Mahama endorses 5% minimum employment for PWDs in Bill proposed by Sosu
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has endorsed the Private Member’s Bill initiated by the Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
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The Private Member’s Bill, which seeks to ensure 5 per cent mandatory minimum employment for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in all public and private institutions in Ghana was initiated in Parliament on Monday, September 5 2022.
"I therefore give you the firm assurance that upon assumption of office, I will go further to redevelop and improve the database of PWDs, and ensure that this mandatory minimum employment of Persons with Disabilities Bill is effectively implemented in Ghana", he assured.
The former president gave the assurance in a speech read on his behalf by Chairperson of the Gender and Social Protection Committee of the NDC, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, during a Stakeholders’ meeting with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) in Accra on Tuesday April 9, 2024.
He said the NDC has the record of championing the welfare and living conditions of persons with disability in Ghana.
He recalled that it was under the erstwhile NDC leadership that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was ratified in Ghana and made a person with disability a Minister for Chieftaincy.
“As you already know the NDC is the Party with a longstanding record and history of championing the welfare and living conditions of persons with disability in Ghana. Apart from being the only Party with a disability desk, it was under the NDC that Ghana ratified the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities with its optional protocol; the first-ever appointment of a PWD as cabinet Minister in the person of Dr. Henry Seidu Danaah, former Minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs; and the registration of a total of 288 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) for better targeting of service delivery as captured in the 2014 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government, among others”, he stated.
In addition, he said his government played a pivotal role in successfully lobbying a Ghanaian to be made Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr Mahama therefore pledged to improve the database of persons with disabilities and ensure the full implementation of the proposed Bill.
The former president further stated that persons with disabilities will be full participants in his proposed 24-hour economy in line with goal 10 of the SDGs which seeks to reduce inequalities in income based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status within a country.
“In a 24-hour economy, no Person with Disability (PWD) should be left behind as we seek to empower our people, and ensure all persons, including PWDs, contribute effectively and play meaningful roles in building the Ghana
For his part, the sponsor of the Bill and MP for Madina, Francis Sosu noted that the next NDC Government will continue to strengthen the legal and policy framework for the protection of the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities, as well as all vulnerable groups in Ghana, as part of efforts to achieve SDG 10 which reads Reduced Inequalities in Ghana.
In attendance at the programme was members of NDC 2024 manifesto committee on Gender, Children, PWDs and Social Protection and some members of the Ghana Federation of Disability.