A GNA Feature by Bertha Badu-Agyei
Koforidua, Aug. 29, GNA-As part of efforts to empower Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), the government of Ghana 2005, introduced the disability Fund, which is a 3% deduction from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for inclusiveness.
The disability fund among many other things is to support and equip PWDs in economic and business ventures as well as provide educational/training support and medical/health support to make them functional in life and society.
The Common Fund Administrator after the introduction of the Fund directed that 10 per cent be allocated for education/training, 10 per cent for medicals and assistive devices, 75 per cent for economic and business ventures, and 5 % be for administrative costs.
There have been several challenges with the fund across all the districts nationwide regarding ineffective financial management structures to ensure accountability and transparency because there are no established mechanisms.
Funds are for example paid to beneficiaries at the Assemblies directly on table tops, without any full proof process making room for abuse of the system.
The human interfaces in the physical cash distribution have created avenues for extortion and misappropriation of funds. Because most of the beneficiaries are illiterates and do not understand the processes, they are often short-changed whenever they accessed the funds.
To prevent these irregularities and ensure the sustainability of funds, some civil society organisations and local experts have called for an exit plan where beneficiaries would be capped and monitored to ensure that the funds are put into economic activities that would provide sustainable livelihoods for beneficiaries.
This, when implemented, would reduce dependency on the fund to allow more PWDs to benefit.
Again, with the institution of an exit plan, beneficiaries would be empowered economically to live meaningful lives for inclusiveness.
Mr Kofi Adjei Amparbeng, Director of Edumedia, a civil society group working in the area of local governance in an interview with the GNA confirmed that the human interfaces and lack of transparency in the administration of the fund were eroding the objectives of the fund.
“Some PWDs have become constant beneficiaries of the fund whiles some had not benefited at all. This is because the procedure allows for favouritism and discrimination disadvantaging others and that is why there must be an exit plan”.
Another challenge is that monitoring to ensure that beneficiaries used the funds granted them for the intended purpose is very poor, “so. beneficiaries take the fund in the name of undertaking an economic venture and use it for something else and then apply again”.
Currently, the fund is like housekeeping money for most beneficiaries, it’s not put into any economic activity or business venture, so, within a short time of getting the funds, they become vulnerable and have to be on the streets again begging for alms.
According to Mr Amparbeng, the surest way to make the fund sustainable and meet its key objective of improving the lives of PWDs, to be able to contribute meaningfully to society is the exit plan, “that way, every beneficiary would be capped, such strategy would compel beneficiaries to use the fund for the economic activity for which he or she applied.
Throwing more light on the exit plan, he indicated for example, “after four allocations, a beneficiary should exit, but with a window to support such beneficiary when any eventuality happens like COVID-19 or any incident which has a huge impact on them occur”
There are several ways to develop the exit plan, it could be temporary for four years or permanent but with some form of a booster to cushion them considering their predicaments.”
Beneficiaries of this fund are given monies ranging from Gh¢1,200 to Gh¢3,000 per every quarter, depending on the quantum of the Common Fund as well as needs assessment or what was applied for.
The beneficiary is then guided and monitored to ensure that the business or venture is working, and the person is conveniently exited to make way for others to also benefit”.
The exit plan would also help address corruption by reducing favouritism and misappropriation of the fund because, the need of every beneficiary would be critically assessed to know the needed support and when provided, he or she is guided and helped to sustain the venture to create a sustainable livelihood.
Currently, the districts assemblies have devised a strategy of procuring the needed business items such as fridges and freezers, sewing machines, plumbing kits, shoemaking equipment, and accessories to start or expand their trades, but GNA gathered that some of the beneficiaries sell the items and come back for another grant.
Ms Sandra Owusu, a Development Planning Officer who threw more light on the exit plan explained that when beneficiaries know that they could not always benefit from the fund, “they will be faithful with what has been given them by starting a business or whatever was indicated in the application”.
There is much evidence to show that the PWDs fund is highly abused not by the fund handlers but the beneficiaries themselves because they know every time they will come for it, but when there is a limit or exit plan, the purpose can be fully realized,” she added.
The 2020 Population and Housing census estimate that over 6 million Ghanaians are living with some form of disability, and globally it is estimated that about 650 million people live with varied forms of disabilities.
The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities state that states shall take effective and appropriate measures, including financial support to enable PWDs to maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental, social, and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects.
GNA