Tamale Metropolitan Assembly Mayor Sule Salifu is concerned about the rising number of prostitutes in the city.
He claims that authorities have been unable to stop it despite their best efforts, and that it has grown popular with both domestic and international tourists.
Without fear, sex workers crowd main streets all night long, from the Bank of Ghana to the Tamale Post office road, to Jubilee Park (which is located right next to the regional police headquarters), to Nagasaki, and finally to triumph cinema.
Prostitutes in the city have enlisted young guys to watch over them and report on anything that may put their nighttime business at risk.
Mr. Salifu voiced his concerns during a 2022 International Youth Week event at Tamasco geared for young people.
The mayor has emphasized that he cannot combat prostitution and other illegal activities alone, therefore, he has asked for the public’s help in spreading the word while the Assembly passes new legislation to crack down on the issue.
He also suggested that landlords and women do thorough background checks on prospective tenants before letting them move into rental units.
“You are just in your house, then someone comes to tell you he or she is looking for a room, you are not interested in finding out the background of that person, what is the person coming to do?
“The person stays in the room whilst everybody is at work, she is inside the room then, men or women going in and coming out. You are seeing and you are not talking, what will the chief in that area do? Because he is not aware,” he stated
Abubakari Alhassan Bawa, the Youth Parliament’s speaker, has vowed to support efforts to combat prostitution.
Director of the NYA’s Northern Region Mumuni Sulemana warned that widespread prostitution in the region’s capital was threatening the city’s future.
Thus, he urged young people not to engage in such behavior, citing the risks of adolescent pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses as reasons to stop.
