Stop giving alms to beggars - GNAD

The Northern Regional President of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), Mr Sumani Bapio Ibrahim, has called on its members to take advantage of various interventions by the association to improve on their living standards.

He reminded them that, per the beggars and destitute ACT - 1969 (NLCD 392), begging for alms on the streets and workplaces was an offence and called on the public to stop giving alms to hearing impaired persons who parade themselves as members of the association to solicit funds for development programmes.

He said the association was keen on ensuring that hearing impaired persons across the country engaged in dignified labour through continuous advocacy and sensitisation to access to employment, rehabilitation services and training in vocational skills, adding that the GNAD did not encourage such acts and did not authorise such people to solicit funds on the streets or in mosques and churches on behalf of the association.

Meeting

Mr Ibrahim made the call at a meeting of hearing impaired persons in Tamale and said the association had resolved to ensure that such miscreants were taken off the streets.

He also called on members of the public to desist from giving alms to such people.

He said such beggars were mostly foreigners who disguised themselves as deaf and dumb to solicit funds from individuals and organisations.

"Although the envelops they carry outline some of their plans such as setting up hairdressing salons, purchasing working tools and learning a trade, the money collected is never used for the intended purpose. Rather, they spend the money on alcoholic drinks and engage in immoral behaviour," he said.

Mr Ibrahim stated that although the GNAD needed resources to meet the needs of all its members, it remained committed to achieving its core mandate by using the right approach to seek support from philanthropic organisations and institutions that had their interest at heart.

He, therefore, called on organisations to collaborate with the association in order to improve on access to gainful employment for hearing impaired adults and vocational and technical training for the adolescents.