By Decide Nhendo
People with disabilities (PWDS) have called for government to create an independent commission for them so they can select representatives who will be able to stand for their interests and challenges.
This emerged at a public hearing by a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee at Mucheke Hall, where several representative organizations and PWDs were in attendance.
Speaking at the hearing, Disability Amalgamation Community Trust (DACT) Executive Director Henry Chivhanga said PWDs should have an independent commission comprised of representatives they chose themselves.
He said if the commission is free from the control of the relevant Minister and other government officials it will be able to fully deliver on its functions effectively for the betterment of their lives.
“The Commission for persons with disabilities must perform its functions free from any government control, which should start from selection of the representatives. PWDs should be given a right to choose members they want to stand for them.
“If the commission is independent, the running of its functions will be fully to the advantage of PWDs, solving challenges they face in communities,” said Chivhanga.
Kudakwashe Masinyangwa weighed in saying civil servants and government workers must be removed from the commission to create space for PWDs to run their commission, adding that civil servants must only be included if they are PWDs.
He said the bill must make sure that commissioners are selected from all the provinces, with each province having a representative because in the current commission the larger population of commissioners were from Harare and Bulawayo.
“I appeal for removal of civil servants and government workers from the commission to make room for PWDs to be policy makers and players in the commission; they must only be included if they are PWDs.
“Another thing that needs to be dealt with is to make sure that we have commissioners from the 10 provinces, each province having a representative, desisting from having commissioners from big cities like Bulawayo and Harare,” said Masinyangwa.
He said there was need to make it clear on how the Minister’s participation over the functions of the commission be checked since the bill stipulates that the Minister will be a trustee of the Fund and the commission will administer its subject to directions from the Minister.
“The authority being given to the Minister needs to be checked because he has unlimited powers which can compromise how the Disability Fund will be disbursed and used,” said Masinyangwa.
The PWDs also said they wanted to participate in important national activities and to be included in grants, be they government or social welfare, saying they were being left out in many cases especially on things that are intended to benefit all citizens.
In the Persons with Disabilities Bill it is stated the commission for persons with disability is mandated to prepare a national policy for the mainstream of PWDs throughout society as well as promoting the interests of PWDs.
The Bill was published in the Gazette on February 9, and it proposes to replace the existing Disabled Persons Act to bring law into line with the Constitution and Zimbabwe’s international obligations.
Prevalence of disability in Zimbabwe was estimated to be currently at 11 percent and was 9,5 percent last year according to the Zimbabwe 2022 Population and Housing Census Report.
This shows persons with disabilities (PWDs) are a significant portion of the total population and must not be excluded from participating fully in society.
The bill will replace the National Disability Board established by the existing Act with a Commission for Persons with Disabilities, most of whose members will be chosen by the Minister from panels of names submitted by organisations registered in the Register of Organizations of and for persons with Disabilities.
