NEWS ARCHIVES

Madam Speaker, Ministers of State, Honorable members of Parliament, in commemoration with of the National Day of the Disabled which falls on the 23rd of June Every year, on behalf the House, I salute all persons with disability (PWDs) the country.

The theme for this year’s occasion is “implementation of the National Disability Act: Prospects and Challenges”. In accordance with the Provisions of Article 29 of the 1992 Constitution, the National Disability Act (715) was passed by parliament in the year 2006. The promulgation of the Act has been hailed by all Ghanaians. At the international level it has enhanced the image and human right credentials of the country.

However four (4) years after the passage of the Law, its implementation is yet to take effect. As a result the numerous problems and challenges which the Act was meant to address still abounds. This includes issues such as accessibility to health and education, employment, stigmatization and discrimination against persons with disability, inaccessibility to most public places as well as inadequate attention to the development of disability sports and other avenues of recreation. There is also lack of research and national statistics with disability issues. These are but a few of the challenges for which the disability act was promulgated.

A contextual analysis of the disability situation in Ghana reveals that, the poverty situation of persons with disability in Ghana is much severe compared to non-disabled persons. Many PWDs are in extreme poverty with a high degree of unemployment and under employment.

The Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) policy paper, identify additional costs resulting from the disability among the factors that puts most PWDs in the poverty net. The rest include lack of opportunities to work and Marginalization or exclusion from services and/or social and community activities.

Even though the unemployment situation in Ghana is not generally encouraging, the scenario is worse in the case of Persons with Disability. According to the 2007 Ghana Human Development report, the employment rate of PWDs is pegged at sixty nine (69) percent while that of the general population is said to be 80.2 percent.

This suggests that the unemployment rate for PWDs is thirty one (31) percent while that of non-disabled persons is 19.8 Percent. Even in situations where PWDs are employed, questions arise as to the quality and level of employment and the constraints and frustrations faced in employment.

Despite provisions in the fourth Republican Constitution grants equal rights of participation to every citizen, participation among PWDs in politics, governance, and civil society groups outside the disability movement was found to be very low. Appointment of PWDs to high profile and leadership positions in Ghana is also low.

The current decentralization program is premised on the principle of participatory democracy; however, the participation of PWDs in the district level political administration is limited.  While there has been some significant progress in recent years regarding the participation of PWDs in the electoral process. The involvement of PWDs on broader issues of national interest remains very minimal.

With regards to accessibility to health care, PWDs face more challenges. Whilst the Ghana Disability Policy and the Disability Act (2006) enjoin the Government to ensure access to effective healthcare and adequate medical rehabilitation service, a number of constraints remain. There are no special provisions for PWDs under the National Health Insurance Scheme.

In the era of Information technology, access to communication and assistive devices which can offer PWDs new possibilities to achieve independent living and participation in social and economic activities remain very low. Accessibility to brailed literature and assistive ICT devices for the blind and the partially sighted, remain very low. Similarly, the deaf and the hard of hearing hardly gets access to public information as both national and private information and communication service providers cut them out.

The National Media Commission (NMC) does not oblige television stations to provide a sign language inset or subtitles in all newscast programs and programs of national significance. Many advertisement and public education on TV do not provide for the information needs of the deaf. Many newspapers, books and educative material are not presented in the format that is accessible to the blind. The neglect of PWDs in the emerging information age has further excluded them from mainstream society.

Owing to negative societal construction of disability, the self-esteem of PWDs has been very low. The basic rights of PWDs in Ghana have been grossly violated and opportunities for social interaction, education have been denied. PWDs are even denied the opportunity to marry as a result of stigmatization. In almost all traditional societies in Ghana, Persons with disability are not allowed to be chiefs. In the extreme, Persons with disabilities including albinos are murdered for ritual purposes.

While Persons with Disability appreciate the strenuous efforts required in drafting legislative instruments, the general consensus is that, work on the instruments has been very slow. Persons with Disability who constitute an estimated 10 (ten) percent of the total population, calls for a prompt action on the completion of the Legislative instruments to pave the way for prompt and full implementation of the Disability Act (715).

In a similar vein, parliament is being urged to work on the passage of the Mental Health Bill which would go a long way in protecting the fundamental Human Rights of the mentally handicapped.  

In protecting the rights of Persons with Disability it will be equally imperative and justifiable on the part of the government to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD), to which Ghana is already a signatory.

Besides being in tune with the spirit of the 1992 Constitution, the ratification of the UN Convention would consolidate the rights of the Disabled whilst placing Ghana among the elite democracies and pro-human Right nations in the international community. Honorable members of the house are therefore being called upon to give a deserved attention to the deliberation of disability issues
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Thank you All