Mrs. Mercy Hawa Mbawuni; Entrepreneur and Minister of God
Mrs Mercy Hawa Mbawuni, an entrepreneur and minister of the gospel has appealed to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Women’s Affairs to work to curtail the growing trend of young girls, popularly called ‘kayayes’ or ‘paaopaa’ (head-porters) from carrying things in the markets.
She noted that girls as young as 8 to 10 years have been parading the markets of Kumasi ferrying things of shoppers and traders for money.
These girls of school going age, Mrs Mbawuni stressed should not be in the markets at this stage of their lives but in school to study and master their fields of interest academically.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper in Kumasi over the weekend, the lady minister of the gospel who also specializes in identifying young girls for training urged the Gender Ministry to enforce the compulsory aspect of the free basic education by making sure these girls are in school from now.
‘’My brother it saddens my heart to see girls between the ages of 8 and 10 years carry things for people in the market knowing that they should have been in school by now but I am determined to lead this crusade to get them back to school so they can educate themselves and become useful citizens for their families and the country in future’’, Mrs Mbawuni tearfully noted.
OBSERVATION:
Giving more details, Mrs Mbawuni said some of the girls admit coming from the northern part of the country to work for money.
According to her, some of them are lured into thinking that the fastest way to getting money is by carrying things for people in the market.
Some genuinely would want to go to school and make their lives better by studying in the classroom, the entrepreneur revealed.
Mrs Mbawuni called for the enforcement of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education policy (FCUBE) which stipulates that those within the ages of 6 to 12 should be in school at all times.
‘’I believe if we could get the Ministry to encourage the girls travelling from the north as well as other places and encourage them to be in school till at least they are done with senior high school which is incidentally free we would help to set them up for a brighter future’’, the ambidextrous lady of God posited.
SUPPORT FOR LADIES:
Mrs Mbawuni proposed support for older ‘kayaye’ who may want to learn a trade or vocation and rallied the Gender ministry to lead the way.
Having supported some few ladies who needed help for training, the woman of God called on parents to take time to educate their children on the need to go to school.
Narrating how she identified some young girls who needed help, Mrs Mbawuni noted all these girls have become useful citizens doing something on their own or schooling at higher levels.
She therefore called on the public, especially ladies who may be unemployed not to give up hope but to learn some form of trade so as to become useful in future.
‘’There is nobody who is a failure in this life because I have seen people who took advantage of a second chance they had to learn a trade or educate themselves and are now feeding themselves as well as their families’’, the woman of God and entrepreneur noted.
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