The Coalition of Unemployed Graduates with Disabilities is set to mount a demonstration at the Jubilee House on August 19, demanding government action to create employment opportunities for qualified persons with disabilities.
The Coalition says the planned picketing is aimed at drawing the attention of President John Dramani Mahama to the difficulties faced by graduates with disabilities in accessing jobs within the public sector.
The group is particularly demanding that the Ministry of Finance issue between 400 and 500 financial clearances to enable government institutions to recruit and deploy qualified persons with disabilities.
According to the Coalition, the lack of adequate financial clearance has contributed to the limited recruitment of persons with disabilities despite the existence of legal provisions requiring their inclusion in public employment.
The convenor of the Coalition, Gilbert Boateng Agyare, said members have made efforts to facilitate their recruitment by providing government agencies with the names of qualified graduates, but those efforts have yielded little result.
He cited the recent recruitment exercise by the Ghana Education Service (GES), during which the Coalition submitted a verified list of 200 qualified graduates with disabilities for consideration.
However, Mr Agyare said none of the 200 graduates was recruited, a situation he described as unacceptable.
The development, he said, had reinforced the Coalition’s decision to take its concerns directly to the Presidency through the planned picketing at Jubilee House.
The group is also calling for greater transparency and deliberate measures to ensure that public-sector recruitment exercises reflect the government’s obligations towards persons with disabilities.
Mr Agyare said the Coalition believes providing the required financial clearances would give government institutions the opportunity to absorb qualified graduates with disabilities into various areas of the public service.
“We want the Finance Ministry to issue 400 to 500 financial clearances to help deploy our people to the various government institutions,” he said.
He questioned why qualified persons with disabilities could not benefit from large-scale public recruitment exercises, particularly when the Coalition had already submitted names of suitable candidates.
Mr Agyare said the planned action at Jubilee House would provide members with an opportunity to communicate their concerns directly to the President and highlight the challenges confronting unemployed graduates with disabilities.
The Coalition is therefore urging government to move beyond policy commitments and take concrete steps to improve the representation of persons with disabilities in public-sector employment.
