Olivia Ogechi & Collette Lukong
18 August 2008
The sight that catches your attention immediately on arriving at the Mile 17 Motor Park in Buea, Southwest Province, is the shabbily dressed under-aged children hawking various kinds of goods.
Most of these holiday workers, who are between four and 12 years, are sent to the street markets by their parents or guardians.Despite their tender ages, the children often hawk late into the night and, sometimes in very bad weather conditions.
A 10-year-old pupil, whose name we are withholding, told The Post that her aunt forces her to move from Tiko to Buea Town on foot, selling foodstuff. She said she is compelled to sell everything she is given before returning home.
As if tender age and inclement weather are not enough, most often, The Post learnt that the young female hawkers fall victim to rape and torture by wayward boys.
"Several times, I have been sexually harassed and tortured by street boys" said the pupil who preferred anonymity.
Two students, Martha Wose and Comfort Galing, both aged 16, said that they have been molested and some of their friends raped by park boys who pretend to be customers.
"Sometimes we are forced to learn vulgar expressions as a result of our exposure to insecure environments," said the girls.
Collins Bisong, 11, a student of Lycée Molyko, disclosed that four of them in their family are engaged in selling deep-fried snails, because it is their only source of income to pay for their school needs.
"I do this even during school periods. I return from school at about 2:40 pm and start selling at 3 pm. I hardly have time to do my home work, thus my teacher beats me every day in school," Bisong said.
This notwithstanding, Bisong said they make about FCFA 25,000 daily, which sustains their family.This scenario is recurrent in many towns like Bamenda, Douala and Yaounde.In Bamenda, 7-year-old Class Three pupil, Sandra, who could not pronounce her second name, sells groundnuts.
She parades the streets of Bamenda Town with a basin of groundnuts on balanced her and without wrapping plastic papers. When a buyer shows up she goes about begging for wrapping papers.
"My mother asked me to come and sell, and said that when somebody wants to buy, I should go and beg for wrapping paper," she told The Post.To some parents who talked to The Post, it is a way of survival and they see nothing wrong with it. They argued that they engage their children in such activities because it is their only source of income.
Also, some business persons like Michael Fole in Buea, are proud that their success in business resulted from their experience in selling foodstuff while at a tender age.Commenting on the situation, the Southwest Secretary of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Christopher Tambe Tiku, blames government for its inability to provide recreational facilities for destitute children during holidays.
While admitting that some parents are irresponsible, he also faulted the situation on hardship on the part of the parents. "There is a criminal element in sending an under-aged child to engage in such trades. The State has also failed to punish those who propagate child labour," he said.
According to him, even though the economic aspect is vital, parents who coerce under-aged children to indulge in such a trade should know it is an offence punishable by law. They endanger the life of the child.
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