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Wa East District Assembly disburses fund to 64 PWDs

The Wa East District Assembly in the Upper West Region has disbursed GH¢75,584.00 to 64 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to undertake economic activities and alleviate poverty.

Date Created : 9/26/2018 4:12:11 AM : Story Author : GNA

The district’s Disability Fund Management Committee (DFMC) organized a forum to disburse the amount to the respective beneficiaries as part of their share of the District Assembly Common Fund.

The committee issued some signed individual cheques to the recipients who comprised of 33 males and 31 females while others received assistive devices, electric sewing machines, hand sewing machines and grinding mill machines.

Mr Moses Jotie, the Wa East District Chief Executive, in an address charged the beneficiaries to invest the money into productive ventures which would help uplift their living standards and welfare.

“The idea is to make Persons with Disabilities independent and not dependent on others or any other fund for their daily basis,” he said.

He noted that the funds allocated were often small, which often times made beneficiaries divert for personal consumption instead of using the intended purpose

He expressed his commitment to ensure that funds for income generating activities were raised to substantial level to help lift PWDs out of abject poverty.

Mr Jotie said some beneficiaries of the fund have benefited twice for income generating activities and urged them to make judicious use of the money since several others have also applied for consideration in the next releases.

Mr Mathew Dassah, the District Social Welfare Officer and Secretary to District DFMC said the fund was to empower PWDs economically and get them engaged in dignified labour as well as minimize poverty of those outside the formal sector employment.

Spokesperson and Leader of the PWDs, Mr Edward K. Seidu, said he disagreed to the fact that they were “disabled” but rather it was the built environment that hindered their abilities.

“We are not disabled, it is the environment that is disabled because we cannot be remodernized to favour the environment, but the environment can be remodernized to favour us,” he said.

“Let us not also allow these monies and resources to be disabled but we should let them be useful to us for government to see the need to increase it”.