He was born able but lost both hands during his crawling age.

27-year-old Mohammed Issaka says his two hands got burnt and doctors could not do anything to change his situation.

Though he has never been to school, his intelligence and ability to do multiple things are incredible.

He is now employed as a data entry officer at the Kumasi Abattoir.

“My mom told me that one time, she left me in the care of my sisters. While I was crawling, I accidentally crawled over sawdust which had fire underneath. I got burnt on my hands, legs, and stomach area. I often converse with my mum, so I know the story. She told me herself,” Issahaku Mohammed said.

Disabled but uniquely abled. That's Mohammed Issaka's current condition. But discrimination and public ridicule subdued his inner spirit.

At age 7, Mohammed started to beg for alms on the streets. Between 2001 and 2016, he could only survive on the street and in the halls of the Kumasi Abattoir.

“This has been a big worry for me, even from my childhood, because most of my friends made fun of me. They used to call me all sorts of names. Some called me a leper and up to now, if anybody calls me a leper, I get really angry.

“Some of them are older than me and I cannot fight them, so I just cry. They called me a beggar. I came here to beg when I was young and this continued from 2001 to 2016. I then decided to ignore all the teasing.”

No one asked Mohammed to beg. He decided to do so and a certain man advised that, in this condition, a lot of people will be willing to give him gifts.

Mohammed begged for alms in the street with another blind man. So they went to the abattoir to do the usual.

People loved them and gave them lots of gifts. It got to a point, Mohammed was no longer begging. He had specific people he could go to for help.

Mohammed’s mother, Siata Tonwesi was wealthy at that time, but she spent all her resources on him to save the situation. There was none left for school.

So Mohammed has never set foot into the four corners of the classroom. Though his mum was wealthy, she spent her resources to ensure his son received the best medication. Mohammed says that never materialized.

“I've not been to school before, but since I know how to write my name, it became easy for me. I could mention almost every name I see. I started looking through books to learn on my own. I could pronounce words like ‘hen’, but would not know the meaning. So as I grew, I found out the meaning of the words I used to pronounce,” Mohammed explained.

If truly Mohammed never stepped foot in school, how did he learn to read and write?

When I came to the abattoir to beg, one of the people I went specifically to take money from wrote Mohammed on a paper and showed it to me.

He asked me, “What is this?” I told him, “I do not know, I've never been to school before. Then he told me it was my own name. From that day, I learned the spelling as well as other spellings. I had a friend at Kaase called Emma who believed in me.

“He started teaching me IT with an old computer. Starting with a right click and opening, after that I could go to an internet cafe on my own to practice. I would go to game centers to play games.

“I'm not really bothered to have not been to school, because now I can read anything I want to.”

The 27-year-old is looking for an opportunity to go to school at least to secure a certificate.

“But if I can have the opportunity to be in school again, I would gladly accept. If I can have a certificate, then I know I can do anything or go anywhere.”

He says this is an inexplicable mystery. But how did Mohammed secure a job at the Kumasi Abattoir?

“I used to help some of the big men here with their phones in updating their phones, installing apps among others. One man asked me if I had knowledge of IT. I told him, Yes, and that was it. I started working in this abattoir.

“I was asked to do registry work. So people come here, I register them, get details and forward it.”

Famously known as Amazing boy on social media, Mohammed is also a good dancer.

He is popular on TikTok and does amazing things there. He shoots and edits videos by himself.

Mohammed’s dad, Issahaku Salifu is no more. He died in September 2020 but his mom is very proud of him. If not for her, Mohammed says, his situation would have been worse today.

“So I always say my mum is an angel sent from God.”

Everyone must be proud of who they are, especially the physically challenged. “Don’t give up on yourself. You are a human being like everyone else,” he said.

People may have more limbs than him, but Mohammed considers intelligence and wisdom than anything else.

“So I advise everyone whether abled or disabled that, as for your talent, show it!”

He was behind closed doors, considered an outcast. He presumes even if Mohammed was conversing with a lady, they would mock me, saying, “Why is this lady standing with a leper? They didn’t say it in his presence, but Mohammed knew they had said it.

“I don’t know what can make me sad. Well, after all, everybody can have mood swings. At times, I get moody. Not because of how I am, but I am thankful that I am not a drunkard or any other thing.

“It wouldn’t be fitting if people would come to the drinking spot, and I’m holding a glass with these hands, drinking. That would be sad.”

Now what Mohammed desires is to have his own apartment, settle down with a woman, and they can have some children.

Mohammed wants to become a nation builder and corruption fighter if he becomes a prominent person in the future.