MPs advocate trust fund for head-porters

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children has called for the establishment of a Trust Fund, the proceeds of which would be used to train head-porters, otherwise known as ‘kayayie’, in Accra as a short-term solution to curbing the problem.

The Gender Ministry estimates that there about 2,300 head-porters in Accra alone. However, two private non-governmental organisations, Peoples Dialogue and the Ghana Federation of Urban Poor, put the figure between 15,000 and17,000.

According to a report of the committee on Gender and Children on the ‘kayayie’ phenomenon in Ghana, reasons for the proliferation of female head-porters is the unplanned nature of our markets.

Laadi Ayii Ayamba, chairperson of the Committee on Gender and Children said: “The committee recommends that the markets be restructured to create wider spaces that allow carts and other loading trucks to gain access in the markets. This would discourage clients from patronising the services of these young girls”.

It would be prudent to address this social problem as a national or development issue, rather than one of the three Northern regions. This is because most of these migrant females are avoiding poverty and hardship, as is characteristic of all migration patterns where people migrate to places where there are more abundant resources. It is only when a holistic approach is adopted in solving the issue that the problem will be completely eradicated or brought to its barest minimum.

The committee also suggested that a more thorough national survey be conducted on the phenomenon, and the ministry has also been urged to draw up a framework aimed at identifying funding sources that can be approached for support.

The MPs also urged government to implement the Children’s Act to ensure children are not used in the kayayie trade.

Ignatuis Baffour Awuah, the Member of Parliament for Sunyani West stated: “To address this, we should take the issue of girl-child education very seriously. The more the girl stays in school, she will hardly go into the kayayei business”.

“The ministry needs to find ways to build the capacity of these girls so they become useful citizens to the nation,” said Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, MP for Tamale Central.

According to the committee’s chairperson, some of the longer-term solutions include the creation of shelters in the three Northern regions, in the form of skills development centres to house these young migrants.

The committee also stated that government should resource the regions and provide infrastructure in the three northern regions to discourage migration. “The rice industry in Northern Ghana should be revamped to attract most of the youth who migrate to the south into rice production.”