NALAG, Gender Ministry to eliminate streetism
The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) maintains that the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) must see streetism as an affront to development, especially in a developing country like Ghana.
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In so doing, NALAG is collaborating with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to eliminate the menace of streetism.
Addressing NALAG members at its first meeting in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, the General Secretary of NALAG, Mr Kokro Amankwa, said the association was quickening efforts to cement the collaboration with the ministry on streetism.
He said the nationwide organisation and mouthpiece of all local authorities in the country had noted that there were a number of children abandoned and others spending almost all their time in the streets and in cities, particularly Accra and Kumasi.
For that reason, he said, it behoved MMDAs to deal with the situation which had become an albatross around the neck of governments.
Ratification of African Charter
Mr Amankwa said being in office for a few months, NALAG members must be ignited to come up with ways to tackle streetism.
He said the African Charter, 2005 on Human and People’s Right had been ratified and Ghana, through the MMDAs, could not afford to let streetism continue to plague the nation.
He noted that if not tackled in a strategic way, the menace would breed abuse of children in many parts of the country.
He also noted that the provisions of the Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560) frowned on streetism and urged all MMDAs to embrace streetism as a challenge and provide the possible panacea without delay.
Pledge of support
The Dean of 30 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the Ashanti Region, Mr Joseph Owusu (aka Odenkyem), on behalf of the MMDCEs pledged their support for the fight against streetism in the various MMDAs.
Also as DCE for Sekyere Afram Plains, he said as NALAG members, the MMDCEs were committed to joining hands with anybody who yearned for the development of the country, especially in the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration.