Features
Beggars in the City: Civic Responsibility vrs Religious Obligation
One cannot help but notice that in recent years there have been increased activities of beggars on the principal streets of major cities (Accra, Kumasi, Tamale etc.) in the country. Arguably Accra has been the leader in the activities of beggars in the country.
In Ghana begging is prohibited by law. Thus, Section 2 of the Beggars and Destitutes Act, 1969 (N.L.C.D. 392), makes begging a criminal offence. A person who is found begging, wandering, or who is on any premises or place to beg may be arrested by a police officer without a warrant. A person arrested for begging is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding GH₵1,800.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three (3) months or to both the fine and the imprisonment. However, the above prohibition does not apply to a person who is soliciting or receiving alms under a religious custom or the custom of a community or for a public charitable purpose or organized entertainment and a juvenile that is a person under the age of seventeen (17) years(Section 2(3)(4) of N.LC.D 392). Additionally, Section 6 of N.L.C.D 392 provides that a person found wandering about and unable to provide evidence of having a settled place of abode or employment, visible and sufficient means of subsistence, ora defective found neglected or abandoned shall be deemed to be destitute.
Notwithstanding the above express prohibition of begging in Ghana, the activities of beggars have gradually increased in some parts of the country over the period. Lead in this trend is the influx of migrant beggars from some parts of West Africa who most often uses children as their tool for begging. Due to the socioeconomic status of the country and the cost involved in enforcing this law on begging, the government of Ghana most often turns a blind eye to the activities of these beggars. This has emboldened these beggars to expand their activities as well as recruit more people into this venture.
Over the years, I have encountered these seven categories of beggars on the streets of Accra; I describe them by their status and the way they operate.
First is the “Professional Beggars”, these are mostly able-bodied people who have made up their minds they will beg as a source of livelihood. These people love begging, they enjoy begging, and they don’t want to do any other thing in life than to beg.I dare say that even if you attempt to help them secure decent jobs or set up businesses for them, they will still go back to begging. Some of these beggars believe their religion sanctions the giving of alms thus they must make themselves available for others to give the malms (one may argue that this is allowed under Section 2(3) of the Beggars and Destitutes Act).
The second is “Lying Beggars” this category of beggars may also be “Professional Beggars”. In addition to being “Professional Beggars”, they have mastered the art of begging by carefully crafting emotionally blackmailing stories full of lies. These beggars mostly come up with stories of needing financial assistance for medication, , hospital bills, food, and transportation among others. One will think that but for their needs, they wouldn’t be begging. However, this is just a scheme they use to solicit financial assistance from sympathetic people.
The third is “Circumstantial Beggars” these are mostly physically challenged people who due to unfortunate circumstances are unable to engage in any decent jobs or business ventures hence they resort to begging. Arguably if not for their physical challenges some of them may not be on the street begging.
The fourth is “Aggressive Beggars”.This category of beggars mostly resorts to the use of verbal or physical abuse to compel their targeted individual to give them money. Most often they get offended and use abusive words on an individual if they ask for money politely and the said individual refuses them. They may also physically restrain you in the street by grabbing your hand, holding your dress or bag among others just to compel you by the discomfort to give them money.
The fifth is “CasualBeggars” these are able-bodied people who are not Professional Beggars. However, from time to time these people resort to begging to augment their income from whatever business activities they may be engaged in. This category can also be referred to as “Occasional Beggars”.
The sixth category of beggars in the city is “Need-Based Beggars”. These are people that beg on the street because a need has arisen in their lives that they don’t have any means of taking care of the said need other than begging. These beggars usually have a genuine need that must be attended to, but they don’t have the financial muscle to do so all by themselves. Most often once the said need is met, they stop begging and undertake their normal activities devoid of begging on the street.
The seventh is “ChildBeggars”.These are children below the age of seventeen (17) years that are mostly used by “Professional Beggars” as a mechanism to undertake their begging activities. This category of beggars has been introduced in recent years by the influx of migrant beggars from some parts of West Africa. These children cling on to individuals on the street just to collect money from them whilst their parent/guardian relaxes under a shade supervising their activities. Most children under Section 2(4) of the Beggars and Destitutes Act and Section 18(g) of the Children’s Act, 1998 (560)(as amended) would not be held criminally responsible for begging. However, it is a criminal offence to use children as a mechanism to undertake begging activities. Such an act is deemed as exploitative child labour under Section 87 of the Children’s Act.
