The National Council for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to expedite action for the amendment of the nation’s Disability Act to improve on the wellbeing of the PwDs in the country.
According to Mr Yaw Ofori-Debrah, the Chairman of the Council, there were several gaps in the Act 715, passed by Parliament on June 23, 2006, which needed urgent amendments to dignify and protect the rights and enhance the wellbeing of the PwDs.
He said Ghana had ratified, and had since 2012 been signatory to United Nations Convention on the Rights of PWDs (UNCRP), which required and pushed the nation to amend and tackle some gabs so that the Act 715 would align with the UN convention.
Mr Ofori-Debrah explained that the Council had reviewed the Act and presented a “Cabinet Memo” to the Cabinet and therefore, implored President Akufo-Addo to approve and forward it to parliament for its consideration and subsequent passage.
He expressed appreciation to the Center for Public Interest Law (CePIL), a law firm and Accra-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) for its continuous support which had empowered the PwDs organisations to actively advocate their rights and dignity in society.
Mr Ofori-Debrah made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the side-lines of a day’s capacity training on legal advice for PwDs and other vulnerable persons in mining and cocoa communities, held at Goaso in the Ahafo Region.
The CePIL, an NGO which provides free legal services and advocacy training to vulnerable people and PwDs with support from Oxfam, organised the training, attended by about 50 PwDs drawn from cocoa and mining communities in the region.
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice.
Mr Ofori-Debrah the Council received parliamentary support in the process of review and proposed amendment of the Act 715, and expressed the hope with cabinet approval, parliament would amend the Act.
“Disability has become a forgettable subject in the country”, he said, indicating that with the support from the CePIL, the Council had further developed and forwarded a Disaster and Risk Management Guideline to National Disaster Management Organisation (NaDMO).
As required by the UNCRP, Mr Ofori-Mensah explained the guideline served as a national framework that guided the nation to rescue PwDs in case of any unforeseen eventuality such as flooding, political violence and instability.
He said the Council would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CePIL to deepen its partnership in ensuring that more PwDs and organisations in the country benefited from their legal services and to improve on their wellbeing.
Earlier, Mr Alhaasan Iddrisu, a Personnel at the Legal Office of the CePIL, said the center also offered legal service and advocacy to people affected by salt and sand mining, saying “we are trying ensure that PwDs and other vulnerable people in host mining communities get legal representation when the need arise”.
By Dennis Peprah, GNA
