GFD calls for proper use of common fund

Mr Yaw Debrah, President of Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD), has called on the assemblies to use their share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to alleviate poverty among persons with disability.

Mr Debrah, made this known in Accra at a stakeholder’s policy dialogue to discuss the implementation, disbursement, management and the monitoring of the District Assemblies Common Fund, which was organised by SEND-West Africa, a civil society organisation.

He said people with disability are the vulnerable in the society and as such needed to be well taken care of to reduce poverty among them and to improve their standard of living.

The theme for the meeting: “Making the two per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund Work for Persons with Disability” was to ensure that two per cent of common fund to district assemblies is allocated to people with disabilities.

Mr Debrah said the unclear guidelines, disbursement and utilisation of the fund by district executives makes it difficult to evaluate what the districts are doing with the funds meant for disabled beneficiaries. He claimed that the low involvement of people with disability in the monitoring process and on the committee has led to beneficiaries being cheated by some district executives.

Mr Siapha Kamara, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) SEND-West Africa called on government for the systematic documentation and guidelines to ensure people with disability are given their fair share of the national cake.

Mr Julius Debrah, Minster of Local Government and Rural Development, in a speech read on his behalf thanked SEND-GHANA for the initiative, adding that government is prepared to work with the outcome of the dialogue to improve on the lives of disabled people in the country.

He said the common fund has catered for the health, education as well as vocational skills training which has made significant impact in the lives of persons with disability. He said government attaches great importance to the Disability Act and has put measures in place to empower persons with disability in Ghana.