Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Accra Mayor
The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations has threatened to sue the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for failing to make the Millennium City Schools buildings in Accra disability friendly.
It says the rights of disability children to education are being violated with impunity as the Assembly has failed to make the building disability friendly.
An initiative of Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Accra Millenniunm City School projects which seeks to construct 100 schools within the Accra metropolis, was necessitated by the poor state of classrooms and the shift system in the city.
So far the about 20 of the schools constructed are not disability friendly; something that has caused many people to raise concerns
The buildings, which come in a three- storey 18 unit classrooms, have no elevators nor platforms to aid persons with disabilities to access their classrooms. The school blocks have only staircases.
This violates section 6 of the disability law, as well as article 29 of the country's Constitution and article 9 of the UN Convention, all of which require buildings to be disability friendly.
School authorities at some of the schools were tight lipped on the issue when contacted for fear of victimisation.
However, a new block being constructed at the Mamprobi Salvation Army Cluster of Schools is disability friendly.
Although we gathered there were no students with disabilities, the Ghana Federation of Disability insists there is still the need to make the facilities accessible to persons with disability.
Isaac Tugun of the federation said efforts to get the AMA to make the buildings accessible to persons with disability had failed.
Meanwhile, the moratorium for all buildings to be made disability friendly ends in august this year, and the question is whether such buildings will remain as they are.
