Accessibility To The New Law Faculty, Woe To Persons With Disability.

The issue of accessibility for persons with disability more often than not becomes a matter of heated argument wherever people converge. This is mostly the case because matters concerning this group of people are either treated with disdain or of no significance. I strongly believe that this deep-rooted perception or mindset can be traced to our culture many years ago. Most of the cultures in Africa of which Ghana is not exempted held superstitious beliefs concerning children or people with any deformities on them. These beliefs ranged from being a curse from the gods, bad omen, bad luck, impending evil to mention but few. This resulted in a kind of attitudinal and behavioural changes towards them as they were stigmatized as not ‘proper’ human beings. Lines were therefore drawn for these people as they were mostly removed far away from the centre of attraction. The problem of maligning and sidelining still continue to permeate many aspect of our lives be it social, political, educational, cultural and what have you. It is very obvious that for a long time many of our public places were developed with little or no memory of persons with disability.

On the grounds of equality with respect to the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, many voices began to speak in addressing the issue of accessibility of such persons which attracted much attention and the need for pragmatic measures to be taken in correcting such an anomalous situation. One must also not forget that is no fault of such people that they were born with such a condition.

On the passage of the Persons with Disability Bill by Ghana’s Parliament on June 23rd 2006, the Bill was aimed at enabling disabled people to “enjoy rights enshrined in the Constitution with the view to improving their living standards and mainstreaming their activities”. According to (Article 29 (6)) of the constitution, it is overtly stipulated ‘‘as far as practicable, every place to which the public have access shall have appropriate facilities for disabled persons. The Bill which was first drafted in 2002 and been through up to 60 amendments during this 4 year period finally went through with the blessing of both the majority and minority members of Parliament. One of the major aims of the bill is to provide disabled people with accessibility to all public places which I believe the University of Ghana’s new law faculty is no exception. This was a necessity as many public places were designed with little or no consideration to people with disability.

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Many people shared various concerns and therefore agitated for a critical observation of the rights of disabled people. One would have thought that the length of time of the bill in parliament was enough to give it the impetus to be held in high esteem in order to precipitate effective implementation.

One would ask what happened to the intention of offering disabled people with accessibility to all and not some public places? Are people with disability thought of as equal citizens of our dear nation? Have they simply been marginalized? or left in the periphery. This and many other reasons are my worries as a concerned citizen with regards to the construction of the new law faculty on the campus of the University of Ghana. Many are the students in the faculty who are full of joy and excitement embracing this wonderful legacy. I strongly believe that the thought of this gargantuan edifice without easy access to persons with disability is really a nightmare to people who find themselves in that condition. People with disability will indeed find it extremely difficult not only in climbing the very steep staircases but also remain imprisoned upstairs the whole day or until the lectures are over for the day. It also means they do not have reasonable access to most of the other parts or facilities of the building.

It is not just surprising but a real insult to the very existence of persons who belong to the faculty and generation unborn as far as pursuing their educational goals are concerned. I am of the belief that the construction of the faculty was not done overnight and that the contractor and the workers were not working at gun point to fashion it to satisfy the whims and caprices of any person or group of persons. If that was not the case then the excuse of forgetfulness will not be bought even if it was sold for a song.

Also, if that was not the case, how could a whole educational facility belonging to a faculty that of course cannot afford to be bereft of the knowledge of the rights of persons with disability refuse to create easy access to that effect?

I therefore entreat the authorities in charge of affairs, as a matter of urgency, to intervene and order a modification (creation of a path for persons with disability) to the building that would enable them have reasonable access to the various facilities in the new building.

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If this is not rectified, it will create a foreshadow of danger that the faculty might be placed in a position where it would be forced to discriminate in a future against persons with a disability (students or employee) on the ground that they may not be able to access the available facilities there.

By: Ralph Poku-Adusei Esq.,

LL.M, PGDip, GDip., BA(Hons) of the Middle

Temple, Barrister. (England and Wales)

Barrister and Solicitor (Ghana)

Zoe, Akyea & Co. Legal Practitioners.

Accra-Ghana

Contact: 00233-244-910616