Accra 100.5 FM that the embassy had contacted the Ghanaian authorities to have the beggars, who are citizens of Nigerien, removed from the city's streets.
Partnership
He said that 1,000 beggars, including children, had been mobilised through a relationship with the Ghanaian government and would be properly returned in compliance with Ghana's immigration laws.
Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the caretaker minister of gender, children, and social protection, directed ministry staff to gather information on street children and their guardians, lodgings, and means in December of last year.