*Gov’t Agencies Must Lead on Disability Inclusion – Deputy Local Gov’t Minister*  

Deputy Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, Hon. Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, has backed calls for government agencies to employ persons with disabilities and improve access to public buildings.  

Commenting on a statement by Deputy Education Minister Clement Apaak during the National Day of Persons with Disabilities in Parliament, the Dadekotopon MP said MDAs must set the example.  

“If every Ministry, Department and Agency can employ at least one or two persons with disability, we will reduce unemployment among them drastically,” she said.  

Hon. Sowah, citing her own ministry, revealed that work has started on a lift to ensure PWDs can access the Local Government Ministry building. “Accessibility is key. We must remove barriers in all our public institutions,” she added.  

She urged all 261 district assemblies to also recruit PWDs and called for skills training to be matched with job opportunities.

Minority Chief Whip and Nsawam Adoagyiri MP, Hon. Frank Annor Dompreh, says Ghana must move beyond sympathy and rhetoric to enforce real rights for persons with disabilities.  

Commenting in Parliament on a statement by Deputy Education Minister Clement Apaak to mark the National Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dompreh warned that the country risks “celebrating the day without delivering change.”  

The Minority Whip backed calls to review the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2006 to include, A 5% employment quota for PWDs in public and private institutions, Tax exemptions for PWDs and companies that employ them and Penal sanctions for institutions that fail to comply, not just moral appeals.  

“If Parliament can give tax waivers to big companies, why can’t we give tax exemptions to PWDs who are struggling?” Dompreh queried.

Report by PKB