LIFE WITHOUT HOPE

Hundreds of young women trip into our cities from various villages to carry loads. Most of these young women are from the north of Ghana and a few from the coasts. The situation is what has resulted in the inevitable, “Kayayei Menace” that we have been battling with for years.

Accra and Kumasi are both commercial city centres with business all year round and therefore provide what these poverty stricken youth would call, “greener pastures”. A current research done on 700 kayayei by an NGO reveals the bear and grim facts. A quarter of these load concierges have only primary school education and the rest with no formal education whatsoever. The stakeholders have not been passive in their search for a solution; the ministry of women and children affairs (MOWAC) held a validation workshop on, “Repatriation of kayayei”. 2432 of them between the ages of 6 and 36 years were repatriated between June and November 2007. But one would ask if there has been a decrease in the number of kayayei in Accra? It is open knowledge that when they are sent back, they return to Accra because the situation that brought them down here still persists.

A number of NGO’s like the social affairs agency have proposed the setting up of a multi-sector body to study, brainstorm and find lasting solutions to the menace. Governments, NGO’s and human right activists talk of plans to bring solutions year in and year. One cannot also help but fathom why these girls decide to come down here.

When ethnic misunderstandings are constantly breaking out in some parts of the northern region, the rational thing for some of these girls is to seek refuge where security is guaranteed. They end up here with no relatives, daily income or skills. The only way out then is to do menial jobs in the market place where the only skill required is physical strength and be called, “Kayayei”

Abhorrence of the infamous female genital mutilation also compels the courageous ones to come down here. Though polygamy has solved some social issues, it is currently one of the causal agents since young girls do not consider marriage to men as old as their grandfather as they did in the past.

The removal of subsidies on agricultural inputs makes farming more expensive especially for women who have limited access to land and credit facilities. This coupled with severe dry seasons has resulted in fewer jobs for those involved in agricultural activities which are the basic economic activities in the northern region.

The very lucky ones end up as servants in private homes to perform domestic tasks and earn a slightly higher income than those on the streets. Unfortunate ones on the other hand have to make do with inappropriate shelter, food and places of hygiene. Absence of these basic needs violates quiet a number of personal rights; girls are subjected to sexual harassment from their male counterparts at night. This usually results in unwanted pregnancies. Imagine living without a roof over your head, without a washroom, kitchen or a mattress. This is what a kayayei calls a home at night.

There are over a hundred kayayei who work on the roadside of Novotel. They pay GH 1: OO each week to keep their things in a storeroom of the hotel. Their place of abode is by the roadside where they spread mats to sleep on. Daily income is mostly saved with credit unions; with this money they support families back at home.

Sakina Awani is a sixteen years old Junior Secondary School graduate. Her father has passed away and her suitor who supported her is now gone back to a Teacher Training School. Hence she travelled to Kumasi and worked for three months to carry goods. She heard business in Accra was better so she came here to work and secure enough money to help in her soon-to-be marriage. Someone had taken her 5cedis as at the time of this interview.

Sakina starts her day by parking her stuff to the room in Novotel hotel. Then she stands by the roadside to be on the lookout for those with heavy loads to carry them. On the average she gets 50 pesewas for one load. It is a common practice for them to negotiate a price with a client and yet when they are being paid, they demand for more. Sakina said this happens because sometimes as they carry the goods, they realize it is too heavy for the amount they are taking.

She complains that though the boys who hail from the same neighborhood do not bother her; those of other tribes sexually harass her. Sakina is afraid she might get pregnant very soon and thereby make it impossible for her to marry. The government she said cannot end this menace just by repatriating them but by adequately setting them up in various trades and vocations.