CAN 2008 SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN GHANA

PROSTITUTION SCANDAL

The just ended CAN 2008 was not just a festival of greats football and a celebration of African unity through the power of sports. however a lot more was revealed during the games about some of the major social issues that are festering just beneath the glossy veneer. There has always been a denial among our public policy makers about the increasing prevalence of prostitution in urban and semi urban areas. The disturbing thing is that this denial has led to lack of action to protect the the vulnerable poor caught up in this mess. Before the games got underway there were fears of a major explosion in prostitution during the tournament. These fears materialised when a few days into the tournament a daily newspaper broke a story about an undercover video sourced from a famous investigating journalist. The video had disturbing pictures of kids as young as 13 years engaging in commercial sex.

The police in a reaction response raided a popular drinking joint in the center of Accra called Soja Bar which was alleged to be the pivot of Accra's sex trade. the police rounded up a lot of people in the sting operation including two undercover journalist and dozens of children. following these events it became clear that Ghanaian leaders have been complacent end cocooned themselves in a false believe that Ghana is still the traditional and innocent society that we have known over the years. The shocking aspect of the whole episode was the widespread use of children by pimps for sexual exploitation. This problem has been swept under the carpet for far too long and now it has reached a crisis point.

The Social Welfare issued a terse statement on how they intend to rehabilitate these unfortunate kids who are the victims of the dire problems in our society.The politicians keep telling us that our economy is growing and we are developing ,however when such things happen it goes to confirm how deep we have buried our heads in the sands of the development mirage.These kids are the victims that should prick the conscience of our politicians that a lot is wrong with our society a more needs to be done to solve them.