Ama Serwaa, a 38-year-old sex worker, revealed that just three of her 24 companions who travelled to Accra for employment are still alive.
Ama Serwaa said that she arrived in the capital at the age of 16 and has only been involved in sex work for the past two years during a conversation on SVTV Africa's Ghetto Life Story.
She disclosed that 23 other women who had travelled to Accra from her community to work had passed away. Ama Serwaa said that living in the ghetto poses risks in addition to the risks of working as a prostitute.
"Some offer Ghs500 to Ghs1000 and you would go because you need the money but it may be dirty money. I won’t go because 21 of us have died.
"Twenty-four of us came to work here and only three of us are left. Some were prostitutes; they had infections and died. Some were thieves, and others smoked and died from hunger," she said.
The 38-year-old mother of one further said that she had been living on the streets for the previous 17 years after leaving her uncle's home because of abuse. Serwaa claims that she was struck by a car while selling in traffic for a few years.
“I sold pure water and worked as a bus conductor until I started sex work two years ago. My boss sacked me. I was jobless for three years until a friend introduced me to it, but I want to stop because it’s not helping," she told DJ Nyaami.
Ama advised the youth to be cautious of friends because they can be their downfall or their salvation.