MMDAs charged to end ‘victimization’ of vagrants

The Prosecutor for the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (AshMA), George Katey, has entreated Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to desist from targeting vagrants (the homeless, truck pushers, motor riders, head porters) and other categories of poor persons for arrests because they constantly find themselves at the wrong side of the law.

According to him, these persons are poor and their ignorance causes them to break the laws that govern the affairs of the local government areas.

Mr. Katey made the comment when a CCF monitoring team called on him to discuss some issues identified by its Monitoring Team on Monday, 6th December 2021.

The monitoring within AshMA forms part of the implementation of CCF’s “Decriminalizing Vagrancy Laws and Advocacy” project which is supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Speaking to the team, Mr. Katey indicated that the vagrants constantly violate bye-laws of Assemblies leading to their arrests, imposition of fines, and imprisonment because the Assemblies do not provide adequate sensitization on the laws.

Augmenting his argument, he cited the sale of expired products by some illiterate traders in violation of the Public Health Act and how they conduct business at unauthorized locations because they cannot afford market spaces. This he said leads to seizure of their goods, arrests, fines, loss of business capital, and imprisonments.

To reduce the vulnerability of such persons, he recommended that MMDAs should constantly educate them on the relevant laws. He also suggested the employment of behavioral change experts who can effectively lead the education on the laws in order to change attitudes of vagrants and other vulnerable groups within the Assemblies.

He expressed worry that in the absence of the suggestions, the situation will linger on and the conditions of the vagrants and other vulnerable groups will further deteriorate as the fines imposed on them and imprisonments will only increase their already impoverished lives affecting the society at large.