The Department of Social Welfare and Community Development in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District of the Central Region has cautioned beneficiaries of the government’s disability support programme against misusing livelihood equipment provided to them, following reports that some recipients have turned deep freezers and refrigerators into storage spaces for dirty clothes and other unwanted items.
According to the department, the equipment is intended to help persons living with disabilities establish sustainable businesses and improve their economic well-being, not for household storage unrelated to income generation.
The caution was issued during a presentation ceremony where more than 60 persons living with disabilities received various livelihood support items under the government’s Persons with Disabilities support initiative.
Speaking at the event, the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District Director of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, Mr. Eric Frimpong Boateng, urged beneficiaries to use the equipment responsibly and for its intended purpose.
He explained that the government remains committed to improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities by providing tools and equipment that enable them to establish businesses, generate income and become financially independent.
Mr. Boateng said the intervention forms part of government’s broader strategy to reduce poverty among persons with disabilities while addressing the growing challenge of street begging through economic empowerment.
He disclosed that beneficiaries received a wide range of livelihood support items tailored to their individual business interests and vocational skills.
These included deep freezers, refrigerators, sewing machines, fufu pounding machines, plastic chairs for rental businesses and other working tools.
The Social Welfare Director, however, expressed concern over reports that some beneficiaries from previous distributions had been using refrigerators and deep freezers to keep dirty clothes and other waste materials instead of operating income-generating ventures.
He warned that such practices undermine the objective of the programme and urged recipients to maintain the equipment properly to ensure it serves its intended purpose for many years.
“I am pleading with you not to use the refrigerators and deep freezers for storing dirty clothes or other unnecessary items. These are business tools meant to help improve your lives and generate income,” he stressed.
Members of the District Committee for Persons with Disabilities also advised beneficiaries to take good care of the equipment and use it to improve their livelihoods rather than returning to street begging.
The committee announced plans to undertake regular monitoring exercises to assess how the equipment is being utilised across the district.
They further warned that beneficiaries who fail to use the items productively or neglect them could have the equipment retrieved and reassigned to other persons with disabilities who are ready to put the resources to good use.
Addressing the gathering, the District Chief Executive for Ajumako Enyan Essiam, Hon. Andrews Kojo Duodu, commended President John Dramani Mahama and the government for increasing allocations to the Persons with Disabilities Common Fund.
He noted that the increased funding would enable more persons living with disabilities to benefit from livelihood support programmes in the coming years.
The DCE encouraged beneficiaries to protect and maintain the equipment, describing it as an investment in their future and a pathway to economic independence.
He assured residents that the District Assembly, working together with the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development and the District Committee for Persons with Disabilities, would continue monitoring beneficiaries to ensure the equipment is used for its intended purpose and delivers the expected impact on livelihoods.
Story by Yaw Boagyan
