Government urged to provide interpreters for state functions

Accra, March 4, GNA - Mr. Ebenezer Asamoah, National Administrator of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf has called on the government to provide interpreters for the deaf at all state functions. He said this should begin with the Independence Day celebrations to benefit the deaf community.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, Mr Asamoah said it was disheartening to know that almost all state programmes carried out in the country did not have interpreters for the deaf community.

"Programmes like the 'Meet the Press' series by the ministers which are carried out live on television should have interpreters for the deaf. This will not only let them understand government policies but also make them have the sense of belonging"

Mr. Asamoah urged politicians to also ensure that their messages were interpreted to the deaf community in their electioneering campaign messages so that they could also make informed decisions and choices.

He said many of the mistakes committed by the deaf were not done intentionally but was due to the lack of information or misinformation. Mr. Asamoah said deaf people, for example, had been attacked because they could not defend themselves properly when questioned and called on the general public to show tolerance for such persons when they were in difficulties.

The National Administrator cautioned the public to desist from giving financial assistance to people who came to them with envelopes, placards and letterheads since they were all fraudsters.

He noted that the actions of the fraudsters had caused many organisations to deny the Association's genuine call for assistance. Mr. Asamoah said: "The Association has cards for its members and even that we do not encourage them to go about begging."

He expressed his appreciation to the government for the implementation of the Disability Act and asked for more assistance to the deaf community.