A wake-up call to President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to assist disabled Ghanaians

One of the biggest challenges facing the Ghanaian government is creating meaningful projects to employ the youth and to cater to the needs of the disabled people in the country.

It’s an embarrassment to the country to see the horrible condition of people with disabilities, including beggars, throughout Ghana.

Even though in the past, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo once gave two million Ghana Cedis to 1,000 disabled men in the country to enhance their livelihood, this is not enough because assistance to the disabled should be on monthly basis.

That’s what exists in many developing and developed countries but not Ghana.

Ghana is one of the richest countries in Africa, talking about rich minerals and agricultural products, yet the country remains poor, leading to unprecedented hardships to the common people, especially the disabled.

Inefficiency, poor planning, and chronic corruption have affected various sectors in the country, leading to the lack of providing clean water and electricity for its citizens.

Another challenge the Ghanaian faces is the lack of ability to utilize its resources wisely, thus the unemployment rate has increased, making life difficult for disabled people too.

Ghana produces quality cocoa beans, which are playing significant roles in sustaining the economy of many European countries, yet apart from the poor cocoa farmers that earn less than a dollar, the country can't boast of enough factories to counter-attack the high rate of unemployment.

Also Ghana export quality timber to various countries in the world, yet the timber sector can’t provide meaningful jobs to the youths that only solution is to flee the country in search of greener pastures in perilous journeys across the Atlantic.

Instead, there is a large scale of illegal mining and lumbering in many parts of the country, causing environmental hazards, with impunity because many of the politicians in the country are behind to amass wealth.

Care, Financial assistance, and Services to the disabled

In the United States of America, and in both Eastern and Western European countries, financial assistance is giving to disabled people. Many of these countries don’t have the resources Ghana has, yet they provide monthly welfare to people with disabilities.

The European Union policy guarantees responsibility for people with disabilities just to make them live like every normal human being, with medical insurance and other social benefits.

Many disabled people go to work in electronic cars, wheelchairs since public transports is now designed to cater to their needs. The wheelchairs are easily driven into trains, trams, and buses in many European countries.

Blind people go to work each day with trained guiding dogs that obey the rules of traffic signs.

This doesn't exist in Ghana. Many of the disabled people in the country live in the most horrific conditions and until Ghana has good leaders that think of the suffering of the people, the poor living conditions of the disabled will remain the same.

Ghanaian leaders or politicians let me tell you something no matter how you love God or Jesus with all your heart, going to church or the mosques to pray to Allah, if you don’t do the right thing, you will never have peace.

Nana Akufo Addo must consider the plight of the disabled in the country and enroll those that can in special schools, programs, and training centers. These are some of the reasons many of the disabled work regularly in the United States of America and European countries.

Why Ghana can’t do the same? Is it because Ghana is an African country? Or because African leaders like to beg as a form of government?

The blind, Down syndrome, and those with physical and mental disabilities of all kinds, need financial assistance in Ghana. Even if they have families, it’s still the government’s responsibility to contribute to their welfare in society in many ways.

The Ghanaian government must set up offices in all the regions throughout the country to register the disabled, including beggars.

This is a positive step to get rid of all disabled people begging for alms off the streets because it’s not good for the tourism industry.

The third of December is observed as International Day of Persons with Disabilities, to remind governments of the urgency and importance of giving the proper attention to the disabled.

Ghana can do it because it has what it takes to make life better for everyone if the president wants to do it. Without facing challenges, there can never be developments.