Note that the above categories of beggars are not mutually exclusive as there may be some beggars that fall within two or more of the above categories. There may also be another group of beggars I have not encountered who may operate differently from the ones I have identified above.
Section 5 0f the Beggars and Destitutes Act provides that a person who permits or encourages another person to commit an offence under Section 2 may be arrested by a police officer without a warrant. The person is liable on conviction to a fine not exceedingGH₵1,800.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three (3) months or to both the fine and the imprisonment. The question is does an individual commit an offence of encouraging another person to beg by giving alms to a beggar?if so, why do a lot of people still gives to beggars despite the possibility of suffering these penalties if arrested?
Most religions globally believe in giving to the needy in society. Also, our sociocultural orientation as Ghanaians encourages the giving of alms to the needy in our communities. As such it is not surprising that a lot of people give to these categories of beggars identified above when they encounter them on the street without hesitation. If you are a Christian believer like me, you might seek solace in Mathew 5:42 ESV which admonishes us to “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you”. If you are a Muslim, you might draw inspiration from one of Islam’s pillars, Zakat which is alms giving or charity. Whatever your reason for giving to those who beg on the street, there is always a contrast between adhering to your religious beliefs and your civic duty not to encourage beggars on the street by giving alms to them.
Let me conclude with my most recent encounter with a beggar: on 25th May 2022, I went to Madina (a suburb of Accra) in the morning to purchase some items. I had to use the footbridge at Madina Zongo Junction to crossover to the other side of the street because the store I was going to was on the opposite side of the direction I came. Midway through my journey on that “anaconda size” footbridge, I was approached by a decently dressed fair lady. She had in her hand a placard with the inscription “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew11:28-30NIV. When we got close to each other, she asked me to read the inscription on the placard which I did. Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored her, but as religious as I am, I had to respect the carrier of the gospel of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, I paused and decided to listen to her share the gospel with me.
What was she trying to do? your guess is as good as mine.She was not trying to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to me but only to use the inscription on the placard as a means to get my attention. She started with a story about how she inadvertently stepped into someone’s “black magic” at Takoradi, which got her leg swollen, because of that, she was bedridden for six(6) months and had to undergo a series of surgical operations before she got back on her feet. Since the incident, she had lost her job and she had to undergo the final surgical procedure to bring her leg back to normal. She then proceeded to say she was raising money for the surgery, and I should give her GH₵20.00 to support her cause. I told her I didn’t have a GH₵20.00 note to give to her. From the inconsistencies in her storyline, I could sense she was lying. Also, she was wearing a long skirt, and clearly, I wouldn’t even dare to ask to see the leg. She then negotiated downward and said I could give her any amount, even if it was GH₵5.00 or GH₵1.00. For her not to waste my time further, I gave her a GH₵10.00 note.
After this encounter with this lady, who is a “Professional Lying Beggar”, I met her at that same spot on the Madina Zongo Junction footbridge attempting to catch my attention with the same strategy. That was a couple of weeks after my first encounter with her.
In light of the above encounter, I leave you with these questions: How do we religious people balance our beliefs in giving alms on one hand? On the other hand, as patriotic citizens, our civic duty is not to encourage this social nuisance that is gradually taking over the principal streets of our major cities. What must the government working through its ministries, departments and agencies do to reduce, if not irradicate this social nuisance that is engulfing our major cities.
Autor:
The writer is a Legal Practitioner
Email: barnabas.abisa@gmail.com
Features
Cocaine and human anatomy
The Journey to London is not an easy one when you’re carrying a pot-belly.
And, if the pot-belly is a fake one, then the carrier must face indictment and explain why his protruding belly must not be properly examined to determine the degree of genuine cargo in it.
As it were, some pot-bellies have been carefully cultivated through regular beer quaffing, reinforced by the evil of indulging in khebab chomping. When you drink beer every day for five years, you are bound to lose your soul, and in its place will be a brewery installed in your belly. It is, however, an honour to have a brewery as a body-part.
