Decriminalization of vagrancy laws project launched in Accra
A project to advocate the decriminalization of vagrancy laws in Ghana has been launched in Accra on Friday, May 28, 2021.
Chairing the launch, former Executive Director of Local Government Studies, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, reiterated the need to decriminalize poverty in Ghana.
She admitted that it was imperative to create the enabling environment for vagrants to know, claim and exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
According to her, oftentimes, vagrants are associated with criminal activities.
“Vagrancy and truancy are not in themselves considered to be criminal, but because the concept has been so vague and elastic, it has been open to interpretation and discretion,” she noted.
She acknowledged the importance of the project as it seeks to partner with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
“It is imperative that MMDAs clarify their social agenda, especially because there is the level of government that most people in their day to day activities come into contact with,” she added.
On his part, Executive Director of crime prevention organization, Crime Check Foundation, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, stressed the need to scrap vagrancy laws.
He posited that poverty and ignorance were the key reasons many citizens violate the laws.
“Citizens who violate Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) bye-laws related to sanitation and traffic offences and are unable to pay fines imposed on them are jailed in the effort of the assemblies to keep the cities and towns clean and safe,” he said.
At the same time, he criticised authorities for their inability to provide shelter for vagrants.
“A lot of the Assemblies have failed on their mandate to provide places of convenience, dustbins for the citizenry,” he stressed.
Insisting on the need to have an alternative sentencing regime in Ghana, Oppong-Kwarteng referred to a ruling by the African Court on Human and People’s Rights which indicated that vagrancy laws that tend to affect mainly the poor contravene the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other international Human Rights Instruments that Ghana has ratified.
The project, according to him, thrives on promoting human rights and the general well-being of citizens.
He added that the project was not to incite vagrants against local assemblies but to reduce the harsh repercussions of these bye-laws on ordinary citizens.
“Some of the MMDAs we have engaged have admitted the need to review some of their laws.”
” We appeal to them to caution their task force to desist from assaulting these vagrants,” he said.
About the Project
With the increasing number of inmates in Ghana’s prisons, crime prevention organization Crime Check Foundation (CCF) has partnered with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) to advocate the annulment of vagrancy laws.
The project seeks to decriminalize poverty.
Project Duration
The one-year project will be rolled out in 12 metropolitan assemblies in three regions: Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Central.
“We have begun with the mapping, and we are engaging with the various district assemblies in the selected regions and the leadership of vagrants”.
The project will sensitize 1200 vagrants about their rights and responsibilities to prevent any misunderstandings with the assemblies.
“In order not to seem as we are inciting vagrants against the district assemblies and the central government, we will also educate them about their duties as patriotic citizens,” he added.
Monitoring and Evaluation
To monitor the progress and effectiveness of the project, a contact centre will be created after the sensitization to address the concerns of vagrants at the partnering organization, Crime Check Foundation.
The project will run from May 2021 to May 2022.