Over 90 persons with disability (PWDs) in Afadzato South District of the Volta Region have received start-up kits in line with government’s effort to provide jobs to PWDs to make them self-reliant.
Among the items distributed include: printing machines, deep freezers, baking ovens, sewing and knitting machines, fufu pounding machines and cash price ranging from 500.00 Ghana Cedis to 1,000.00 Ghana Cedis.
The distribution took place on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at the forecourt of the former Afadzato South District Assembly at Ve-Golokuati.
District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Lawyer Wisdom S. Seneadza in his address said some quality has been attached to this year’s event.
He assured beneficiaries of consistent government support to ensure PWDs are completely out of the streets and the negative perception about them changed.
The DCE said giving cash only to the PWDs as was done in the past, sometimes even made them poorer hence the resolve to purchase the items as a result of the accumulation of the increase in disability fund allocated to PWDs from 2.5 per cent 3 per cent in the district assemblies common fund (DACF).
Mr. Seneadza assured pending beneficiaries of a similar donation every quarter of the year while urging the beneficiaries to generate maximum income out of the items they had requested for.
He called on chiefs, elders, assembly members and people present not to consider the offer as a political matter but a matter of humanity adding, “we will not pretend anymore.”
President of the Ghana Federation of PWDs, Afadzato South District, Mr. Manfred Okrah was grateful to government for the increase.
According to him, the funds are usually spent from hand to mouth due to the extreme poverty of members.
He was however, optimistic that beneficiaries will make good use of their start-up kits to make burden on them and other family members, a thing of the past.
Meanwhile, similar distributions have already taken place in Akatsi South, Ketu South and Nkwanta North districts of the Volta region.
By:Kris Delali Asare/voltaonlinegh.com