And when you are going to London, the immigration officer can readily recognise your belly as one that has either a bubra-background, a star-origin or a club-destination. Immigration officers are now trained to prophesy.
The immigration man is generally interested in bellies, not for the sake of it, but because stomachs have become multi-functional these days.
Yes, the immigration officer is often curious why a belly well examined does not bear the tell-tale marks of beer addiction and yet, the belly carrier also doesn’t sound a likely host to refugee worms. So what is in the belly? Five months pregnancy?
SUSPICION
Normally, a suspicious immigration officer must be careful how he handles the belly of travelling men. With some men, their pot-bellies are their only treasure. So they tell you to handle with care!
“Don’t mess up with my belly, men!” a traveller would say. “Do you know how many goddamn years it took me to build this?”
Apart from belly size, immigration capos also use a bit of psychology. When a man comes by unduly agitated and wants to hurry small through, he is a likely candidate for close examination. His huge belly has no guilder antecedents! What he has inside is dangerous cargo- cocaine or heroin carefully packaged and swallowed.
If the plane doesn’t land quickly at Heathrow for the carrier to discharge, then an obituary becomes inevitable. The digestive juices in the belly and ensymes might be strong enough to digest the covering and leak out cocaine. Death is assured!
So the agitated traveller is chaperoned into a little side room and questioned. The officer would like to know whether there is any drug in his alimentary system.
“Nonsense!” the traveller would cry out. “I am a final year doctorate student in Law. To suggest that I’m a cocaine smuggler is an affront to my noble academic pursuits. It is blasphemous to the God I worship. I am going to see my lawyer to deal with you…”
LABOUR
When the man mellows down, he is given something small to drink to cool his heart. Sooner than expected he begins behaving like a woman in labour, He dis-charges pellets of cocaine, 60 or more.
So suddenly, a man studying for his doctorate in Jurisprudence at Oxford suddenly admits that he is a cocaine courier extraordinaire.
Sometime past, drug smuggling was at its real peak and cocaine seized on couriers suddenly turned into sugar when it came back from forensic examination. So you would wonder why any person in his right senses would either be stuffing his rectum with sugar packages or swallowing pellets of sugar.
Many drug barons were released because cocaine suddenly became granulated sugar, heroin became cocoa powder and various drugs miraculously assumed harm-less chemical formulae. Today, I do not think such miracles are still happening.
However, there are miracles as far as drug smuggling is concerned. First, the baby nappy method of the early 1980s is still in operation. A baby is carried with a wet napkin that immigration officers would not suspect contains coke. Sometimes it is not only wet, but the baby’s pooh-pooh also shows.
Now, the new trick is with snails, a delicacy that people need in Britain. They are stuffed with coke and exported. The yam formula has outlived its usefulness. So people have gone back to the late 1970 crude method of stuffing female genitals and taflatse rectums with coke.
This has necessitated the forcible examination of the orifices of the human anatomy in any event of suspicion.
Now if the stuff is not detected at Kotoka International Airport that might not be the end of the story. When the courier gets to Britain and he is or she starts dancing without being asked to, the immigration guys know that there’s “something in the soup.”
Fact is, every item or substance introduced into the human body must evict after some hours. That is why human waste doesn’t stay in there forever. It must exit compulsorily.
After flying for six hours the swallowed cargo in the belly starts to exit and it must be pushed back, a task that is well-nigh impossible under immigration scrutiny. So the courier becomes overly agitated and starts hissing like a snake. Soon he (or she) must start dancing, hoping that it would prevent the capsules from dropping out.
TRUTH
The African belly dancer is politely invited to enter into small room to free himself from further alimentary torment. That is the moment of truth.
There is no easy way to making money. With drugs, you could earn 30-years in jail. Saudi Arabia, you’ll be beheaded. In Singapore, you’ll be in for life just like in Thailand where Ghanaians are languishing today. Beware of drugs!
This article was first published
on Saturday August 6, 2005
Features
The Prophet (part 11)
Priscilla had gone away. She needed to pay an old debt, and the creditor had promised to visit violence on her whole family if she didn’t pay the GH¢700 by 8pm. Another woman was waiting in the other bedroom. He was about to join her when the voices started.
“You are here already?” Antubam said. “You deserted me completely as I went through the ordeal this morning.”
