RUSAPE - The government and other stakeholders should ensure that the rights and other issues affecting the lives of people living with disabilities are uplifted to improve their lives, an official has said. In an interview with The Zimbabwean, Moffat Gwadi the chairperson of Madanhi village, a rehabilitation centre in Rusape, said there were many issues that needed to be addressed to improve the lives of people living with disabilities.
He said people with disabilities had to understand that their rights were not negotiable as they were enshrined in international conventions and the Disability Act.
“People with disabilities have rights and these rights must not be asked for,” he said.
According to the official, people with disabilities must be given free access to health and education, among other critical services, to ensure that they lead normal lives.
“We cannot have people going to the Department of Social Welfare every time to be given letters so that they can access health services,” he said.
Gwadi said the absence of a law binding a specific ministry to take care of the needs of the disabled was disadvantaging them.
This, in most cases resulted in the people being forced to move from one government department to another to have certain issues attended to.
He, however, noted that there was need for people living with disabilities to speak with one voice so that issues affecting them could be seriously addressed.
“You have to be united despite the difference in disability so that your wishes can be addressed.”
Gwadi said there was need for disability issues to be prioritized like other issues such as HIV and AIDS.
“Disability is as old as creation but what really has been done to improve the lives of people living with disability?” he queried.
He called for serious activism among members so that issues affecting them can be heard and addressed.
Post published in: Politics