Mawlid 2026: Interior minister warns mosques against accommodating migrant beggars
Accra: Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, Minister for the Interior, has warned mosque caretakers against sheltering migrant beggars, saying persons found accommodating them could be arrested.
He said the directive was part of a broader strategy to deal with the influx of migrant beggars who initiate trafficked children into street begging.
The minister gave the warning when he addressed the Muslim community on behalf of President John Mahama during the 2026 annual national Mawlid ul Nabi celebration commemorating the birth of the Holy prophet Mohammed.
He said it was important for Muslims to ensure that Islamic teaching on hospitality was not abused to the detriment of national security.
“The beggars are everywhere on our streets. They live in our communities, and we give them shelter in our mosques. They come with children of others to beg, and this affects our reputation.
“Henceforth, when we come for the migrant beggars, we will arrest you also for sheltering them. Don’t bother running to the oldman to intervene,” the minister said at the 2026 National Mawlid organised by the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharabutu.
To demonstrate how dire the child begging menace has become, Alhaji Muntaka indicated that a recent swoop by the Ghana Immigration Service led to the arrest of 1055 migrant beggars, including 668 children under the age of 15, of which more than 400 are not related to their guardians.
Speaking on the theme “Addressing the rising indiscipline in Ghanaian society: the role of Islam”, the minister called on religious leaders, politicians and traditional authorities to lead exemplary lives for the youth to emulate.
“It is not what we say that they (youth) will work with. But what we do in private is what they will emulate,” he said.
He called on the Muslim community to leverage annual gatherings such as the Maulid celebration to fund development projects.
He also urged Muslim parents to prioritise both secular and Islamic education of their children.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, former vice president and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, also urged Muslims, particularly the youth, to emulate the patience, humility and discipline of Prophet Muhammad in their homes, friendships, businesses and public lives.
He said the Mawlid should serve not merely as a celebration of the Prophet’s birth but as an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on how they were living his teachings in their homes, workplaces, communities and politics.
Farhan Alhassan, Managing Director of GCB Bank and chairman of the occasion, observed that social media is increasingly replacing parents as the primary influence on Muslim youth and contributing to growing indiscipline and bad behaviour.
He observed that parents were increasingly losing their influence over the moral upbringing of their children to smartphones, TikTok and other digital platforms, creating a worrying disconnect between religious observance and everyday conduct.
“We have outsourced Tarbiyah (training) to the street and to the phone. The phone has become the father, and TikTok has become the mother,” he said while calling on parents to reclaim their responsibility for the moral and spiritual development of their children.
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