Opinions of Sunday, 22 November 2015
Columnist: The Catalyst Newspaper
Your Excellency,
I bring you greetings from the disability fraternity, with the belief that you are doing very well.
You might be surprised at this letter due to its heading but I wish to assure you it is just a friendly letter from someone who has followed your work and wishes to encourage you to continue doing the best for mankind.
I am writing you this love letter to draw your attention to a group of people, I believe, you love so much but have not been able to express your love to due to your heavy schedule as the number one citizen of our dear nation.
Your Excellency, I am referring to Persons with Disability (PWDs), a group that constitutes 20% of the population, according to estimates.
This group is capable of determining your political fortunes, but that is not the focus of this letter since I write as amateur of disability issues, in view of its importance.
Disability, they say, is everybody’s lot and no one is immune to it. That means we all have a responsibility to make the sector the best since no one knows when they would become an integral part of the fraternity.
It is in this vein that I would like to make a passionate appeal to you to personally adopt this sector as your project and to make a difference that would be imprinted in the annals of this country for posterity.
Your Excellency, PWDs have achieved a lot in various sectors of human endeavor, especially in the area of sports where names like Alem Mumuni, Ajara Mohammed, Patrick Obeng, Raphael Nkegbe, Charles Narh Teye, the Deaf Football team and the Amputee Football team, just to mention a few, have achieved a lot for Mother Ghana.
In spite of the challenges and frustrations, they are not deterred and are willing to do more.
My simple appeal to you is to consider setting aside 3rd December every year as a special day to interact with the leadership of the disability fraternity, to understand their plight and situations, in order to apply your vast wisdom to helping resolve them.
The day is recognized worldwide as Disability Day and it would be very beautiful to have you grace it every year with a meeting with their leadership as you have been doing with Teachers and Farmers Days.
Do well to do this for our brothers and sisters who would forever appreciate it.
I know you have what it takes to change the sector and to leave a legacy as the most humble president ever witnessed by this country.
Permit me to say that your humility is well known to all and this would just cement that fact.
I have other suggestions that would come in subsequent love letters.
Thank you for the attention.
Yours in the service of the nation
THEODORE MAWULI K. VIWOTOR
NEWS EDITOR, THE CATALYST
SECRETARY GENERAL
WORLD AMPUTEE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
GHANA AMPUTEE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
ALEM FOUNDATION
[email protected]