Ghana election diary: disability and politics

The BBC's Kwaku Sakyi-Addo is keeping a diary as Ghana prepares for presidential polls on 7 December. Here he reflects on how few disabled people there are in politics.

Kwaku is on the campaign trail for the BBC

I flew into London on Tuesday, just in time to see the Queen opening parliament.

She spoke for all of 10 minutes, but it was quite an elaborate ceremony, with quaint tribal - yes, tribal - rituals dating back centuries.

What she does really is announce a "To Do" list, the doing of which has little to do with Her Majesty, and much more to do with the Rt Hon Tony Blair, MP.

Blind minister

But as I watched, I noticed a dog among the members of the House of Commons as they rose to join the Lords for the Queen's speech. It was Home Secretary David Blunkett's guide dog.

Mr Blunkett is blind.

There are no blind ministers in Ghana

In Ghana, there's no-one with a disability in government or parliament.

Indeed, there is no history of people with disability serving as ministers, legislators or judges.

And that is a shame because there are disabled people who are well qualified for high public office.

Disabled candidates

Take Bashiru Koray, a doctor in constitutional law, who works as a deputy director at the foreign ministry.

Ghana would be making an important social and political statement to the rest of Africa if he was named as an ambassador.

There are two parliamentary candidates who are in wheelchairs: Charles Appiagyei, president of the Federation of People with Disabilities, and Ivor Greenstreet, a businessman.

Disabled Africans rarely get the chance to stand for election

They are both in their forties, and suffered disability from accidents.

Charles fell down the stairs as a student at the University of Cape Coast and became paralysed.

Navigating the thousands of stairs on the campus became impossible in a wheelchair.

He abandoned his studies and took up the cause of people with disabilities.

Ivor, an Accra socialite and son-in-law of the late former Vice-President Kow Arkaah, lost the use of his legs following a road accident one night eight years ago.

He was returning home after overseeing the business at a nightclub he owned.

Access problems

They both speak about how inaccessible our public places remain despite perennial proclamations by successive administrations to look out for the disabled.

Physical access into the chambers of parliament is impossible in a wheelchair.

And in case the disabled would like to take the matter case to the Supreme Court, it shouldn't be difficult for them to state their case because the barriers speak eloquently enough.

And if the president suddenly became wheelchair bound, he wouldn't be able to go into his own office without his bodyguards heaving him up.

Thankfully, however, this year, the electoral commission has introduced tactile ballots which will enable the blind to vote unaided.

Still, for too long, those who claim to see have been too blind; those who have ears have failed to hear others cry; those who can speak won't, and those who can move have stood in the way. Please, Charles, Ivor, just run them over!

Kwaku's previous diary entry