Twin Aid Ghana, an organization, which supports vulnerable women with twins, has called mothers with twins who engage in begging to stop the practice.
They should rather train and educate them to become useful citizens, Alhaji Hassan Salih, Personal Assistant to the Greater Accra Regional Minister, made the call when he launched a campaign against the practice on Saturday in Accra.
The campaign is on the theme, “Support the Twin Begging Law, Get Twins off the Street”.
He described twins as “gifts from the Almighty” and said there is nowhere in the Bible or the Koran, which said twins should be used for begging.
Alhaji Salih commended the organisation for initiating the campaign and appealed to the fathers of twins to support their wives.
Mr. Jameen Issu Sika, General Secretary of Twin Aid, said in spite of the Children’s Act, the organisation was asking for the enactment of a separate law outlawing using twins to beg to check the practice.
The organisation had also proposed a Bill for parliamentary consideration for the enactment of a law for special recognition for twins to strengthen the legislation on Children’s Rights.
He said a research by the organisation revealed that “twin streetism” was not only caused by poverty, but was embedded in traditional and cultural beliefs.
In certain societies there is the belief that mothers of twins who do not engage in begging, would lead to “terrible events” and cause “great human lose, suffering and misfortune” to the family and community.
Mr. Sika said data collected from health institutions indicated that about 95 per cent of twins on the street were mal-nourished and lacked care.
Mr. Alhassan said twins constitute between 30 and 40 per cent of children begging adding that, the organization was trying to get them off the street and was soliciting financial assistance to enable them acquire skills.
Speaking to the GNA, Ayishetu Alhassan, a mother of a set of twins begging on the street said they did not like engaging in the practice “but our husbands are jobless and they ask us to go out and beg”.
“I am forced to go to the street because the children easily fall sick and I can not take them to hospital. On the street I get about 15 or 20 thousand cedis a day”.
Ayishetu said she knew about twenty women like her, adding, “I know they would appreciate any benevolent organisation that would come to our aid”.
Source: GhanaWeb
