By Francis H. Murray
The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) has given the sum of Le46 million to individuals and disability organizations as support to their programs and well-being.
In a ceremony held last week at the commission’s headquarters in Freetown, officials distributed cheques to three disabled people and three organizations run by disabled people.
The communication and outreach officer of NCPD, Mawusie Dumbuya, said that the project was part of the commission’s yearly support to disabled who submitted proposals to the commission in line with work for the disable community.
In his opening remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Saa Lamin Kortequee, said that all the funds were provided by the central government.
Kortequee said that if the funds were to be sustainable, the beneficiaries must ensure that the moneys were used for the purposes they were meant for, so that government would be convinced that its resources were well managed.
The chairman of the commission, James Collins said, ‘‘These grants are from the government coffers, so that means they’re tax payers’ money and so conscious efforts must be made to legitimately use them for the purposes intended’’ Collins said,
He added: “We’re putting monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that we monitor the implementation to the letter.”
Buyah Sesay is head of the Disabled Persons United to Serve Humanity, a civil society group that is engaged in popularizing the Disability Act. The organization received Le14 million as support to carry on their activities.
‘‘The Disability Act is an Act of Parliament established to ensure that the issues of persons with disability are addressed legitimately,” Sesay told Politico in an interview while explaining the rationale of the work.
“Not everybody understands what is in the Disability Act, even with the disabled. But we are not focusing on the disabled, we’re focusing on the institutions who render the services referred to in the Act. Like we talk about the government grant for persons with disability in universities, but do the universities know that these are stated in the Disability Act? Also the free medical for persons with disability is not known to most medical practitioners and access to justice especially for the blind is a challenge,’’ Sesay explained.
Sheku Bangura, who has an eye problem and needed a diagnosis on his eye, also received Le1.5million as contribution towards this.
Ramatu Turay, who heads the Network Forum for Women with Disability, an organization that focuses on engaging women with disability to get off the street, said that disabled women should be encouraged to believe that the street is not a home for them.
Turay received Le 7 million on behalf of her organization.
Collins encouraged Turay to be an ambassador to other disabled women in convincing them to get off the streets and add meaning to their lives.
After receiving the Le 8 million, Turay thanked the commission and assured them that the money would be used for the intended purpose.
KITE-S/L is an organization that concerns itself with the transportation of wheelchairs and other equipment used by disabled. They were given Le 4 million to support their wheelchair distribution program.
Action for Children Associated with Disability, headed by Edward K. Conteh, received Le 8 million, whiles Women with Disability for Equal Opportunities, which advocates for access to health care for the disabled, received Le10 million.
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