Know your rights and responsibilities – Weija-Gbawe vagrants told

Vagrants within the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly have been charged to be abreast of their rights and be responsible citizens.

“Rights go with responsibilities, so as we are teaching you your rights, be mindful that you have responsibilities too,” George Asekere, a legal practitioner with Crime Check Foundation, told a group of vagrants at a ‘decriminalizing vagrancy laws advocacy’ project held at the assembly on July,1,2021.

A vagrant is a person without a settled home or work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging or hawking on the streets.

The participants were drawn from 15 electoral areas in the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly (WGMA).

They included traders’ unions, ‘hawkers’, waste managers, landlords, and hairdressers.

“The project has come about because of the draconian District Assemblies bylaws, which appear to have sent poor people into prison and continue to oppress the poor,” Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, Executive Director of Crime Check Foundation, said in an interview with theghanareport.com.

Dr Asekere stressed the need for the assembly to live up to its responsibilities.

According to him, there cannot be true leadership and development if the assembly is shedding its roles.

“Where lies the moral rights to arrest vagrants when you have not done your part of the bargain,” he quizzed.

The project is being implemented by the crime prevention organization, Crime Check Foundation (CCF), in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Project Duration

The one-year project from May 2021 to May 2022 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,” said Kwarteng.

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 center will be created after the sensitization to address the concerns of vagrants at the partnering organization, Crime Check Foundation.

According to Mr. Kwarteng, the police will also be engaged to monitor the progress of the project.