The issue of street begging is of great interest to me, and will form the framework for today’s discussion. In dissecting the practice of begging, I will structure today’s discourse around the role of the Ghanaian culture, and how it sustains the begging industry. In the preceding months to Ghana’s fiftieth Independence Day Anniversary, one of our nation’s ministers called for the forcible removal of the nation’s beggars from the streets of Accra. “Streetism” and the culture of beggary on the nation’s major boulevards, and the persistence of these beggars is a nuisance. While some citizens are quick to fault governments’ austere policies as the cause of indiscriminate begging on the nation’s streets, I am of the alternative view. In my opinion, the Ghanaian public is equally blameworthy in sustaining begging; a growing industry that unfairly presents Ghana, to the outside world, as a country caught under the boulders of acute poverty and self-inflicted laziness.
As an emerging economy in search of foreign investments, we cannot we afford the luxury of populating our nation’s city centres with squeegees some of whom behave in a threatening manner. In stark contrast to my previous articles, I will stay clear from any firebrand critique of failed government policies, and years of neglecting society’s disadvantaged. The preceding statement does not in anyway justify the government’s continued inaction to addressing the issue of street begging. As depressing, and eerie, as it sounds, some of the nation’s beggars have graduated from street beggars to narco-mules as a result of the laissez-faire attitude of the state.
Unlike industrialized countries where street beggars are predominantly citizens with mental health issues, some of the beggars we see on our nation’s streets are able-bodied beings who not only have strength to work, but the mental constitution to look for employment. One of the fundamental reasons why some choose not to work is not the lack of work in our infirmed economy, but the meager proceeds that an unskilled job generates, vis-a-visa panhandling on the city’s streets. After all, some good days, on the streets of Accra, do bring Dollars and Euros from foreign tourists who do not have the Cedi to give these street beggars.
The concentration of some of these beggars on the city’s major streets, and not the “Trotro” terminals, also shows the astuteness of these beggars. In recent times, a lot of these beggars have become experts in identifying which car, and occupants, are more likely to give them money. With this screening expertise, one hardly sees these beggars ask for money from local commuters at the nation’s “Trotro” station. Given the limited resources, and rising cost of living, these beggars know that “Trotro” passengers (i.e. the nation’s working class) are less sympathetic to their entreating, and will hardly extend to them any financial charity.
It is common knowledge that if a conduct generates rewards, then that specific behaviour will be repeated to maintain the incentives that attend the practice. The reason why the streets of Accra have become populated with beggars is because there are incentives that come with begging. As a nation founded on empathy and communalism, the culture of pitying others, especially the socially disadvantaged, reinforces the practice of begging on our nation’s streets. The continual willingness of the Ghanaian public to minister financial kindness to beggars would lessen the effectiveness of the government’s strategy to contain the crises on our nation’s streets. My question therefore, is, who is failing the nation’s beggars from weaning themselves from this conduct? Is it the government or the Ghanaian public?
In my opinion, street begging can be "eradicated" if the government initiates social programs that offer those affected an opportunity to acquire needed skills to generate income for themselves. These programs should be fee-free, and must accommodate the disabled subgroup within the begging population. Alternatively, individual Ghanaians must be educated not to encourage a behaviour that hardly addresses the long-term needs of the nation’s beggars. While a drop of water in the beggar’s bucket fills a tiny space, it can’t give the idler the descent bath s/he needs. Coming together to discuss our nation’s social afflictions, especially those relating to street poverty, is not only service to humankind, but also to a Transcendent, whose inadvertent intention was to make the world a welcoming space for all. Let’s hear from the other school of thought. Hope all is well. Good day and cheers.
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