Youth Alive, a Non-Governmental Organization based in the Upper West with interest in securing a future for street children has organized a public forum for the various parliamentary candidates drawn from the Wa Central constituency to interact with the street children and find out the nature of their problems.
They include the incumbent Member of Parliament for Wa Central constituency, Alhaji Rashid Pelpuo, The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) parliamentary aspirant, Suleman Abubakari, the Progressive Peoples Party candidate (PPP), James Sohimwininye and Bernard Anbataayela Mornaa, the parliamentary candidate for the Peoples National Convention (PNC) in the Wa Central constituency.
The Member of Parliament for Wa Central Rashid Pelpuo, who set the ball rolling, said it is the desire of every parent to send their children to school so that they will be part of society and be responsible by contributing towards the development of the country.
The Wa Central MP said he is prepared to sponsor some of the street children who are interested in going back to school. Most of the street children have background in education up to the Junior High School level.
He called on the street children to take up the challenge and come to his office by showing interest that they truly want go back to school by establishing a genuine case of need for them to be assisted by his outfit. He asked the street children to be discipline as that is the hall mark of real success in life.
He said his doors are always open for all forms of assistance. He urged them to look into the future as that will help them shape their lives.
The Convention Peoples Party parliamentary candidate on his part said the CPP took the party to the people in the markets including street children. He said the presence of some of the street children in the streets came about by circumstances beyond their control.
He said if the street children are taken away from the various lorry stations there will be a vacuum which will create inconvenience for travellers. He said his party will be doing it differently by creating an enabling environment by creating a transition point where the street children will graduate to become a better person in society.
He said his party will do all that it can to ensure that those street children who are interested in going back to school will be assisted. This he said is a commitment which must be met.
The PPP Wa Central parliamentary candidate, James Sohimwininye said he will liaising with other organizations to ensure that street children go to school and be given employable skills and will be teaming up with Youth Alive and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to ensure that the best is achieved for the street children in the Wa Central constituency when given the nod as the MP for the area.
Most of the street children were given the opportunity to ask the aspirants questions which were also answered.
B.M.J Seidu
