Stakeholders review guidelines on disbursement of disability fund

Associations of persons with disability (PWDs) have organised a forum to revise guidelines governing disbursement of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund for members after detecting widespread fraud associated with its sharing.

The guidelines for the disbursement and management of the Fund was introduced in 2010 by the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) and National Council on PWDs (NCPD) to provide clear rules for payment to beneficiaries.

Several reports over the years emerged that assembly officials and some PWDs have been flouting the procedures with impunity and misappropriating the three per cent Common Fund.

Speaking at the forum on the topic: “Sustainable Livelihoods for Persons with Disabilities through the Common Fund,” Mr Yaw Ofori-Debrah, the GFD President, said: “Audit reports and documented prove reveal that PWDs have not benefited from the Fund at all.”

The Federation has been in talks with the Common Fund Administrator in recent times to come out with more robust guidelines for its distribution to empower members economically.

Mr Ofori-Debrah said thorough review of the guidelines and documentation of data to track beneficiaries would help curb wonton dissipation of the Fund, particularly perpetrated by the assembly officials.

He expressed worry that disabled children heavily depended on the Fund for their numerous educational needs but district coordinating directors and chief executive officers often borrowed from that small money but failed to pay back.

“The whole fund is characterised with massive fraud, the assemblies borrow from it but do not pay, they refuse to even give information to fund managers, and as a matter of fact the challenges of the fund are humongous.”