I’ll get rid of all prostitutes, beggars from our streets — Interior Minister

Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has restated the government’s intention to clear beggars and street dwellers from Ghana’s urban centers as part of a broader plan to restore order in major cities.

While on a working tour of the Northern Region, the minister disclosed that a coordinated national operation involving the security services will soon commence in five major cities, including Tamale. The initiative, he explained, aims to remove individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security.

During a speech delivered on Thursday, May 22, at the commissioning of a four-storey, 24-unit residential complex built by the State Housing Company for the Ghana Immigration Service in Tamale, Muntaka emphasized the urgency of the mission.

He pointed to recent enforcement actions in Accra, where security personnel rounded up more than 2,000 foreign nationals involved in street begging. Nearly half of those detained have already been repatriated, with the remainder expected to be processed and returned to their home countries by week’s end.

The minister also extended the warning to individuals engaged in sex work in public spaces, asserting that they too will be targeted under the same directive.

“The beggars are not a nuisance but a threat to our national security. By the close of this week, we should be able to finish removing all of them. I can assure the rest of them that they either return to where they are coming from, because very soon, we are coming after all of them, including the prostitutes who are parading on almost all our streets. We will not rest on our oars, we will go after them until we remove all of them,” he warned.

Muntaka, who is also the Member of Parliament for Asawase, urged those involved to vacate the streets voluntarily or face forced removal by law enforcement. He stressed that the operation is not only about maintaining public order but also about upholding the country’s image and safeguarding national security.