By Idrissa Bangura

Following the presence of the large number of beggars in the Central Business District Area, Kissy Road has become a center of beggars begging for alms. But the number of these destitute beggars keeps increasing everyday even though others engage in this act seem to be able- bodied men and women and whose energy can be used to contribute to the development of the society. But rather these men and women decided to go for the soft spot instead of finding their hard earn living that could give them dignity and respect.

There are some people saying that begging was not a common or normal phenomenon before the war and continuing that Freetown being the capital of the country was known for accommodating industrious citizens.

Though it was known more for ‘Krios’ being the original descendants of the city but are also known to follow western ways of living like giving their all in western education, civilization and heavily embark on missionary activities.

But after the eleven years civil war, we began to experience a continuous inflow of provincial people. Though some of those people are victims of the war and some are searching for greener pasture because of the lack of essential facilities in the provincial areas being that all important facilities are centralized, as result of that, people in those deprived areas decided to come to the city to enjoy such facilities. But two third of that number came with a genuine mind to enjoy those facilities because such facilities are expensive to enjoy coupled with the difficulty of living in the city.

Some decided to go into mischievous act of begging though with no meaning of going into that business. Though others are victims of war but there are others who feel that begging could be their daily source of income. Even though they are fit to go into agriculture or trading, but they see it as the fastest means of earning money and prefer to solely engage in such acts.

Some school of thought, who may ask to know the owner of the house at Kissy Road where beggars have made their office headquarters to carry out their activities because they have seen that, the shops of that house never open for business and they may think that, it is the reason the beggars create a junction point for begging in front of that house the doors have never been opened to carry out business activities.

In an interview with one of the beggars, she said that she embarked on such business to be able to take care of her children and being a widow of five children she has been able to take care of her children since her husband giving up the ghost.

With a closed look at the woman, you can see energy and strength to embark on other activities rather than begging, but because she considers begging as soft and profitable venture that can earn her easy money and there is no amount of advice renders to take her out of such act.

Some  sources said even if these people are given all such of Munafa Fund  and build any kind of sky scrapers to stop the act; they will still come out to continue begging for alms since their mindset is being made up to go in for the soft spot rather than finding themselves to restore their respect and dignity.

Measures must been put  in place to settle this rapid increase of beggars plying the Kissy Road axis and other parts in Freetown especially begging of able- bodied men and women.

To crown it all, the government should try to accelerate the establishment of the government farm, since agriculture is its number one priority in this second term, so that these able-bodied men and women embarking on begging as their major source of income can be employed in that farm with encouraging facilities like feeding, allowances and a handful of monthly salary in order to muster their courage to continue in giving their all in such state farming activity. With such innovative ideas, I am quiet to believe that they can rapidly decrease this business of begging.