The Executive Director of Disability Rights Movement – DRIM has described the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party SLPP and President Julius Maada Bio as an “insensitive” administration to concerns and welfare of disables in Sierra Leone, in the last two years and six months under the chairman and leadership of Dr Prince Alex Harding.
Dr Vandi Konneh raised these concerns following a strongly worded letter DRIM addressed to the SLPP National Chairman, Dr Prince Alex Harding, drawing both the party Government attentions to their deliberate and collective denials to factor people with disabilities in the continuing review of the SLPP constitution. A process he said demonstrates no concern about disabled people.
He urged President Bio and his Government to meet campaign promises that were made towards factoring people with disabilities in all sectors of his administration, starting with cabinet, Ministries Departments and Agencies right across. Dr Konneh said they will continue to feel insulted and left out by the Government of President Bio and the SLPP party which they “wasted their votes on” in electing the present Government that has so far done nothing for senior citizens as they are normally called in civilized democracies.
He explained that DRIM will keep challenging the reviewing process of the ruling party’s constitution, because of its neglect of disables until their concerns are fully factored in the reviewed SLPP constitution.
Dr Konneh said there are so many other Government jobs where disables with the requisite capacities should occupy as promised by President Bio during his campaigns for the presidency.
“The review of the SLPP constitution does not reflect our interest as people with disabilities. We want representations in all sectors of governance. We equally voted the government and besides it is our rights to be cared for with all sorts of social support as by law,” said Dr Konneh.
For DRIM, he added, disability issues have to be factored in all aspects of governance sectors like were during the last administration when the likes of Mustapha Bai Atila and others were appointed to cabinet and other trustworthy positions by former President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma and his All People’s Congress party.
That is why Dr Konneh reiterates the insensitivity of the Government of President Bio and the SLPP under the party’s leadership of Dr Prince Harding and National Secretary General Umaru Napoleon Koroma, who have so far shown no concern for people with disabilities.
That disables recently received food supplies and moneys, Dr Konneh said; “disables do not only need food stuff hand outs and money, we have been eating and holding moneys all these years. We equally need better capacities rather than giving us money for quick fix sustenance which cannot address our problems as vulnerable people.”
He observed that all the appointments of President Bio there is no disable person in the cabinet, commission, embassies and in Parliament, noting Government’s complete exclusion of people with disabilities from taking part in governance processes are intolerable to them. He said even though there are well educated disables with excellent academic qualifications, yet Government and the ruling SLPP party continue to side line them because of their insensitivity to concerns of people with disabilities.
Asked for his personal impression about the Disability Rights Commission, Dr Konneh replied; “that commission is fully subverted with staff always reviving salaries, but does nothing in the interest of disables, so for us it is lame duck. And we want a complete restructuring of the commission from its present condition to a one that must be seen addressing disability issues instead of it continue to a mere white elephant.”
He charged that they deserves to be listen to by Government, President Bio and the SLPP party in factoring disability concerns in their new constitution, pointing out that; “if they fail to listen to us on our concerns raised on their continuing constitutional review process, we will go to court and petition for the nullification of their proposed and would be new constitution.”
The culture of ignoring concerns of vulnerable people like us are not going to be tolerated this time around by disables nor from the incumbent and President Bio who hardly make mentions of disables in his speeches, including that of his recent State Opening of Parliament, not to talk of the Covid19 pandemic and the free quality education where in less concerns have been shown but disables. He called on Government to open participations and inclusion spaces for people with disabilities rather than treating then with such level of insensitivity.
