By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Shama, Sept. 12, GNA – Madam Cecilia Ayepa, a 45-year-old physically challenged charcoal seller from Aboso in the Shama District of the Western Region, has applauded the government for policies that have restored hope to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Madam Ayepa told the Ghana News Agency that creditors usually compounded interest on the commodity she sold on credit, but she now has a sigh of relief after receiving support from the District Assembly’s Common Fund to trade on her own.
“I usually sell at a loss because all the profit goes back to the people who pity me and give me some bags of charcoal to trade. This support from the government through the Shama District Assembly will give me peace of mind to trade, have enough money to buy my daily needs and meet my hospital expenses,” Madam Ayepa said when she received her share of the Common Fund for Persons with Disabilities.
In all, the Shama District Assembly disbursed support to 130 individuals, including 40 deep freezers, fufu pounding machines, industrial and domestic sewing machines, hairdressing accessories, gas cylinders, ovens and wheelchairs, among others.
The District Chief Executive, Mr. Paul Otis Dentu, said the disbursement was to lighten the daily burdens of such marginalised members of society.
He said the government had continued to make regular allocations, aside from increasing the Fund from three to five percent, adding: “I have instructed my team never to touch or misappropriate any of your monies. We mean well for you as a government, and we will continue to work to improve upon livelihoods.”
Mr. Emmanuel Kwakye, the District Social Welfare and Community Development Officer urged beneficiaries to always request items they genuinely needed and not make requests due to pressure from family members or comparisons.
He noted that sometimes beneficiaries requested items they did not really need just because someone asked them to do so.
“We go round with the Business Advisory Centre to advise and direct, but this is always recurring,” he said.
The Acting Chairman of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, Mr. Daniel Awotwe, and his Secretary, Mr. Enoch Andoh, took turns to praise the government for the increase in the Fund and asked the Assembly to liaise with them and give them the needed recognition as a state body.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga /Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter Mildred Siabi-Mensah