Aboubakar Famau

The government’s recent admission that it has no records on people with disabilities signals a lack of well-designed social and economic programmes aimed at improving living standards of the disabled. 

In fact, I used to wonder whether the government had any practical policies that aim at safeguarding the interests of people with disabilities and making their lives easier. 

In some countries, specific jobs like switchboard operation and secretarial work are the preserve of the disabled. 

So when I had it from Dr Aisha Kigoda, during the just concluded National Assembly sitting, that the Persons with Disabilities Act number 9 of 2010 was geared at helping those with disabilities to cope on their own I felt relieved.

The Health and Social Welfare deputy minister went on to reveal that Sh210 million was to be spent on rehabilitating vocational centres for people with disabilities. 

The centres include those in Masiwani in Tanga Region, Mtapika in Mtwara Region, Yombo in Dar es Salaam Region and Mirongo in Mwanza Region.  Several others are said to be in Singida and Mbeya regions.

The plan, if well implemented, should go a long way in reducing the number of disabled beggars on our streets. 

They are now a common sight in almost all urban areas. 

Begging is now an industry in its own right having attracted tens of thousands of stakeholders employing all sorts of begging styles and personifications. Some of them are genuine disabled men and women with their children, while others are able-bodied people capable of working to earn a living. 

It is like the whole begging concept is assuming new dimensions as people find it easier to beg than toil for a decent living. 

This does nothing to develop, modernise and keep our cities clean.

Despite efforts by municipal councils to get rid of beggars, it only takes weeks, if not days, for them to resurface.

A number of years back, Dar es Salaam authorities carried out a major operation that say beggars returned to their home regons.  Most of them were believed to have come from Dodoma Region. 

Arusha municipality too carried out a similar exercise.  Needless to say, all these operations had little or no success after most of the “repatriated” beggars trooped back to their former bases.

The presence of these beggars is a manifestation of our society becoming complacent. 

Many will attribute it to our economic hardships, which is to miss the point.  Traditionally, begging hasn’t been part of the African culture.

In fact, even religious teachings disapprove of begging of any sort.  Islamic teachings, for instance, regard the upper hand of a giver as better than that of a receiver. 

Africans had for many generations had well-defined social structures in which responsibilities were equally well defined and apportioned.

In case of divorce or death, the responsibility of taking care of children automatically rested on the shoulders of uncles and sometimes grandparents and other relatives.  In short, the society could never let an innocent soul starve. 

Virtually everyone had a sense of belonging, security and protection.  There were checks and balances meant to avert and avoid the shame and disgrace of having women begging around and homeless children roaming aimlessly. 

The widely held view was that if a kinsman walks naked it was the entire clan that was supposed to be ashamed.

What we are seeing today can largely be blamed on the influence of Western culture. 

Our lifestyle has taken a complete U-turn that we hardly care what happens to those who are closest to us.

Some still maintain that it is economic hardships are to blame for our sudden change of heart, but the reality is, it is because of entrenched selfishness. 

If everyone plays his or her role effectively, we wouldn’t have beggars anywhere.

Beggars in our midst are a manifestation of an unjust society in which selflessness is increasingly becoming a rare attribute.

Aboubakar Famau is a sub-editor with The Citizen.   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it