Human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu
Human rights lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu has hinted at plans to drag the government of Ghana to the ECOWAS Court of Justice for an immediate enforcement of international conventions which require that all public facilities be disability-friendly.
Successive governments have failed in abiding by this convention as most public facilities in the country remain inaccessible to persons living with disability after a 10-year grace period to do so.
Speaking to Class News on the sidelines of a capacity-building programme organised by the African Centre for International Law and Accountability, Mr Sosu stated that he, together with the Ghana Disability Forum, will soon be heading for international arbitration over the matter.
He said: “What is important is for government to show commitment, but so far, government is not showing any commitment to doing that. I recall sometime last year, before my suspension that I was called to lead persons with disability to court and even in the Human Rights court, they were unable to access the buildings and I think that is very much unfair.
“When these buildings were built, the law had already stated that we had some timelines to convert those buildings [and make them disability-friendly] so, I think if government is showing the way by means of making those buildings accessible, particularly the new buildings that are being built, we would have said that, at least, we are making some progress but not until government begins to show some commitment in those ways, I think that it will be appropriate that we litigate.
“Like I’ve always said, human rights does not end with advocacy, it is actually an advocacy and also a litigation platform. We are hoping that once I’m able to put all the necessary things together to start my legal practice again, I’ll come back to take that action”.