“Your own stubbornness got you into that situation. You must never approach those book people again. Do not get into any argument with them. Enjoy the money, the power and the women we have given you. You can never win.”
“And what about the man, Gidigidi.”
“The stick will give you all the protection you need. He talks a lot, and he likes fighting. But as you told him, he has no brains.”
“I need people to help me. The two girls were reliable, but they are gone. All the others are thieves.”
“They are thieves? And what are you? Remember that in the business you have chosen, there are many risks and dangers. We will try to help you. But you are very greedy’.
“The girl, Betty, told me that I will receive punishment sooner or later for deceiving people and for using the name of God. Is it true? Can you help me avoid this punishment?”
“Don’t worry about any punishment. Leave everything to us. We will give you all the protection you need. And by the way, the fetish priestess has made a request to Nana Kofi Broni to release you to her one day every month to keep her company.”
“That must be a very big joke. I will never, never again sleep with that old drunkard with rotten teeth. Never.’’
“She has already presented drinks at the shrine. If you don’t go, we are under instructions to fly you there by five o’clock and take you back home by six o’clock. If you don’t obey, your manhood will vanish and never return’.
“Have you people come to help me or torment me? Why can’t you find someone else to satisfy the old witch’s desires?”
“Next time you say such a thing again you will receive more lashes than you did last time. Start preparing for Sunday’s service. You are about to become the most popular prophet in Ghana.” The voices seized, and a strange silence seized the atmosphere.
Antubam was perplexed. What, he wondered, had he gotten himself into? He only wanted to grab that beautiful girl, Betty, marry her and have five or six beautiful children with her. But his desire for that girl seemed to have released a chain of confusing events.
Apart from the fiasco at the shrine for which he had to go and perform pacification rites at the shrine, he was compelled to have sex with that stinking old priestess. Her mirrors couldn’t bring up the image of Betty, yet she blackmailed him into having sex with her. And now the dwarfs want him to make that repulsive act a monthly ritual.
How annoying. But could he afford to lose his manhood? What would he do with the regular supply of two women a day? And how could he give birth to children? And what was he going to do with the threat from that fool of a competitor, Gidigidi? The stick provided by the Okomfo saved him on that occasion, but what would happen when he was eating, having a shower, or sleeping?
And now the dwarfs claim he was about to become one of the most popular prophets in Ghana. He was thrilled at the prospect. It meant more money, more power and control over people’s lives, and of course, more women. But at what cost? At the back of his mind, he felt an urge to go to Betty, confess everything to her, and ask her to help him start all over.
It was clear, Antubam thought, that a power far greater than Nana Kofi Broni was behind Betty. From their own mouths, the Okomfo, the stinking priestess and even the dwarfs had all indicated that Betty and her ‘book’ were too much for them.
But did it make sense to go to a girl you badly want to subdue and, having failed to achieve your aim, now go to her for help? How could a proud man like Kofi Antubam go through that? No, the cost of going to Betty was too high. He would continue to enjoy being a false prophet for now. Perhaps, if he got into trouble sometime in the future, he would go to her for help. But as for now, the show must go on.
Betty and Mary started work with Morrison Construction, and established a relationship that continued for many years. Completely satisfied with their honesty and hard work, Mr Morrison entrusted the acquisition and supply of materials in the Eastern Region to them, and concentrated on the other aspects of his work.
He paid for their admission to the University of Technology to undertake a sandwich programme in building construction, which they did online and on some weekends. They forgot about Antubam completely.
Kofi Antubam continued in the church business for many years. He became very popular for his miracles, and for several other things. On a few occasions police were called to the church premises to control his assistants who often exchanged blows over the sharing of money.
Quite a number of husbands confronted him for destroying their marriages, and he became known for raining insults on radio callers who asked him ‘stupid questions’. But he faced his main problem at home.
At first, he was only dealing with dwarfs who only spoke in shrill voices. But over time, all manner of creatures appeared before him, physically and during his sleep. On several occasions he tried to call or go to Betty, but the dwarfs restrained him. He sought solace in whisky and gin, and quietly hoped that Betty, or Mary, or Suzzie, would find a way to save him.
“That must be a very big joke. I will never, never again sleep with that old drunkard with rotten teeth. Never.’’
By Ekow de Heer
