Agotime-Ziope DCE Warns: Prodigal PWDs Face Prosecution

Persons with disabilities (PWD) who squander their livelihood support tools and funds will be prosecuted, the Agotime-Ziope District Assembly in the Volta Region has warned. The District Chief Executive (DCE), Alfred Eklu Odikro, sounded a cautionary note on the eve of New Year’s Day when the assembly presented various items and working tools to the first batch of 36 PDWs at Kpetoe as part of efforts to support their livelihoods. The items, worth about GH¢250, 000, included deep freezers, leather sewing machines, dummy foot, cassava grinding machines, cooking oil, bags of rice, sugar, beans, groundnuts, packs of soft drinks, gari in commercial quantities and plastic chairs for rental. The DCE gave an assurance that the assembly would always give PWDs their due and continue to provide their basic comfort. However, he said, some PWDs were selling their livelihood support tools for paltry gains. “The assembly will not look on unconcerned for this to continue,” Mr Odikro maintained. He said the government, for that matter the assembly, attached equal value to all citizens and was determined to support every individual to use his or her talents to contribute meaningfully to community and national development. For that matter, Mr Odikro said, the livelihood support tools were provided according to the specific requests made by the PDWs. “So, to sell the working tools or use them for other purposes, different from enhancing your livelihood, amounts to fraud,” the DCE said. He said swift steps would be taken to deal with PWDs who swindled the assembly, adding that “PWDs are not above the law, or indemnified from prosecution.” Mr Odikro said the assembly would monitor beneficiaries of the livelihood support scheme to ensure the items were used for their intended purpose. Albums Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare of the assembly has printed an album on PWDs in the district, profiling them with the details of their places of residence and precise forms of their disability and needs to support their occupation. The launch of the album coincided with the distribution of the items. The District Director of Social Welfare, Kingsley Sonu, said the album would ensure easy identification and tracking of the PWDs. He said there were now more than 500 PWDs in the district. Mr Sonu reiterated that livelihood support beneficiaries who did not utilise their support from the assembly properly would not be considered for another support in future. The Chairman of PWD in the district, Wisdom Yormekpe, entreated the beneficiaries to use the tools they received judiciously in their own interest and win the trust of the assembly. “Let it be a case of one good turn deserving another,” he added.