Exactly two decades after Parliament enacted the landmark Persons with Disabilities Act, 2006 (Act 715), the disability movement in Ghana has held a national commemoration to demand an immediate end to twenty years of “unmet promises, weak accountability, and systemic exclusion.”
The event, which doubled as the National Day of Persons with Disabilities, was organised by the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) in Accra on June 23, 2026.
Stakeholders, including policymakers, development partners, civil society organisations, and PWDs, gathered under the theme: “From Act to Action: Finalising Reforms and Ensuring Disability Rights Now.”
The central focus of the commemoration was a resounding, urgent call to the government to fast-track the passage of the Disability Re-enactment Bill 2026, which is currently before Cabinet.
Addressing the gathering, the President of the GFD, Mr. Joseph Atsu Hormadzi, alongside other key speakers, expressed deep worry over the continuous delays.
They argued that Ghana can no longer afford to treat the fundamental human rights of its PWD population as a secondary administrative matter.
At the heart of GFD’s advocacy is what leaders describe as a “double failure”: the failure of successive political administrations to effectively enforce the existing Act 715, and the ongoing failure to finalize and pass the revised, internationally aligned legal framework.
While the passage of Act 715 in 2006 was heralded as a historic milestone, its implementation has been severely undermined by a lack of enforceable sanctions.
For twenty years, public and private institutions have operated with widespread non-compliance, leaving physical, systemic, and attitudinal barriers largely unchanged across the country.
In 2019, a comprehensive review process began to amend the Act and align it with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Despite extensive stakeholder consultations and finalised technical inputs, the resulting Bill remains in draft form, recently put before Cabinet for parliamentary tabling.
The 2026 National Day was therefore positioned as a crucial accountability platform, with GFD calling on duty-bearers to publish a clear timeline, re-engage the technical drafting committee, and commit the necessary financial resources to make the new law enforceable upon passage.
Beyond the policy demands, the anniversary served as an emotional moment to celebrate individuals who paved the way for disability inclusion in Ghana.
The GFD presented a posthumous award to the late Mr. Benjamin Kwaku Awumee, the founding headmaster of the Methodist School for the Blind in Wa, in recognition of his transformative contribution to blind education in the country.
Eulogizing the late pioneer, former Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Dr. Henry Seidu Danaa – who was a student under Mr. Awumee, spoke of his former headmaster’s profound influence.
“Beyond impacting us academically, Mr. Awumee instilled in us a sense of discipline and valuable moral virtues,” Dr. Danaa shared. “These are the principles that shaped our lives and enabled us to serve our nation at the highest levels.”
Mr. E. T. Plahar, a founding member of the GFD and also an alumnus of the Wa school, presented the official citation on behalf of the Federation and the school’s old students.
Photo decription: Mr. Kofi Plahar holding Mr. Awumee’s citation while addresing the gathering as children of Mr. Awumee look on
The commemoration also marked a major milestone for disability research and education in Ghana. GFD officially donated copies of its published history book to the University of Ghana.
The book, which was launched during the 2025 National Day of Persons with Disabilities, documents the journey, struggles, and triumphs of the disability movement in Ghana.
Prior to this donation, the University of Ghana’s library system possessed no official literature or historical documentation on the country’s local disability movement.
Photo decription: GFD Executive Director, Peter Anomah-Kordieh presenting copies of the book to a representative of the university of Ghana
The donation is expected to immediately enhance academic research and ensure that future generations of policymakers, lawyers, and sociologists can study the history of disability advocacy from an authentic, locally documented perspective.
As the commemoration concluded, GFD and its partners made it clear that the time for symbolic events has passed.
The movement has pledged to sustain public, media, and legal pressure on Cabinet and Parliament until the 2026 Re-enactment Bill is officially passed into law.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com
