Disability law is defective, says lawyer

Law lecturer Dr. Kwadwo Appiagyei- Atua says there are too many deficiencies in the recently passed disability law, which will make its implementation difficult.

While admitting that the passage of the disability law is a giant step at recognizing the rights of People with Disability (PWD), Dr. Appiagyei- Atua says the numerous defects and omissions can make it difficult for the law to achieve its intended purpose.

Presenting a paper on the ‘New Disability Law in Ghana: the way forward’ at a National Human Rights Public Lecture in Accra, Dr. Appaigyei-Atua asked among other things, “what next? Do we just celebrate the passage of the law, sit down and expect the law to deliver on its own? Or do we scrutinize the law and see what is in it and how we can use them as a tool for advocacy, lobbying, mounting of political pressure and litigation on the duty-bearers in the law?”

Dr. Appiagyei-Atua of the University of Ghana’s law faculty stunned when the audience when he announced that the Act does not contain an equality or non-discrimination provision.

The Act he says is also silent on the gender dimension of discrimination against women with disability.

“… the deletion of certain important words such as ‘implement’ from the functions of the National Disability Council severely water-down the functions of the council… and absence of appropriate compensations in instances of institutional violations of the rights of PWDs” are the crucial defects identified by the law lecturer.

Dr. Appiagyei-Atua who is also a Constitutional and Legal Policy Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development recommended the correction of such defects.

“Amendment of the law is crucial to determine what the whole relevance of the legislation is about, particularly in view of the fact that our Constitution’s non-discriminatory clause does not mention disability.”

He noted further that, apart from factors such as political violence, civil wars, domestic violence, malnutrition, lack of access to decent work, lack of access to education and health facilities, lack of information, lack of respect for mining regulations, road accident and police brutalities; poverty and underdevelopment are at the heart of the disability problem in Ghana.

He suggested among other things that government speeds up “the passage of at least two bills that are before parliament; the Domestic Violence Bill and the Right to Information Bill. Their passage into law will give a big boost to a smooth implementation of the Disability Law”.

The two-day lecture was jointly organized by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the Ghana Bar Association.

Associate Professor in Law at the University of Ghana’s Faculty of Law, Professor Kofi Quashigah also took participants through the prospects and challenges of realizing the socio-economic rights under Ghana’s 1992 republican constitution.

He noted that “denial of basic socio-economic rights is a grave danger to democracy anywhere in the world; and indeed the legitimacy of a government hinges on its genuine determination to ensure that the basic necessities of life are available and accessible to all within its border.”

Organizers of the programme say the annual lecture series aims at providing a national platform for non-state and state actors to discuss issues pertaining to socio-economic rights in Ghana.

They indicated that a five-day Human Rights Week will be organized on the theme, Advancing Socio-Economic and Cultural Rights in Ghana; Prospects and Challenges with the view to raising awareness about the enjoyment of these rights in Ghana.

Some disabled persons also spoke about their experiences and challenges of living with disability in Ghana.