The over 12 years call for institutional infrastructure to be disability friendly was triggered Friday by a young Nigerian Journalist based in Ghana when he single-handedly mounted two concrete stairways at the premises of the upper East Regional House of Chiefs in Bolgatanga.
Ngamegbulam Stephen Chidozie, as he is popularly called, took the initiative upon himself, to construct the two stairways to enable persons with disabilities in the region have easy access to the conference hall and office of the President of the house of chiefs during gatherings or visits.
According to Chidozie, he was touched by the plight of the disabled after seeing what some of them go through when accessing the conference hall and other offices of the building.
“Indeed, I shared tears after witnessing what our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers go through before moving themselves into the conference hall, and the first question I asked myself was what this life of ours really is about? Why is the rich, so wicked that they cannot put smiles in the faces of those who need them most? I didn’t really have much before embarking on these projects, Yes! things are very hard for me and my family at the moment, but there is something my late father of blessed memory, May his soul respect in perfect peace, whispered to me before he passed away on July 29, 2017. He said my son, please continued my work on earth, no matter how little you have, always puts smiles on the faces of people that need it most and I think that really motivates me a lot. It is unfortunate though, that few of us who have the heart to change the world for better always find it difficult. However, God is in control”. He admitted.
According Mr. Ngamegbulam, he would continue setting good examples for people to emulate; hence he has more things to do for Persons with Disabilities across the globe.
The hardworking Journalist used the opportunity to thank individuals and groups for their support. He also called on voluntary organization across the world to partner him on his ‘AGENDA PUT SMILES ON THE FACES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES’ project.
The Persons with Disability Act 715 passed by the Ghanaian Parliament in 2006 compels the social worker to start making provisions to accommodate the needs of disabled persons. The modification of the environment without necessarily changing the physical space is an absolute necessity now, because most of the facilities and structures in the country predate Disability Act 715.
The Ghana Disability Act mandates that all people be entitled to equal access to public transit and buildings. Curb cuts for wheelchair users, ramps, and bus lifts have removed many of the structural barriers to equal access.
Per the analysis made by the Upper east regional Secretary of the Federation of the Disabled, David Ania, most of the buildings in the region lack adequate markings, signs and other relevant modification that aid in the accessibility of disabled persons, especially the visually impaired.
He observed that, both old and new buildings and other facilities across the region were not disability friendly. He cited some examples including basic schools in the region which were constructed without considering Persons With Disabilities.
Mr. Ania says, this clearly shows the Disability Act is being violated and called for immediate attention.
“In 2016, we tried to carried out some building accessibility audit to find out how many institution and infrastructure that has lived up to expectation especially in accordance with the disability act 2006 (715) section 6 that say that person with disability shall have access to public building that has been put up with the intent to be used by the public, we did that but unfortunately the result have been very alarming in sense that among all the institution that we visited, it was only two institution that passed the test the regional hospital and Afrikids Medical Centre, they are the only two and am sure they did it intentionally because their patients with wheelchair to have easy access to their facilities. But the rest, including the regional coordinating council and all the basic schools that have been constructed in the upper east region 99.9% of them didn’t go through”, as he described the situation as worrying
He expressed satisfaction with the kind of humanitarian job done by Mr. Ngamegbulam, who he described as a good Samaritan, for Persons With Disabilities (PWD,s) in the region and further called on other well-meaning citizens to emulate such wonderful initiatives to help improve lives of Persons With Disabilities.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of the Upper east regional house of chiefs who doubles as the paramount chief of the Bongo traditional area, Naba Baba Salifu Aleemyarum, has also applauded the extra ordinary initiative. To him, it is an eye opener to youth, Non-governmental Organizations and citizens both home and abroad to emulate such a kind gesture from such a kind young man in the society.
“I am very happy to hear that the construction is taking place, the first time I heard the news, I break the news to my colleagues chiefs during our last seating, and I am happy that this afternoon, I have gotten the information that the construction is going on, we all admired Chidozie for this kind gesture because we noticed that the absent of the disability stairways is totally incredible for the house because disability is something that doesn’t discriminate, because as far as we all lived we all one day stand the chance of being disabled in one way or the other. Any chief can become a disabled at any time”. He stated
Naba Aleemyarum was however quick to indicate that their inability to construct the stairways was as a result of lack of funds.
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