Persons With Disabilities, PWDs at Nalerigu in the North East Regional Capital, have not received their share of the Disability Fund from the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly for the past two years.
This development has compelled the PWDs to resort to the streets and lorry stations to beg for alms from commuters and other members of the public.
A visit to the area by GBC’s Radio Ghana saw about 30 of the Persons With Disabilities including the aged seated by the residence of the MP for the Nalerigu/Gambaga Constituency and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama.
The residence has been their main base where they beg for alms daily. The PWD’s said they were begging for alms to feed their families and also foot their medical bills.
They maintained that they have not received their share of the District Assembly Common Fund for PWDs since 2018. In addition, a few of them who have been enrolled onto the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme have also not been receiving their allowances consistently.
This situation, they noted, is making life difficult for them. He appealed to the authorities to as matter of urgency, come to their aid to improve their living conditions.
Mr Dokurugu also appealed for a resource centre for Persons with Disability in the area, saying that because they do not have a resource centre they are not able to always convene meetings to deliberate on their welfare.
Meanwhile, checks by GBC’s Radio Ghana revealed that the District Assembly Common Fund for the PWDs which was being paid through the Tisungtaaba community Bank in Gambaga has been locked up in the bank for the past two years as the bank is said to be in a serious financial crisis, making it difficult for them to access the fund for the PWDs.
Further checks revealed that about ¢170,000 released by the government for disbursement to the PWDs for the past two years have been locked up in the bank. When contacted, the East Mamprusi Municipal Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, Fairyzah Yahaya Iddi confirmed that the funds have been locked up in the bank and that they have not been able to access the funds for disbursement.
In the interim, she said the assembly has written to the Controller and Accountant General for change of account so that subsequent funds could be sent through the new account instead of the Community bank which is in financial distress.
On the LEAP programme, she said the last enrolment was done in 2015 and that those who are not currently on the programme would be covered when there is new enrollment.
