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The menace of street children in Accra is getting out of control, and the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection seems to be helpless.

Consistently, the Daily Graphic has touched on the menace and its repercussions, but it appears there is no end in sight, as more children are onto the streets of Accra, the national capital.

A number of people who spoke with the Daily Graphic noted that for Accra to become the cleanest city in Africa, as espoused by the President, the streets must be rid of beggars, hawkers, loiters and the mentally challenged.

Added activities

Another round of week-long monitoring by the Daily Graphic revealed that the street children, accompanied by their parents, had extended their begging activities beyond traffic light intersections across the central business district to residential areas, including Mataheko First Light, the Dansoman Highway, Old Barrier in the Ga South municipality, the East Legon-Shiashie road, the main Tetteh Quarshie-Madina road, the Dzorwulu-Royal Fiesta intersection, among others.

The old areas where they had been operating included Kaneshie First Light, the Graphic Road, El-Wak, the 37 Military Hospital Bus Stop and hospital area, Abeka Lapaz and Paloma on the Ring Road.