— Disabled persons deserve support — Kawina

Livingstone District Administrative Officer Harriet Kawina says disabled persons deserve support they need at all times to become key players in national development.

 

Ms. Kawina says disabled persons need support equally as their able bodied counterparts so that when they are also skilled, they can equally manage to live in unison with development in this age of technology advancement.

 

She said people with disabilities are abused by society they live in adding that others are denied the health care and quality education services which the able- bodied ones enjoy.

 

 

ZANIS reports that the District Administrative Officer said this in Livingstone during celebrations marking the International Day of the Disabled Persons under the theme:  ‘Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology.’

 

 

She said  this year’s theme clearly explains the importance of technology in fostering national development.

 

 

Ms. Kawina has however, commended organizations such as Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD) and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and other cooperating partners for working tirelessly in mitigating some of the challenges faced by the disabled people.

 

 

She said government is committed to working closely with such organizations in order to uplift the standards of living for the people with disabilities.

 

 

Earlier, Network for Persons with Disabilities representative, Joyce Munsanje complained that people with disabilities have always been left out in decision making programmes for the development of the country.

 

Ms. Munsanje pleaded with the political players during January 2015 Presidential bye-election to refrain from violence adding that people with disabilities feel insecure when such things are happening.

 

She said it was saddening to see the current happenings in Lusaka where cadres are used to cause commotion in the city to show their solidarity for a particular individual.