ATTOH ASSURES VULNERABLE GROUPS (PAGE 42, JULY 28, 2010)

THE Volta Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Fidelis Attoh has assured vulnerable groups of the nation that they will enjoy the desired protection under the participatory and multi-party democracy that had existed in the country for the past 18 years.
He said after six editions of constitutions in the history of the nation, the 1992 Constitution had proved to be resilient against any opportunist group to topple the government of the day because the Constitution was formulated on principles of consultation of which the vulnerable groups were part.
Mr Attoh said this at a lecture on the Constitution and the disability bill at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for members of the Volta Regional Association of the Deaf in Ho last weekend.
He said the Constitution guaranteed that no matter what the situation was, no one was expected to look down on any person as marginalised and that the NCCE had been mandated to empower them to live up to that goal.
Mr Attoh said vulnerable groups were protected under the disability law framed under the 1992 Constitution, and that it was their right to invoke aspects of the law to settle scores of any infringement against them.
He advised them to avoid sentiments of self-pity, adding that they should acquire more knowledge on their rights, freedoms and liberties through the Constitution and the disability law and should adhere responsibly to those laws in order to fulfil their obligations.
The Budget Officer of the Ho Municipal Assembly, Mr Dickson Agbenyah, disclosed that the government had stopped ceding the disability percentage of the common fund to district and metropolitan assemblies, and advised that they should relay such concerns to their respective headquarters.
He, however, said well organised groups with very good proposals would be assisted to access funds from the district assembly for economic empowerment.
The Chairman for the occasion, Mr N.K. Ankutse advised the participants to acquire requisite skills and qualifications to enable them to compete favourably in the job market.
He stressed that they should try to specialise in a particular field of endeavour to enhance their chances of getting employed.