GFD calls for transparency with PWDs common fund disbursement
The President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), Joseph Atsu Homadzi, has advised Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to be transparent in the disbursement of the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) portion of the district assembly common fund.
According to him, almost all 261 Ghana Federation of Disabilities Organisations across the country were complaining about the lack of transparency in the disbursement of the fund at their assemblies.
Mr Homadzi made the call during his visit to the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities in the Eastern Region last Tuesday.
He said the GFD, the umbrella organisation of PWDs, serves as the primary advocate for the rights, inclusion and empowerment of PWDs.
Commendation of President
Mr Homadzi thanked the President, John Dramani Mahama, for his commitment in championing the issues of PWDs, saying he demonstrated his commitment during his current administration by increasing the PWDs fund from three per cent to five per cent as he promised, in addition to free tertiary education for PWDs, stressing ‘’the five per cent employment for PWDs is also in the pipeline as a committee set by the Minister for Labour is seriously working on it’’.
Mr Homadzi, who was accompanied by the Monitoring and Research Manager of the Ghana Federation of Disabilities Organisations, Moses Fordjour, and other officers, said there were clear guidelines for the disbursement of the PWDs fund and anything outside those guidelines was a total deviation.
‘’From what we heard from the two municipalities, Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo, the PWDs claim that for the whole of last year, both received disbursement once, but our records show that three quarters were released by the Common Fund Administrator.
So, we are going to book an appointment with the assemblies to listen to their side of the story, and then we shall pick it up from there,’’ he assured.
The GFD president urged the PWDs to be assertive, demand what is their right, adding “the common fund is for you, and you need to know how much belongs to you and how it has been disbursed”.
Earlier in a welcome address, the chairpersons of both Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo, Vida Niine Awaitey and Solomon Sackitey, respectively, enumerated the challenges they were facing in the two assemblies regarding the disbursement of the common fund.
According to them, the two assemblies were not adhering to the established guidelines, including committee vetting of applicants, with applicants' requested items being ignored, and the social welfare directors operating alone without following proper procurement procedures.
The Gender Representative for the GFD and the Chairperson of the Yilo Krobo Fund Management Committee, Jennifer Dede, said they were not included in procurement decision-making and that this error must be corrected.
