PHYSICALLY-CHALLENGED APPEAL TO ELECTORAL COMMISSION (PAGE 31)

From Emmanuel Modey, Ho

The Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to allow them a level playing ground to participate in the electoral process.
They observed that at present they do not have equal access to education, transport, employment and participation in public or political life.
They made the appeal at a one-day seminar on the theme “Accessible Electoral Process for Persons With Disabilities in Election 2008” in Ho over the weekend. It was organised by the GSPD and funded by DANIDA.
The GSPD, the national organisation of persons with physical disabilities, said they were confronted with a lot of disadvantages concerning the forthcoming elections which they hoped would be removed before then.
The National Financial Officer of GSPD, Mr Elias Akuamoah, said for instance that places for organising political issues should be free from all architectural barriers and that education materials should be made available in Braille.
He also suggested that EC employ sign language interpreters so that those who cannot hear also get to know what is going on. This will ensure that they are not excluded from the process due to their disabilities, since they are also Ghanaians.
For his part, an official of the Ho Municipal Electoral Commission, Mr Johnson Akafia, said the EC respects the rights of all members of society, including those of the physically disabled.
Thus they propose to make the electoral landscape as level as possible for all to ensure that all qualified voters vote. For instance, special dispensation was given to people with special needs during the limited voter registration exercise, he pointed out.
This, Mr Akafia said, included moving a centre to the Ho Leprosarium for two days, visiting the homes of the aged, bedridden and those on admission to hospitals.
He noted that the EC, as far as voting was concerned, would ensure that polling stations were as much as possible accessible to everybody, including the physically challenged, the aged and also women.
In the last two elections, for instance, the EC introduced tactile ballot for those with visual impairment but the problem they had was where to send which number.
The Ho Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Harry Asimah, noted that polling stations were accessible enough but pleaded with families of people with disabilities to assist them wherever this was not the case. He said people with disabilities had the right to vote just as they participate in social and creative activities.