An Evaluation of the Impact of District Assembly Common Fund for the Disable: A Study of the Asuogyaman District

Abstract

Society often frowns on things considered to be odd and abomination and have shown this in the treatment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). In developing nations such as Ghana it is quite common to find disabled at street corners begging for arms. This study seeks to assess the impact of the District Assembly Common Fund (DCF) on the socio-economic lives of PWDs and recommend ways to improve the policy. Using a double bowelled technique of both qualitative and quantitative methods of studies. 100 PWDs were selected and interviewed whiles 5 employees each of the social welfare and district assembly workers were also interviewed and analysis were done using Statistical Package Service Solution. Results were generated through descriptive and analytical statistics. The findings show that education; employment and income levels were too low among PWDs to impact positively on their socio-economic status hence more needs to be done to aid in their right to socio-economic freedom. Although the mean monthly income of respondents was GHC 145.20, 56.7% earned between GHC80.00 to GHC120.00, below the national minimum wage whereas at 2014 was GHC184.80.00 per month. Mean monthly income was higher among respondents who had some level of education compared to those who weren’t. The mean amount of money received from the fund was GHC 250.00. Although the PWDs stated that the funds were inadequate they iterated that it went a long way to aid in their livelihood.  About 75% indicated that majority of their income was used mostly on food with the rest used for healthcare and other activities. Challenges associated with managing the District Assembly Common Fund ranged from several dimension spanning from the irregular and untimely desperation of funds to the poor administration of the funds. More so, social workers lack proper data and control over the identification of the PWDs in itself. We also found out that some PWDs had no idea of the scheme let alone to partake in it. It is encouraged that future studies should be directed towards a well-structured system for the distribution of items to the PWDs.

Keywords: Poverty, Person with Disabilities, District Assembly Common Fund, Asuogyaman

DOI: 10.7176/DCS/9-1-07