STREET BEGGING

...Street begging is the practice of imploring others to grant a favour often a gift of money with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A cursory look at the street, traffic light and intersections in our cities reveals a disturbing phenomenon, an overwhelming rise in the population of beggars. So visible are those beggars in our street in recent times that one will agree with the fact that street begging is booming a potential threat to our societal fabric and the idea of self reliance in our nation. Some are carried to their point of begging, others come on crotches or are aided by walking sticks.   Now there are innovators amongst them who play music or sing whilst begging. This is done to draw attention which may compel people or sympathizers to give them money. A ten minute drive on the street of Accra reveals persons of both sexes, ages, all forms of disabilities and others without any kind of physical deformity or challenge along the street begging for alms in polite and sometimes a rather aggressive way.There are also the mentally challenged who beg for alms, some rather menacingly or aggressively. Gone are the days when begging was perceived to be done by people who in one way or the other had physical challenges and were not capable of working to fend for themselves. Today, the trend has changed as some young and energetic persons, instead of working to cater for themselves, now see begging as the most convenient and surest way of making money. We normally see some white-skinned African immigrants sitting under shades and sending their children to beg for money. For this group, the least said about them the better. The other category of persons who sees begging as a means to survive belongs to the class of the physically-handicapped who as a result of societal neglect have no option than to depend on other people for their daily bread. Let us use this channel to examine the perception or the understanding of the Islam and Christianity about giving and begging for alms. The Bible refutes laziness and therefore says, "For also when we were with you we enjoined you this, that if any man does not like to work, neither let him eat." The Christian's belief in giving which is captured in 1 Timothy 6:18-19,which says, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." The Qur'an (30:39) states: "That which you give in usury for increases through the property of (other) people, will have no increase with Allah: but that which you give for charity, seeking the Countenance of Allah; it is those who will get a recompense multiplied." Muslims believe that "Begging is similar to scratching the flesh off your face; so if someone wants to save his face he should avoid it, except for asking from the ruler or asking in case of dire need.". Therefore the Muslim must not beg unless in extreme situations where life and honour is at risk. This goes a long way to show that in as much as both religions believe in giving they also frown on laziness and those who depend solely on begging. Now the question we have to evaluate is; is street begging a livelihood or a nuisance? Some of the stories we gathered from a hand full beggars on some streets in Accra are as follows; Wisdom Gbormegbe is a 50 year-old farmer, who lives in a village in the Volta Region with his wife and five children. He was taken ill and within that same period he lost three of his children. He later became paralyzed and found it difficult to farm. Gbormegbe therefore resolved to come to the capital city to sit on the streets of Accra and sing for money. He sits on the bare floor of the pedestrian pavement at the traffic lights near the National Theatre playing the conga amidst singing and by doing this, people who pass by give him money. Could it be because of the beautiful songs he sings, the art of playing the musical instrument or out of pity for a man who is disabled yet sits on a hot bare floor in the scorching sun struggling to survive?To Gbormegbe, he believes that he is not a beggar but rather a singer who gets paid for services rendered. When asked if he had any knowledge of the Association of the Physically Challenged People, he said he did not know anything about it. All that he seeks is a wheel chair to make his work less stressful in terms of moving from the house to his post. Kofi Anim who used to be a coconut seller in a little town in Akyem in the Ashanti Region, after his mother died, he came to Accra to seek greener pastures because he normally sees most of his friends who travel to Accra , come back home with a lot of money and property. He was a cobbler when he first arrived in Accra but the tools for the shoe making job were stolen by his friends and he decided to hunt for another job. That was when his friend introduced him to some blind people who lived behind the Accra Central Police Station, where he met Kwame Anani, a blind beggar who employed Kofi to take him on his daily rounds in the streets of Accra . According to Kofi, the street job is very productive compared to shoe making because by begging they make up to GH¢ 15.00 a day which is split into three parts. He is given one-third and he looks forward to getting about GH¢ 300 so he can return to his hometown and start a little business for himself and marry an iced water seller in Accra who is expecting his child. On the other hand, Kwame Anani, the blind employer of Kofi said he lived in Swedru in the Central Region. He was being catered for by his mother but when she died his uncle sacked him from the house and took away the land he inherited. He therefore comes to Accra on week days to beg for money and returns to Swedru at the weekend to be with his family. Thomas Adongo who claims he 45 years and blind from birth, comes from Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. He used to weave doormats back in his hometown but the business started to collapse so he decided to move to Accra with his 14 year old son, Anahor for greener pastures.  He planned on being a teacher for the blind when he got to Accra but circumstances in the city did not allow him. He then opted for begging with the help of his son on the streets of Accra. Whereas, his son’s desire is to go back to school and become a civilian one day. Now, Adongo and his son are saving from the little money they get, to return to their hometown since they realised that the big city is not as rosy as they have thought. Another beggar whom we interrogated was Alhaji Musah,48year, from Niger. He is a beggar who is not deformed and has been begging for three years. He started begging from Zongo in the Ashanti region and tater move to Accra central to continue. Surprisingly, Alhaji Musah is so content with his life and he does not plan on going to Niger anytime soon. Meli,36, from a small town in Wa, Upper East, is another not deformed beggar with three children. She has been begging for four months now after her husband, a former rice farmer died almost three years ago. Aside begging, she has no other job. All she desires for now is a little help from the government to start a trade which can help her cater for her kids. Another is Osei from the Ashanti region who has been for almost two years after he lost his parents. He wants to be a writer someday and therefore appeals to the government to assist him get there. He was so shy and so refused to tell us his age. Joseph,41, another beggar has been begging for 11years. He went to Nigeria during the civil war. Unfortunately, he had both his arms cut off.. His wife left him and his children after this incident. Now his kids are being catered b y relatives. All he wants is a little money to start a business. Aside these beggars, we also questioned some kids who assist some of these deformed beggars; Emmanuel, 13,who comes from Japei in the Northern region. He has been in Accra for four years now but have no option but to assist a beggar, Grace. He also said the blind woman he is assisting is his aunty who is using the money they get to support her son who is in the nursing training. All he wants is to go to a technical school and train as a mechanic. Another child is Christiana, a ten year old who ended her previous education in primary class two. She comes from Bolgatanga in the Upper East region where she was living with her mother but later eloped with her grandmother to Accra after being accused of witchcraft. She her grandmother who is now blind in begging which she uses to take care of her children’s school items. When Christiana was asked what she wants, she said she wants to go back to school and become a fashion designer one day. Another intriguing child is Albert, 12, who is assisting his father in begging. He also comes from Bolgatanga . They have been in Accra just for a year and their reason for being here is that there is too much poverty at home. When Albert was asked what he wants the government to do for him, he said the government should help him acquire some skills in craft making so that he can go back home to explore this skills Out of the fifteen beggars we talked to, most of them have similar stories an dout of these fifteen, one is from the Volta region, four are from the Ashanti region, three are from the Northern region, one is from Niger and the rest from the Upper East region, Bolgatanga. This clearly shows that most of the beggars we find on our streets are mostly from the Northern part of Ghana and they all complained of one major factor which the country is still facing-poverty. Hence we recommend that the government step in to help identify, analyse and solve any cause of this canker. All pictures are culled from google.