Remembering President Michael Sata as a disability human rights activist Rest in Peace our father and great son of the soil. as a disability rights activist, I remember you as a disability rights activist and may the work you started continue.
For the first time in the history of Zambia, on the occasion of the official opening of the third session of the 11th national assembly on Friday, 20th September, 2013, the late President Michael Sata informed the August house that consultations on the development of the national social protection policy are nearing completion.
He also said the Patriotic Front Government is streamlining the implementation of the social safety-net policy and rationalise the use of resources to achieve maximum impact. The development of this policy must be expedited to compensate for the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize by the Government.
The President informed the House that Government would continue to implement the national policy on disability to guide programmes for persons with disabilities so as to enable them to lead productive, fulfilled and dignified lives.
This confirmed the late President’s desire to change the lives of persons with disabilities. The policy will ensure that disability issues are mainstreamed in all our sector plans and programmes in Government and this must be done in honour of Mr Sata.
As a disability rights activist, I remember President Sata as a leader whose Government increased funding to Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD) and aligned the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and changed disability Administration by aligning it to Patriotic Front (PF) manifesto for 2011 to 2016 which outlines the Government promises to its citizen according to groups or sectors.
During the campaign in 2011 the Patriotic Front promised persons with disabilities and said Disability and poverty are closely linked in a cycle of exclusion and marginalisation. Exclusion from education leads to exclusion from labour markets and this in turn leads to greater poverty and dependence on others for income and support.
We also remember that under the MMD Government, persons with disabilities remained a rather invisible group in national development policies. Despite important advances at the international level, the situation for the vast majority of Zambians with disabilities remains bleak.
The Southern Africa Federation for Persons with Disabilities in 2008 estimated that 93 percent of persons with disabilities in Zambia are living below the poverty line of US $0.93 per day because they have limited access to education and training which reduces their opportunities to access the employment market.
A lack of understanding by the MMD government of the gravity of the situation, mistaken beliefs as to where the problems lie and the assumption that charity and goodwill are the answers to the plight of persons with disabilities, are all factors that have conspired to hamper progress in this sector.
To honour our President and promote the role and welfare of persons with disabilities, the new Government must do the following:
1. Carryout a baseline study of persons with disabilities so as to determine the nature and prevalence of disabilities in Zambia
2. Full domestication and implement the 2008 United Nations General Assembly Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and further review of the Persons with Disabilities Act 6 of 2012 in order to make it address gaps and that it is aligned to draft labour laws.
3. Introduce legislation in order to guarantee the right to free, appropriate education and provide the individuals with a disabled learners allowance at the school, college and University.
4. Establish in each district a vocational rehabilitation centre without entry qualifications restriction in order to provide skills training programmes so as to help persons with disabilities enter labour market or be self employed.
5. Streamline the ZAPD and fund it in order for the agency to expand its existing resettlement centres and open at least in each district. The Patriotic Front Government commitment to improve the welfare of persons with disabilities in Zambia is impressive but one important action must be done, that is to evaluate whether ZAPD is
implementing disability programmes in line with the vision of the Party in Government as stated in its manifesto. The vision of Government to address the welfare of persons with disabilities should continue ensuring that its agency mandated by persons with disabilities Act number 6 of 2012 to be an implementing agency of Government operates within the vision of the Party in Government.
6. The new Government must review the self restructuring of the Zambia Agency for persons with disabilities that it should not operate like an Association or a non-governmental organisation which tell Government what it want to implement in line with their vision but it must implement the vision of Government in line with Party manifesto.
It will be wrong for any person to accuse Government for wrong decisions of the agency because its manifesto has clearly stated its vision. One will ask what should Government do to ensure that its vision does not remain on paper but benefit persons with disabilities and most of them have the copy of the manifesto and are judging our Government by what it committed itself in 2011 but we have hope that we can have well coordinated agency which will deliver to the expectation of the Zambian people.
The Government must put its foot down and ensure that ZAPD operates like any Government agency and not a non-profit organisation formed by disabled people to serve their interest.
For me, under the leadership of Sata, 75 per cent of what the Patriotic Front promised persons with disabilities have been implemented at central Government level but the problem is at ZAPD which is a total disappointment to Government and it’s painting a bad picture of Government when so much has been done so far.
Further, I would advise that the new president must appoint an inter ministerial committee of ministers to coordinate and oversee the implementation of disability chapter of the party manifesto and create a strong voice at cabinet level with a vision to see that ZAPD is transformed since funding has improved and the new Act in place.
The biggest problem is that ZAPD is now working like a department of the Ministry of Community Development Mother and Child Health when the disability Act has provided its mandate clearly. There is an urgent need to remind the Ministry and its agency that wrong decisions will affect the party in Government, especially decisions that are contrary to commitments made in the Party manifesto. Let us all support what our late President started in addressing the welfare of persons with disabilities by ensuring that new disability friendly policies are introduced and more centres for rehabilitation are established so that persons with disabilities have access to sheltered employments, vocational skills trainings and economically empowered within communities.
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The author is Associate Professor — Faculty of Social Science and Disability Studies at ICOF Colleges Seminary and Universities, Disability policy Analyst for SADC and Inclusive Development Advisor for Africa, Centre for Disability Development Research, Law and Policy, Johannesburg. Project Office, P.O. BOX 1981 New Castle, 2940 South Africa Tell: +27343127894 +27343127894 Fax: +27343127894
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