Parliament is a place of refuge for persons with disabilities – Speaker

Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye[/caption] The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Aaron Oquaye says parliament should be a place of refuge for persons with disabilities and the less privileged. This position comes barely a month when a physically-challenged man was denied entry into the chamber of Parliament by security who then said he cannot stand to acknowledge the Speaker of the House. Alex Tetteh the man who was discriminated against later told journalists, “Their reason is that they were asked not to allow anybody who cannot stand when the Speaker is coming or passing or is rising.” But the Speaker of Parliament said every group of persons in Ghana have a representative in parliament and called on corporate organizations and civil society organizations to embrace  persons with disabilities and make them more comfortable since disability can happen to anyone Prof. Oquaye said this when Parliament hosted the Eugenuis Foundation, an organization that cares for the less privileged in society. The Speaker of Parliament hosted the Foundation as his contribution to support them ahead of a concert scheduled for 30^th of December for persons with disabilities. The Concert dubbed “Save a Soul Concert” is on the theme: “Disability is not inability” and will feature groups like the  Star Light Band, a musical group made up of people with visual impairment as well as Minister Isaiah ,  a wheelchair user who leads in worship Prof. Oquaye said : “Lets have more of less privileged persons visit parliament to interact with us” saying “I hope that people will emulate this gesture and even improve upon it. Members of parliament including the speaker danced and sung along to melodious tunes from the Voices of Democracy choir Participants at the programme include persons who are visually impaired and mothers of children with cerebral palsy The Speaker also donated items, including bags of rice, oil, tin fish, diapers and wipes as well as cash amount to participants as his Christmas gift Mr Eugene Danso, Founder of Eugenuis Foundation in his message of appreciation said the group will like to call on the Speaker of Parliament to be an ambassador for persons with disabilities and help in ensuring that their rights were respected. Source: 3news.com | Ghana]]>