Experts say the main cause of this act are mostly financial negligence, ignorance, apathy and above all lack of legislature which is making the fight to tackle the problem rather difficult. Everyday at the various entry points to Accra and some of the major cities of Ghana there is an influx of youth trooping in from all over the towns and villages to the cities. Some of them complain of poverty, abuse, persecution including many others wile others are forced into marriages as young as 14 years of age. Others talk of being given to fetish priests and priestesses to appease the gods and clean the sins committed by their fore fathers or parents. Some of these kids are surprisingly as young as 10 years old. This system is popularly known as the trokosi system. What justifications have anyone to blame a child on matters that he/she has no hands in? Those who get the chance escape to the cities in search of non-existence jobs whiles others are lured into the cities by their friends. No wonder our cities have become crowded of late likewise the rural areas gotten empty.
Recently a report was conducted by some organizations into the state of poverty in the northern regions of Ghana. I must say the findings were shocking! In the report it was realized that up to 90 percent of all the people living in the upper east and upper west regions of Ghana lived in abject poverty. Not even the steady influx of young women from the northern region of Ghana who try to make a living by carrying heavy head loads of a pittance in wages sometimes getting raped and other times getting robbed of their meager earnings. There is lack of educational infrastructure and other basic necessities to educate the people. This has also contributed to the rapid influx of youth from the other parts of the country to some of the major cities like Kumasi and Accra. Youth from this part of Ghana engage in jobs which are dangerous to their health than the money they make but what choice do they have if they really want to survive. They sleep on pavements by the streets and at market places and misfit shelters for a fee without toilet and bathroom facilities. They are constantly suffering at the hands of armed robbers and rapists.
Bintu is a 16 years old girl from the northern part of Ghana who escaped to Accra to avoid been married to a 38 years old man at the age of 13 years. When she arrived in the city she hadn’t the slightest idea of where she had come to. She had to sleep on the street for three days till she was spotted by a lady who queried her and promised her to take care of her and thus sent her home. She was constantly being abused, beaten and made to sleep without food if nature did not side with her to make enough sales. She is now living at Makola, a major market square where she has met some of her friends from her village all because of the way she was being maltreated by the so called lady helper.
Back home some of these children's plight are worsened by the constant ethnic and chieftaincy disputes. Public schools in such places are poorly funned and staffed. Teachers who are posted to these regions refuse to go to such places because of the state of health and other conditions. Some parents in these regions also refuse to send their wards to school. Rather they are made to work as farm helps on their father’s farms. With the high rate of poverty survival is the prime focus and not education in this part of our country. Family planning is virtually non-existing in this part of the country. Ignorance and high birth rates among the people who think having lots of children is a blessing. Nevertheless people get good names for giving birth to more people in the family and further on use them as labourers on the farms. Children in these regions are malnourished and sometimes walk a distance of about 10 kilometers if they get the chance to go to school. They usually go bare foot; their classrooms are debilitated buildings that are built out of mud and roofed with grass by the serious communities. You will be shocked to know that some even learn under trees. Others from other surroundings are not much different from those in the north. Only that their conditions get better as they approach the cities.
The Ashanti region and the greater Accra regions have the highest influx of youth trooping in from the surrounding towns and villages. Some come in with high hopes of making it real big in the cities. Some of them have been deceived in believing that acre and these other major cities hold the keys to economic freedom. Thus they come with false hopes and enthusiasm to make them rich which eventually is not true. The best time to see these people is at dawn when they are fast asleep on pavements, in the market squares and others who are lucky inn debilitated kiosks standing along the street. These groups of people fall prey to gangsters, armed-robbers and other drug addicts.
Akwesi about a month ago was proudly living with his poor family on the farm in the outskirt of the village. As he recollects he was back then he always had three square meals a day and a place to lay his head. One Sunday afternoon a friend he had not seen for quite a long time came for a visit. His friend was smartly dressed with all those fine ornaments one yearned for. Akwesi saw his friend Tieku as one of the most magnificent guys who came back to the village to dish out money like they did not work for it. Tieku really boasted and lied to Akwesi that he was working with a reputable company in the city and that the salary he received could cater for all his needs. After being persuaded by his friend Akwesi left with Tieku to the city. On reaching the city, Akwesi realized his friend slept in a debilitated kiosk. Akwesi poured torrents of insults on his friend which yielded no results. His friend retorted by saying that he was free to journey back to the village. He had no choice than to side with his friend since he would be disgraced when he returns to the village. Two years after Akwesi left the village he owed not a single property to boast of. The worse part is that he has joined a group who deal in hard drugs and is now a drug addict. His state of health is gradually deteriorating as he has become addicted to one of the most popularly known drug: Indian hemp. All over the developing countries there are familiar and worse situations than what we are telling you now. The question we will ask is that where are we going as human beings? Until attitudes and our mentality change there is no way forward for us and we will continue to have problems in the future. We will end by saying that ignorance and negligence our major maniac should be eschewed at all levels to make a better change in our society.
Written by:
RASHID ZUBERU
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