Child curfew imposed in northern Ghana city to 'check delinquency'

Ghana’s northern regional capital Tamale has imposed a child curfew which stipulates that minors should be off the street by 10 pm in order to check delinquency.

The Mayor of Tamale, Iddrisu Musah, told local media on Wednesday that the curfew will take effect in two weeks and children found in the streets will be arrested, and their parents arraigned.

“We will arrest children who roam the streets at night and their parents will be brought to the Juvenile courts to answer,” he told Starr FM.

“We are craving for an orderly, disciplined and sanitized society and you cannot have a society where the people who are the future leaders are left unsupervised. That is why I think it’s important we send a clear message to parents of these minors roaming the street,” he added.

This decision follows an increase in children flooding the streets of the city at night, local media report.

The actual age affected by the curfew was not made clear.

A similar law was imposed by the Redruth community in the English town of Cornwall in 2008.

The curfew stipulates that minors under 10 years should be off the street by 8 pm and under 16 years by 10 pm in order to tackle anti-social behaviour.

A similar law was proposed last year by the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte who cited the need to restore public order and security.