Otiko Djaba races for 16,000 wheelchairs, walking aids for PWDs

The agenda set by the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, a non-governmental organisation founded by a former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, is to ensure every person with physical ability is provided a wheelchair and walking aid.

With over five million persons currently living with various forms of disabilities, the task to reach each and every one of them with a wheelchair is a challenge Madam Djaba has assigned to herself and hopes to be achieved with the support of the well-meaning members of the general public.

The campaign, “1,000 wheelchairs per a district”, hopes to reduce the burden Persons Living With Disabilities (PWDs) face in their daily lives.

Per the Foundation’s calculations, about 16,000 wheelchairs and walking aids are needed to support PWDs across the various districts of the country.

Madam Otiko Djaba, launching the programme yesterday in Accra, indicated that it was not right and unacceptable for any person to crawl on his or her belly, or to move on the ground with their bare hands.

According to her, although PWDs exist in every community, people often pretend they do not exist or their issues do not matter, hence, try as much as possible to avoid them.

Thus, she said, disability does not make one less a person or irrelevant to society, adding that physical challenge is not a contagious disease for people to desert PWDs.

Madam Djaba said often people remember her for her political enthusiasm, however, she wants to be remembered for her social and developmental work, aimed to promote the core needs of humanity.

She called on the public to support her reach this goal of procuring 1,000 wheelchairs and walking aids for each district in the country.

In a statement read by the Founder and President of World Miracle Outreach, Dr Lawrence Tetteh, he indicated that PWDs have many challenges that deny them from living a dignified life.

According to him, stigma, discrimination and inaccessible information are some of the challenges PWDs face, even though workable policies and structures could provide opportunities for their full, effective, and meaningful participation in every facet of society.

He acquisition of a wheelchair is beyond the reach of many PWDs due to the exorbitant price, which ranges from GH¢1,200 to GH¢5,600.

“Let’s ask ourselves how many person with disabilities can afford this, given that the majority are unemployed or work in vulnerable employment, which is characterised by job insecurity,  irregular income, and lack of job-related benefits.  There is no government subsidy or support for disability-related expenses such as acquiring a wheelchair.”

He charged the media to be the mouthpiece of PWDs by prioritising the campaign, while encouraging other members of the public not to look on with closed eyes on the issues of PWDs.

The Chairperson for the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation Campaign Committee and Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Augustina Naami, on her part, added that the ability for a PWD to get move around is not a privilege, but a right and a necessity.

She said many persons with mobility disability do not have the gadgets, and even those who have are unable to maintain them.

Although cost is another component that prohibits PWDs from regularly maintaining the mobility aids, access to workshops present a different challenge all together.

She prayed that, as a country, there must be an effort to break all walls that inhibit the advancement of PWDs.

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