Release Disability Common Fund before December 17 referendum – Group to govt

President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisation and the Ghana Blind Union in the Central Region is calling on government to release part of the Disability Common Fund to help in capacity building of its members before the December 17 referendum.

According to the group, although they will vote in the referendum, the lack of capacity building will make it difficult for its members to vote.

“We are supposed to vote and exercise our franchise but it has become difficult because we have not been taken through proper training,” the president of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisation added.

Speaking to Citi News after members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender, Children, and Social Protection met with stakeholders in the region to discuss government policies and plans, Nana George Frimpong, President of the Federation indicated that the capacity building will help members vote independently and confidently.

He indicated that government through the various District Assemblies must release the Disability Common Fund to help train members of the association on tactile training to enable members to vote on December 17.

“All the MMDA’s must be made to release part of the Disability Common Fund to us, we have the special organizational development support component of it and they should see it as capacity building and release monies for us to do our local training before December 17,” Nana George Frimpong added.

According to the President of the Federation, the tactile training gives members (Blind) the knowledge to select properly when voting on December 17.

“Tactile means touch and it is a form of card that has been designed with holes and dots by the side which are numbered from one to five depending on the numbers so members need to be trained on how to identify number one or number two” Nana George Frimpong added.

Background

The Electoral Commission has scheduled December 17, 2019 for the referendum.

The election of MMDCEs was a major campaign promise of the New Patriotic Party in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Government has already presented the amendment of Article 243 (1) of the 1992 constitution bill which requires the President to appoint Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to Parliament.

When passed, all MMDCEs would be elected by Universal Adult Suffrage after the 2020 general election.

Currently, Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that District Chief Executives for every district are to be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the assembly present and voting at the meeting.

In addition, the Bill amending Article 55 (3) would also pave the way for political parties to sponsor candidates for elections of the MMDCEs and the Assembly Members. Read Full Story