Street children: The concern that needs pertinent solution

Dar es Salaam. The nightmare of street children in Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam has remained unresolved for many years.

Similar situations could be found in the country’s other cities of Dodoma, Mwanza, Arusha, Mbeya and Tanga.

Also Read: Street children should be helped to live as humans, not abused

In Dar es Salaam, regional authorities from the reigns of former regional commissioners Ditopile Mzuzuri, Mary Chipungahelo, Christopher Lihundi and Yusuf Makamba could not change the situation.

The list also includes Abbas Kandoro, William Lukuvi, Mecky Sadick, Paul Makonda, Aboubakar Kunenge and the incumbent, Amos Makala.

However, ex-regional commissioner Makamba will be remembered for a crackdown on beggars and street children.

At that time, beggars, including the famous Matonya, were sent back to their native regions with Mzee Makamba vowing to keep the city clean from such people.

However, after a few days of absence some beggars, including the famous Matonya, returned to the city to complicate the operation.

Also Read:Pay apt attention to the street children

The rising number of street children, in particular the City of Dar es Salaam, raises many questions about the trend and Tanzania’s destiny.

Also Read: Rate of street children falls in Dar es salaam

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This is because the children are supposed to be taken care of by parents and guardians, but most importantly, they are supposed to be in school where they are expected to prepare themselves for a better tomorrow.

However, a recent study conducted by The Citizen in the city of Dar es Salaam revealed several reasons to be behind the increasing trend including the separation of parents, family conflicts, parents’ death and growing poverty levels.

Speaking at Kariakoo in the city, street child Hamza Ali (not his real name) said his ordeal started after the death of his parents a few years ago.

“Alongside my young brother, we were abandoned by relatives, hence moving to the streets with the expectations of getting assistance from Good Samaritans in order to make ends meet,” he said.

His colleague at Mwenge Ward, Brown Frank (not his real name), said he found himself in trouble following his parents’ separation.

“My mother had to leave home after being divorced, leaving me with my dad, who later opted to marry another woman. Unfortunately, I was no longer loved at home,” he said sorrowfully.“I was denied basic necessities including food and school requirements. I had to leave home and go to the streets, where I started begging and sleeping at bus stations and shops’ verandahs,” he said.

At the Ubungo interchange area, Ngalwa Majeta told this paper that he ran from his family living in Morogoro town after being overwhelmed with corporal punishment. “He used to beat me whenever I made minor mistakes such as delaying taking a shower, arriving late home from school or playing football. He was beating me as if I was not his child,” he said.

For his part, John Andrew said at the Magomeni traffic lights that life hardships at his grandmother’s home forced him to opt for street life.

“The death of my mother forced me to live with my grandmother. This is because my father, who was working in a mine, spent most of his time there. Therefore, I decided to travel to Dar es Salaam from Mbeya Region,” he said.

“Apart from begging, I also collect used plastic containers and sell them to recycling agents, who pay me money that helps me buy my necessities including food,” he said. Speaking on the situation, Kariakoo resident Alex Alfeo called upon the government to address the growing trend, noting that some of the children had been spending the night outside his shop.

“The government should try to find the children’s parents, relatives and guardians,” he said.

“Stern measures should be taken against those parents and guardians who don’t take care of the children. And those confirmed to be orphans should be taken to orphanage centres,” he further advised. Entrepreneur Anna Gerald, who does her business in the area of Magomeni in the city, said street children were facing different kinds of mistreatments including sexual abuse.

“They are sexually abused by other street children and some other in society. The government should take swift action to end the challenges the street children are facing,” she advised.

Ubungo resident Julius Chilongo said all the children have the right to nutrition, shelter and education, calling on the community to jointly say no to the suffering facing the street children.

“They should say no to hunger, sleeping on the ground and outside as well as growing without going to school. It is the responsibility of the community to ensure children get these rights in order to have a just and equal society,” he said.

For his part, Mr Laurent Mhagama, a resident of Ilala in the city, said a good environment should be created for street children to make them achieve their dreams and become future good citizens.

What experts say

Mr Bituro Kazeri, from the Tanzanian Association of Sociologists, said addressing the challenges facing street children is contradictory.

He said Mwanza has more than 100 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) dealing with street children, therefore, creating jobs to hundreds if not thousands of people.

Also Read:The plight of Mwanza street children

“Stakeholders from the NGOs are now in a dilemma about how the challenge should be addressed. Some are of the view that street children should be reinstated to their respective homes, while others suggest that they should be taken to special centres. However, others recommend that justice should be dispensed to the children while in the streets.

“But, this is because street children have created jobs for some members of the public, therefore generating income and a way of living,” he noted.

To reduce or tackle the problem, society needs to agree that there is a problem that needs to be solved including reviewing mushrooming NGOs dealing with the matters concerning the street children.

Another sociologist, Dr Zena Mabeyo, said society has been dealing with outcomes instead of digging deeper to find out the causes.

“Extreme poverty among Tanzanians is the major cause. Other causes include, children lacking basic needs, lacking protection at the family level and the absence of good family relationships,” she explained.

“To make things worse, society doesn’t have comprehensive strategic plans of addressing the challenge. We are supposed to address the causes first otherwise society will be at the crossroads,” she added.

Further, she was of the view that before taking the children from the streets to their parents and guardians, questions on infrastructure, environment, life and social systems should be asked to establish whether they are welcome for the children.

These might be the things that forced them to run away from home, therefore, village officials, and family and community members as a whole should fulfil their responsibilities to resolve all social challenges.

Also Read: When street children go untreated during illness

What the government says

Tabling the 2022/23 Fiscal Year Budget in Parliament in Dodoma, the minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, said 218,369 children living in vulnerable environment, including 85,699 male and 132,670 female, have been recognised.

“A study carried out in July 2021 in the six regions of Dodoma, Mwanza, Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Arusha and Iringa, unveiled the presence of 5,732 children living and working in the streets including 4,583 male and 1,149 female,” she said.

“The main reasons for such children to live and work in the streets vary, ranging from divorce, poor family care, peer pressure among them and extreme poverty at the family level,” she added.

She said in March, this year, a task force was formed under the leadership of the SOS Tanzania director, Mr David Mulongo, noting that it has been tasked to come up with proposals that will completely address the challenge.

“The ministry is determined to reach parents who don’t fulfil parenting responsibilities for the law to take its course. I, therefore, call upon every parent to ensure that they fulfil their responsibilities or stop violating the Children Act,” she said.

She said the government will continue to provide the service of children adoption, hinting that between July 2021 and April 2022, a total of 45 children: 28 male and 17 females, have been adopted.

Other measures undertaken include supervising government-owned children centres, whose headquarters are in Dodoma as well as overseeing the parenting, upbringing and children’S preliminary development in day care centres.

Between July 2021 and April 2022, the ministry has issued operation licences to 362 centres, benefiting 9,638 children: 4,083 male and 5,555 female.

The minister said the number has enabled the country to have a total of 2,512 registered centres serving 173,032 children; 82,302 male and 90,730 female.