Persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the Wa East District have made a formal complaint to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for investigation, alleged extortion by the District Social Welfare Officer and one other person.
The Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD) and the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) are accusing the official, Mathew Dassah and Edward K. Asiedu, the representative of the PWDs on the District Common Fund Disbursement Committee, of extorting cash ranging from GHC200.00 to GHC1,000.00 from their members.
They claimed the pair had forced a number of disabled persons to give them part of their two percent allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), amid threats to blacklist them if they refused.
The two however, profusely deny doing any such thing and insist that never happened.
The disability share of the DACF is meant to assist improve their situation – to make things better for them. Ibrahim Saani, Upper West Regional President of the GFD, and Felix T. Tierfaar, the Regional Chairman of the GSPD, jointly made the official complaint in a letter to the CHRAJ’s Regional Director, on May 02.
Seven victims, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered had already given statements to the Commission. Mr. Saani said more had kept coming forward to report that monies had allegedly been extorted from them people by the Social Welfare Officer.
“We can produce some audio conversations between Mr. Dassah and some of the affected persons when the need arises”, he added. Mr. Ubeidu Sdiqque, the CHRAJ Regional Director, confirmed to GNA that they had commenced preliminary investigations into the matter.