The Project Officer at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Enock Jengre has called on the government to enforce the Beggars and Destitute Act 1969(NLCD 392) to halt children being used as beggars on the streets.
He said, sometimes it is very worrying to see children begging on the streets.
According to him, research conducted by the Centre on child beggars in the Ashanti region discovered that there some adults were behind the act.
He noted that those profiteers, according to the study, coached the children on how to beg and later collect the monies they get from them.
“Is very worrying to note that, the money does not go to the children but their profiteers”
He said, “The government must enforce the law that prevents children from engaging in begging”.
Enock Jengre made the call in an interview with Kingdom FM’s Antwi Boasiako after the centre offered a one-day training workshop for some selected 15 persons who were trained as paralegals in Kumasi.
Participants were selected from four districts in the Region; Asante Mampong, Kumasi Metro, Effiduase and Kwabre East (Mampoteng).
The training is part of the ongoing 3-year project by the Legal Resources Centre with support from European Union that seeks to train paralegals across the country on family welfare and juvenile justice to enable them to effectively prevent and protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
The workshop was themed “Justice For Children: Bridging The Gap Between Legislation and Practice”.
A private legal practitioner, Clarke Noyoru, who sensitized the participants through the project training manual pleaded with the Legal Aid Commission to intensify its public education so that Ghanaians will get to know that they can access legal services even if they don’t have money.
He said, “It is very worrying that, sometimes children are taken to court without lawyers meanwhile there is legal Aid Scheme”
He appealed that, children who come into conflict with the law should have access to the free legal services.
“So the project seeks to expand the Legal Aids Scheme project which is being done by the state and other private entity by ensuring that we provide legal services to children’, he reiterated.
Source: https://www.kingdomfmonline.com/2019/08/02/9282/
