By Priscilla Oye Ofori, GNA
Accra, Nov. 12, GNA -The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) has urged Government to use Thursday’s 2027 Budget to enforce universal design in all public infrastructure.
It said government must provide clear funding to retrofit old public buildings that remained inaccessible to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)
Mr Moses Fordjour, Acting Deputy Director, GFD, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency ahead of the 2027 Budget reading, said accessibility was its third top expectation from the budget, after employment and education, because it was what enabled PWDs to scale the barriers that kept them in exclusion.
“Accessibility is key because that’s what enables PWDs to scale the barriers that keep them in exclusion,” he stated.
Mr Fordjour said government’s attention over the years had been on new infrastructure, while a substantial amount of public services were still being rendered in buildings that existed before the passage of the Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715).
“There is no clear-cut policy backed by budget to say okay this is what we want to do, we want to retrofit our facilities by providing all those things that are not there,” he said.
“We visit most district assemblies, and you can find it in the medium-term plan say we are putting XYZ amount of money to retrofit, so the key word is retrofitting.” the Ag Deputy Director added.
He reminded the government that the moratorium for making all public places accessible expired back in 2016.
“I don’t need to remind people that the moratorium for making all of these places accessible has expired back in 2016 and so this is one area that we think that government need to avert their minds to,” Mr Fordjour said.
He commended government for the Big Push infrastructure programme, but said new roads, drains and buildings must be built with PWDs in mind from the start.
“I would thank the government for launching the Big Push but just please when you get into communities ensure that the drainage that are constructed, you are mindful that there may be a PWD in that community, so drainage should be covered,” the Ag Deputy Director said.
He cited uncovered drains, lack of signage at intersections, and traffic lights that PWDs could not use.
“Our traffic light systems are not accessible, a PWD cannot get to a traffic light for example and push a button and for vehicles to stop for them to cross, these are all considerations that need to be done,” Mr Fordjour said.
He said the Universal Design Principle, which he described as building infrastructure for everyone, must also apply to communication and digital platforms springing up, and to all public service providers.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
12 Nov. 2026
By Priscilla Oye Ofori