15,000 head porters to undergo training organised by Business Development & Gender Ministries

The Minister of Business Development; Ibrahim Mohammed Awal says his unit will organise training for 15,000 head porters also known as ‘kayayei’ to keep them off the street while building their capacity to own businesses with support from the Gender Ministry.

He added the trainees will be resourced after the programme which will see then undergo series of workshops in financial literacy. While this is a laudable initiative, these interventions to equip the head porters to move from the streets, own businesses in the city centres or return to their roots have not had the desired impact as the head porters numbers remain high despite the various initiatives to entice them away from the life they lead.

Its common sight to see the porters; often young ladies in their 20s to 30s sleeping rough in front of stores at night with their children.

Other studies have shown, they are vulnerable to rape and other violent acts as they have little or close to no protection.

Head porterage is a form of transport of goods in Ghana. People can carry their wares from farms to their houses on their heads. The business of head porterage however is almost entirely practiced by young women and teenagers migrating from the northern to the southern part of Ghana.

It remains to be seen how the workshop organisers can track the porters to see what became of them after the training and resourcing.