Minister talks tough on street kids

Government will not bow down to street kids and beggars who are returning to city streets after they were removed, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati has warned.

In an interview on Saturday, she expressed worry that government’s efforts to rid streets of beggars and street kids are being frustrated.

Said Kaliati: “We will not get tired, these people must be removed so that there is sanity in our cities. It is frustrating to learn that they are running away from their homes and resort to begging.”

She said her ministry, through district social welfare offices, has embarked on an operation to remove the kids from the streets by identifying homes for them, such as Chisomo and Step Kids Awareness (Steka).

Assistant social welfare officer Chikumbutso Salifu blamed handouts as the main cause of the problem.

“Our religious morals teach us to be generous to the less privileged, but I do not think we are solving any problem by giving these people alms. We should all join hands and stop this so that they should not find reason to cling to live in the streets,” said Salifu.

According to Salifu, there are three types of street kids; those who run away from their homes due to various challenges, those who come to town every morning to beg and go back home in the evening (normally sent by their parents), and those that were born and stay there. n