Disability Rights: Enforce Existing Laws, Not Promises

By Chelsea NYANTAKYI Kafui reaches the clinic experiencing discomfort. The entrance is located at the top of a brief flight of stairs. There...

By Chelsea NYANTAKYI

Kafui reaches the clinic experiencing discomfort. The entrance is located at the top of a brief flight of stairs. There is neither a ramp nor an elevator. His wheelchair is unable to proceed further, so he halts and gazes upward at the doorway intended for all, yet designed without his needs in consideration.

At that instant, his options reduce to two: remain and pray that someone walking by will see him and help lift him up, or attempt to pull himself out of his wheelchair and crawl up the stairs. These are the only methods available for him to get into the clinic.

Therefore, he remains waiting. This situation should not be tolerated as it undermines the concept of inclusion. Nevertheless, it is a common experience for numerous individuals with disabilities throughout Ghana, despite accessibility being a legal mandate for almost two decades.

This inaccessibility is not confined to hospitals. The same challenge is present in schools, offices, transportation networks, and public organizations throughout the nation. We are not lacking in legislation. Rather, we are missing proper execution.

The Disability Act (Act 715), enacted in 2006, did not merely promote inclusion; it required it. Clause 6 states that public buildings and services must be made accessible.

Section 7 ensures that children with disabilities have access to free basic education, along with the required support. Section 9 requires employers to implement reasonable accommodations to allow individuals with disabilities to work with respect. These are not just goals. They are mandatory requirements. However, the daily situation still goes against the legal commitment.

A recent study by the SOFA Foundation revealed that numerous elementary schools lack ramps, braille resources, or educators skilled in sign language and approaches that support neurodiversity. Thus, while education might be free on paper, it remains inaccessible in reality. Numerous children with disabilities drop out of school before reaching middle school, not due to an inability to learn, but because the surroundings are not designed to accommodate them.

Ghana's educational framework incorporates children with disabilities into regular classrooms, yet frequently lacks the necessary assistance to ensure their complete learning and involvement. If a child is unable to navigate the school premises, interact with instructional approaches, or access the language and educational resources provided, they might be registered in the classroom, but they are not genuinely integrated.

This serves as the base for all future educational prospects. Recently, the government implemented a tuition exemption for students with disabilities in higher education. This is a significant recognition of the necessity to lower financial obstacles. However, we must face an uncomfortable reality: only a limited number of children with disabilities actually reach higher education. If nursery, primary, and middle school settings fail to assist them, they will probably not attain the stage where fee exemptions are relevant.

To move ahead, we need to be truthful: initiatives announced at the upper levels will not succeed if the base at the lower level remains unsecured. A student cannot get into university if the basic school classroom was never available from the start. This same situation occurs in employment. The renewed effort to implement a 5 percent employment quota for people with disabilities in both public and private sectors is important. It acknowledges that people with disabilities are part of Ghana's workforce. It highlights the value they contribute. It affirms dignity and economic involvement.

However, a job offer on paper does not equate to actual employment. If a workplace features stairs without a ramp or elevator, hallways that are too narrow for wheelchairs, staff meetings that exclude individuals with different communication styles, restrooms that are not accessible, or if inclusion is viewed as an inconvenience rather than a necessity, then the employment is merely symbolic, not genuine. Without proper accessibility, the 5 percent quota could end up being just another well-meaning headline with little real-world effect.

When individuals with disabilities are left out of the workforce, Ghana misses out on valuable skills, economic input, leadership, creativity, and human potential. The nation faces consequences in terms of reduced productivity, increased social care responsibilities, higher inequality, and diminished national capability. To be clear, accessibility is not an act of kindness. It is the essential base that makes inclusion possible. Therefore, the question is not whether Ghana should support people with disabilities. The law has already mandated that we do so. The question ishow do we convert that legal obligation into daily availability.

Where the journey ahead starts

If genuine advancement is to result from the tertiary fee exemption and the employment quota, access should be considered the initial priority rather than an issue to be dealt with at a later stage.

Accessibility is what allows:

• A child who has a disability facing challenges in entering a classroom, interacting, learning, and advancing.
• A student with a disability who has finished secondary school and is eligible for higher education.
• An individual with a disability who is capable of working on their own, supporting themselves financially, and developing a professional path.

This means:

• Elementary schools should be available to all.
• Teacher training institutions should consider inclusive education as essential instruction rather than optional learning.
• Workplaces need to be inspected for accessibility, rather than simply being urged to "do their best."
• The implementation process for the 5 percent requirement should involveverification of accessibility not just headcount.

These are merely the basic requirements. Ghana doesn't require new pledges before addressing previous ones. The legislation is already in place. Commitments have already been made. What's left is the ongoing, hands-on work of ensuring accessibility is evident in places where people reside, study, and work. The issue is no longer about whether the rights of individuals with disabilities are acknowledged. The issue is whether we will ultimately create the circumstances that turn those rights into reality. If accessibility has been a legal responsibility for almost two decades, then the time for action isn't tomorrow. It's now!

The writer is a disability advocate and safeguarding trainer, drawing from personal experience.,co-founder of the SOFA Foundation and a professional clinical pharmacist.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).