MMDCEs Must Act On Rising Street Begging - Muntaka

Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, says the increasing number of beggars on major streets in the country is partly due to the inaction of some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

According to him, some MMDCEs are failing to effectively carry out their responsibilities in addressing public safety and security concerns within their jurisdictions.

Speaking at a meeting with security heads and other stakeholders, the Minister said his biggest headache with the beggar menace is the inaction of the MMDAs.

"Our biggest headache with the beggars is coming from the inactions of the MMDAs, MMDCs," he said.

He questioned why local authorities see beggars on their streets daily but fail to take action.

"You wake up to go to work and you see all these beggars on your street and you still go to the office and sit and work and go back home, you see them on the street and you don't say anything, you don't do anything. You expect, oh this is the work of Immigration," he said.

Muntaka said begging has become a business and MMDCEs are better placed to provide intelligence on those shielding and facilitating the beggars.

"It is you who will be able to help us with the intel as to who and who they are, the actors who are shielding them," he told the MMDCEs.

He added that it costs the state for national security operatives to have to move from Accra to conduct operations in the regions, which should have been handled locally.

"I always tell the regional commanders, the police regional commanders and the BNI and all the others that if there is an operation that is being run from the secretariat by the National Security Coordinator into your region, what it simply means is that you have failed," the Minister stated.

He therefore charged MMDCEs to be more proactive in dealing with street begging and other security issues in their areas, noting that they cannot sit aloof while such activities fester.