Soldier Bar Demolition

A CASE OF CURING THE SYMPTOMS AND LEAVING THE DISEASE By Solomon Davids

Ghanaians heaved a sigh of relief when they heard of the final demolition of the dreaded Soldier Bar at Kwame Nkrumah Circle , a notorious den for prostitutes who are predominantly in their teens; some are as young as eleven and even below.

The demolition exercise, which was in two phases, first saw the destruction of t a substantial part of the bar used by child prostitutes and a subsequent complete annihilation of the place, leaving the whole place flat, plain and deserted, similar to the Biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The relief Ghanaians had was justified due to the media focus on the nefarious activities of these little ones who were supposed to be in school or under parental supervision at this time of their lives when they are considered too young to live an independent life. It is pathetic that for one reason or the other these little girls have to subject themselves to this humiliating act to, as they would say, “earn a living.” There is no justification whatsoever for a lady in her teenage, no matter the reason, to indulge in prostitution to make a living when she could engage in trading in the worse case scenario. The presence of those children at Soldier Bar and other locations in Accra is an indication of a system failure and the inability of society to live up to its expectation of protecting children right from birth till they become adults. It is a fact that our system has lost its values and things are being left to chance; in such a case, anything goes.

The demolition of Soldier Bar was seen as a solution to the problem that was associated with the place; that was why Ghanaians were not happy with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for failing to do exactly what the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did within a short time in office. The NPP demolished parts of the building only for it to be rebuilt for full time business. What some Ghanaians actually failed to see in the whole issue is that the demolition of Soldier Bar is not different from curing symptoms of a disease and leaving the disease itself. When one has malaria, some of the symptoms he/she has are headache and feverishness. The most common thing to do in the first place is to take paracetamol or any of the painkillers available in the drug stores or pharmacies. The relief that comes after that creates the impression that one is healed of whatever sickness there was in their body. What the person fails to acknowledge is the fact that those symptoms are indicators of a more serious problem or disease, malaria. If the person continues to fight the symptoms without a diagnostic approach to tackling the main problem, there is the likelihood that s/he would one day be killed or badly affected by the main disease.

The presence of these little girls at Soldier Bar is just a symptom of a more serious problem in our society.

Demolishing Soldier Bar does not take away the problem; it rather shifts it from one area to another and gives a false relief to society. None of the girls involved in the act has been taken out of it. There many more Soldier Bars scattered across the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area alone, where such activities go on. It is therefore not surprising that reports of these girls relocating to other areas are emerging. The difference between Soldier Bar and the other similar places in Accra is that the media happened to focus its attention on it and made it an issue for public discussion. The same thing would happen if other places came under media scrutiny. When that happens, are we going to demolish those places too? There may be nothing wrong with the demolition exercise, but it would be absolutely wrong for anyone to think or conclude that by demolishing Soldier Bar, the problem of child prostitution in the area has been solved. That would be absolutely childish.

These little girls are brought to Accra with the promise of better jobs and opportunities only to be forced into prostitution. Some of them come on their own, thinking that all that glitters is gold, as they see their equals who were in the same conditions with them, visiting with all the goodies. The show of wealth by the ‘returnees’ is in itself attractive enough to lure such girls into following them to Accra . Much as some of these girls are very recalcitrant, parents are mostly to blame for allowing these unfortunate ones to come to Accra and other cities to look for greener pastures. Poverty may be one of the reasons but there are other good things to do than prostitution to earn a living.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have contributed their quota to solving the problem of child prostitution but much more needs to be done. The time has come for a more serious approach to some of the societal problems that confront us. The cosmetic way of doing things is not helping any one. The fact that there is popular support for an exercise does not make it right. Let us take another look at the Soldier Bar issue; where are the girls? Is there a way we can bring them together and identify the reasons for which they engage in such a negative act? Can we offer them an alternative? These are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves as we delve into this problem. For all we know, some of these children would want to learn some trade and begin a more dignified life.

Let’s stop healing symptoms only; the disease rather needs healing. Your comments on this article are welcome. Send them to democratnews@yahoo.comÂ