Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin has said that parliament as an institution is committed to the cause of disability and inclusion in Ghana.
“We need to have a number of physically challenged persons
as Members of Parliament, it is one of the benchmarks for assessing parliaments
in the world,” he said.
Mr Bagbin made the remark when selected members of the
disability movement and the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD)
paid a courtesy call on him.
The Speaker of Parliament said: “we are working on all these
things to make our parliament inclusive; we will do our best to inaugurate the
disability caucus by the end of the year.”
The GFD is pushing for Parliament to have a formalized disability
caucus that will support the disability movement in its advocacy and to help
effectively monitor and contribute to the disability discussions on the floor
of parliament.
Ms Rita Kyeremaa Kusi, Executive Director of the GFD who led
the delegation said there was the need for an enriched and enhanced
conversation on disability issues at the parliamentary level.
She called on the Speaker to help facilitate the
re-enactment of the disability law to enable persons with disabilities enjoy
their rights in Ghana.
Ms Kusi also mentioned that Ghana is yet to ratify the
African Disability Protocol (ADP), a protocol that considers African practices
and concerns in dealing with disability issues.
She said the process to sign and ratify the ADP started many
years ago but there has been challenges and called on the speaker for support
in the process.
Interim leaders of the disability caucus of parliament were
at the meeting to lend their support.
Dr Emmanuel Marfo, Member of Parliament for Oforikrom Constituency,
Mr Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South and Ms Darkoa Newman,
Member of Parliament for Okaikwei South, all pledged their unflinching support
to the disability movement in Ghana.
They also added their voice to the call for the formalization
and inauguration of the disability caucus in parliament to enable them to do more.
The Special Mothers Project was part of the delegation that paid a courtesy call on the speaker
