The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, has declared a sweeping national crackdown on street begging and prostitution, describing them as threats to public order and national security.

The announcement was made during a working visit to the Northern Region, where the minister was speaking at the commissioning of a new residential facility for the Ghana Immigration Service.

Speaking in Tamale on Thursday, May 22, the Asawase MP did not mince words. He pledged that his ministry, in collaboration with the police, immigration, and other security agencies, will soon begin targeted operations in five major cities to rid the streets of what he termed "social disorder."

“The beggars are not a nuisance but a threat to our national security,” he said. “Very soon, we are coming after all of them, including the prostitutes who are parading on almost all our streets. We will not rest on our oars until we remove all of them.”

The minister disclosed that a recent swoop conducted in the capital, Accra, led to the arrest of over 2,000 foreign nationals involved in street begging.

Nearly half of them have already been repatriated to their home countries, with the rest expected to be processed by the end of the week.

Muntaka emphasized that this is just the beginning, adding that the operation will soon be expanded to other urban centers including Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale, and Cape Coast.

In a particularly stern warning, the Interior Minister singled out sex workers operating in open spaces across cities, noting that many of them are foreign nationals and could face deportation.

“We are not only talking about beggars. We are going after the prostitutes too. If they don’t leave voluntarily, we will remove them—by force if necessary,” he stated.

The move, he said, aligns with efforts to restore “sanity, order, and security” in the country’s cities.

He reiterated that such activities tarnish Ghana’s image and undermine the safety of public spaces.

The government’s framing of the issue as a security threat represents a notable shift from past administrations, which typically approached street begging and prostitution as social welfare or public health challenges.

Muntaka argued that the visibility of foreign nationals in begging rings and sex work syndicates points to deeper issues of illegal immigration and organized crime, which his ministry intends to tackle head-on.

The minister made these remarks while commissioning a four-storey, 24-unit apartment block for the Ghana Immigration Service, built by the State Housing Company.

The facility is part of a broader initiative to bolster the capacity of law enforcement agencies and improve personnel welfare — a critical factor in enabling them to carry out expanded operations like the forthcoming street clean-up campaign.

Though the nationwide operation is yet to formally begin, civil society organizations and human rights advocates have expressed concerns about the implications of such a forceful approach, warning that it could lead to abuses, especially if vulnerable individuals such as refugees or trafficked persons are caught up in the dragnet.

Others have called for the government to pair enforcement with social interventions, such as shelter facilities, rehabilitation, and employment support for those removed from the streets.

With the Minister’s firm tone and the scale of recent arrests, the operation marks one of the most aggressive anti-vagrancy policies in Ghana’s recenthistor