DisabilityNewsGH
The disability movement in Ghana, led by the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) has celebrated the 13th edition of the National Day of Persons with Disabilities, with a call on the government to take matters of persons with disabilities in the country seriously.
The disability community is asking the government to demonstrate enough political will in ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld in accordance with the current provisions in the Disability Act 2006, Act 715, and the provisions in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well all other relevant International treaties that Ghana has ratified.
The government is also asked to treat disability as a national issue, as every single Ghanaian can become disabled at any point in life.
After many years of advocacy and lobbying by the disability community, the Parliament of Ghana in 2006, passed the Disability Act, Act 715 in accordance with article 29, clause 8 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Act spells out the rights of persons with disabilities in Ghana, which serves as a base for persons with disabilities to participate in the Ghanaian society as a matter of right and not as society’s charitable choice.
Since June 23, 2009 after the inauguration of the National Council on Persons with Disabilities, the disability movement in the country set June 23 every year to commemorate the passage of the Act as Ghana’s National Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The day is used to take stock of the achievements of the disability movement through accessing their rights in accordance with the Act.
At this year’s event held in Accra on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the Advocacy Committee Chairman of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, Mr Alexander Bankole Williams notes that, in spite of the enactment of the Disability Act, the present well-being of persons with disabilities in the country does not tell a good story of the efforts Ghana made in enacting Act 715.
He attributes the situation to low political will on the part of the government and slow change in attitude of the general Ghanaian society towards disability to allow persons with disabilities to enjoy their full rights as stipulated in the Disability Act.
Mr Bankole Williams also mentions the reluctance or unwillingness of persons with disabilities themselves to aggressively demand their rights as spelt out in the law as one of the factors.
He, therefore, calls on the government to commit to protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in the country.
He also appeals to the Ghana Bar Association and all other lawyers in Ghana to lend a helping hand to persons with disabilities by fighting for their rights pro bono.
The advocacy committee chair further calls on the Judiciary to examine cases involving persons with disabilities and give judgments in accordance with law that will give hope to the disability community.
Mr Alexander Williams finally says, “Ghana as a country will only be a better place when it seeks to, through right access, harness all its human resource potentials, which includes those of persons with disabilities”.
The 2022 edition of the National Day of Persons with Disabilities was sponsored by Ghana Somubi Dwumadie (Ghana Participation Programme), a consortium of disability rights advocacy organizations.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com