Some in Ghana's Disability Community Threaten to Boycott 2004 Elections
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
The Public Agenda, a Ghanaian newspaper, reports that some people with disabilities in Ghana are threatening to boycott the 2004 elections because of the government's uncaring attitude about their problems.
A. Rauf, a teacher at the Savelugu School for the Deaf, told a Tamale forum that unless the government addresses issues of importance to Ghana's disabled citizens, they may sit out the 2004 elections.
The Country Director of Action on Disability and Development, Thomas Issah, expressed no surprise at Rauf's statement. Disability is a human rights issue and has to be taken seriously, he said. Action on Disability and Development focuses considerable time and resources in advocacy and lobbying efforts, and in bringing disability issues to the attention of the media.
Politicians should not view people with disabilities simply as a group of potential voters to whom they must cater in political campaigns. "Politicians must learn to appreciate the positive roles that disabled persons also play in the society," he said.
Information and quotations for this story were taken from allafrica.com.
|
