homelessness in ghana
Homelessness in Ghana: Who to Blame?
My eye caught sight of something; I peered at it and decided it was a bundle of clothes. However I couldn’t bring to tear my eyes away and upon further investigation I realized the bundle of clothes were human beings, a sea of human beings.
My mum said’’ can’t you see their heads, jutting out of the plastic sheath that covers them as the rain pelts them at this ungodly hour of the night in Accra?
“Yes I can. But don’t they have homes? Why do they sleep on the streets?”For such people each day is just another day to endure and survive. This homeless condition can be attributed to a variety of factors with attendant consequences.
To begin with, irresponsible parenting is one of the causes of homelessness. In Ghana many people have more family members than they can cater for. Six years ago, I lived in a compound house at Adum, a suburb in Kumasi, with a couple and their six children. Both parents were unemployed and due to this situation, they could not care for their children. These children were always at the mercy of their parent. They were constantly beaten any time they complained of hunger. Not only that, they were poorly clad and had nowhere to lay their cutie heads. If you were in their shoes, what would you do? The best option for them was to take refuge in the street. So the street has now become their permanent abode. Who, therefore, is to blame for this unfortunate situation? Their parents! In addition to this, bad economic policies that impoverish parents and citizens, for that matter, is another major cause of homelessness in Ghana. Bogus economic policies of various governments, both present and past, have exacerbated this problem. Currently Ghana has a housing deficit of 1,000,000 units. This number is needed to depopulate urban units from 10.6 to a household occupancy rate of 7. Is it therefore surprising that many people are homeless in Ghana? At present, there is a plan in place to build 200,000
My eye caught sight of something; I peered at it and decided it was a bundle of clothes. However I couldn’t bring to tear my eyes away and upon further investigation I realized the bundle of clothes were human beings, a sea of human beings.
My mum said’’ can’t you see their heads, jutting out of the plastic sheath that covers them as the rain pelts them at this ungodly hour of the night in Accra?
“Yes I can. But don’t they have homes? Why do they sleep on the streets?”For such people each day is just another day to endure and survive. This homeless condition can be attributed to a variety of factors with attendant consequences.
To begin with, irresponsible parenting is one of the causes of homelessness. In Ghana many people have more family members than they can cater for. Six years ago, I lived in a compound house at Adum, a suburb in Kumasi, with a couple and their six children. Both parents were unemployed and due to this situation, they could not care for their children. These children were always at the mercy of their parent. They were constantly beaten any time they complained of hunger. Not only that, they were poorly clad and had nowhere to lay their cutie heads. If you were in their shoes, what would you do? The best option for them was to take refuge in the street. So the street has now become their permanent abode. Who, therefore, is to blame for this unfortunate situation? Their parents! In addition to this, bad economic policies that impoverish parents and citizens, for that matter, is another major cause of homelessness in Ghana. Bogus economic policies of various governments, both present and past, have exacerbated this problem. Currently Ghana has a housing deficit of 1,000,000 units. This number is needed to depopulate urban units from 10.6 to a household occupancy rate of 7. Is it therefore surprising that many people are homeless in Ghana? At present, there is a plan in place to build 200,000